June  18,  1903. 
JOUBNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
531  - 
him  that  there  is  at  the  present  time  no  lack  of  willing  workers 
-quite  ready  to  take  the  responsibility  of  ownership.  I  agree  with 
“  \V.  P.  R.”  and  “Owner  and  Tenant”  that  easy  methods  of 
acquiring  land,  and  as  few  restrictions  as  possible  in  regard  to 
transfer,  will  do  more  than  almost  anything  else  to  awaken  the 
slumbering  interests  in  rural  pursuits.  When  a  man  realises  that 
every  shilling  spent  on  improvements  will  benefit  himself  or  his 
heirs  he  has  a  strong  incentive  to  industry  and  thrift,  which 
helps  him  to  break  down  hosts  of  obstacles. 
A  Bill  has  recently  been  presented  in  Parliament  which  will 
enable  farmers  and  small  holders  to  purchase  the  land  by  rent ; 
if  this  is  passed  in  anything  like  its  present  form  it  will  be  the 
means  of  brihging  the  people  “Back  to  the  Land  ”  indeed,  and  to 
the  secux'ity  of  undisputable  possession. — H.  D. 
Rent  Anomalies. 
It  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  this  is  a  tempting  subject;  one 
needs  but  to  read  the  varying  opinions  expressed  in  such  an 
interesting  manner  to  note  this.  Under  such  circumstances  as 
described  by  “  W.  S.,”  a  certain  amount  of  sympathy  may  well 
be  felt  for  the  landlord  who  has  fallen  on  evil  days.  But  why  in  the 
face  of  such  heavy  depreciation  in  land  values  does  the  landowner 
so  frequently  show  such  an  antipathy  to  selling,  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  small  holdings 
“  Owner  and  Tenant  ”  stands  up  boldly  for  a  change  in  the 
land  lav.'S,  and  refers  to  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of  i^urchasing 
•small  plots  of  land.  These  are  not  insurmountable,  it  is  true, 
but  it  is  well  enough  known  by  most  people  the  price  that  must 
be  paid  for  small  holdings,  whether  bought  outright  or  rented. 
In  my  own  neighbourhood  labourers,  tradesmen  and  others  pay 
at  the  rate  of  £4  per  acre  for  allotment  ground,  while  the  farmer 
■over  the  hedge,  under  the  same  owner,  for  the  same  kind  of  soil, 
pays  £I  per  acre.  On  the  same  page  I  find  “  D.  C.”  expressing 
himself  emphatically  that  the  small  holding  system  does  not  pay. 
I  admit  that  it  does  not  when  the  wrong  people  are  the  holders. 
But  given  the  right  class  of  workers,  where  the  men  have  real 
helpmeets,  I  just  as  emphatically  say  that  the  small  holding 
system  does  pay,  and  I  do  not  speak  without  some  small  know¬ 
ledge,  for  business  brings  me  into  contact  with  such  people  almost 
■every  day.  It  may  not  be  one  of  the  great  aspects  of  the  ques¬ 
tion,  though  of  some  inportance,  as  “  D.  C.”  tells  us  “  bare  exist¬ 
ence  is  not  everything.”  I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  more 
falls  to  the  lot  of  the  average  farm  labourer!  There  certainly 
cannot  be  much  of  luxury  or  social  pleasure  in  his  life.- — Trewen. 
The  “Poor"  Gardemr. 
A  book  has  recently  been  published,  “  Things  About  Our 
Neighbourhood,”  by  Menie  Muriel  Dowie,  which  will  interest  all 
gardeners,  at  all  events  the  first  portion  of  the  work  will  do  so. 
It  relates  the  experiences  of  “  the  daughter  of  the  house  ”  (who 
knows  nothing  about  gardening)  with  her  successive  so-called 
“gardeners.”  Possibly  the  statements  are,  to  a  certain  extent, 
exaggerated;  but  anyone  who  had  had  experience  with  the  job¬ 
bing  gardener  will  be  certain  of  an  hour’s  enjoyment.  The  man 
who  believes  all  his  troubles  and  failures  are  caused  by  “  the 
grub,”  of  which  he  appears  to  know  there  is  only  one  variety; 
the  man  who  believes  in  size  only  as  a  standard  of  value,  and  the 
varieties  of  gardeners  who  are  gardeners  because  they  are  failures 
in  all  other  occupations,  are  described  with  a  charm  and  raciness 
which  holds  the  reader  fascinated  and  amused  in  an  extraordinary 
way.  The  trouble  is  that  such  men  as  those  whose  sayings  and 
doings  are  made  so  amusing  undoubtedly  exist,  and  lower  the 
standard  both  of  quality  and  wages  of  gardeners  as  a  class,  to  the 
injury  of  the  really  good!  men.  The  cause  of  their  existence  is 
easy  to  discover,  but  the  remedy  will  probably  never  be  found. 
The  successful  tradesman,  with  a  knowledge  of  groceries,  or 
boots,  or  something  which  has  enabled  him  to  take  a  house  in  the 
country,  must  have  a  garden,  and  grow  his  own  flowers  and  vege¬ 
tables,  an  art  concerning  which  he  knows  absolutely  nothing, 
but  simply  imagines  that  he  will  have  unlimited  supplies  of  the 
best  flowefs  and  vegetables.  He  hardly  knows  a  spade  from  a 
tablespoon,  possibly  starts  digging,  for  some  unknown  purpose, 
finds  it  hard  work,  and  calls  in  the  odd  man,  who  has  probably 
been  supporting  the  door  frame  of  the  nearest  beerhouse,  the 
only  occupation  he  is  fit  for.  He  comes,  talks  with  apparent 
knowledge,  and  is  engaged.  Possibly  his  fir.st  energies  are 
devoted  to  finding  the  way  to  the  door  of  the  kitchen,  and  the 
heart  of  the  cook,  in  the  hopes  of  beer,  present  or  in  the  early 
future.  His  hours  will  be  nominally  from  6.30  a.m..  but  he 
soon  learns  the  time  his  employer  gets  up ;  probably,  being  town 
bred,  this  may  be  eight  o’clock,  if  so,  the  gardener  turns  up  ten 
minifies  before,  shows  himself,  and  then  goes  to  his  breakfast. 
Coming  back  at  his  leisure  he  “  potters  about  ”  doing  something 
which  makes  the  most  show  for  the  least  work,  talks  to  his 
employer  if  allowed,  and  says  what  he  is  going  to  do,  and  promises 
anything;  when  his  employer  goes  out  of  sight  he  suddenly 
becomes  tired,  and  waits  for  dinner-time,  and  so  the  days  pass, 
the  only  thing  he  really  does  attend  to  is  the  collection  and 
spending  of  his  wages. 
We  have  a  favourite  corner  near  here  where,  on  a  fine  day, 
from -two  to  four  of  these  bidlliant  specimens  may  be  found  at 
any  time,  their  employees’  gardens  all  adjoining  the  cross  roads 
where  they  congregate.  These  men  collects, not  earn)  3s.  to  3s.  6d. 
per  day,  their  employers  know  absolutely''hothing  of  gardening, 
and  think  that  the  work  which  a  good  man  will  do  in  two  or  three 
hours  is  really  a  hard  day’s  labour.  Occasionally  one  of  these 
brilliant  specimens  applies  for  work  to  a  man  who  understands 
what  a  gardener  should  be.  I  have  seen  a  good  many  of  these 
cases ;  the  “  gardener  ”  soon  finds  his  mistake,  and  usually  dis¬ 
appears  in  an  hour  or  two  without  either  notice  or  wages,  and 
starts  on  the  tramp  again,  until  he  finds  another  employer  who 
knows  as  little  as  himself.  There  is,  of  course,  one  remedy  :  any 
employer,  if  he  is  to  be  properly  served,  must  either  be  able  to 
do  the  work  himself,  or  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  how  it 
ought  to  be  done;  this,  of  course,  is  not  possible  with  the  town 
bred  man  who  goes  to  live  in  the  country,  and,  of  course,  is  “  going 
to  have  a  good  garden  ” ;  and  the  lazy  and  incompetent  man  who 
lowers  the  standard  of  quality  and  of  payment  is  perpetuated. 
The  weak  point  is  clear  enough,  the  trouble  is  to  find  a  remedy, 
and  this  would  tax  the  powers  of  all,  whether  gardeners  or  em¬ 
ployers.  Unfortunately,  the  ranks  of  the  useless  odd  men  are 
also  recruited  by  many  who  would  be,  and  ought  to  be,  good 
gardeners,  but  who  are  apparently  born  tired,  and  miss  all  their 
opportunities — T.  F. 
Saturday  Half-holiday  for  Gardeners. 
The  interesting  letter  from  the  pen  of  “W.  S.,”  page  509, 
points  to  an  instance  which  is  only  one  out  of  a  large  number  in 
which  the  introduction  of  the  Saturday  half-holiday  has  been 
attended  with  equal  satisfaction  to  employer  and  emploj-es,  and 
I  would  add  if  those  who  are  still  averse  to  granting  the  privilege 
to  the  workers  in  the  garden,  be  they  head  gardeners  or  em¬ 
ployers,  really  knew  how  much  actual  work  is  done  between  the 
hours  of  dinnertime  and  knocking  off  on  Saturdays,  other  than 
cleaning  up  and  waiting  for  the  clock  to  strike,  they  might 
realise  at  once  that  they  would  lose  nothing  by  granting  the 
Saturday  half-holiday. — H. 
Foe  Gardeners  and  Seedsmen. 
I  am  sure  the  letter  by  “  W.  S.”  in  your  last  issue  has  been 
read  by  many  of  his  fellow  gardeners  with  no  small  amount  of 
interest.  It  is  evident  that  the  Saturday  half-holiday  works  well 
with  him,  as  it  does  with  many  others,  and  I  feel  that  it  should 
be  far  more  universal  than  it  is.  It  can  be  done  in  gardening 
quite  as  easily  as  with  any  other  trade,  and  I  am  confident  that 
employers  would  lose  nothing  by  giving  their  employes  one  half 
day  per  week ;  in  fact,  I  will  go  so  far  as  to  say  they  would  be 
the  gainer  over  others  who  still  keep  their  men  at  work  till 
6  p.m.  on  Saturdays.  I  understand  that  Messrs.  Pearson,  H.  B. 
May,  Clibran  and  Son,  Dicksons  Limited,  Rochford  and  Sons, 
and  others  have  adopted  the  “  Saturday  afternoon  off,”  and 
would  that  others  would  follow  the  good  example  set  by  these 
feading  firms.  I  have  in  my  mind  men  who,  during  the  seed 
season,  only  see  their  children  once  a  week.  This  is  surely 
hard,  and  what  a  boon  it  would  be  if  they  had  the  Saturday 
afternoons  to  take  their  wives  and  children  out  into  the  country 
for  fresh  air.  We  should  have  fewer  pale-faced  children  or 
doctor’s  bills,  and  should  feel  that  we  are  men-  Perhaps  some 
leading  firm  will  take  the  matter  up  and  appeal  through  your 
columns  to  their  fellow  nurserymen  to  study  their  employes  more. 
Not  only  do  I  appeal  for  the  gardener  in  private  service,  but 
also  for  the  Trade. — Foreman. 
Gold  Medallist  in  Horticulture. 
At  Snow  Hill  Station,  Birmingham,  are  two  advertisement 
boards  upon  which  are  the  words  “  Gold  Medallist  in  Horti¬ 
culture.”  Nine  hundred  and  ninety-nine  out  of  every  thousand 
persons  who  read  those  words,  as  there  exhibited,  will  naturally 
think  that  the  person  claiming  such  a  distinction  makes  the  claim 
upon  the  basis  of  having  been  awarded  such  medal  in  recognition 
of  being  the  “  senior  wrangler  ”  in  some  examination  in  horti¬ 
culture.  And  if  that  gold  medal  has  not  been  so  obtained  it  is 
difficult  to  understand  how  the  person  using  the  above  words  in 
his  advertisements  can  claim  to  be  a  “  gold  medallist  in  horti¬ 
culture.”  Perhaps  the  person  who  has  publicly  claimed  to  be  a 
“  gold  medallist  in  horticulture  ”  will  be  so  kind  as  to  enlighten 
your  readers  generally,  and  the  people  of  Birmingham  in  par¬ 
ticular,  as  to  the  grounds  upon  which  he  bases  his  claim  to  the 
above  distinction. ?  What  training  has  he  had,  and  where ?  What 
examination  in  horticulture  has  he  passed  ?  So  far  as  I  am  aware, 
the  person  who  obtains  the  highest  number  of  marks  in  the  ex¬ 
amination  annually  held  by  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  is  the 
only  person  entitled  to  announce  himself  or  herself  as  a  “  gold 
medallist  in  horticulture.”  Does  tlio  advertiser  at  Snow  Hill 
wish  the  public  to  think  that  he  has  won  the  Society’s  gold 
medal  ? — Inquirer. 
