402 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
May  12,  1904 
Foremen  and  Jnrneymen. 
It  may  surprise  some  of  my  reeclers  to  ’ear  that  in  the 
establishment  where  I  earns  my  daily  knist  there's  only  one 
single,  solitairy  foreman.  ?sot  but  w’ot  the  place  ain’t  on  a  par 
wi’  most  others  about,  ’cos  we’ve  got  in.side  fruit  and  piaiit 
tlepartments,  a  flower  garden,  pleshure  giound,  kitchen  garden, 
and  so  on,  and,  in  order  to  be  quite  up-to-date,  o’  course,  thGi\ 
ought  to  be  a  foreman  for  each  one  o'  the  above ;  but  our  ’eaa 
gardener  ain’t  so  mighty  gone  on  foremen  as  some  of  ’em  aie, 
and  he  looks  arter  things  lii.sself,just  ’avin’  one  chap  to  attend 
to  matters  and  take  responsibility  w’en  he’s  away. 
Accordin’  to  my  way  o’  thinkin’,  too  many  foremen  in  a 
place  are  apt  to  get  things  muddled  up  rather.  I  once  remem-  , 
ber  goin’  to  a  place  not  far  from  ’ere,  to  beg  a  bit  o’  Parsely,  as 
we  ’appened  to  be  short,  and  th’  ’ead  gardener  worn’t  about. 
Well,  1  interviewed  one  foreman,  and  he  referred  me  to  another, 
and  dm  to  .somebody  else,  till  at  last  I  got  inter  a  fair  muddle; 
so  I  stopped  a  lad'  wot  didn’t  seem  quite  big  enuff  to  ’ave 
charge  of  a  department,  and  asked  ’im  if  he  could  kindly  tell 
me  where  I  should  find  th’  Parsely  foreman.  He  considered  a 
bit  to  remember  which  garden  the  Parsely  growed  in,  and  then 
took  me  to  a  chap  as  supplied  my  ’umble  needs,  and  I  cleared 
off,  prayin’  to  the  fates  that  it  might  niver  be  my  unappy  lot 
to  work' in  a  garden  where  every  other  man  wos  a  foreman. 
Accprding  to  a  man  as  I  ’as  partiklar  respect  for — William 
Shakespeer,  late  o’  Stratford,  in  the  County  o’  Warwick—I  ask, 
“  Wot’s  in  a  name?”  I’ve  thort  several  times  as  th’  Bard  o’ 
Avon  must  ha’  had  garden  foremen  in  his  mind  w’en  he  ’rote 
those  theer  words,  for,  acordin’  to  the  gen’ral  acceptance  o’  th’ 
term  (’cept  in  a  gardin),  a  foreman  is  a  chap  wot  bosses  about 
and  sees  as  others  work  (this  is  th’  soart  o’  foremanship  as  I’m 
on  the  look-out  for) ;  but  theer  ain’t  much  o’  that  wen  you 
have  one  lad  under  yer  and  ’ave  to  do  all  th’  work  yerself,  as 
well  as  keep  yer  junior  out  o’  mischeef. 
Potterin’  about  th’  glass  department  in  a  good  many  gardins 
(I  don’t  mean  a  reg’lar  beehive  o’  foremen),  you’ll  find  a  fore¬ 
man,  a  first  jurneyman,  a  second  ditto,  and  a  juvenile  indi¬ 
vidual,  known  as  the  garden  lad.  To  put  it  in  an  Irish  soart  of 
a  way,  theer  ain’t  much  distinckshon  between  ’em,  and  yet 
theer  is.  Th’  foreman  ’as  an  air  of  distink  supeeriority  over 
th’  fust  jurneyman,  ’cos  he  has  to  attend  to  th’  requirements  o’ 
th’  young  ladies  w’en  th’  ’ead  gardener  ain’t  about,  and  in  th’ 
same  way  th’  first  jurneyman  is  a  bit  ’igher  up  than  the  second, 
while  th^  latter  bosses  it  over  th’  garden  lad  in  a  manner  that 
sometimes  causes  th’  youngster  to  resent,  and  perhaps  get  ’is 
’ead  punched  for  ’is  pains. 
You’d  be  surprised  ’o\v  a  round  o’  promoshon  alters  the 
bearin’  o’  these  chaps.  Supposin’  the  foreman  gets  a  ’ead  place 
and  leaves  (he  gen’rally  ’as  to  advertise,  and  do,  for  a  matter  of 
eighteen  months  afore  he  gets  suited  (but  he  can  reckon  on  it 
coinin’  off  if  he  only  has  patience  to  wait  long  enuff),  and  th’ 
fust  jurneyman  gets  ’is  place.  He  ain’t  th’  same  chap  as  he 
wos  afore,  and  just  gives  yer  a  kurt  little  nod  o’  recognishion 
w’en  he  meets  yer  in  th’  village  of  a  Saterday  nite.  Likewise, 
th’  second  jurneyman  promoted  to  fust  goes  up  a  number  o’ 
pegs  in  th’  estimashion  of  ’is  noble  self ;  but  th’  greatest  change 
of  all  is  that  o’  th’  garden  lad,  now  livin’  in  th’  bothy  and 
bearin’  th’  title  o’  second  jurneyman,  at  a  salary  o’  twelve 
shillins  a  week.  The  woollen  skarf  and  corduroys  of  his  pot- 
washin’  days  are  diskarded  for  ever,  in  faver  of  a  3in  collar  and 
cloth  trowsers,  and  he  nods  good-mornin’  to  a  laborer  like 
myself  as  though  he’d  never  dined  aside  of  ’im  in  th’  pottin’ 
shed  in  his  life. 
Another  thing  w’ot  amuses  me  is  w’en  a  jurneyman  leeves 
to  earn  fifteen  bob  a  week  in  another  gardin,  and  comes  back  to 
the  owd  plaice,  say  twelve  months  arterwards,  to  ’ave  a  look 
round.  Lor,  ’ow  he  does  put  side  on  ;  flips  th’  ends  o’  th’  plants 
wi’  his  stick,  and  tells  yer  ’ow  they  grow  ’em  where  he  is.  If 
th’  garden  lad  as  he  left  behind  ’im  ’appens  to  be  shovin’  his 
arms  a  long  way  through  the  sleeves  of  his  jacket,  and  thinks 
he  ought  to  be  gettin’  on  a  bit,  th’  tother  one  makes  ’im  more 
discontented  Avi’  ’is  lot  by  askin’  him  w’ot  he  is  doin’  ’ere  all 
this  time,  and  then,  in  a  real  fatherly  manner,  promises  ’im  as 
he’ll  get  ’im  a  place. 
Judgin’  by  appearances,  which,  o’  course,  ain’t  always  th’  best 
o’  things  to  go  by,  one  woidd  think  as  th’  chap  Avas  the  boss  of 
th’  e.stablishment,  AA’here  pi’aps  he  has  charge  of  a  coAvcumber 
frame.  I  don’t  say  as  there’s  anythin’  ’rong  AA'i’  youths  as  do 
this  kind  o’  thing,  but  it’s  a  Avay  as  the  risin’  jenerashon  o’ 
gardeners  ’ave,  and  they  can’t  ’elp  it.  I  daresay  aft  if  I  left  my 
natic'e  ’eath  (as  th’  poets  put  it),  and  travelled  abroad  to  the 
extent  of  about  fifty  miles.  I  should  coom  back  as  big  as  th’  rest 
of  ’em,  but  I  knoAv  one  thing,  it  Avouldn’t  be  any  good  o’  trying 
to  patrcinise  my  OAyd  AA'oman,  ’cos  she’s  got  particklar  objecksons 
to  that  soart  o’  tiling,  and  Iioaa's  to  none  ’cept  them  as  .she  is 
pleesed  to  call  ’cr  betters,  of  Avhich  I  ain’t  one. 
There  is  a  time  Av’en  I  feels  real  sorry  for  a  foreman,  and 
then  I  am  glad  that  a  kind  fate  kept  me  a  laberer  ’stead  o’ 
makin’  a  full-fledged  gardiner  on  me,  as  it  might  ’a’  done.  Th’ 
(s'lne  referred  to  is  arter  th’  chap  ’as  done  a  matter  o’  fifteen 
years  as  a  garden  lad,  jurneyman  second  and  fust,  and  foreman, 
and  summat  tells  ’im  as  he’s  served  a  pretty  fair  apprentice¬ 
ship  and  might  A^enture  on  a  ’ead  place.  Ten  to  one  timer’s 
another  spirit  promptin’  of  ’im  as  Avell,  in  the  shape  of  a 
bloomin’  young  Avooman,  as  is  sighin’  for  a  ’ome  of  her  OAvn,  so 
betAA’een  the  tivo  he  naturally  gets  anxious.  At  finst  sight  it 
might  not  seem  as  if  a  ’ead  place  Avants  a  lot  o’  gettin,  but  the 
foreman  finds  this  out  as  time  goes  on.  He  begins  by  settin’  a 
price  on  his  services,  and  decides  that  he’ll  have  such  and  such 
a  place  and  no  other,  but  he  alters  his  tune  as  th’  months  go  by, 
and  th’  place  doesn’t  come.  He  takes  a  tremendous  interest  in 
th’  back  pages  o’  th’  gardenin’  papers  Avhere  th’  advertisements 
are,  and  grudginly  spends  th’  money  Av’ot  he  is  savin’  up  for 
furni.shin’  on  lettin’  the  public  knoAV  as  he  Avants  a  place. 
Weary  Avith  Availin’,  he  mite  be  inclined  to  throAv  up  the  ’ole 
thing  and  get  off  to  Canady,  but  there’.s  that  speerit,  as  I  spoke 
of  just  noAV,  still  promptin’  ’im,  and  p’raps  suggestin’  as  she’d 
be  contented  Avi’  summat  smaller  for  th’  sak’  o’  gettin’  that 
little  ’ome  <as  her  ’art’s  fixed  on,  and  one  day  the  chance  comes. 
IMaybe  it  ain’t  Avot  th’  chap  ’ad  in  ’is  mind  Av’en  ho  first  set 
out  for  a  ’ead  place,  but  he’s  ready  for  anythin’  by  noAV,  and 
summat  Avhispers  in  his  ear,  “Better  take  it,  lad;  p’raps  you 
Avon’t  get  another.”  He  turns  it  over  in  his  mind,  and  sets 
off  agen  th’  Ioav  Avage  th’  perkAvi.sits  of  ’ouse,  A'egetables,  and 
firin’,  AA'i’  p’raps  milk  throAvn  in,  and  the  end  of  it  is  that 
another  foreman  becomes  a  ’ead.  If  all  goes  on  aa’oII,  the  little 
’ome  becomes  a  fact  in  time,  and  Ave  learn  of  it  through  a  small 
cardboard  box  as  comes  to  th’  garden,  containin’  a  bit  o’ 
Aveddin’  cake  and  an  intima.shion  as  there’ll  be  a  crumb  apiece 
all  round. 
Bein’  a  thinkin’  man  myself,  I  turns  matters  o’er  in  my 
mind,  and  trys  to  AAonder  Avhether,  arter  all,  me,  wi’  my 
eighteen  bob  a  Aveek  and  a  tidy  little  cottage  and  garden,  am 
much  Avorse  off  than .  ’undreds  o’  ’ead  gardiuers  Avi’  ’arf  as 
much  agen  and  all  th’  Avorry  throAvn  in,  but  that,  o’  course,  is 
another  story. 
Ah,  the  chaps  I’a’G  seen  pass  in  and  out  o’  this  jAlace  in  my 
time;  gardin  lads,  jurneymen,  and  foremen,  some  good  ’uns 
and  some  no  good  at  ail ;  some  Av’ot  ’as  made  their  Avay  in  th’ 
Avorld,  and  some  as  have  made  noAvt  on’t  Avhatever.  Arter  all, 
gardinin’s  a  big  lottery,  and  yer  go  tumblin’  along  through  th’ 
stages  of  jurneyman  and  foremanship,  never  knoAvin’  Av’ot  it’s 
all  goin’  to  end  in  till  yer  gets  a  ’ead  place,  and  then  there’s 
the  neAV  anxiety  that  th’  master  or  missus  may  die,  th’  place 
may  change  ’ands  or  th’  establi.shment  be  reduced,  and  you’ll 
find  yerself,  like  the  Children  o’  Israel,  on  the  march  once  more. 
— Old  Jim. 
Bugs,  Beautilul  and  Otherwise. 
Some  of  our  Transatlantic  cousins  take  much  freedom  in  their 
application  of  AA’ords  to  objects.  Bug,  for  example,  is  a  name 
often  given  to  various  insects  that  are  very  distinct  from  the 
bug  tribe.  Many  beetles  are  called  bugs,  grubs  also  of  Ijeetles, 
flies,  and  other  families,  caterpillars  possibly,  though  they  are 
more  likely  to  be  styled  “  Avorms.”  Properly,  bugs  are  the 
insects  belonging  to  the  old  order  Hemiptera,  chiefly  small,  and 
very  prolific.  The  aphis  and  coccus  are  bugs,  so,  too,  the 
unpleasant  “cuckoo-spit,”  AA’hich  is  jmst  about  to  become  mani¬ 
fest. 
But  the  first  of  the  family  to  receive  this  name  seems  to  have 
been  the  domestic  bug.  According  to  some  people,  it  Avas  intro¬ 
duced  Avith  timber  after  the  Fire  of  London,  but  others  surmise 
an  allusion  to  the  insect  in  books  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
AnyhoAV,  it  is  not  considered  to  be  naturally  British.  Why 
Avas  the  name  applied  first  to  this  troublesome  species,  and  then 
to  a  tribe  of  insects?  This  journal  is  not  the  place  for  avoixI 
studies,  but  AA'e  must  point  out  Avhat  some  may  not  knoAv.  It 
seem.s  funny  to  read  in  an  old  version  of  the  Bible,  “  Thou  shalt 
]iot  1)6  afraid  of  any  bugs  by  night.”  Coming  from  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  biff/,  it  meant  an  object  of  terror,  especially  an  hobgoblin. 
We  still  speak  of  a  bugbear  and  bogey.  It  passed  to  the  insect 
because  this  caused  alarm.  According  to  some,  the  bites  Avero 
thought  at  first  to  be  signs  of  a  dangerous  complaint.  Or  it 
may  have  been  from  a  superstition  that  the  appearance  of  bugs 
in  numbers  Avas  a  sign  of  death  in  a  house. 
The  fact  is  obvious  that  the  ordinary  food  of  the  bug  is  not 
blood,  like  that  of  the  flea,  since  the  insects  have  occurred  in 
thousands  or  millions  about  old  houses  and  sheds  that  were 
untenanted  by  men  or  animals,  Avhere  they  must  have  subsisted 
upon  vegetable  juices.  It  has  been  suggested  bugs  might  prey 
upon  the  mites,  Avhich  often  abound  in  such  places,  but  this  is 
hardly  probable,  as  they  have  a  sucking  apparatus  and  no  jaAvs. 
The  bed  bug  is  sought  out  by  a  predatory  relative.  Hie  Reduvius 
personatus,  Avhich  iu  its  larval  state  disguises  itself  Avith  a 
coating  of  dust.  After  dark,  the  broAvn  and  yelloAv  mature 
insect  flies  about,  seizing  Avhat  small  species  it  can  secure,  pre¬ 
ferring  our  tormentors.  If  touched,  it  gives  an  odour  quite  as 
