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JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
August  22,  1901. 
enemies.  tA  strategic  ruse  here,  an  outflanking  movement  there. 
Weary  often,  seldom  conquered  ;  often  poorly  rewarded  in  the  matter  of 
worldly  gear  for  all  his  struggling ;  content  if  by  energy  well  directed 
he  has  circumvented  another  foe.  It  may  be  a  batch  of  Chrysanthemums 
brought  safely  through  an  attack  of  rust.  A  house  of  Grapes  has 
perhaps  by  careful  provisioning  been  raised  from  a  weak  condition 
again  to  fighting  strength,  or  an  ordinary  everyday  garden  crop  may 
have  been  carried  triumphantly  over  a  period  of  droughty  trial.  These 
are  the  battles  delighted  in  hy  the  warrior  craftsman.  At  times 
mere  skirmishes,  and  again  grim  struggles,  in  which  all  that  brain  and 
muscle  are  capable  of  must  be  freely  given,  and  are  given  without 
stint,  unsparingly.  Is  it  nothing  that  men  will  labour  unweariedly 
through  our  frost-bitten  winters  that  the  requisite  temperatures  may 
be  maintained  within  those  “squares  of  tropic  summer  ”  to  insure 
supplies  going  regularly  mto  market ;  that  food  may  be  bought,  and 
flowers  may  be  had  in  the  dull  season  to  cheer  the  sick  and  brighten 
the  homes  of  the  wealthy  ?  True,  there  is  the  reward  in  a  monetary 
sense,  often  sadly  inadequate  as  a  recompense  for  the  amount  of  labour 
cheerfully  given ;  but  this  is  also  true  of  the  soldier’s  guerdon  in  actual 
warfare. 
It  were  possible  to  take  still  higher  ground  in  noticing  what  has 
been  done  for  gardening  by  botanical  collectors  in  foreign  climes. 
Men  have  given  health — even  life  itself ;  faced  danger  great  as  was 
ever  ei  countered  on  battlefield.  For  what  ?  A  pecuniary  considera¬ 
tion  ?  Nay  !  Their  trials  were  endured  for  the  sake  of  gaining  wider 
knowledge  in  the  art  of  gardening  and  for  the  enrichment  of  our 
gardens  at  home.  Look  back  through  the  records  of  horticultural 
history  for  the  past  fifty  years,  and  then,  if  you  can,  say  there  can  be 
no  heroism  in  connection  with  gardening.  There  can  be  no  gainsaying 
that  the  gardener,  during  the  active  portion  of  his  career,  must  be  well 
equipped  to  be  successful.  Energy,  courage,  watchfulness  and  resource, 
are  every  whit  as  desirable  as  amongst  the  rank  and  file  of  an  army. 
To  the  chosen  few  there  may  come  distinction.  Here  and  there  we 
see  a  man  become  the  possessor  of  a  silver  cup  or  a  gold  medal,  but  to 
the  majority  there  is  scanty  meed  of  praise  or  recognition.  I  have 
dwelt  upon  the  combative  side  of  horticulture  thus  far,  but  we  must 
not  forget  there  is  another  point  of  view  from  which  to  look  at  what 
is  frequently  sj  oken  of  as  “  the  peaceful  art  of  gardening.”  That  it 
may  biing  no  small  measure  of  peace  to  the  breast  and  mind  of  many 
a  world-worn  toiler  few  will  deny.  Despite  what  I  have  already 
written  of  the  gardener’s  fighting  qualities,  he  is  generally  looked 
upon  as  a  “  peaceable  sort  of  animal.”  To  us  whose  everyday  lives 
are  encempaseed  by  the  signs  and  wonders  (many  they  are,  if  we  have 
eyes  to  see)  of  our  ancient  craft,  there  can  be  liftle  doubt  of  the  enjoy¬ 
ment  to  be  derived  under  certain  conditions.  Success  in  production, 
considerate  and  appreciative  employers,  a  sense  of  work  faithfully 
carried  cut,  and  ihe  amenities  of  intercourse  with  our  fellow  gardeners 
each  and  all  of  these  count  for  much  in  sweetening  a  somewhat  toil! 
some  and  careworn  existence. 
The  successful  gardener  is  usually  looked  upon  as  a  lucky  individual 
by  those  w  ho  are  still  upon  the  lower  rungs  of  the  ladder.  They  fail  to 
think  of  the  hard  work,  the  strivings,  and  even  failures,  which  men 
undergo  ere  they  reach  the  summit  of  their  aspirations;  and  having 
reached  their  goal,  outsiders  can  little  understand  the  difficulties 
encountered  in  maintaining  the  position  won.  Yet  with  all  these 
trials  one  can  scarce  describe  a  gaidener’s  life  as  unhappy,  when 
under  Providence,  h's  ventures  are  brought  to  a  successful  issue. 
When  crops  are  bountiful  and  produce  of  extra  fine  quality,  who  is 
prouder  or  happier  ?  In  his  own  small  realm  he  may  be,  in  a  sort, 
almost  likenc  d  to  a  monarch.  He  may  preside  over  a  place  remarkable 
for  its  beauty  and  neatness,  and  though  he  knows  well  he  is  but  an 
instrument  in  furthering  the  pleasure  of  his  employer,  the  gardener 
frequently  obtains  as  much,  and  often  more,  enjoyment  from  the 
results  of  his  labours  than  they  do  who  pay  fcr  the  exertions  of  his 
mind  and  body. 
Again,  what  ennobling  lessons  the  man  of  intelligence  may  gain 
who  live  s  so  close  to  the  secrets  of  Nature!  The  refining  and 
elevating  influences,  have  they  not  often  been  wri'ten  of?  It  is 
true  the  worthy  Dame  has  disquieting  and  tempestuous  moments, 
but  there  ceme  the  peaceable  interludes  when  a  saunter  round  some 
old  world  garden  brings  delight  unspeakable  ;  when  the  ear  is  filled 
with  a  multitude  of  musical  sounds,  mingling  in  indescribable 
harmony  ;  when  the  sight  of  bud  and  leaf  and  blossom  is  as  a 
glimpse  into  the  far  away  vistas  of  Paradise.  But  yet  I  must  not 
indulge  in  rhapsodies,  there  is  a  pathetic  side  to  all  this  which  I 
would  fain  touch  on  in  conclusion.  There  comes  a  time,  say  from 
the  middle  of  October  to  about  the  same  period  in  November,  when 
it  always  appears  to  me  that  the  tension  to  which  a  gardener  is 
subject  may  be  to  some  extent  relaxed  ;  when  a  short  armistice 
seems  to  be  arranged,  or  a  truce  called  with  the  foes  which  had 
been  “as  a  thorn  in  the  flesh.”  Plants  are  housed  for  the  winter ; 
crops  are  harvested,  and,  except  in  the  case  of  very  early  forcing,  the 
wilder  cleansing  has  not  been  taken  in  hand.  A  peaceful  period  when 
we  may  take  stock  of  the  season’s  happenings,  and  look  back  on< 
victory  or  defeat  according  as  the  fight  has  gone — for  or  against  us.. 
This  short  spell  is,  it  seems  to  me,  a  reminder  of  the  time  to  come, 
when,  having  passed  through  the  various  stages  of  warfare,  we  come 
to  that  other  stage,  when  our  spades  hang  rusty  and  our  hoes  are 
idle.  No  more  is  the  blue  apron  donned  by  us,  but  is  worn  by  more 
active  participants  in  the  fight.  To  all  whose  existence  is  sufficiently 
prolonged  there  comes  this  “quiet  evening.”  A  sort  of  rest  for  the 
wearied  brain  and  body  before  passing  to  a  greater  girden  than  we 
can  imagine —  Y 
Where  falls  not  hail,  or  rain,  or  any  snow, 
Nor  ever  wind  blows  loudly. 
In  the  meantime  we  can  all  take  to  heart,  and  act  upon,  the  lines 
with  which  Tennyson  conc'udes  the  verses  an  extract  is  taken  from, 
at  the  beginning  of  this  article.  . 
And  I  must  work  thro’  months  of  toil, 
And  years  of  cultivation, 
Upon  my  proper  patch  of  soil 
To  grow  my  own  plantation.  < 
I’ll  take  the  showers  as  they  fall, 
I  will  not  vex  my  bosom  ; 
Enough  if  at  the  end  of  all 
A  little  garden  blossom. 
— -John  Weight,  junior. 
- - 
The  Trials  of  a  Landscape  Gardener. 
In  some  respects  a  good  landscape  gardener,  landscape  engineer,  or 
landscape  architect,  whatever  he  may  be  called,  in  connection  with  the 
artistic  and  practical  development  of  landscape  and  grounds,  occupies 
an  unenviable  position,  and  he  may  be  likened  to  the  pioneers  in  any 
great  cause  where  advances  are  met  with  distrust  and  antagonism  born 
of  ignorance.  He  has,  first  of  all  to  show  that  his  work,  though  closely 
associated  with  the  pick  and  shovel,  is  not  of  it,  and  has  artistic 
realisations  as  well  as  natural  and  purely  mechanical  ones.  He  is  a 
true  artist  with  visionary  ideas  largely,  which  are  tempered  by  the 
practical  moulding  of  Nature  and  brought  into  living  facts.  An 
undeveloped  piece  of  land  is  seen  by  him  through  evolutionary  lenses, 
and  he  pictures  the  effects  which  might  be  produced  by  grading,, 
planting,  arranging  paths  and  drives,  or  altering  the  oourse  of  streams. 
His  first  picture  is,  perhaps,  barely  more  than  an  outline  suoh  as  a 
painter  might  sketch  preparatory  to  adding  the  colours  and  touches 
which  almost  put  life  into  a  portrait;  the  development  and  details  are 
largely  the  result  of  study  and  practical  ability,  always  accompanied  by 
the  artistic  touch  and  nature  appeoiation  which  belong  to  a  good 
landscape  gardener. 
But  a  small  percentage  of  the  public,  says  “Meehans’  Monthly,” 
appreciates  the  qualifications  possessed  by  the  landscape  gardener ;  to 
the  remainder  he  is  simply  an  unusually  good  gardener,  or  one  who  is 
too  much  above  menial  work  and  desires  to  theorise.  They  do  not 
believe  he  can  be  on  the  same  plane  as  men  of  other  professions,  and 
he  has  to  force  his  way  to  the  front  by  showing  results,  and  these  do 
not  come  quickly  as  a  rule.  Like  any  other  profession,  there  are 
“  quacks,”  to  use  a  meaning  popular  term,  and  the  true  landscape  artist 
must  beat  down  the  barrier  of  distrust  which  such  men  create 
continually.  Their  knowledge  and  practice  are  both  limited,  and  they 
will  make  any  kind  of  bargain,  whatever  is  best  calculated  to  obtain  a 
good  sum  for  a  little  work — future  results  are  of  but  little  moment  to 
these  transient  gardeners. 
Where  a  man  is  recognised  to  be  master  of  his  profession  he  should 
be  hampered  as  little  as  possible,  especially  not  before  he  has  opportunity 
to  present  his  ideas.  Expense  ought,  so  far  as  practicable,  be  a 
secondary  consideration,  just  as  it  would  be  were  a  doctor  of  medicine 
called  in  for  medical  advice.  The  best  should  always  be  the  highest 
aim  in  any  walk  of  life;  and  no  one  asks  to  receive  value,  even  in 
advice  merely,  without  offering  full  equivalent. 
