FOR THOSE WHO HESITATE TO EMPLOY LADY GARDENERS 105
PART II
CHAPTER XIV
COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS FOR LADY GARDENERS IN GREAT BRITAIN 116
CHAPTER XV
CONTINENTAL SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 160
CHAPTER XVI
SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES IN AMERICA 209
CHAPTER XVII
GARDENING AND NATURE-STUDY IN CANADA AND AUSTRALIA 232
CHAPTER XVIII
TRAINING GROUNDS FOR MARKET GARDENERS 253
APPENDIX
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR LADY GARDENERS 273
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
TO FACE PAGE
A Pupil in Working Costume, School for Lady Gardeners,
Glynde, Sussex _Frontispiece_
The “Walled Garden” at the House of Field-Marshal Viscount
Wolseley, K.P. 4
Model by Miss A. C. Sewell of a Children’s Garden, exhibited
at the Whitechapel Country in Town Exhibition 12
The Hanging Gardens, Ratton Park, Sussex 20
A Page from a Boy’s “Nature-Study” Sketch Book 30
The Countess Bathurst’s Garden, Pinbury, near Cirencester 36
The Yew Tree Avenue, known as “the Nun’s Walk,” in the
Countess Bathurst’s Garden, Pinbury, near Cirencester 44
Miss E. Douglas in her Greenhouse at Shedfield Grange,
Botley, Hants 48
Miss Hester Perrin at Work in her Brother’s Garden at
Fortfield House, Terenure, Co. Dublin 54
In the Garden at Fortfield House, Terenure, Co. Dublin 60
In the Garden at Fortfield House, Terenure, Co. Dublin 64
Boxing Bulbs for Forcing at Miss Bateman’s Market
Garden, Bashley Nursery, New Milton, Hants 74
The Ruins Gardens, Slougham Place, Sussex 86
The Yews at Hutton John, Cumberland 92
An Italian Pot Garden 102
Italian Orange Pots and Oil Jars 104
The Ruins, Ratton Park, Sussex 110
The Cottage, School of Lady Gardeners, Glynde, Sussex 118
Gathering Roses for Pot Pourri, School of Lady Gardeners,
Glynde, Sussex 120
“Potting”: Students at Work, Reading University 126
At Work in the Vinery, Studley College for Lady Gardeners 136
Preparing the Frames at Studley College for Lady
Gardeners 140
Students at the School of Pomology and Horticulture,
Marienfelde, near Berlin 166
School for Lady Gardeners, Holtenau, near Kiel,
Schleswig-Holstein 188
Students at Hastum School, Norway 200
Students at Work at the Agdatorp School of Gardening,
Sweden 202
Students at Work at the Espenäs School for Lady Gardeners,
Sweden 206
Avenue leading to “Lowthorpe,” Croton, Massachusetts,
Mrs. Low’s School for Lady Gardeners 220
Southern Entrance to “Lowthorpe,” Croton, Massachusetts,
Mrs. Low’s School for Lady Gardeners 222
The Marchioness of Sligo’s Garden, Mount Browne, near
Guildford 252
Captain Colthurst Vesey’s Garden, Lucan, Ireland 256
Rose Garden, Danny, Sussex 262
INTRODUCTION
How often it is that Fate places us amongst people whose characters,
pursuits, and tastes we do not know! We hesitate how best to melt that
barrier of icy reserve and shyness behind which we English remain
frozen. How can we speedily break through the reserve which rises up
between us and the stranger near us? There is at least one subject of
conversation which usually calls forth a response--it is gardening.
Whether our neighbour be politician, soldier, architect, or painter, he
will surely listen with interest to the mention of a garden. He will
tell us of some newly-discovered plant, a flower show that he went to
see, or he will expatiate upon the beauties of South African bulbs. We
may be sure that if he himself is no gardener, he has someone dear to
him who is a lover of flowers. After a hard day’s work in the City, he
will gladly turn his thoughts to the peace and quiet of a walled-in
country garden, where the hum of bees and the scent of sweet briar or
rosemary bring happiness and contentment.
It is the same with country people, who live in our quiet English
villages that are as yet unspoilt by the dust of motors and the noise
of holiday-makers. A little chat over the garden wall in the cool
of evening, about the luxuriant growth of the peas, the beauty of
madonna lilies gleaming white against the dark timber of the cottage,
or the special size of this year’s roses, will often make a lasting
friendship. No make-believe pastime is gardening with them; it is their
true recreation. Their lives have been passed amidst fields, trees,
beautiful hedgerows, and consequently they look upon these objects as
friends. Surely this love of Nature is wholesome both to body and mind,
and greatly to be encouraged by all who wish for the well-being of
England and her Colonies.
Are we not shown the vast importance of keeping our rural population
away from towns? Do we not thus endeavour with every means in our power
to improve the cultivation of our land? County Council lectures, flower
shows, cottage-garden competitions, Nature-study courses, training
colleges are provided for this purpose. But, perhaps, the surest
way of all is to make our boys and girls fond of bee-keeping, fruit
growing, gardening and all other industries of country life. It is
with them that future success lies, and by teaching them to tend small
gardens of their own, and compete for prizes in tidiness and artistic
arrangement of flower plots, we shall continue a love for the country
in future generations. To keep them away from the gloom, squalor, and
temptations of large towns is what we all wish to achieve. Well-tilled,
wisely-worked farms, orchards, gardens, bring us prosperity; but we
gain a love of Nature, too, from contact with such things. This must
soften people. It brings us nearer God.
“A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot,
Fringed pool,
Ferned grot--
The veriest school
Of peace; and yet the fool
Contends that God is not--
Not God! in gardens! when the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign;
’Tis very sure God walks in mine.”[1]
[1] From “My Garden,” one of the collected poems of T. E. Brown. By
kind permission of Messrs. Macmillan and Co.
It is not alone amongst our village people that we hope for steady
development in the cultivation of our soil. They unconsciously
assimilate much from what they see carried out in the vicarage garden,
the manor-house orchard, and the large park. These must set the
example both in tidiness, artistic arrangement, and well-grown produce.
Education in taste, as well as scientific knowledge, is required
for the heads of these gardens. We know that in Japan gardening and
flower arrangement have attained wonderful perfection. There it is
necessary to learn for seven years before a requisite amount of skill
is acquired. Not only are artistic effects studied, but flowers are
used as modes of expression. Different colours and combinations convey
distinct meanings.
Surely we Western races should also look upon a garden as of the same
artistic value as a beautiful picture, or a many-coloured, skilfully
wrought piece of embroidery? In short, so ancient a craft should be
as intelligently and carefully studied as any Fine Art. A garden is
a living picture. The painter having found a subject, studies each
detail. Surroundings, background, the position it should occupy upon
the canvas, what portion is to be accurately depicted, which objects
are to be omitted or only faintly indicated: all these points are
considered before he takes up his brush. A gardener must do likewise.
Sometimes, when ground is not yet laid out, he must do more. He then
has to think some years ahead and imagine what this bare piece of
meadow will be when plants have grown in it. The lay of the land, the
character of the soil, the relation of the house with the garden--all
have to be weighed before planting is commenced. Therefore, our
gardeners must be artists as well as successful cultivators of plants.
True gardening gives scope for much sympathy and feeling. There is
a soft repose in grey and pale pink. An arbour with such colouring
invites thoughtfulness, quiet contemplation; whereas orange or bright
yellow may, in some sad moments, be obtrusive, or jar upon our
feelings. A brilliant bed of scarlet poppies, if put in the right
natural surroundings, are gay with _joie de vivre_, whilst gentle
pansies appear to look with melting human kindness as they raise their
little faces appealingly towards us. Good effects have been gained
by planting large, bold clumps of Pampas grass in empty spaces. The
situation must be very carefully selected or it is apt to strike a
discord. In the solemn graveyard it soothes; the waving plumes seem to
bow down in sympathy with the mourners.
A real artist gardener not only has aptitude for placing right lines,
and forming rich, telling colour effects, but he also understands
the personality of flowers, the sentiments of colours and scent. A
painter’s instinct tells him where the varied colours of a mixed border
are allowable, and how elsewhere a touch of strong, brilliant colour
is wanted to lead again to a shaded path of mystery.
In order to successfully accomplish this Fine Art gardening, which we
in England are now ambitious to have, artistic, well-educated, refined
head gardeners are needed. From our Colonies, too, comes a cry for
skilled and well-instructed “heads.” There they have plenty of hands to
do mechanical work, numbers of “coolies” to do menial jobs, but they
want more intelligent directors and guides to industry. Again, in our
schools, we require for the children those who sympathise with school
garden work and Nature-study.
These, then, are the ambitions of lady gardeners. They do not wish to
supplant able, clever men head-gardeners, nor even to compete with
them. They do desire, however, to assist as far as their strength
allows, by lending intelligence, good taste, refinement, towards
securing better cultivation of our great country. What they lack
in physical strength they endeavour to compensate by other equally
important, yet softer, womanly qualities.
This book has two objects in view. It hopes, by means of practical
advice--in fact, by some it may be considered somewhat Spartan
counsel--to draw attention to what is required of lady gardeners. The
other aim is to show employers what would be gained by appointing
them; at the same time to disarm any mistaken illusion which may have
arisen that ladies wish to supplant men gardeners. They merely intend
to supplement and increase the good work which men are doing for our
land.
GARDENING FOR WOMEN
Part I
CHAPTER I
GARDENING AS A PROFESSION FOR WOMEN
Daughters of many professional men are obliged to earn a living. It
often happens that the head of the family, after years of hard work,
has to retire owing either to illness or age. His pension is a small
one, and it becomes necessary for his daughters, as well as his sons,
to make a career for themselves. They have been accustomed, perhaps,
to a comfortable home, with a considerable number of luxuries, and the
question as to the best method of earning a living must necessarily be
a difficult one. In this connection it is, I hope, pardonable to quote
a passage from Mrs. Creighton’s recent article upon women’s education,
which created great interest among those concerned with the welfare of
young women. She wrote:--“It is tolerably well agreed what men should
be; but social conditions which produce a preponderance of the female
population and make it impossible for some women, however much they may
desire it, to be married, are inconvenient and disturbing to the views
of most men.
“The existence of women who, whether they like it or not, are bound to
work for their livelihood, is, as a rule, only unwillingly recognised
as an exception; the existence of women who claim to have a life of
their own is still more upsetting to all ideas of a well-constituted
universe.”
A somewhat mistaken idea is sometimes held that women who are obliged
to follow a definite career are less likely to marry than their sisters
who remain at home in quiet surroundings. It is often found, however,
that of the daughters, say, of a country clergyman living in some
remote corner of England, it is those out in the world as secretaries,
companions, or gardeners who do marry. Not only has a wider sphere of
life brought them friends, but their knowledge of the world has taught
them how to keep them. They have larger interests, broader views, and
are therefore happier than their sisters, who remain at home in village
surroundings. They should, too, be better helpmates to men leading
active lives. If they are sensible, wise, good women, they should not
lose by contact with people of different types any of that gentleness
and softness which are the chief attractions of a woman.
The choice of a career depends largely upon the character and bringing
up of a girl. Unless she is fond of out-of-door life, however, she
must not think of becoming a gardener, and she will probably find that
her parents look somewhat critically upon this profession. They have
an uncomfortable feeling that the head of a private garden is only a
kind of servant, and in market, jobbing, or landscape gardening they
see a life of constant digging and delving; a struggle to compete with
the strength of a working man. The disadvantages--many days of rain
and wind, early rising, disagreeable menial jobs--all assume larger
proportions to them than the benefits that are to be derived. Parents
are perfectly right to point out all these drawbacks to their daughter.
They should be fully realised and weighed before she embarks upon such
a career. Professional gardening is no child’s play. It means at least
three years of diligent study and hard work before any considerable
remuneration can be sought.
Let the girl who is leaving college carefully view all sides of the
question, and, above all, let her wait until she is twenty before she
takes any decisive step. Having reached years of discretion, and
being full grown and strong in health, the advantages of a gardener’s
life will probably attract her. If, during her childhood, she has had
the care of a plot of ground in the home garden, or has had bees or
poultry under her charge, it will be pain and grief to her to leave
these pursuits and live in the confinement of a town. The thought of
a stuffy London typewriting office, and the long, dark evenings in
cheap lodgings, will be repulsive to her. She will miss the wide,
open stretches of sky, the coming and going of the seasons. How she
will long for a sight of cowslips in the meadows and the fresh, sweet
scent of gorse. Perhaps, if she is a governess or companion, she may
live in the country and have all these pleasures, but will she fully
relish them if she has no freedom? Her evenings may possibly not be her
own, and during the day, too, she will have to accommodate her wishes
to those of others. The well-known lines of Richard Jefferies will
constantly recur to her, and she will see the wisdom of them. “Let us
be always out of doors among trees and grass and rain and wind and sun.
Let us get out of these indoor, narrow, modern days, whose twelve hours
somehow have become shortened, into the sunlight and the pure wind. A
something that the ancients called divine can be found and felt there
still.”
[Illustration: THE “WALLED GARDEN” AT THE HOUSE OF F.M. VISCOUNT
WOLSELEY, K.P.
THE ROSES WERE PLANTED AND PRUNED BY THE LADY GARDENERS.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency_.]
The profession of gardening offers a considerable amount of freedom,
the refining influence of poetry and beauty, contact with intelligent,
interesting people, and health and happiness to body and mind. These,
to an active, out-of-door, young woman are very great advantages.
Then, too, there are different branches of the profession, so that a
selection is possible as to which best suits her talents. Should she
be fond of teaching, she can hold classes in Nature Study or botany;
if she has taste and talent for drawing, she can take up landscape
gardening. With a small amount of capital to invest, she may start a
market garden, with every prospect of success.
There are, too, the higher branches of horticulture, such
as the treatment of rare greenhouse plants, hybridisation,
cross-fertilisation, and the handling of orchids. All these intensely
interesting, intellectual matters require such dainty skill, so much
thought, that there is no doubt whatever they are suited to ladies.
Many who practise in these branches employ women to execute the minute
operations that are so often entailed, because their light touch is
better adapted to the purpose than the heavy hand of a man. Few women
have up to the present studied long enough to surpass men in these
matters, but there is a certain future for them in such work if they
persevere in study.
It must be borne in mind that horticulture is still a comparatively
new profession for women, and that unless those who enter it strive
to give full time and application to learning its details they cannot
hope to be successful. Some few failures have occurred already, much
to the regret of all keenly interested onlookers. These have been
caused by anxiety to earn something before proficient knowledge had
been acquired. It is the same, I believe, in all new professions; and
it is only now, after many years of striving, that women have attained
success as sick nurses, secretaries, and teachers. The first who went
into the arena made mistakes, and possibly paved the way for their
successors, who noted the causes of failure, and mended their ways. Let
us hope that this will be the case in horticulture, for there is no
reason why women should not succeed in it. Moreover, we have already
some brilliant examples of success. Those who are thinking of taking it
up should spare no pains to gain a complete education, for only then,
when they are themselves worth something, can they expect remuneration.
CHAPTER II
THE TRAINING REQUIRED
There are various ways of obtaining the necessary training to be a lady
gardener. Both at home and abroad numerous colleges and schools exist
where young women are well instructed in all branches of Horticulture.
A college course is necessary, but if a girl is not more than twenty
years of age (and it is advisable that she should not be much younger
when she commences her training) it will help her to be apprenticed for
a year or two first in a private garden. Should she prefer, it will be
better still to spend two years at a small school where instruction
is more individual and personal than in a large college. Here the
students are few in number, and carefully selected, and it is possible
to learn in the same way that the working man learned, when he began
as a garden boy. The pupil will be ordered to do menial jobs, such as
turning manure, wheeling refuse, sweeping leaves, or mowing a lawn.
This comparative drudgery must be gone through in order to understand
how to direct others. Even wheeling a barrow full of soil and washing
out pots is interesting if the heart be in the profession and there is
the wish to succeed.
In a private garden or small school, too, it will be possible to follow
the ultimate use the pots are put to, after they are washed, and the
reason for each operation will be more easily made apparent than is
the case in a large college, where lectures and theoretical classes
are sometimes put before practice. When there is a large number of
students, too, it is impossible that all should take part in each
operation. Personal interest in the garden is apt to be lost sight of,
and teaching becomes a “demonstration,” where the expert does the work,
and the students look on. They cannot thus learn in the only thorough
way, by working themselves.
In a college course, hours are often suited to the requirements of
expert lecturers, and students are apt to ignore the fixed hours of
work observed in a private garden. I have known students to whom it
never occurred that it might not be agreeable to the family to hear the
sound of raking on a gravel path outside the breakfast room, and who
were unconscious of its being an offence against garden etiquette for
them to shout remarks to fellow students across the flower beds. Then,
too, fixed school holidays, which are necessary in large communities,
sometimes interfere with the possibility of seeing certain operations
performed.
I therefore strongly advocate a course of manual work, like that of the
garden boy, as an introduction to more serious training. This routine
work will enable the pupil to understand college lectures, when the
time comes to attend them. Theoretic teaching can then be applied to
the treatment of soil and plants.
Not possessed of the strength and facility for manual work of a man,
the girl student must make up for this deficiency by intelligent
reasoning. She should follow closely in the footsteps of science,
and have a reason for each operation. What is heard in the chemistry
laboratory has to be applied in practice in the garden. When the dismal
herbaceous border, upon which so much money has been spent, is seen,
the cause of failure will be known. After all the talk, trouble and
expense, why does it lack colour? Surely some ingredient in the soil is
missing--dress it with lime, put more manure or leaf mould, as the case
may be.
I believe that some people imagine that a lady gardener is intended
always to remain at work amongst the swept-up leaves and garden
refuse! But if her intelligence is not sufficient to make her soar
speedily beyond the powers of a £1 a week man gardener, she had better
take up other work, for she certainly cannot compete with him in
physical strength.
A course of study for two or three years, such as I have described, is
certainly not too lengthy. Each plant, shrub, tree, goes through the
same phases once in each year. Although these processes are repeated
year after year, they may be subjected to variations of weather and
temperature. Different treatment is probably necessary each year. Time
only can show this. Books teach much and so also do lectures, but only
when supplemented by practical experience, will they make a competent
gardener.
The intending girl-gardener should make up her mind from the beginning
that she must spend money on a three years’ course of training. It
should be taken in the way that best suits the individual case; there
need never be regret for the money spent upon it. It is only by skill
and knowledge that employment will eventually be secured.
Therefore the beginner should do some practical work in a garden, and
cram botany, chemistry, and physics into her head. When she has a free
day, or if other opportunity occurs, visits should be made to other
gardens. Then it will be possible to learn the names and habits of new
plants, and, by studying a different treatment of them, the powers of
observation will be increased.
After college training an effort should be made to get a subordinate
paid post, for whatever branch of Horticulture it is decided to
specialise in. No attempt should be made to superintend a large garden
until, as they say of children, the student has learned “to feel her
feet.”
I propose to give a short account of the different branches available
from which a selection can be made. It will be convenient to divide
them into two classes:--
A. Which require training and education only:--
I.--Landscape Gardening.
II.--Jobbing Gardening.
III.--Head gardener in a private garden.
B. Which requires capital as well as training and education:--
Market Gardening.
CHAPTER III
LANDSCAPE GARDENING
This wide field of study is one which women are well suited to,
provided they have brains and good taste. In order to be really
successful, imagination is required, as well as other qualities that
are needed by an ordinary head gardener. No amount of study or training
can adapt an inartistic woman to this profession, but given artistic
feeling, the power of conveying her ideas to her employers and to
those working for her, great possibilities are within reach. Many
fail, perhaps, by a headstrong desire to carry out their own plans;
they do not regard sufficiently the views and wishes of those for whom
they work. A considerable amount of tact is necessary, in order to
obtain the confidence of the owner of the garden. Having ascertained
his requirements, and made these the centre of the scheme, the
woman-gardener’s imagination should help to fill in all details.
[Illustration: MODEL BY MISS A. C. SEWELL OF A CHILDREN’S GARDEN,
EXHIBITED AT THE WHITECHAPEL COUNTRY IN TOWN EXHIBITION.
ILLUSTRATION OF WHAT CAN BE SHOWN OF A GARDEN BY MEANS OF A MODEL.
_Photograph by Clarke and Hyde._]
I assume that the candidate for such a position has had a good general
education, and is well grounded in botany and botanical geography.
It is necessary that she should be able to draw, and a knowledge of
simple plane geometry and geometrical drawing is essential. She must
be able to make a sketch plan showing the proposed alterations with
their measurements. In some cases, where the employer is not himself a
draughtsman or does not read a ground plan easily, the lady gardener
may find it useful to have recourse to a different system for conveying
her meaning to him.
I have seen a rough model made in cardboard to represent the house,
and real soil used to surround it, with little twigs placed here and
there in imitation of trees or hedges. This is a somewhat childish
means of experimenting upon future alterations, but in cases where
the owner is undecided or unable completely to grasp the effect which
will be attained by moving soil, or planting trees, the model may be
exceedingly useful. The soil can be so easily shifted from side to side
with the hands, a tree planted here, a dividing hedge placed there,
until the desired effect is attained. Then, too, it may convey well to
the contractor (who possibly undertakes the whole alteration) the exact
amount of labour that he will have to expend.
Another way of conveying ideas for proposed alterations is by means
of a “prophetic drawing.” That is to say, if a rose arbour is to be
made, a sketch, with finished details of what it should look like two
years hence, when the roses have climbed to the summit of the pergola,
may influence the owner in his decision to put the matter in hand. It
is important that all these methods of conveying intentions should be
studied.
A slight acquaintance with geology will be useful in forming rock work.
Most of these subjects, together with surveying, can be learnt at a
Municipal School, but the more thoroughly they are acquired the better.
Methodical habits are essential. So many women, compelled to earn a
living, fail in this. They do not note expenses carefully; they are
not business-like in rendering an account of wages paid out; and they
do not trouble to obtain estimates of work to be done. The education
of women is much at fault in these respects, but certainly, until this
lack of business qualities is replaced by methodical ways, we shall be
considered the reverse of helpful.
It will greatly assist the young gardener if visits are paid to many
gardens, both private ones as well as market gardens. Small cottage
gardens or wayside hedgerows should not be despised; much can be learnt
by looking at both. The plants that are natural to the climate and
soil are at once detected in this way, and knowledge is obtained as to
what will most speedily lend itself to an effect of foliage or colour.
Often, the chance arrangement of a large mass of gypsophila with bright
coloured nasturtiums interwoven with its feathery flowers, or pansies
springing up between an old paved path, may give ideas for a large
garden. The “Traveller’s Joy,” and blackberries, that grow so rampantly
on chalk, will make a pergola look clothed before a rarer plant could
grow three feet up it.
If possible, a trip abroad should be taken; it would give fresh ideas,
if the fields of mauve autumn crocuses in France, or the terraces and
vineyards of Italy, could be seen. There are so many different ways
of building pergolas, training creepers, and tying vines to posts. If
we adopt some of these foreign styles in England it gives a touch of
Italy to our tame English gardens. Copious notes should be made of all
that is seen, and the knowledge thus acquired can be readily applied to
designs for gardens here.
All books on landscape gardening, new and old, must be studied; many
old-fashioned plans of mazes and beds can so easily be used or adapted
to modern grounds, and with some knowledge of architecture, it will be
easy to place the right design near a house.
All gardens must be chiefly considered with a view to improving the
appearance of the house. This must be the starting point and first
consideration. Planting specimen trees and lovely plants is of
secondary moment. No school or college can teach good taste; some
people will learn it instinctively, others will never acquire it. With
constant observation and copious notes, artistic feeling in gardening
may certainly be increased. It will be helpful to know the habits, mode
of growth, etc., of trees, shrubs, and garden plants. Their time of
flowering, and appearance, are more important matters for consideration
than the actual ability to grow them. A head gardener can cultivate
them, when the broad effects of colour have been planned and decided
upon.
As much knowledge as possible must be gained concerning soils, manures,
road making, draining, pond making, levelling, embanking, and there
must be the ability roughly to calculate the cost of such operations.
By apprenticeship, or by going to watch someone who is making large
and extensive alterations, much can be learnt. Facility is acquired in
estimating the time that is taken in carting soil, or loading manure,
by watching a large staff of men at work; experience can thus be
gained as to the best method to map out work. It is so essential to
save labour and untidiness. A job that has to be done twice over is
distressing to all concerned. The organisation of work can only be
arrived at by planning out each detail beforehand, and orders can at
once be given as to where the excavated soil is to be placed so that it
may, at a future time, be handy for a further development of the plan.
We are considering this branch of gardening as one that may be gone in
for without capital. When the training is completed it will be best to
advertise for work. The terms for paying a preliminary visit and giving
general advice should be stated. After this, should an understanding
with an employer be arrived at, the further charges will depend upon
the way in which the work has to be carried out. Perhaps it may only
be necessary to pay an occasional visit to the scene of operations
and see how the head gardener is executing his orders. In this case a
guinea or more a visit would be the remuneration. It may answer the
purpose better to obtain the services of a local contractor, and having
explained the whole plan carefully to him, let him quote a price for
the fulfilment of the contract. The fees would then be so much per
cent. upon the total.
Under all circumstances it will be necessary to deal tactfully with
the men who do the work. The ideal way of carrying out landscape
gardening would be to have a staff of permanent workmen, who would
accompany the landscape gardener to the various gardens, and carry out
her directions. How much more quickly things would often go, if she had
her own men to rely upon. As this, however, means capital, it should
not be considered here, and stress can only be laid upon the necessity
for making orders concise and clear, and studying the characters of the
various workpeople, so as to succeed in obtaining the largest value
possible out of their services. The power of interesting them in their
work is a useful adjunct. Often a friendly word, or placing some slight
responsibility upon a workman, will double the amount he tries to do.
At first it will be difficult to obtain work. Any successful
plans that are carried out gratis for friends are sure to lead to
further employment, and each good thing achieved will bring other
opportunities. Should there still be time on hand, perhaps an architect
may be found who is willing to secure the help of a well-trained garden
designer.
No fixed rules for obtaining employment can be laid down. Ambition
and keen desire to get on will steer best to the right channel for
seeking work. Several municipal authorities are willing to employ
women as landscape gardeners. Should it be possible for women to make a
success of private garden designs, it would surely help towards their
appointment to larger spheres of landscape garden work. The laying out
of parks, squares, and garden cities could be handed over to them, and
what a large source of interest this would be.
It is unfortunate that we in England attach so little importance to
the study of forestry. In none of our agricultural colleges is it
taught in the same thorough way as in Germany. A great future might
be open to a lady who studied this subject. It might be possible to
induce a consulting forester in England, Scotland, or, better still, in
Germany, to take a pupil. This subject, if fully mastered, would be of
the greatest use in carrying out large alterations in public parks or
private grounds.
To any lady with a love of nature, the possession of taste, and
possibly the wish to improve and add to the beauty of our English
country homes, this branch of gardening will greatly appeal. What a
pleasurable sensation it is to see a lovely picture growing daily more
like the plan that was roughly sketched out. How satisfactory to watch
the building up of that stately terrace beneath the house, which puts
the finishing touch to the beauty of the building itself. Without a
terrace, the house would appear insignificant and poor--now it seems
to have grown in dignity and stateliness. What pleasant days, too, can
be spent in noting the happy results of garden-making, such as we see
in the great yew trees of Levens, the grand Avenues of Le Nôtre, at
Versailles, or the clever grouping of trees in many an English park.
Here we, who come some two hundred years after, reap the full benefit
of what then had the appearance only of a flat field dotted with stiff
little baby trees. We can follow the old plans and ideas, but by using
quicker growing materials it is possible to develop a picture under our
eyes.
[Illustration: THE HANGING GARDENS, RATTON PARK, SUSSEX.
LAID OUT BY THE HON. MRS. FREEMAN-THOMAS.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
CHAPTER IV
JOBBING GARDENING AND FLORAL DECORATION
Often, as we drive through London suburbs, we see remains of some
former stately Georgian house. Perhaps, a hundred and fifty years ago,
when it was built, it stood isolated, with only a quiet country village
near by. In the gardens were hedges of rosemary and lavender, fruitful
pear trees were trained upon high walls, a slender little lady in a
flowered brocade made sweet pot pourri with pink rose leaves. All that
now remains of the garden is a small Adams summer house, built up into
the wall, having a quaint shaped Dutch roof. A charming outlook it was
when “My Lady” watched for “My Lord” riding home from London. All that
now brings to us a touch of romance is the undisturbed yew hedge and a
few box-edged formal beds. The garden has been divided off into villa
plots.
Everywhere these villas spring up. We see long roads of them in each
suburb; in seaside towns, watering places, and golfing centres we
find them too. Each house has a garden, which is not necessarily large
enough to supply the family with vegetables, but usually a small, level
lawn is contrived for tennis or croquet; and a small portion near
the road is kept gay with flowers. It is amusing, as we walk along,
to compare taste in gardening at Clarence House with that displayed
next door at Highclere Villa; to note how preferable is the natural
arrangement of well-grown tea-roses in one, to the star-shaped beds of
stiff geraniums in another.
Who looks after these small gardens? Often an uneducated working
man, whose chief idea is to keep them tidy. This is commendable, but
tidiness is not the only pleasurable feature of a garden. To plan
successful combinations of colour really brings happiness, to have
means of tending little bits of tender, precious plants, gifts of
friends, is what contents us. It would help many owners of such gardens
to hand them over to the care of a lady. The size of the piece of
ground is not too much for her to look after, the work is not arduous.
In fact, she can limit her work to a given number of days a week, or
even half days.
This kind of jobbing gardening, although well paid, would only content
those who are obliged to live at home and require some light garden
work, after their course of training is completed. It is remunerative,
very little responsibility is entailed, and, to a certain extent, it is
possible to combine it with home duties. The interest of it need not
be restricted to the actual manual labour of mowing and rolling the
small lawn and planting out seedlings. A small greenhouse is perhaps
attached, and pleasant social intercourse may be had, if the owner is
also interested in gardening.
To those who are ambitious for a wider scope to their capacity, this
kind of jobbing gardening will be insufficient. If they have a little
capital and some experience, it will well repay them to start a small
nursery garden and not only supply labour for these villa gardens, but
also sell plants to them. Some business capacity is necessary, but if,
in addition, strong, healthy plants are raised, there is no limit to
the possibilities of such a business. Should friends combine in such
an undertaking, it can be worked without assistance from working men.
If, however, as is very likely to occur, the staff of lady assistants
is called upon to give advice in laying out small gardens, arranging
plants in window boxes, decorating rooms for concerts, dances, etc.,
men would have to be employed to do the heavy work. The planning,
organising, and directing is what ladies should excel in.
By procuring large instalments of bulbs, raising quantities of
perennials from seed, keeping up a plentiful supply of bedding-out
plants on their own land, a satisfactory effect can be produced in many
villa gardens at comparatively small cost. For a fixed sum per annum
the jobbing gardener could undertake to keep in good order, plant and
tend all in each small garden. It is easily estimated that this kind
of work becomes, after the first outlay, exceedingly remunerative
and interesting. There is employment for old and young, strong
and delicate; a happy combination of interests and tastes is what
should perhaps be most sought for by the staff of ladies in such an
enterprise. Secretarial work, planning tempting price lists, would fall
to the lot of one, whilst landscape gardening would belong to another.
In all branches of horticulture the remuneration to be obtained by
a lady should not be less than that earned by a man. She is indeed
entitled to receive even more than a man head gardener, as compensation
for her superior taste and good education. The particulars which I am
able to give of Mrs. Chamberlain’s work on p. 257 show how large a
sphere can be covered by jobbing gardening, and in Miss Agar’s account
(p. 253) will be found particulars of the remuneration that can be
usually claimed by a lady expert.
Floral decoration may be combined with jobbing gardening, or it may be
undertaken apart from any other interests.
All will agree that the work of arranging flowers is undoubtedly
suited to ladies. It needs good taste, an eye for colour, lightness of
touch and great patience. These qualities are possessed by most young
gentlewomen, but if they are not natural to them, practice will, as a
rule, teach sufficient for the execution of the mechanical part of the
work. The preliminary stage of training is perhaps least tempting, for
it involves long, tiring hours, spent in a hot, unrestful florist’s
shop. It will be found best to serve an apprenticeship in this way
for some months. Possibly the people met there are not very obliging
or polished; often work has to be done under extreme pressure, as
many orders have to be ready at the same moment, and the freshness of
flowers has to be greatly considered. Bouquets, dinner-tables, all have
to be postponed until the last safe moment. Consequently there remains
but little time for enjoyment of completed work, and there is very
scant appreciation. Work which has to be hurried is seldom pleasing.
Being chiefly mechanical, however, it rapidly becomes easier to carry
out the different orders, and then real enjoyment begins. The business
becomes interesting to the novice when she is sufficiently trusted to
exert her imagination, and make suggestions as to blending different
flowers and foliage. From the moment when she comes into contact with
those who give the order, that best incentive, personal interest, is
aroused. As in the case of jobbing gardening, it is possible for a girl
to live at home and yet have floral decoration as a daytime interest.
This, too, is a saving.
The premium for acquiring experience is a heavy one. It varies
according to the position and reputation of the florist’s shop, but it
is never less than £15, and it often reaches £50. During the first year
it is not usual to obtain a salary. There are exceptions to this rule,
as will be seen on p. 257, in the account of the Women’s Gardening
Association.
Only those who have tried it know what tiring work flower arrangement
is, and only strong, able-bodied girls should contemplate such
a profession. Success, as in all undertakings, comes after long
perseverance and patience. The ideal method of carrying on this
business is to have a nursery garden and raise suitable flowers in it
to supply one’s own shop. It is then merely necessary to superintend,
and give general ideas as to arrangement.
With thorough business habits and very good taste, there is no saying
what sum might not be realised by a woman in this direction. Like
millinery or dressmaking, it needs a combination of qualities, and is
essentially a woman’s art.
CHAPTER V
THE TEACHING OF NATURE-STUDY
When, at Christmas time, we search the shelves of a London book shop,
to find fresh “Golliwog” adventures or new fairy tales, are we not
struck by the importance given to another class of child’s book? “The
Fairchild Family,” “Struwelpeter,” Hans Andersen’s tales, books that we
were brought up upon, are superseded by a totally new kind. Anything
relating to living things, birds, mammals, plants, wild flowers,
fruit, is what we now give our children. In short, nature-study, and
everything connected with it, is the fashion. It forms not only an
important part of education, but it also is recreation. Possibly we
encourage it as a reversion from over-much science and book-learning,
which is apt to produce a somewhat unhealthy, overstrained, nervous
condition. The philosophy of the “Simple Life,” which is preached so
much, is a reaction from these abnormal conditions to the natural,
healthy order of existence.
Up to now, we stand only upon the threshold of these new ideas, we
hardly realise the wealth and meaning of this new philosophy. We only
know that a still greater use is in store for it, and that, through
it, greater happiness will ensue for us. The right application of
nature study and all that it embraces, to the education of children,
is one of the most important developments of our day. All those who
are ambitious for the prosperity of our future England should give
very careful consideration to these matters. More and more we learn
that the first endeavour of a school is to teach people to live. This
new study tends to connect school teaching with life at home. By means
of such schooling, our children acquire from earliest days habits
of observation. They appreciate all wonders and beauties of natural
objects around them. Lovely wild flowers on our downs, many grasses in
our meadows, clouds, stars, all become real friends.
[Illustration:
_Obs:
the wild clematis.
Ther: reg. 70½°._
[Sidenote: _July 12^{th}_]
_Obs: smut on oats.
It is a small black
powdery fungus.
Bar: reg: 30-1/20°
Ther: „ : 68°._
[Sidenote: _July 13^{th}_]
_Obs a chrysalis of the
horse bot fly._
_Obs evening primrose
in a hedge.
Bar: reg: 30-1/20°.
Ther: 91°s
74sh_
A PAGE FROM A BOY’S NATURE STUDY SKETCH-BOOK.
A PUPIL OF MR. J. P. WILLIAMS. HURSTPIERPOINT, SUSSEX.
(_See opposite Plate._)]
Love of nature, which familiarity with her beauty breeds, is not only
wholesome for children of the upper classes. It is good for them, but
more especially do we need an increase of such knowledge amongst the
poor little waifs and strays of our great cities and towns, who have
so few bright moments in their dull grey lives. If these nature study
classes can help them, should we not do our utmost to encourage more
ladies to take up this form of study in order to impart it to them
with sympathy?
[Illustration: _Illus._
_Wild
Clematis_
_Smut
on
Oats_
_Stag
Beetle._
A PAGE FROM A BOY’S NATURE STUDY SKETCH-BOOK.
A PUPIL OF MR. J. P. WILLIAMS, of HURSTPIERPOINT, SUSSEX.]
Then, too, in our country villages, is it not wise to foster in young
people a love of everything connected with country life? Will it not
help largely to induce them to remain on the land and not migrate to
the hardships and squalor of crowded towns?
The two chief aims of education are to draw out individuality and
personality. This is certainly accomplished with success when we see
representations as are shown herewith from a child’s nature study diary.
We in England are sadly behind Germany and America in this branch of
education. It is only a short time ago that children in our schools
were encouraged to bring objects from out-of-doors into the schoolroom
for examination. They were asked to make collections of lichen, ferns,
or wild fruits; and what charming devices one has seen, wrought by
ingenuity out of all these lovely things. Now, however, we have made a
decided stride, for by means of school gardens, which gradually replace
the dreary bit of asphalt playground, we go out to seek objects in
their natural surroundings. Soon, teachers in our elementary schools,
possessing the Froebel and kindergarten certificate and a Government
teacher’s certificate, will doubtless be fired with ambition; will vie
with each other in improving upon this system of education. We shall
have others following the example of the late Miss Lucy R. Latter. She
it was who did such good work in this respect as head infants’ mistress
of the Invicta Road Council School, Westcombe Park. Having carefully
studied the question in Italy, France, and the United States, she was
given a commission by the Government of the Maharajah to start school
gardens in connection with the public school system of Mysore. Teachers
were prepared by her to carry on the work; and let us hope that,
although gloom has been cast by her sudden death, they will yet have
been inspired by her to continue their efforts.
There is no doubt that the school garden successfully developed is the
pivot round which nature-study revolves, and as time goes on it will be
seen more and more that gardening and nature-study have much in common.
Those ladies who have talent for teaching, and have been through a
course of gardening, will find many openings for work. A garden,
although artificial, is far less so than a schoolroom, and it combines
scope for general education, quite apart from mere manual horticultural
teaching.
I am informed by one of the greatest authorities upon this subject that
science mistresses do not exist in sufficient numbers to supply the
demand for them. In this country it is a great recommendation for a
woman to be able to teach nature-study, and there is no difficulty in
the way of a post being obtained by one who possesses knowledge and who
can impart it. As new training colleges and secondary girls’ schools
are instituted, the demand will become greater, and it is in the realms
of possibility that there may be women teachers of nature-study wanted
in South Africa and in India, though Canada and Australia are capable
of supplying all the teachers they want themselves.
Those who are interested in this subject will do well to read the Notes
in the Swanley College and other reports in the second part of this
volume.
CHAPTER VI
SOME HINTS UPON TAKING UP A POST AS HEAD GARDENER
I assume that a candidate for a position as head gardener has been
through a two years’ course of study at one of the Horticultural
Colleges or at a school, and has been under-gardener for a year or
more in a private garden. No doubt she has learnt how to grow flowers,
vegetables, and fruit, but it is possible that she does not know much
about the routine work which she will now have to superintend. As
principal of the Glynde School for Lady Gardeners, I have had to study
this subject, and the following notes, some of which are compiled with
the help of a former superintendent, Miss J. S. Turner, are offered for
use.
A lady gardener is still somewhat of an experiment to owners of
gardens, and, therefore, each one who takes up the work is, in a sense,
the pioneer of a new profession for women; it rests with her to make or
mar the success of future lady gardeners. If she is a failure, or does
not give satisfaction, it may prevent other employers from engaging
lady gardeners. This should not, however, be allowed to discourage or
intimidate an applicant for such a post. There is no doubt that a lady,
with superior education, tact and taste, should succeed where many men
have failed. It must be borne in mind that the employer’s pleasure has
to be studied, and that the men will have to be managed with firmness
and strict fairness. Where these points are carried out intelligently,
the success of an intensely interesting career is fairly secured.
If possible, it is advisable that the duties should commence
at Michaelmas, which is the beginning of the agricultural and
horticultural year. If a start is made in the spring, most of the
praise or blame that ensues during the remainder of the horticultural
year belongs by right to the previous gardener.
Autumn and winter are the seasons for laying a good foundation, for
forming plans, and cleaning up. “Well begun is half done,” but it is
more than “half done” in gardening. Unless the winter foundation is
correctly laid, the summer superstructure will be wrong, or there is a
chance of there being no structure at all.
The first thing for a lady “head” to do is to have a good look round.
She must see what crops are still on the ground, what preparation has
been made for winter and spring crops, and the state the houses and
frames are in. Everything under her care must be clean and in good
order.
Her aim is to fulfil all requirements of the family which she serves,
and, in order to succeed, she must ascertain their wants. These vary
with each family, and it is not possible to lay down any fixed rules.
Many questions that will need answering should be noted down, and an
interview should be requested of the lady of the house, or whoever is
most interested in the garden.
I will only draw attention to a few points which need consideration,
and these can either be decided by the gardener herself, should she be
given a free hand, or settled by the employer.
(1) The hours of work and holidays for the garden staff. Arrangements
should be made also for power to dismiss any subordinate who is lazy or
misbehaves; and this should be acted upon without hesitation upon the
first proof of neglect.
(2) The payment of men, and the number of extra ones allowed for
additional work. In large gardens, this matter comes under the estate
department, but in small gardens the head gardener deals with it.
[Illustration: THE COUNTESS BATHURST’S GARDEN, PINBURY, NEAR
CIRENCESTER
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
(3) The days and hours that will be most convenient for the despatch of
routine work, such as mowing, tidying, etc. Some ladies have weekend
parties, and require the place to look especially neat on Sundays.
There may be small but necessary rules about sweeping and tidying the
carriage drive, cleaning and washing garden steps or benches, the
position of seats, tents, croquet hoops, marking tennis courts, etc.
The employer’s wishes should be ascertained, orders given accordingly,
and it should be seen that these are carried out.
(4) The days and hours for picking flowers for the house. If it is the
gardener’s duty to arrange the cut flowers, this must be gone into
carefully, as it is probably one of the most important matters in the
eyes of the lady of the house. Should the family be in London, there
will be fixed days for sending flowers, vegetables, and fruit to them;
all these matters have to be carefully noted. The amount of green
foliage required for mixing with cut flowers also varies with different
people’s taste. It must be ascertained whether many pot plants are
required in the sitting-rooms, or if cut flowers are chiefly used; and
if so, which are the favourite kinds and colours. It will then be easy
to decide which plot of ground should be used as a reserve garden for
cut flowers, and what proportion of mignonette, violets, lilies of the
valley, etc., will be needed for decoration.
(5) Another matter, which only the lady of the house can decide, will
be the arrangements for bedding out, or the grouping and colouring
required for herbaceous borders. If she has taste, and is artistic,
it is necessary only to carry out her plans. Possibly she may leave
the matter to the gardener; in which case visits should be made to a
few neighbouring gardens to ascertain what plants and climbers are
best suited to the climate and soil. Having put the plans on paper, an
estimate can be formed of the quantity of bulbs, plants, shrubs, or
climbers required for the whole garden. The autumn is the best time
to order these. There remains then a further point upon which advice
should be asked.
(6) The ordering of seeds, plants, tools, and garden requisites may be
in the gardener’s department, or it may be managed by the estate. In
any case, it will be a good plan to touch upon these matters to the
employer. Unimportant as they may appear, it is wise for him to deal
with local tradesmen, and, therefore, a stranger to the neighbourhood
will have to learn their names, and what things they each excel in. The
carting of purchases from the station to the garden is a matter for
careful consideration. Should this be done by the estate, it must be
borne in mind that, when the yearly accounts are sent in, the estate
will wish to appear economical as regards its own requirements, and
if the gardener is not on good terms with the agent or bailiff, it is
possible that the total at the bottom of the garden expense column
may be surprisingly large. My advice, therefore, is to make friends
with the estate department. When pea boughs, and timber for rails are
needed, when locks are to be repaired, or hinges fixed, it is good to
have a friend at court.
(7) Occasionally matters are put under a gardener’s direction which
can hardly be called garden work. The washing down of drains, cleaning
away leaves from the roof gutters, brushing snow off the roof,
emptying receptacles of refuse, burning waste paper from the house,
may fall to a lady gardener’s lot. In any case, when specific duties
are ascertained, no responsibility connected with them should be
handed over to subordinates. Washing a drain down is not, perhaps, an
especially elevating task, and it may be urged that any fool can do it.
It will only be done, however, and well done, if the men know that a
look-out is being kept for their neglect or carelessness. If they are
sometimes unexpectedly watched it will be found that the work is well
done, and instead of their thinking less of their “head,” they will
respect her all the more.
If a holiday is asked for them sometimes, or a kind act is performed
for their wives or children, they will work with a good will which
should be encouraging to their chief.
It is not very probable that anyone, after only two or three years’
training, will soar at once to the height of being head gardener on an
estate, or of having the direction of many labouring men. I have noted
most of the points of importance for a start in the garden profession;
they must be added to from experience as the ladder is mounted towards
success.
I have not, so far, touched upon the main point for consideration,
whether the garden be large or small. This is the vegetable garden. It
will be necessary, without loss of time, to interview the cook, and ask
what vegetables are most required.
“Different people, different opinions; some like apples, some like
onions.” Do not grow what is not wanted. It is well to try and make
friends with the cook, for if not, any failure in the vegetable course
at dinner will be laid to the gardener’s door. They will be too young
or too old, too tender or too tough, or it will be said that the cook
has expressed an opinion that “no one couldn’t cook them vegetables
which that there lady gardener sends in.” Therefore, spare no pains to
be friends with the head of the kitchen, for success or failure may
depend much upon her opinion. A few compliments upon her skill in
cooking will be a good preliminary to any explanations that may have to
be made in introducing a new vegetable to her notice. I have heard of a
sad instance of the Mont d’Or butter beans that were given to the pigs
“because they were yellow.” In this case, had the cook been interviewed
beforehand, those lovely golden beans would not have been cast “like
pearls before swine.” The requirements of houses as regards flowers and
vegetables vary very much, and it will only be by asking advice of the
lady and the cook that a gardener can guess at all what she is expected
to send into the house. The first year will naturally be somewhat of
an experiment in this respect, and it will be well to point out these
difficulties to the employer, for fear he considers that there is
either undue extravagance or too economical a saving of produce.
Having interviewed the cook, the next thing is to arrange the crops.
For an ordinary kitchen garden of one acre, the following should
generally be ordered.
Peas 6 qts.
Broad Beans 2–3 qts.
French Beans ½ qt.
Runner Beans ½ lb.
Spinach 1 qt.
Winter spinach 8 ozs.
Mustard and Cress 1 qt. each.
Beet 2 ozs.
Carrots 2 ozs.
Leek 1 oz.
Lettuce, Summer 1 oz.
Lettuce, Winter ½ oz.
Onions, Spring 4 ozs.
Onions, Autumn 1 oz.
Parsley 2 ozs.
Parsnips 1 oz.
Salsify 1 oz.
Turnips 4 ozs.
Endive 1 oz.
Radish 1 pint.
Kale 1 oz.
Brussels Sprouts 1 oz.
Cauliflower (of sorts) 1 oz.
Broccoli (of sorts) 1½ ozs.
Cabbage 1 oz.
Red Cabbage ½ oz.
Savoys ½ oz.
Celery 1 pkt.
Cheap plants can be bought of these latter, and also marrows and
cucumbers. If the garden is a small one, it will be more economical
to do this than to raise them from seed. The above are ordinary
vegetables; for special ones, such as cardoons, chicory, etc., a small
packet of seed will be sufficient.
There are three vegetables not usually grown, but which are most
useful. They are:--
_Phœnix Kale._--Will stand the most severe winter, and the more it
is cut in the late winter or spring, the more it will shoot.
_Seakale Beet_ (not Spinach Beet).--Can be cut all the autumn. It
will stand an ordinary winter, and will furnish another cut in spring
when vegetables are scarce. It has a broader midrib than spinach beet,
is perfectly white, and is cooked like seakale. The green blade can be
used as spinach.
_Couve Tronchuda._--Is used much in the same way as seakale beet.
Cut the lower leaves first, and use the thick fleshy leaf-stalks; when
the lower leaves are done, there still remains very good cabbage on the
top. Sutton calls it “rather tender,” but it is not always necessary to
protect it in winter.
It will be found useful to obtain a large chart of the vegetables
usually grown, and the time of sowing, planting, and cutting. This can
be obtained from the Stores (Book department).
If a rough plan of the garden can be obtained, it will be of help; if
not, a copy book should be bought, and on one page a rough sketch made
of each plot, with the length and breadth marked upon it. This need not
necessarily be drawn to scale. Upon the opposite page should be put the
crop which is on the ground. Probably someone can supply information
as to what crop was previously there, and when the ground was last
trenched and manured. Any notes that can be made in this respect will
be useful. It is a good plan to divide the garden under cultivation
roughly into four quarters, disregarding, for the moment, that part
which is under permanent crops, such as asparagus, rhubarb, etc. By
trenching and manuring one plot every year, it can be arranged for
each quarter to have a good dressing at least once every four years.
Bastard trenching is generally better than trenching; and the more
constantly the ground is stirred the better.
As farmyard manure is often scarce, and labour for thorough trenching
is expensive or difficult to obtain, it will be found that doing a
quarter of the ground each year is a sure way of getting it all under
cultivation. This, and digging in the refuse, will supply the necessary
humus. Between times dig as deep as possible and use artificial manure.
The reason for ascertaining the crops that have been grown before is
to enable some sort of rotation to be practised. It is impossible, in
gardening, to do this as perfectly as in agriculture, but there are
a few things which it is well to bear in mind. The three fundamental
rules are as follows:--
(1) Plants of the same natural order should not follow each other.
(2) Crops which have occupied the same ground for several years should
be succeeded by others of short duration. This gives an opportunity for
constantly stirring and cleaning the ground.
(3) Plants grown for their roots, or bulbs, should not be followed by
others grown for the same purpose. Plants grown for their seeds should
also not succeed each other.
[Illustration: THE YEW TREE AVENUE KNOWN AS “THE NUN’S WALK,” IN
THE COUNTESS BATHURST’S GARDEN, PINBURY, NEAR CIRENCESTER.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
In a small garden, it is best to grow only early potatoes. Others can
be bought as cheaply as they can be grown, and the space they would
occupy is valuable. A piece of ground may be under early potatoes;
these should be cleared by the middle of June, when a sowing of peas
can be made, selecting one of the early varieties for a late crop. When
they come off, they can be followed by turnips, which are drawn off
during the winter. In January the ground can be bastard trenched, but
not manured. Let it lie fallow awhile; then put in carrots, parsnips,
or beet. The order can be varied indefinitely, so long as the rules are
followed, and the plot of ground kept well trenched, and manured every
fourth year.
The next things to consider are the crops still on the ground, and
those coming on. In a fairly well-managed garden late peas, runner
beans, cauliflowers, and marrows all “in cut,” should still be found in
the autumn. The runner beans and the marrows should bear until they are
cut down by frost. Their bearing capacity can be prolonged by careful
picking, by a mulch of well-rotted manure, or with a drenching of
liquid manure, according to whether the season is wet or dry.
If there is likely to be a shortage of winter stuff, fully ripe marrows
can be hung up in an airy place, and runner beans put down with salt.
A breadth of celery should be found coming into use, and parsnips that
will stand until they are required. The main crop of carrots and beet
will still be there to store, and there should be a break of sprouts,
kale, and other things to come in later. If the supply is likely to run
short, it will not be too late to plant cabbage and colewort.
First then, clear off all crops that are over, such as peas, early
cauliflower, and potatoes. Burn all this refuse, as well as the weeds,
and return it to the ground. Keep on hoeing. If there is no winter
spinach in, make a sowing at once, and also make a sowing of turnips.
October is the great storing month. Take up all beet, carrots, and
parsnips; but artichokes and salsify are best left where they are.
Corn salad can be sown, to come up in early spring. Cauliflowers should
be pricked out into a cold frame where they can be protected from frost.
All leaves should be swept up and stored in a heap, to make leaf mould.
In the process they will generate steady heat, and if a frame can be
spared it should be put over them. Tender plants can be stored in it,
or winter salad grown in it.
By now the work will have got into swing, and the routine of it has
consequently been acquired. Any mistakes or omissions that have
occurred will have been rectified.
As the crops come off, settle what it is intended to put in next,
and prepare the ground accordingly. Some things require little or no
manure; others need much. All ground is better for being stirred,
therefore keep on digging. War must be waged against all weeds; between
the rows of greens, decayed leaves should be removed. All crops that
are likely to be injured by frost must be protected.
Now is a good moment to see about obtaining a supply of pea and bean
sticks, flower stakes and canes. Two important matters can be done in
bad weather, when the land cannot be worked. Stakes may be sorted out
in sizes, pointed and tied into bundles, and put away in a shed. Any
painting of stakes, tubs, or labels can also be done, and it will be
found a good plan to go over the stock of tools.
There is much more work that I could suggest, but if the hints already
given are carried out, a good start will have been made. By taking in
a practical garden paper, such as “The Gardener” (1d. per week), “The
Journal of Horticulture” (2d. per week), or the “Gardener’s Chronicle”
(3d. per week), a reminder of the regular rotation of work will be
secured. By reading these it will be seen exactly when to harvest
fruit, prune shrubs and roses, clean over borders, layer carnations,
etc. All details connected with these different operations will
have been learned at college, so I need not add another to the many
gardening books that will already have been read.
I want to draw attention to one quality that a lady head-gardener may
find herself in need of. It is humility. I do not know a profession
in which this is more necessary than in gardening. Because all
difficulties of the soil in a chalky southern county have been learned,
the requirements of that poor land mastered, and preparations made
to guard against the violent attacks of the south-west wind, do not
suppose that these same torments exist necessarily in other counties.
Enemies and insect pests will be found, but they may not always be
the same kind. The good advice and hints, therefore, that may be
obtained from smock-frocked residents in the neighbourhood should not
be despised. They have, perhaps, never been further than the nearest
town close by; reading and writing are difficulties which they cannot
overcome, but they have fully taken in how to grow vegetables and
flowers on their own bit of land. Watch the time of year they undertake
different simple operations, and learn to do likewise. Disappointment
may be saved if they are humbly watched. Bitter experience has taught
these men, and, by taking their advice, one may learn quickly what a
lifetime has shown them.
[Illustration: MISS E. DOUGLAS IN HER GREENHOUSE AT SHEDFIELD
GRANGE, BOTLEY HANTS.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
TOOLS
The lady-gardener can turn her attention to the question of tools
when she has carefully looked round her new garden and when she knows
how many men are to be employed. A list should then be made of those
that are wanted, and they should all be ordered together, as by that
means they will be cheaper. Those of an inferior quality should not be
obtained just for the sake of saving a few shillings. They are dear at
any price, so the best should be had and treated well. I have known
instances of spades that “came to pieces in my 'and,” as the housemaid
says. If they broke off at the first trial of a lady gardener, they
certainly would do so when used by a man. Therefore all spades and
forks should be obtained from a trustworthy manufacturer.
In some cases, a tool for each person employed will be required. In
other instances, one or two of each kind will be enough, according to
the size of the garden. Of these “sets” had better be ordered.
_Spades._--A spade must be chosen to fit the user, and Nos. 2
and 3 are the most generally serviceable. One with a solid socket is
strongest, and if the bend of the handle is right, it will not be
appreciably heavier than others.
_Forks._--A digging fork or grape with four prongs may be either
flat or round. For general use, the round pronged ones are best, as
they can be used for stirring the ground, digging potatoes, or forking
manure. When digging, a flat pronged fork is strongest.
_Rakes._--These can be obtained with iron or steel teeth, three
to a set, in sizes of 16 in., 12 in., and 8 in. The end teeth and head
should be in one piece, the other teeth rivetted, and very slightly
curved. The socket should be long, and have at least three holes for
rivets.
_Draw hoes_ should be two to a set, 9 in. and 4 in.; the blades of
steel welded to an iron neck which is slightly curved or swan-necked,
as it is easier then to keep free of weeds.
_Dutch hoes_ should be two to a set, 9 in. and 6 in.
_Trowels._--A trowel should be chosen not too concave in the
blade. A small mason’s trowel is useful.
A strong pruning knife will be required for each person. Besides these
tools, there will be required, according to the size of the garden, one
or two shovels, several manure forks, some wooden rakes, and two or
three dibbers.
A garden roller.
A pick with one end sharpened to a point, and the other wedge shaped.
A crowbar, pitch bar, or punch.
A couple of hammers and a wooden mallet.
An edging iron.
A pair of shears for cutting grass verges.
A pair of straight hedge shears.
A pair of lopping shears.
One or two pairs of secateurs.
A large axe and a couple of hatchets. The American are best, or if
these cannot be had, those with American handles should be obtained.
Several scythes.
A couple of saws, one an ordinary carpenter’s saw, the other a pruning
saw. A cross-cut, to be used by two men, is very useful.
One or two garden lines and reels.
A measuring rod, 10 ft. long, and marked in feet and quarters.
A diamond for cutting panes of glass.
Several wheelbarrows.
A hand barrow.
Several baskets or trugs.
Watering cans.
_Mowing machine._ This will depend upon the amount of grass; but
in a garden of any considerable size two will be required, one large
one for the lawns, and a small one, 10 in. or 12 in. wide, for borders
and edges. For the first, the American make is light, cheap, and simple
in construction, but as they have no back roller, they will not work on
narrow borders. The “Pennsylvania,” to be worked by a man and a boy,
and a small “Green,” will probably be the most suitable.
It must be seen that the tools are kept in first rate order. A
grindstone, one worked with a treadle, will be necessary. If good tools
are bought and kept clean, well oiled, and sharp, they will last a long
time; and those that have been used are the easiest to work with. They
are broken in, as it were.
It will be advisable, upon the first opportunity, to clear out every
hole and corner, and get rid of the rubbish. Old tools, however, should
never be thrown away, as wooden handles will turn into dibbers and
measuring pegs. Short handles will do for trowels, etc. Old spades can
be cut down, re-sharpened, and used for digging amongst shrubs and in
herbaceous borders. When they are past work, they can be put into the
ground, blade upwards, as foot scrapers. Old forks can have their
prongs shortened and turned down at right angles, or nearly so, to the
helve. They are then useful as drag hoes for loosening soil among young
crops.
It is a good plan, in a garden where extra labour is employed, and when
neat and tidy habits cannot always be expected from the labouring men,
to have receptacles for different kinds of refuse. There should be one
for crocks, another for glass, a third for paper, and one for bits of
wood. It should be seen each night that tools are carefully put away
clean.
No pains should be spared to master thoroughly the mechanism of mowing
machines. The lady-gardener must also know how to stoke a greenhouse
furnace, and repair broken glass in frames. If these matters have
been learned in student days there will be no difficulty for her in
directing men. Should she be unable herself to put a piece of glass
into a frame, she must not be angry with her workman if he fixes it
insecurely. As thorough master of her trade, she will make herself
respected.
Care, too, should be taken from the first to look ahead, as regards
what has to be purchased, such as pots, soil, manure, peat, nails,
raffia. It is provoking in finishing a job to be delayed because, at
the right moment, some necessary article was not ordered.
“Thinking ahead” in this way is a habit, and can be acquired.
It is well never to be without a pocket-book and pencil, to jot down at
once any things that may be required or jobs which need attention.
[Illustration: MISS HESTER PERRIN AT WORK IN HER BROTHER’S GARDEN
AT FORTFIELD HOUSE, TERENURE, CO. DUBLIN
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency_]
CHAPTER VII
DRESS FOR LADY GARDENERS
The question of clothes is always an important one to the feminine
mind. It is impossible to lay down any fixed rules as regards the
costume best adapted to a lady gardener. Chief considerations are
neatness and suitability to the climate.
It is best to have few clothes, and to have them good. It should be
remembered that lady gardeners usually must brush their skirts, and
possibly have to clean their own boots. A small cottage does not
afford much space, so nothing should be bought which is not absolutely
necessary.
_Underclothing._--Wool should be worn next to the skin, both in
winter and summer, and the weight of clothes varied according to the
weather. A plain fitting flannel belt to cover the waist and abdomen is
advisable. This is worn next the skin, whether the usual underwear be
merino or not. Knickerbockers, and not petticoats, should be worn. For
winter wear, ready-made blue or black stockinette ones are best. Cheap
ready-made cotton ones are useful for summer; or they can be obtained
in khaki drill, should that material be preferred.
_Blouse or Shirt._--This should be of the simplest, untrimmed
make. For student days, when there are digging and other exertions to
be performed, a turn-down flannel collar, with a tie, will give most
freedom of movement. For a head gardener, a stand-up linen collar will
give a neat appearance. In winter a flannel or Scotch wincey blouse is
warm. For summer, a tussore silk one is cool. Wincey and silk cost more
than flannel and cotton, but they wear longer, and do not shrink in the
wash, so the expense in the end is the same.
A strong leather belt round the waist will keep both skirt and blouse
neat. If one or two swivels and spring hooks are fixed to it, a knife,
keys, etc., can be attached, and thus will always be at hand.
_Skirt and Coat._--Several of these are needed, all thoroughly
business-like and tailor made. The skirts should clear the ankles well,
and be very even all round. Nothing looks worse than one that hangs
lower at the back than in front. Care should, therefore, be taken to
get the tailor to see to this. In rough weather, one should be worn
with a 3 in. or 4 in. lining of thin waterproof inside. This enables
one to wash off the mud with a sponge, and it will help preserve the
dress. Thin waterproof is preferable to leather for this purpose, as it
is lighter, and does not hang like a log round the wearer when she has
been out in the rain for some time.
The colour of the coat and skirt should depend upon what will least
show the soil when it rubs off as tools are handled or heavy mud is
walked through. For winter, homespun, Scotch, West of England, or Irish
tweed should be worn; a heather mixture or light brown are best, as
these show dust less than darker colours. In summer, navy blue looks
smart and workmanlike, but will get dirty easily, so it should only be
kept for when clean jobs are undertaken.
Blue fishwife’s flannel is inexpensive, and washes well. A loose coat
or Norfolk jacket of the same material as the skirt is useful to slip
over a blouse when the weather is cold, or after work is finished.
It should be seen that the tailor gives two comfortable deep pockets,
and makes a wide collar with a flap, by which it can be fastened at
the neck in rainy weather. Unless the necessity of these details is
pointed out, he will probably skimp cloth and work. The tailor should
be consulted as to the material best suited, an explanation having
been given to him of the hard wear to which it will be put. Several
colleges and schools for lady gardeners have designed special costumes
for their students, but although some are becoming to slim, graceful
figures, they are by no means suited to all, and are somewhat too
conspicuous to be really desirable.
_Waterproof or aqua scutum._--This will be needed for stormy
weather and night work; and the latter is preferable, as it is
pleasanter to work in than a mackintosh.
_Hat._--In summer, a shady, thick straw hat looks best. It should
not be “floppy,” as this is troublesome in windy weather, and it must
be plain, not trimmed with chiffon or flowers. A bit of ribbon round
it is all that is wanted. Although a sun-bonnet is picturesque, it
is hot and close, for it keeps off the air as well as the sun. The
old-fashioned plan of putting a couple of cabbage leaves in the crown
of the hat is not to be despised, should the heat be felt very much.
For winter, a soft felt hat or cap will be required.
_Boots._--This is the most important item of all, and one,
curiously enough, usually neglected by lady gardeners. I often notice
that students, when they begin work, wear ready-made and badly-made
articles of the thickness only of paper. Boots are better than shoes,
but they must be good. Cheap boots are dear at any price. If possible
to afford it, they should be made to order, for a good many hours of
the day will be spent in them. It is well to have a few nails in the
soles; those made of aluminium are best. From 1 to 1½ ozs. will be
sufficient for a pair of boots, and the difference in weight between
them and the ordinary tackets is worth the extra cost.
Boots should never be blacked, but always greased. This makes them
warm in winter and wonderfully cool in summer; they are then really
waterproof. If they are dressed once or twice a week with Gishurstine,
they will wear well, and keep soft and pliable. A 1s. tin will last
a long time. Castor oil, too (the cheap veterinary kind), is also
excellent. Two pairs of boots are necessary so that they can be worn
on alternate days, and thus be properly dried. There is a foolish,
old-fashioned rule in some gardens that the men must have their boots
neatly blacked on Monday mornings. This should not be encouraged.
The best way to dry boots, when absolutely soaked through, is as
follows:--Take 2 or 3 lb. of oats, and heat them in the oven; when the
boots are taken off, stand them in a pail, and pour the hot oats up to
the top of the polish. The oats absorb moisture, and as the boot dries
they will swell, and act as a last. The same oats may be used over and
over again. To clean brown boots Bucknell’s saddle soap is better than
any of the patent preparations.
_Stockings._--For winter wear, stockings should be knitted of
soft, thick wool. Woven ones are the best in summer.
If, when the mid-day hour of rest arrives, boots and stockings are wet
through, they should be changed at once. It is false economy to neglect
to do this, for a rheumatic future may be the outcome. It will be
found, however, that, if they are not wet, there will be less suffering
from tired feet when the same stockings and boots are kept on all day.
If they are removed, and a rest is taken in easy shoes during dinner
time, the feet will swell, cause pain, and blisters will probably rise
when a fresh pair of boots are put on for the afternoon. Beginners
usually have to put up with tender feet until they become accustomed to
heavy boots. For this reason, thick stockings are preferable. It will
be found that camphorated Eau de Cologne cools the feet. Another and
better remedy is Balm of Bethesda, which can be had from most chemists.
The feet should be soaked in warm water, and while still damp a few
drops of the balm rubbed in. This should be done every night until a
cure is effected. It may be necessary to repeat the remedy each
spring when the first warm days arrive.
[Illustration: IN THE GARDEN AT FORTFIELD HOUSE, TERENURE, CO.
DUBLIN.
WHERE MISS HESTER PERRIN DEVOTES MUCH TIME TO THE SUCCESSFUL
CULTIVATION OF BULBS AND PLANTS.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
_Leggings._--These, too, are important, and should be of leather,
and similar to those worn by men. Buttons or spring fastenings are
to be avoided. The spiral strap fastening with a buckle is the most
practical, and brown leather is better than black, as it is more easily
cleaned. Cloth leggings, gaiters or puttees should not be worn; they
are troublesome to clean.
_Gloves._--Thick leather gloves are useful when working among
thorns and thistles. Many jobs, such as thinning out small things,
pruning and nailing, cannot be properly done in gloves. When working
among wet vegetables, they only make the hands cold, and encourage
chilblains. Hands will wash, but it is as well to be provided with a
bottle of nail-cleaning fluid, a box of orange sticks, and a little
cotton wool. A hand nail brush must not be used, but soap and water
should be vigorously applied.
_Apron or Overall._--This will keep the skirt clean, and if there
is a large pocket in the front it will be useful to keep scissors, a
knife, raffia, or string in it for tying roses to pergolas, or picking
flowers. A blue serge apron looks best, or an overall made of sacking,
with a belt round the waist, is neat.
OTHER REQUISITES
_Medicine Chest._--There will often be exposure to rough weather.
A bottle of Eau de Cologne saturated with camphor is a necessity. It
should be rubbed on the skin after washing, and it will tone it up
and keep the surface smooth. It is a good hair tonic, and relieves
headache; it also takes away toothache, and twenty drops on a lump of
sugar will generally prevent a cold after working in damp weather.
Scrubbs’ cloudy ammonia put into a very hot bath is refreshing after a
hard day. Quinine is indispensable to those who can take it.
I need mention no other requisites for a medicine cupboard, as, unless
one is strong and active, a gardener’s life will not be chosen. The
chief risk that arises is that of taking cold, especially when work
necessitates going in and out of a greenhouse, and thus being subjected
to unusual changes of temperature. To guard against this, a knitted
woollen golfing blouse should be kept handy. It is so thick, that
it will keep out the coldest, most piercing wind, and can be easily
slipped over the flannel blouse when leaving a greenhouse.
_Bicycle._--Should there not be a cart for the gardener’s use,
a bicycle is indispensable. Visits to other gardens are of interest
if only for the sake of comparison. Often, too, by making friends
with neighbouring gardeners, cuttings of new plants or seeds can be
exchanged. A basket can be fixed to the handle-bars of the bicycle, in
which can be put books and papers, whilst larger things are tied to the
carrier behind. It will be found useful to understand the management of
a repair outfit for punctures. The more independent of outside help a
lady gardener is, the better she will get on, and the happier she will
be.
CHAPTER VIII
COTTAGE AND FOOD
The question of finding a suitable cottage for a lady gardener is
sometimes considered a difficulty by employers. But this need not be
so. As a rule, the cottage stands alone in the kitchen garden, or near
by, and what is large enough for a married man with many children will
suit a lady admirably.
[Illustration: IN THE GARDEN AT FORTFIELD HOUSE, TERENURE, CO.
DUBLIN.
BELONGING TO L. PERRIN HATCHELL, ESQ., AND IN WHICH MISS HESTER
PERRIN DEVOTES MUCH TIME AND LABOUR.
_Photograph by Pictorial Agency._]
A lady gardener will want either a companion or a servant, as it is too
tiring for her to cook and manage for herself after a hard day’s work.
There are several ways of arranging this comfortably. Should the salary
be a large one, it will be best to have a servant to cook and undertake
all household duties. If the cost of a resident servant is too great,
it will probably be possible to make some arrangement with a woman in
the village. She will come for so many hours a day for cleaning and
rough work, and the cooking can be dealt with by the gardener herself.
As, however, it is extremely important that she should keep in good
health, I urge that she should endeavour, by some arrangement or
other, to get the cooking and house work done for her. There is sure
to be an extra bedroom in the cottage, and should it be impossible to
keep a servant, it can probably be arranged to have either a friend or
a garden student as companion, who is willing to take over these small
responsibilities. Often there are ladies training for Colonial work,
who would gladly come and manage, in exchange for board and lodging.
Vegetables are allowed to a gardener, and, therefore, she can easily
afford to pay for the board of someone who helps her. Sometimes milk is
provided for the use of a head gardener, and also coals. Before a post
is accepted it should be ascertained exactly to what she is entitled,
and then a calculation should be made as to how expenses can best be
met. It must be remembered, however, that good, well-cooked food often
saves a doctor’s bill; so no pains should be spared to live well. The
greater variety that can be managed in the case of food, the better the
health will be. Women living alone are very apt, from laziness, to fall
into a habit of drinking tea and eating only bread and butter. Work
certainly cannot be done on this; solid food is absolutely necessary.
With a view to assisting lady gardeners to undertake their own cooking
in cases of emergency, I am able, through the kindness of Miss J. S.
Turner, to give a few hints which may, I hope, be of use.
For roasting, an American roaster, which can be placed in the oven and
requires no attention for basting, is necessary. If there is a close
range, the earthenware French _casseroles_ and _marmites_ are
nicer than saucepans. There are many American “notions” too, that save
labour.
Asbestos mats for placing under saucepans on a closed stove only cost
4d. each, and prevent the contents burning.
Aluminium utensils are much better than those of iron or tin. They cost
more, but are indestructible, and easily kept clean.
To commence with, the following utensils should be provided:--
1 large saucepan. It should be the largest that can be fitted on the
stove, and a steamer to fit it is also required.
1 spirit lamp for quickly boiling hot water or eggs.
1 small saucepan.
1 double saucepan or porringer.
1 kettle.
1 gourmet boiler.
1 American roaster.
3 frying pans for meat, fish, and eggs.
1 oven tin.
1 pudding bowl.
2 pie dishes.
2 basins.
2 jugs.
1 teapot.
1 coffee pot.
1 bowl for mixing paste.
Pastry board and rolling-pin.
Cups, glasses, knives, forks, spoons, egg-cups and table-cloths will be
needed.
With the above-mentioned articles most things can be done, and other
utensils can be added as required.
_Breakfast._--Breakfast should consist of porridge and milk, a
boiled or poached egg, and a rasher of bacon if necessary.
The porridge should be made overnight. Half a breakfast cup of Provost
or Quaker Oats, with a good pinch of salt, should be put into a
saucepan. A cup and a half of _boiling_ water must be poured over
it and well stirred. Put on the lid, and allow the whole to boil for
ten to twenty minutes. Leave it by the side of the stove all night,
and it will only want heating up in the morning, which can be done on
a paraffin stove. Do not forget to put water in the lower half of the
saucepan.
It will only take a few minutes to boil an egg or fry some bacon.
When going out early in summer, it may be convenient to make a hot cup
of tea, and for this the spirit lamp will be useful.
_Midday meal._--If lunch has to be prepared by oneself, bread and
cheese, cold meat, soup, a hard-boiled egg with salad, will be the
most easily managed. Tinned food should not be relied upon; it is dear
and unwholesome. If a hot luncheon can be obtained it will be better.
I only give the above suggestions to those who have to manage for
themselves.
_Supper._--As work ceases at 6 p.m., there will be plenty of time
to prepare a meal for 7.30 p.m. A gourmet boiler is most useful. Put
in meat, potatoes, onions, etc., and a teacupful of water. Place the
boiler in a large saucepan, and fill up with water to the rim of the
boiler. If this be put on the fire at luncheon time, a good stew will
be ready in two hours, and a still better one in eight hours’ time. One
visit to replenish the water in the saucepan will be necessary
Beefsteak pudding, too, can be left on for hours, with the assurance
that it will be all the nicer for long cooking.
Many dishes can be prepared beforehand, and heated up when required. It
only needs a little thinking out.
_Coffee._--Buy the whole berries roasted. Grind them as they
are wanted. Small mills can be procured cheaply. Put the coffee in an
earthenware coffee jug, and place it upon the stove for ten minutes
or until it gets thoroughly heated. Pour on boiling water, and let it
stand for five minutes. Stir it up, and then let it settle.
_Tea._--Should the locality be one where the water is “hard,”
“Hardwater tea” should be obtained. This is economical. Other blends
are expensive, because the water does not extract the full flavour, and
more tea has to be used.
_Milk._--If milk is bought, get new milk, and do not skim it.
Put it into a jug as soon as it is received. Let it stand twelve to
twenty-four hours according to the season, and stir it well before it
is used
_Butter._--An icicle butter box, to hold from 1 lb. upwards, can
be obtained, and if butter is kept in this box it will be firm even on
the warmest day.
_Pot au feu._--When tired after a day’s work, and not up to
cooking, this and Pepperpot or Lancashire Hot Pot (the recipes in Mrs.
Beeton’s cookery book) will be found a great stand-by. The pot merely
has to be put on the stove, and in a few minutes a respectable meal is
ready.
Life in the open air gives a good appetite, and, as a rule, no
difficulty will be found in responding to it, if these slight
instructions are followed.
CHAPTER IX
MARKET GARDENING
This is a branch of horticulture which requires great consideration and
careful reflection, before a lady undertakes it. It needs both brains
and capital. Market gardening resembles that larger sphere of jobbing
combined with nursery gardening which is described towards the end of
Chapter IV. Possibly less artistic sense is necessary, but far larger
business capacity is essential. To succeed at all everything grown
must be of the best quality, and suit the prevailing demand. There
are fashions in flowers and vegetables, and these have to be studied
and responded to. Then, too, in order to sell to London or other big
markets, advance must be kept of others. It well repays to have green
peas a fortnight before your neighbour, and more money is made if the
supply of choice vegetables can be prolonged throughout the winter
months. Then, again, white flowers sell better than others. These and
many other tricks of the trade are not learned in an amateur way. They
have to be studied under a competent master. Flowers have to be picked
before the sun has opened them; they have to be packed with skill, and
only certain kinds will travel well. Experience is necessary in order
to know the right kind of foliage to send away with flowers.
So much, indeed, has to be learnt which cannot well be acquired at a
college, that I strongly advise apprenticeship for a year or two to a
nursery gardener. If it is preferred to study first at a school where
surplus flowers and vegetables are sold, a good foundation of knowledge
can be laid, which is considerably added to later in a market garden. I
would suggest at least four years’ training for this particular branch
of Horticulture.
An apprentice might well suppose that many secrets of the trade would
be revealed to her. But this may prove to be a mistake. Business people
are cautious as to what information they impart, and possibly more is
to be acquired by keeping eyes and ears well open. Constant and careful
inquiries should be made as to the price obtained for various vegetable
produce, and the most likely quarters where there is a demand for it in
that particular part of the country.
I am inclined to think, however, that the most useful business
information is to be gained during the first year or two’s work in
one’s own garden. It is gloomy to foretell such things, but mistakes
are sure to happen, and from experience comes knowledge. To lose one’s
own money hurts more than to see others lose.
Should the intending market gardener be a free agent, and able to
select any part of England for her garden, there are two important
matters for her to weigh. Where will be the best market, and what land
has the most plentiful supply of water? Probably for the first venture
the neighbourhood of a large seaside town, a watering-place or golf
links, will be a safer market than London, which is so large and well
supplied. It should be ascertained who the most likely customers will
be--schools, boarding-houses, private families, etc., and the garden
should be adapted to supply their wants.
Many are the ways of arranging work in a market garden. A lady of ample
means can afford to keep an experienced foreman, a large staff, and
horses and vans. By paying the head man so much per cent. upon the sale
of produce, his interest in the concern will be kept alive. In this
case a thoroughly dependable and honest man is necessary. Should more
scope for energy be needed it will be advisable for the principal to do
the secretarial work, decide the rotation of crops, conduct the sale
transactions, as well as attend to the social part of the business.
She should also supervise most of the operations and have good skilled
labour to carry out all manual work.
If it can be avoided a field should not be converted into a market
garden. The money that necessarily has to be spent at the start will
more quickly be repaid if land is worked which has been used as a
garden before. However good the soil, climate, and situation may be,
a garden can only barely pay its way during the first two years on
account of the many expenses that have to be met.
As opinions can best be formed by hearing real experiences, I propose
inserting the following letter, written by one who has known what it
is to overcome obstacles, and finally reach well-earned success. This
interesting letter and several detailed accounts of market gardens
given on p. 253 show what a suitable career this is for a woman. One,
too, which will bring not only health and happiness from work in the
open, but considerable remuneration, if it be carefully and well
conducted.
BASHLEY NURSERY,
NEW-MILTON, HAMPSHIRE,
_October 11th, 1907_.
DEAR MADAM,--
In answer to your request for information about my market
garden here, I think it will be best if I give you a short
history of the undertaking. I bought six acres of land here
fifteen years ago, with a view to start a garden on a more or
less remunerative footing. I had been brought up in a town, but
had always been fond of botany--of plants as individuals--and
as years went on, felt drawn to a country life. I got to know
something of cultivated plants by studying in the Botanic
Gardens at Cambridge, where I lived. I hired a quarter-acre
allotment in a field let out in that way. I got very much
interested in it, and decided to go in for a country life with
a garden, which I hoped to make pay its way, if not more. I
studied gardening for two years with a family who had taken up
market gardening in Wales, and proceeded to buy a small plot
of land to begin upon. I had enough capital to start a place
and build a small house for myself, and, fortunately enough,
means to live upon in a somewhat bare way. I did not feel
the least sanguine of making ends more than meet, and this
was fortunate, as for many years it was a most unpromising
and expensive undertaking. I was entirely without business
knowledge in general, or of any of the detailed knowledge of
the horticultural trade, and also, being town-bred, I was led
into many errors. The soil proved poor and sour from lack of
draining, and thickly infested with wire-worms, and being far
from any town (Bournemouth, nine miles, being the nearest)
there was absolutely no local demand for anything. I should
say one of the main points in starting any place of the kind
is to be near some town. I had not originally intended to go
in for market gardening, but circumstances seemed to favour
it more than any other branch, of gardening, so after many
misgivings and qualms at further sinking of capital, I put up
a block of five greenhouses, each 100 feet by 12 feet. This
necessitated having a skilled man to live on the place, and
consequently the building of a cottage, as there was none near.
I intended to grow tomatoes for Bournemouth market, followed
by chrysanthemums and other winter crops. The first season of
tomato growing proved enough of a success to encourage me to
persevere, and I bought a horse and van to begin a trade with
Bournemouth shops, and engaged a man as salesman. On the whole
this proved a success from the first. Our chief crops to start
with were tomatoes in the houses, followed by chrysanthemums for
cut flowers in the winter, and out of doors a variety of plants
for cut flowers, especially early flowering chrysanthemums, also
strawberries, rhubarb, and vegetable marrows. After a short time
we took up narcissus, forcing for a spring crop, followed by
bedding plants in pots and boxes, and a variety of pot-plants,
such as genistas, ferns, cyclamen, freesia, and pelargoniums.
[Illustration: BOXING BULBS FOR FORCING AT MISS BATEMAN’S MARKET
GARDEN, BASHLEY NURSERY, NEW MILTON, HANTS.]
After a few years I bought nine acres more, adjoining the first
field, and two years ago I bought another small field of four
acres. A few years ago I was able greatly to improve our water
supply, and to put up an engine for pumping all water used
in the houses, and to build a second cottage for workmen. My
original staff consisted of one labourer; it is now about nine
men and boys. Last year I was able to add a large tomato house
100 feet by 30 feet, and a small fernery.
Whilst living here the neighbourhood has become a residential
one, and consequently a good deal of trade has come from the
immediate locality.
A good many people are glad to have their gardens superintended,
or to have suggestions about the laying out of their borders.
I cannot say I have ever found it a very remunerative
undertaking; it has certainly been a laborious one, but to me it
has been immensely enjoyable.
Other crops we grow out of doors are gooseberries, raspberries
and currants, and large quantities of roots, such as pansies,
polyanthus, wallflower, forget-me-not, for spring bedding. Among
the out-of-door flowers for cutting the chief are: narcissi,
chrysanthemums, roses, carnations, violets, gypsophila,
sweet-peas, marguerites, dahlias, astors, coreopsis, mignonette,
gladioli, Spanish iris, pæonies, scabious, alstromœria, daisies,
and many others. We also have a number of herbaceous plants and
a good many shrubs to supply retail customers.
I am, yours faithfully,
A. BATESON.
CHAPTER X
THE MEDICAL ASPECT OF GARDENING FOR WOMEN
Anxious parents often ask whether gardening is a really healthy
occupation for their daughters. These doubts, shared by many, are
perhaps not so easily dispelled as, at the outset, might be supposed.
We are all prone to view with suspicion any project which has for its
purpose the fitting of women for the more arduous tasks of life. “For
men must work and women must weep” is what we are accustomed to hear.
We know that amongst all primitive peoples it has been found that women
are capable physically of carrying out hard work in the open. We have
evidence to prove that crofter women, those engaged at coal-pit mouths,
women peasants in France and Germany, North American Indians, African
races and the aborigines of Australia, are not less long-lived than
their more favoured sisters in leisured countries. Amongst civilised
races, however, the principle is upheld that only light tasks are
relegated to women, and surely so it should be. The charm of woman
lies in her softness and gentleness. Must we not preserve this above
all else?