Jttiy  le,  1896.  JOURNAL  OR  tiORTiCULTURE  ANT)  COTTAGE  GARDENER.  (11 
reapoasible  for  the  necessary  reforms.  Nothing  could  be  more  absurd 
and  no  greater  mistake  coaid  be  made  than  to  look  at  this  question  from 
a  narrow  or  biassed  point  of  view.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  keep 
closely  to  our  sab-heading,  “  Hours  and  Habitations  ?  ”  It  is  an 
undeniable  fact  that  there  are  numerous  establishments  holding  a  high 
position  in  the  horticultural  world,  as  well  as  others  of  less  importance, 
where  the  accommodation  afforded  to  the  young  men  is  to  say  the  least 
of  it  bad,  and  the  hours  of  labour  are  insufferably  long  ;  but  to  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that  the  head  gardener  is  responsible  for  this  in  perhaps 
even  a  small  per-centage  of  cases  is  ridiculous.  No,  we  must  look 
higher,  and  we  shall  find  that  where  the  employer  has  a  true  love  for  his 
garden  the  first  evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  the  condition  of  the 
bothy. 
Admitted,  then,  that  in  many  instances  there  is  room  for  reforms, 
usually  the  men  whom  the  world  counts  amongst  its  successes,  and, 
as  “Wiltshire  Gardener”  puts  it,  they  ought  to  relinquish  gardening 
altogether. 
“  Another  Head  Gardener  ”  appears  to  have  taken  a  standpoint  of  his 
own,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  direct  allusion  to  either  hours  or  habita¬ 
tions,  one  fails  to  find  much  argumeut  in  what  he  writes.  How  unfortu¬ 
nate  he  must  have  been.  Fancy  fourteen  young  men,  and  every  one  of 
them  ungrateful  ;  he  must  have  met  with  a  whole  troop  of  black  sheep. 
Again,  why  that  word  “favour”  should  creep  so  persistently  into  his 
notes  I  fail  to  see.  Does  the  average  young  gardener  look  for  favours  I 
No,  1  think  not,  and  surely  a  decent  habitation  and  moderate  working 
hours  should  hardly  be  termed  favours.  It  seems  a  pity  that  the  young 
men  now  under  the  control  of  “Another  Head  Gardener”  should  have 
to  suffer  for  the  gross  ingratitude  of  those  who  have  gone  before,  as  now 
Fig.  10 — 
STRAWBERRY  VEITCH’S  PERFECTION. 
the  question  arises,  Who  can  and  ought  to  bring  these  about  1  If  it  lies 
within  the  power  of  the  head  gardener,  and  he  has  the  means  at  his 
command,  then  on  him  fails  the  resposibility  of  reform.  If  such  be  not 
the  case,  and  indeed  we  know  how  often  the  gardener’s  power  is  all  too 
small,  then  it  is  grossly  unfair  to  lay  the  charge  on  him,  and  the  best 
feasible  means  should  be  adopted  for  bringing  the  condition  of  things 
before  the  proprietor.  I  might  go  so  far  as  to  add  that  instances  could 
be  mentioned  of  employers  who  have  been  astounded  when  they  have 
learnt  the  deplorable  condition  of  comfort,  or  rather  discomfort,  in  which 
those  dependent  on  them  have  been  placed, 
Surely  there  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  the  arguments  put  forward. 
If  young  gardeners  are  to  live  in  bothies,  these  bothies  should  be  habitable 
and  comfortable  ;  and  if  the  Saturday  half-holiday  is  feasible,  as  Mr. 
Bardney  and  others  have  proved  from  their  experience  that  it  is,  well, 
why  should  young  gardeners  be  deprived  of  what  men  in  the  majority 
of  occupations  enjoy  ?  It  most  necessarily  be  a  question  of  give  and 
take,  and  young  men  who  are  unwilling  to  work  a  few  hours  extra 
in  times  of  pressure,  or  even  if  they  do  so  grudgingly,  they  are  not 
he  does  not  trouble  about  them.  What  those  many  favours  were  that 
your  correspondent  showered  so  lavishly  on  those  under  him  he  fails  to 
say,  but  as  not  one  showed  the  slightest  gratitude  his  generous  nature 
was  overcome,  and  he  therefore  condemns  the  whole  rising  generation, 
and  concludes  that  “  the  ordinary  young  man  looks  upon  each  new  con¬ 
cession  as  a  sort  of  vantage  ground  upon  which  to  stand  and  make  fresh 
demands.”  If  such  is  the  case,  where  are  the  men  coming  from  to  take 
the  places  of  those  who  now  hold  responsible  positions  as  head 
gardeners  ?  for  surely  men  of  the  stamp  quoted  by  “  Another  Head  ” 
are  not  qualified. 
j  Perhaps  his  feelings  towards  the  whole  rising  generation  have  become 
j  embittered  by  the  ungracious  conduct  of  those  on  whom  his  blessings 
I  fell  that  he  wished  to  vent  his  feelings  on  “  Another  Subordinate,”  and 
;  show  that  young  man  to  what  a  callous  class  he  belonged.  In  spite, 
I  however,  of  “  Another  Head  Gardener’s  ”  peculiar  remarks,  there  are , 
I  I  venture  to  say,  those  among  the  readers  of  the  Journal  of  II orticulture 
j  holding  similar  positions  who  will,  also  from  long  experience,  admit 
I  that  many  of  the  young  gardeners  of  to-day  are  as  painstaking, 
