There was a private school in Warren and John found out that the position of janitor was vacant. He was still working as a labourer, but he secured the position and mornings and evenings he looked after the buildings, for which he was given tuition. At this time he used to rise at three o’clock in the mornings, take a brisk walk, then study for three hours. After that he attended to his duties as a janitor before going to his day’s work. In spite of having so much to do, he made rapid progress with his studies and in the Latin examination he secured ninety-eight as a mark. His reputation as a gardener soon spread and he was given a position as caretaker of flowers in a cemetery. He made the grounds so gorgeous that soon people began to come for many miles to see it. When people asked how he secured such wonderful results he said it was the result of hard work and close study. He said that there was no such thing as luck in the garden. Everything must be carefully studied, even a minute knowledge of the various insects which destroy plants was necessary. About this time there was a man who had a magnificent tree, sixty feet high and four feet in diameter, but it was dying, and everybody whom he consulted said that nothing could arrest the decay. At last the man sent for John Davey, although it did seem as if the tree were too far gone to recover. Davey most carefully examined the tree, then he stripped away every semblance of decay; every dead twig and branch was cut off and the cavities carefully filled. He applied all the knowledge he had gained from many years of experience. Soon the tree responded to the treatment and to the delight of its owner it took on a new lease of life. This incident added greatly to his reputation and requests for his services began to pour in. Another man had a very fine elm tree, over five feet in diameter, which was dying. All who saw it said it was doomed and that Davey would be unable to do anything. He himself recognized that to revive it would be very difficult. Many people openly scoffed at his attempts and said that he was “crack-brained.” He treated the tree by pruning the roots. He dug trenches, sixty feet from the centre of the tree, cut off the extremities and revived the roots. At first his attempts seemed an utter failure. When spring came and other trees sent forth their green buds, not a thing appeared on the branches of the huge elm. People laughed, but John Davey waited patiently. He knew that the tree would be long in awaking from its winter sleep. Soon there were signs of life, and within a few weeks such was the profusion of buds that people came from long distances to see its beauty. It was a complete triumph for Davey and his reputation as a tree specialist was firmly established.