THE 



GARDENER 



MARCH 1870. 



THE EDUCATION" OF GABDENERS. 



HIS is a subject that has come prominently before the 

 readers of the ' Gardener ' since its first publication in 

 1867. The course of examinations instituted by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society and the Society of Arts na- 

 turally enough operated to call special attention to the subject ; and a 

 large number of readers of the ' Gardener ' being of that class for whose 

 especial behoof these examinations had been provided, it is not to be 

 wondered at that a brisk discussion on the question should have been, 

 and still is, carried on in its pages. All true educational agencies are 

 matters of deep interest, and their beneficial operation must, and does, 

 exert a beneficent influence on the community. In like manner, gar- 

 deners' examinations, wisely conducted, cannot fail to operate to raise 

 the professional status of the gardener, and at the same time offer to 

 him the means of social advancement. 



But these examinations are not the end, they are only the means to 

 the end; and herein we fancy some are apt to mistake their object and 

 aim. To be able to take high honours at an examination is an object 

 worthy of an earnest ambition; but it may be said to only represent 

 the attainment of so much practical and theoretical information, the 

 which, in order that it may work out its legitimate results, must be 

 put out to use, and not be suffered to rust by a course of inaction. 

 First-class certificates, and the highest number of marks, do not neces- 

 sarily represent an educated gardener ; they do represent a foundation 

 on which may be built up a solid educational structure when the stores 

 of accumulated lore have been wisely applied. What kind of use will 



