April  7,  1898. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
307 
the  autumn  supply,  while  sowings  for  winter  use  may  he  made  during 
August  and  the  early  part  of  September,  perhaps  a  little  later  in  some 
localities. 
Endive  is  indispensable  for  autumn  and  winter  use,  and  about  three 
sorts  are  as  many  as  need  be  grown.  The  Moss-curled  is  a  good  sort  to 
sow  about  the  middle  of  June  for  early  use,  to  be  followed  by  the  Hardy 
Green-curled  and  the  Round-leaved  Batavian  about  the  first  week  in 
July,  and  again  about  the  end  of  that  month.  These  three  sowings  will 
cover  the  period  when  Endive  is  most  in  request,  but  a  small  sowing  a 
week  or  two  earlier,  and  one  rather  later  than  the  times  named,  may  te 
made  if  circumstances  demand  it.  Very  early  sown  plants  are,  however, 
apt  to  run  to  seed  prematurely,  while  very  late  ones  do  not  develop  fully 
before  the  cold  weather  puts  a  stop  to  growth.  The  cultural  details  for 
Lettuces  will  apply  equally  well  to  Endive  with  a  little  variation. 
Blanching  is  most  easily  effected  by  placing  a  piece  of  clean  board  over 
as  many  plants  as  are  likely  to  be  required  in  five  or  six  days,  pushing  it 
on  from  time  to  time  when  a  cutting  is  made,  so  as  to  keep  up  a 
constant  succession  of  well  blanched  Endive.  Tying  and  inverted  flower 
pots  may  be  resorted  to  where  these  methods  of  blanching  are  pre/erred. 
Some  people  lift  a  portion  of  the  later  sowing  of  this  crop  before  hard 
weather  sets  in,  and  plant  it  out  in  a  cold  frame  or  house  along  with 
some  of  the  later  sown  Lettuces,  but  I  much  prefer  growing  some 
of  each  in  the  frame  where  they  are  to  remain,  as  these  seem  less 
liable  to  decay  during  winter  than  such  as  have  been  lifted  when  fully 
developed. — H.  E. 
(To  be  concluded.) 
THE  PLETHORA  AND  PROSPECTS  OF 
GARDENERS. 
I  HAVE  read  and  pondered  over  all  that  has  been  written  lately  on 
this  subject,  and  though  by  nature  of  an  optimistic  turn,  I  have  been 
constrained  by  certain  present  evidences  to  look  in  a  pessimistic  frame  of 
mind  as  to  the  prospects  of  the  present  and  future  generations  of 
gardeners. 
I  am  driven  to  this  by  the  enormous  number  of  gardeners  seeking 
employment.  Just  let  us  look  at  the  advertisement  columns  of,  say,  the 
four  principal  gardening  papers,  and,  to  make  a  rough  calculation  only, 
we  may  make  out  200  to  250  applicants  for  employment  in  the  various 
departments  of  either  trade  or  domestic  gardening  ;  and  these  it  must  be 
considered  are  only  a  portion — those  who  advertise,  and  the  list  does  not 
include  those  who  rely  upon  getting  situations  by  private  means,  as 
nurserymen’s,  seedsmen’s,  or  other  personal  recommendations. 
Really,  to  me  these  columns  are  the  saddest  reading  of  the  week,  and 
they  reveal  a  state  of  anxiety,'  of  hope  deferred,  of  vanishing  means,  of 
self-denials  personally  and  domestically,  if  not  of  actual  privations  in  some 
cases,  of  a  sinking  of  spirits,  and  of  a  feeling  of  general,  individual,  and 
professional  decadence.  Men  asking  leave  to  toil,  and  not  being  allowed 
to  do  so.  This  is  a  very  perplexing  subject — a  serious  subject — indeed, 
none  more  so  in  the  whole  range  of  garden  economy,  and  what  are  we 
to  do? 
The  higher  places  of  gardening  are  coming  down— falling  out  as  fast 
as  they  can,  and  gardeners  of  years  and  experience  are  having  to  submit 
to  a  reduction  of  their  own  salaries,  a  reduction  of  staff  and  their 
remuneration,  and  a  turning  of  a  once  aristocratic  garden  into  a  market 
garden  establishment,  where  everything  is  to  be  sold,  from  a  bunch  of 
Grapes  to  fronds  of  Maidenhair  Eern,  and  from  a  Potato  to  a  bunch  of 
Radishes  ;  the  old  gardener,  who  has  guided  and  managed  the  place  with 
plenty  of  help  for  years  and  years,  possibly  following  his  father,  and  who 
loves  every  inch  of  it,  and  every  plant  upon  it,  and  is  devoted  to  the 
family  he  has  served  so  long,  rather  than  make  a  change  at  his  time  of 
life,  turns  out  to  dig,  and  hoe,  and  weed.  There’s  a  pathos  in  this 
picture,  which  is  no  fancy  one,  beyond  words.  And  then,  amidst  all  this, 
one  has  to  read  of  what  may  be  termed  a  manufactory  of  lady  gardeners, 
and  swaggering  that  such  and  such  a  one  has  been  appointed  to  such  and 
such  a  place. 
I  am  no  fusty  old  bachelor  ;  I  have!  had  the  priceless  blessing  of  a 
good  mother,  wife,  and  daughter,  and  my  feelings  for  these  and  for 
women  generally  is  chivalrous  in  the  last  degree,  and  I  say,  and  say  it 
emphatically,  that  Only  in  a  limited  degree  are  women  admissible  in  a 
garden.  They  are  not  equal  to  the  general  work.  As  a  rule  they  have  not 
had  the  requisite  training  for  managing  any  place  of  importance.  Their 
management  would  be  either  too  exacting  or  too  indulgent,  swayed  as 
they  are  by  their  feelings  and  emotions.  In  the  lighter,  artistic,  delicate 
decorative  work  they  might  find  a  place  ;  but  then,  our  young  men  can  do 
this  now,  and  do  it  well. 
Do  these  lady  gardeners  consider  that  by  their  competition  they  are 
taking  the  bread  out  of  the  mouth  of  some  married  sister,  and  out  of  the 
mouths  of  her  children,  by  taking  the  place  of  that  sister’s  breadwinner  ? 
Of  course  I  shall  be  met  by  the  taunt  that  girls  cannot  starve,  they  must 
live.  I  grant  that  freely,  fully  ;  but  then,  again,  is  there  any  sense  of 
coming  into  a  vocation  for  which  they  are  manifestly  unfitted,  except  in 
very  conditional  form  ?  I  say  no,  and  I  say  it  out  loud,  too.  No  ! 
I  expect  I  shall  catch  it.  I  do  not  mind,  as  I  am  only— An  Old 
Peovincial.  _ 
Me.  Steeet  is  not  the  only  person  who  has  written  on  this  perplexing 
subject;  indeedit  periodically  crops  up  for  discussion,  and  after  being  well 
written  about,  all  sorts  of  suggestions  being  made  and  then  forgotten,  the 
matter  rests  quietly  until  someone  again  revives  it.  The  evil,  if  it  be  such. 
however,  goes  on  all  the  same,  and  young  gardeners  are  being  made  by 
thousands  yearly,  for  the  simple  reason  that  young  men  must  find  a  liveli¬ 
hood  somewhere  and  somehow. 
Generally  there  seem  to  be  more  openings  for  young  men  in  nurseries 
aud  market  growing  establishments  than  there  are  in  private  gardens,  but 
that  is  only  so  ostensibly,  as  the  number  of  young  gardeners  in  private 
places  must  far  exceed  those  in  more  public  '.‘stablishments.  No  doubt  in 
the  former  the  work  is  far  more  varied,  wider  iu  scope,  and  attractive  in 
character.  In  market  places  especially  the  labour  is  arduous  and 
monotonous,  and  devoid  of  that  charm  which  always  attaches  to  a  beautiful 
and  well-kept  private  garden.  The  labour  in  the  latter  may  not,  however, 
be  the  better  paid.  But  in  all  cases  young  men,  if  they  have  ordinary 
powers  of  observation  and  intelligence  as  well  as  industry,  find  considerable 
scope  for  energy  and  instruction. 
If  we  have  not  now  as  capable  a  race  of  young  gardeners  as  the  old 
rigid  system  of  garden  instruction,  much  of  which  was  coarse,  pedantic, 
and  almost  brutal,  produced,  then  it  is  the  fault  of  the  youths  them¬ 
selves,  because  they  have  opportunities  to  acquire  knowledge  unknown 
to  young  men  then.  That  many  of  our  present  youths  will  make  first- 
rate  gardeners  there  can  be  no  doubt.  A  far  more  serious  subject  is 
their  finding  employment.  That  is  the  real  question  at  issue.  In 
relation  to  private  gardening  we  are  passing  through  something  of  a  crisis. 
The  great  mainstay  of  this  stronghold  of  horticulture  hitherto,  without 
doubt,  has  been  found  in  the  large  private  gardens  maintained  by  our 
aristocracy  and  country  gentlemen,  for  which  Great  Britain  has  been  ^o 
famous.  But  many  of  these  fine  gardens  are  passing  into  other  hands, 
or  are  being  kept  on  as  semi-market  providers,  with  one  half  or  less  of 
the  labour  they  once  had  furnished  to  them. 
Has  not  this  grave  alteration  in  our  old  gardening  associations  some¬ 
thing,  if  not  much,  to  do  with  the  present  plethora  of  gardeners  ? 
Whatever  may  be  the  views  held  socially  and  otherwise  to-day,  no  gar¬ 
dener  can  view  this  going  under  of  so  many  of  those  who  were  once  the 
stay  and  support  of  the  best  in  horticulture  with  other  than  grave  concern. 
We  may  have  the  fullest  faith  in  the  old  adage,  “  There’s  as  good  fish 
in  the  sea  as  ever  catne  out  of  it,”  and  it  is  specially  true  so  far  as  the 
race  of  gardeners  is  concerned  ;  but  can  we  feel  assured  that  with  rich 
people  the  old  love  and  pride  in  gardening  will  continue  to  prevail  ? 
Whenever  death  comes  to  some  fine  place  it  commonly  means  change 
in  the  cutting  down  of  garden  expenditure,  and  some  declension  of 
employment,  with  the  discharge  of  young  men.  That  helps  to  crowd 
thej  ranks  of  the  unemployed.  Young  men,  too,  to  -  day  seem  less 
patient  of  occupying  subordinate  positions  in  gardens  than  used  to  be  the 
case.  When  a  young  fellow  has  been  foreman  a  few  years,  and  has, 
perhaps,  not  exceeded  twenty-six  years  of  age,  he  pines  to  become  a  head 
gardener,  ignoring  the  fact  that  a  few  years  longer  in  a  similar  position 
in  a  different  garden  might  do  him  immense  service,  and  give  him  valuable 
experience. 
The  vocation  is,  relative  to  so  many  other  occupations,  a  poorly 
remunerated  one,  but  that  is  inevitable,  because  in  private  practice  it 
administers  so  much  to  luxury.  It  is  a  beautiful  and  an  attractive 
vocation  all  the  same. — A.  D. 
[While  we  deplore  most  sincerely  the  inability  of  many  worthy  men 
and  excellent  gardeners  to  obtain  situations  which  they  could  creditably 
fill,  we  are  inclined  to  suspect  that  a  greater  amount  of  money  is  expended 
on  gardens,  and  the  raising  of  garden  produce,  now  than  during  any  past 
period.  It  is  a  change  from  the  relatively  few  and  “  great  ”  establish¬ 
ments  to  the  immeasurably  greater  number  of  the  comparatively  small, 
but  well  kept,  and  much  enjoyed  gardens. 
As  to  the  feared  waning  of  interest  in  gardening  by  the  wealthy  and  fairly 
well-to-do  section  of  the  community,  we  are  not  able  to  share  those  fears 
for  two  reasons.  1,  Because  there  are  probably  ten  times  more  honorary 
subscribers  to  local  and  provincial  horticultural  societies  now  than  there 
were  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago.  2,  Because  of  the  constant  additions  to 
the  roll  of  Fellows  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society.  Every  meeting 
brings  new  supporters,  and  the  total,  we  believe,  now  approaches  6000. 
What  we  foresee  is  this :  A  number  of  young  inen  who  are  trained 
in  “great”  gardens  will  have  to  be  content  with  the  charge  of 
smaller ;  but  fortunately,  in  many  of  these,  happy  lives  may  be 
spent,  aud  intelligent  gardeners  highly  respected.  At  the  same  time 
the  increase  of  gardeners  in  the  natural  way  will  always  be  equal  to  the 
demand  without  any  artificial  manufacture  for  the  sake  of  the  fees^  for 
maintaining  or  increasing  the  value  of  the  shares  in  scholastic  institutions 
or  otherwise. 
We  have  no  prejudice  against  lady  gardeners  as  such,  and  if 
thoroughly  trained,  though  they  may  not  be  “  equal  to  the  general  work,’ 
they  may  be  all  the  same  capable  directors.  Not  a  few  ladies  have 
managed  farms  successfully,  and  are  taking  a  large  share  in  managing 
them  now  ;  and  it  is  not  easier  to  make  farming  lucrative  than  to  make 
gardens  productive,  and  in  other  respects  satisfactory.  The  ^  most 
competent  gardeners,  or  “gardeneresses,  ’  will  win  in  the  end,  and  it  will 
be  the  fault  of  the  men  if  they  are  beaten  in  the  race.] 
Kew  GAEDENS. — These  famous  gardens,  it  is  said,  have  been 
greatly  beautified  by  the  recent  rains,  and  are  now  a  delightful  place  for 
an  afternoon  s  stroll,  though  of  course  not  yet  in  full  spring  beautjL^  There 
is,  however,  no  season  of  the  year  which  has  not  its  peculiar  attractiveness 
at  Kew,  and  just  now  in  the  open  air  it  is  the  streets  of  Daffodils,  and 
Scillas,  Chionodoxas,  and  so  forth,  that  are  everywhere  giving  splashes  of 
colour  to  the  vivid  turf.  The  natural  mode  of  growing  bulbs  is  infinitely 
more  charming  than  the  formal  regularity  of  beds  and  borders. 
