WHAT IS A GARDENER ?

Evening Post, Volume CII, Issue 49, 26 August 1921, Page 4

WHAT IS A GARDENER ?

TO THE SBITOR',

Sir,—May I-be allowed.-to reply to Mr. Henry Wrights letter appearing in your issue of this evening concerning the abovementioned subject?. .Whatever decision is arrived at by the' Arbitration Court it seems to my mind that great caution is necessary in assessing the -qualifications of a fujly-compotent gardener I 'am of the opinion that a. man should 'not only be qualified to grow rare', plants,.. but he should possess a good general »11-round knowledge of stove, greenhouse, and outdoor plants. He'should also know how to keep a flower garden and a pleasureground in. jrood order throughout the year; and, what is most important, he ahould be as qualified to so arrange the kitchen garden as to maintain a succession of vegetables throughout the year. To my mind it is absolutely necessary to thoroughly understand and be competent to carry out these three phases of the profession if one aspires to become a thor-oughly-qualified gardener, worthy of such an appellation. Should a person not be competent to doal with those aspects in a successful way, I maintain that ho is not a gardener in the, true sense of the term. Ho may be a specialist in any one branch, to wit, in tho successful culturo of good and rare plants, but that of itself is only a, partial system; he is, therefore, not entitled to.the,title of "gardener." May I point out two essential things which a gardener ought to know? First, ho should know tho proper use. of ,tho spade: second, how to use tho wateringpot. These two matters, thoroughly understood, go fer to entitle a man to call himaolf a "gardener." He should ajeo know how to. respect his employer's wishes.—l am, etc.,

J. TAMPLIN.

24th August,

TTUDDART, PARKER, LIMITED.

ENGLAND.