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194 A GARDENER'S YEAR

thermometer varied by twenty-five degrees, namely, from
eighty-four to fifty-nine, and the minimum by twenty
degrees, from fifty-three to thirty-three. Surely this is
unusual for the time of year — even in England.
Since I was last here the ordinary routine of garden
work has gone on regularly from day to day, as it
must if anything is to succeed. That is where English
private gardens have the advantage over those in most
other countries that I have visited, namely, in the
regularity of the attention they receive, be they large
or small, by which means alone they are able to "hold
their own against the rigours of our climate. In Britain
this is possible because of the existence of a numerous
body of men, more or less trained to gardening, who
are always ready to take to this class of work for a
moderate wage, and from year to year to persevere in
it as a profession.
Also, although, of course, there are black sheep
among them, our gardeners, on the whole, have the
credit of being a very respectable and reliable body of
men, who may be trusted to attend to their duties
whether their masters are absent or present. So far
as my experience goes, the same can be said of those
of few other lands. Doubtless, here, competition keeps
up the standard, since for any decent post of this sort
there are always plenty of applicants. In farming work,
as I think will be admitted by any readers of my book
"Rural England," it is now otherwise. But the labour
in a garden, although quite sufficient to satisfy most men,
is by no means so severe as it is upon the land.
