October  £9,  19C3. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
395 
cuttings  in  pots  or  in  a  sphagnum  bed  over  warmth,  while  the 
tops  of  nearly  all  the  tall  growers  may  be  taken  off  occasionally 
and  rooted.  The  i^arenl  plant  soon  breaks  into  fresh  growth. 
All  like  plenty  of  sunlight,  though,  of  course,  blinds  have  to  be 
used  to  break  the  full  force  of  its  rays  in  summer. — H. 
Single-handed. 
“  Where  is  So-and-So  now  ?  ”  “  I  hardly  know,  but  I  fancy  he 
is  in  a  single-handed  place  somewhere.” 
More  than  once  I  have  heard  the  above  question  asked  and 
answer  given  in  gardening  circles,  and  from  the  very  tone  of 
the  reply  you  may  gather  that  it  refers  to  a  horticultural  failure, 
whole  or  partial.  Fallen  to  a  single-handed  place!  This  has 
been  the  lot  of  many  a  man  who  has  belonged  to  what  I  might 
call  the  upper  circle  of  head  gardeners  who  control  pretentious 
establishments.  They  drop  out  of  the  ranks,  so  to  speak,  through 
some  cause  or  other,  for  which  they  may  or  may  not  be  respon¬ 
sible,  and  in  their  changed  position,  down  on  one  of  the  lower 
staves  of  the  ladder,  their  former  friends  speak  of  them,  generally 
kindly  and  sympathetically,  but  only  as  single-handed  gardeners. 
It  is  the  way  of  the  world ;  some  go  up,  others  come  down,  just 
as  they  always  did  in  this  rough-and-tumble  world  of  ours. 
Ah !  there  are  many  little  tragedies  on  the  gardening  stage. 
More  than  one  good  man  has  pushed  his  way  to  the  front,  perhaps 
beginning  his  career  of  responsibility  as  head  of  a  single-handed 
establishment,  and  then  worked  upwards  till  he  obtained  control 
of  what  is  known  as  a  good  place.  But  some  men  are  not  equal 
to  success,  and  lose  their  balance  when  they  reach  a  high  position. 
Illustrations  which  prove  this  are  common  enough  in  the  garden¬ 
ing  world,  and  most  of  us  are  acquainted  with  men  who  did  not 
know  when  they  were  well  off,  but  grew  too  big  or  acted  in  some 
other  foolish  way  until  the  end  came  and  they  found  themselves 
“  out  of  place.”  Some  are  fortunate  enough  to  meet  with  other 
appointments,  but  not  all,  and,  with  reputations  partly  gone, 
they  slide  and  slide  till  the  single-handed  haven  opens  its  doors 
for  their  reception. 
But  the  single-handed  gardener  who  has  fallen  from  a  higher 
place  may  also  claim  our  sympathy,  for  perhaps  he  is  the  victim 
of  circumstances.  The  destiny  of  a  gardener  often  hangs  by 
slender  tbreads,  for  he  plays  his  part  in  the  world  of  luxury.  He 
may  go  on  for  years  in  peace  and  comfort,  becoming  wedded  to 
his  own  particular  sphere  in  life  till  he  is  really  unsuited  for  any 
other,  and  then  something  happen.^.  A  death  in  the  family  he 
serves,  a  change  of  ownership,  or  some  stroke  of  financial  mis¬ 
fortune  may  make  all  the  difference  to  him,  and,  without  being 
actually  to  blame,  he  finds  him.-elf  amongst  the  ranks  of  the 
single-handed. 
But  there  is  a  good  deal  of  bounce  about  some  gardeners. 
They  go  up  and  then  come  down,  but  the  bump  on  to  the  single- 
handed  place  is  not  .sufficient  to  hold  them  there,  and  after  a 
.spell,  during  which  they  perhaps  learn  useful  lessons,  they  bounce 
up  again,  and  we  find  them  once  more  in  the  ranks  of  their 
former  friends.  The  society  of  gardenei's  is  not  unlike  the  re.st 
of  the  world.  The  fraternity  is  a  broad  one,  and  the  wmrd 
“  gardener  ”  is  comprehensive ;  but  in  a  social  sense  there  are 
lines  of  division.  Go  to  a  big  show,  or  a  gathering  of  horticul¬ 
turists,  and  you  will  .see  it.  There  the  heads  of  tip-top  establish¬ 
ments  hob-nob  together  quite  naturally,  and  have  very  little  in 
common  with  the  pair  of  single-handed  friends  who  are  enjoying 
the  rare  luxury  of  a  “day  off,”  and  are  taking  just  as  much 
interest  in  the  proceedings.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  the 
“  big  heads  ”  are  in  any  way  snobbish,  because  these  lines  of 
distinction  come  quite  natural  in  all  occupations  comprised  of 
various  degrees. 
To  get  an  idea  of  wdiat  our  young  gardener  in  the  bothy 
thinks  of  single-handed  pro.spect.s,  you  should  watch  him  scan  the 
advertisement  columns  of  his  horticultural  journal  at  the  time 
when  he  wants  to  make  a  move,  and  note  his  air  of  disgust  when 
he  comes  to  the  paragraph  (there  are  a  good  many  of  this  kind) 
which  states  that  a  gardener,  single-handed,  is'  wanted,  who 
will  be  expected  to  fulfil  sundry  other  duties  which  come  outside 
the  range  of  horticulture.  The  young  man  has  arrived  at  a 
critical  period  of  his  life.  He  has  jogged  through  the  jmars  of 
probation.ship  iileasantly  enough,  and  has  followed  the  oi'thodox 
routine  of  moving  from  i^lace  to  place  to  gain  his  experience, 
with  the  vision  of  a  good  appointment  before  him  all  along;  but 
when  the  time  comes  he  finds  tha^  these  are  not  so  numerous 
as  he  fancied.  What  had  he  better  do — put  his  pride  in  his 
pocket  and  seize  the  single-handed  chance  that  offers  itself,  with 
a  determination  to  make  it  a  .stepping-stone  to  something  better, 
or  wait  for  an  appointment  that  is  more  to  his  liking Some 
would  advi.se  him  one  wajq  and  some  would  advise  him  another ; 
but  he  has  to  decide  for  himself,  and  I  would  sugge.st  that  he 
might  be  .something  worse  than  a  single-handed  gardener,  so 
long  as  he  does  his  duty  in  that  capacity. 
There  is  always  one  fine  thing  about  starting  at  the  bottom 
of  the  ladder.  There  is  no  danger  of  falling  far  to  begin  with, 
and  there  is  plenty  of  room  higher  up.  Many  good  gardeners  of 
to-day  have  looked  at  the  nuitter  in  this  light,  and  from  the 
single-handed  stage  they  have  climbed  ?:n  till  they  attained  their 
present  i^ositions. 
And  what  part  docs  the  single-handed  man  play  in  the  world 
of  gardening?  It  is  a  large  and  important  one,  and  in  extent 
the  greatest,  for  whereas  tlie  plums  of  the  occupation  are  com¬ 
paratively  few  and  widely  known,  establishments  rcciuiring  the 
services  of  one  gardener,  with  occasional  help  from  the  man  who 
i  attends  to  tjie  pony,  or  the  boy  who  cleans  the  knives  and  shoes, 
are  as  common  as  the  proverbial  mushroom.  And  the  single- 
handed  gardener — that  is  to  say,  if  he  is  woi'thy  of  the  name — ■ 
is  a  man  of  parts.  There  is  nothing  of  the  specialist  about  him, 
but  he  is  an  all-i'ound  man  with  a  capacity  for  apportioning  out 
his  time  so  as  to  make  the  most  of  his  days.  A.s  a  rule  he  finds 
himself  with  rather  more  than  he  can  do,  and  between  his  bit  of 
glass,  the  kitchen  garden,  and  the  pleasure  ground,  his  resources 
are  frequently  taxed  to  the  utmost.  If  he  has  a  worrying  master 
or  a  fus.sy  mistress,  he  has  my  sympathy,  but  if  comfortable  in 
this  respect  he  generally  finds  ways  and  means  of  keeping  abreast 
of  his  work.  For  the  sake  of  his  reputation  as  a  gardener  the 
little  glass  houses  mu.st  be  kept  tidy  and  the  conservatory  cheer¬ 
ful.  The  household  demand  allows  for  no  neglect  in  the  kitchen 
gai’den,  and  for  appearance  sake  the  limited  pleasure  ground 
must  not  be  overlooked.  And  in  addition  to  everyday  duties, 
our  single-handed  gardener  is  often  an  exhibitor  in  a  small  way. 
Being  a  professional,  he  has  some  standing  in  the  immediate 
neighbourhood,  and  at  many  local  shows  plants,  fruits,  and  vege¬ 
tables  are  frequently  exhibited  that  do  great  credit  to  the  single- 
handed  practitioners  who  grow  them. 
The  single-handed  man  has  few  chances  of  showing  his  handi¬ 
work  to  the  outside  w’orld,  because  his  “  little  place  ”  is  rarely 
open  to  inspection.  Pretentious  e.stablishments  are  visited  by 
important  persons,  and  the  gardener’s  reputation  is  .spread  about 
in  this  way.  Large  gardens  are  illustrated  and  described  in  the 
Phalsenop-is  interemdia  Porter. 
horticultural  journals,  but  the  charge  of  our  single-handed  friend 
remains  in  obscurity.  In  spite  of  this,  good  work  is  done  in 
small  gardens,  and  many  excellent  practitioners  are  to  be  fouiul 
amongst  the  ranks  of  the  single-handed. — H.  G. 
