During 1869, much was said in the pages of the 'Gardener' about the education of young gardeners. Those specially interested are much indebted to Mr David Thomson, "The Squire's Gardener," and other correspondents, for the sound advice given in their excellent papers; also to the Editor, for the notes he occasionally added to these communications. As one of the " youngsters," I may be permitted to detail my experiences and difficulties in climbing the "tree of knowledge." I have never been in the condition of your unfortunate correspondent, "One in Despair," who, as musicians would say, struck the key-note of his "psalm of life " a full crescendo, but now seems inclined to end it with a woeful diminuendo, in touching despairing accents. Perhaps he will be disposed to say I escaped his fate because I was not educated ! My school education was something as follows: - I went to school during winter, and herded cows in summer. This I began to do when I was only eleven years of age. At the age of sixteen I was bound to serve an apprenticeship in a gentleman's establishment in a far-north county of the "Land o' Cakes." My "education" was of such a character that, in the true sense of the words, I could neither read, write, spell, nor do any arithmetic.

It has been said, That is how gardeners get such miserable low wages; and how can it be otherwise while these "clarty Scotchmen " persist in making so-called gardeners of their "herd laddies," and send them " south " to take their places by the side of better-educated men? Be this as it may, I can only state that the men who opened the garden-gates to me made the best they could of the raw material confided to them. I found many difficulties in my way. The first of these was the want of that which "One in Despair " appears to think " is rather a drawback than otherwise to many gardeners " - namely, education. With the assistance of my master and mates in the bothy, I tried for a time to go through a course of lessons on elementary Structural Botany and Vegetable Physiology; but my early education had been such that I found myself unable to cope with the technical terms that came in my way. I therefore got disheartened, and ultimately gave up the lessons. Should the author of the paper headed "On Theoretical Instruction," in the 'Gardener' for March of last year, chance to see this confession, he will doubtless take it as a proof that "speculative knowledge is useless in learning the trade of a gardener." It may be so, if he intends all young gardeners to begin as I did, without the means, as I may say, of attaining such knowledge.

Does this correspondent mean to say that it would be profitable for young gardeners to "exercise their hands," to the exclusion of exercising their brains at the same time? The man who could do this for one year of his apprenticeship, much less for three years, may " despair " of ever becoming a gardener. Some time after I had served my apprenticeship, I had to go back and attempt again the studies I had given up - namely, Structural Botany and Vegetable Physiology - simply because I could not get on without them. Now I maintain, had I mastered these partly, and been made to understand a little more fully the theory, along with the practice, of Horticulture, whilst I was serving my apprenticeship, I should have been a little, if not a long way, further up the "tree of knowledge " than I am at the present time. As to the prospect of finding myself in a better worldly position, I cannot say much - but

"A man's a man for a' that".

My experience clearly says to all my younger brother gardeners, Never be found

"Misspending all your precious hours, - Thy glorious youthful prime".

There is one branch of education which, to some men, has no more claim on the gardener's attention than has Greek or Hebrew - namely, Drawing. Yet I consider it of great importance to a gardener, when he comes to take the management of a gentleman's establishment, and has other men to set to work. In the first place, he can have things much more to his own mind when he can produce his own plans on paper. Secondly, a glance at a well-wrought-out plan will at once give his employer an idea of what is wanted, and at the same time inspire him with confidence in its successful accomplishment. And, thirdly, to be able to work out a geometrical flower-garden plan on paper is to be able to lay it down correctly on a grass lawn, if need be. An employer must find it very inconvenient indeed to have to get some one, other than his gardener, to furnish him with a plan, if one be required. And still more provoking is it, if he finds his gardener cannot put them into execution, when obtained, without blundering over them. I was rather surprised to find the head man of a considerable establishment working out alterations on a large scale without any plans at all. The work might have been done in half the time had the ground been previously looked over, calculations made, and plans furnished.

In one case, about 50 cart-loads of soil had to be moved a second time; in another, the verges of a walk were laid three times before the curve could be got to suit the eye of the director. These were big blunders; little ones are met with much more frequently. A gardener's life comprises much planning, and he ought to be able to execute as well as plan.

And now, in conclusion, a few words about gardeners' examinations. I heartily agree with all F. W. Burbidge has said on this subject in the 'Gardener' for December. What is gained in the working one's self " up to the scratch " is in reality the cream of the knowledge; and, after all, the necessary "cramming" may not be altogether without good effects on the young aspirant, although 1 by no means approve of it to the extent I have seen it practised. The gaining of certificates is more of a lottery than some people will admit. For example, I could only reach second-class in Floriculture after having gained a first class at a previous examination; and to further prove this, a candidate who was awarded a first-class by the R. H. S. received a short time after a second from the Society of Arts; and a year after that again, a third in the same subject. Much depends on the questions: a candidate may be able to answer every question, while in another paper he may not be able to answer more than one half of them. A candidate, to attain first-class merit in successive examinations, must have a wide knowledge of the subject, as well as a smooth, quick-running pen.

The practical examinations suggested by F. W. Burbidge, I am afraid, could not be very well carried out - at least, so long as the R. H. S. confines them to Kensington Gardens. But why not let these examinations be extended, so that gardeners in general throughout the country may take part in them? Let the R. H. S. extend them to each society in union with it, and conduct them on the same principle as the Society of Arts. If practical examinations were contemplated, they could be conveniently carried out on such occasions as the principal flower-shows, when it would be an easy matter to appoint a committee of gardeners to see that intending candidates could perform in a workmanlike manner the common work of the garden. There are right and wrong ways of handling tools, and gardeners who cannot wield their tools with ease, and even grace, 1 would exclude from examinations. The number of marks obtained by each candidate in these examinations could be added to each candidate's papers before being sent in to the examiner, and the certificates could be signed by each member of the committee before presenting them to the successful candidates.

Were something of this nature to be tried, I feel certain that many of the societies would offer local prizes, to be competed for by candidates in their own localities. This would give some encouragement to candidates, and reward talent, and I have no doubt but it would do much to improve the general education of gardeners; and in course of time the certificates would become a passport to a good position, and be as necessary as a good character is in the present day.

"Then let us pray that come it may, As come it will for a' that, That sense and worth, o'er all the earth, Shall bear the gree, and a' that".

E. I., G. P.