Missouri Botanical 
Garden Bulletin 
Vol. II St. Louis, Mo., December, 1914 No. 12 
THE GARDEN COURSE — 
It was near the middle of the last century when Henry 
Shaw began the development of his country home—Tower 
Grove. From the very first he employed gardeners, and it 
appears that he found most of them lacking in the funda- 
mental training so necessary for the work. . 
It is natural, then, that in planning the Garden and its 
future growth Mr. Shaw should have had in mind the de- 
velopment of more efficient garden labor, and in drawing 
up his will, January 26, 1885—nearly five years before his 
death—he inserted this paragraph: . 
“T declare my intentions that instruction to garden 
pupils shall be attended to, both in practical and 
scientific horticulture, agriculture and arboriculture 
**** T leave the details of instruction to those who 
may have to administer the establishment, and to 
shape the particular course of things to the condition 
of the times.” : 
The Board of Trustees, on assuming control of the 
Garden, gave this feature of his will their very early con- 
sideration. In December, 1889, the first announcement con- 
cerning Garden pupils was issued. In this we find the 
_ following: 
“In accordance with the intentions of its honored 
Founder, the Trustees of the Garden propose to provide 
adequate theoretical and practical instruction for 
young men desirous of becoming gardeners.” 
To this end certain resolutions were adopted at a meeting 
held November 19, 1889. Briefly summarizing these, they 
amount to this: That there be established the number of 
six scholarships for Garden pupils of the Missouri Botanical 
Garden to be available on and after April 1, 1890, to youn 
men between the ages of fourteen and twenty years; an 
that each scholarship may be held for a period not exceed- 
ing six years. Under this arrangement the Garden pupils, 
- for the year of their course, were regarded as apprentices 
and, as such, were required to work under the direction of 
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