COUNTRY LIFE
The Farmer's Career An old question is being asked of me with increasing fre- quency, and doubtless more often of other people with more knowledge. Is there an opening in horticulture and farming for a boy of good education ? and what is the best preparation ? The answer is difficult. Some of the Would-be horticulturists go to work as undergardeners in the bigger and more famous gardens of the great. Some apply for jobs to the seed mer- chants who are often ready to give at least temporary work in the spring. The would-be husbandmen usually go to an agricultural college (or take the excellent agricultural schools at Oxford, which specialize in economics), or Cam- bridge which emphasizes pure science. In horticulture the women do better, I think, than the men, for the reason that they are content with smaller successes, and their colleges- Swanley, for example—are essentially practical. Pupils become gardeners—sometimes jobbing gardeners—or they take up some small particular branch, such as the miniature Japanesy rock garden, planted in pot or sink. A humble living can be made thus, and there is always an opening for those who are willing to become paid gardeners ; but the professional and commercial gardeners usually say that their best men rise
from the ranks. * *
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