516 



HORTICULTURE 



April 5, 1913 



HiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifi 



THOMAS ROLAND, 



PLANT SPECIALIST I 



= ACACIAS 



CAMELLIAS 



HEATHS 



CYCLAMEN 

 FERNS 



BOUGAINVILLEAS 

 GENISTAS 

 I ROSES, ETC. = 



^ an 



niiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiBiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiM 



AMARYLLIS 

 ARDISIAS 



BEGONIAS 

 CROTONS 



HYDRANGEAS = 



ORANGES I 



ORCHIDS I 



POINSETTIAS I 



sion of medicine or law. The business 

 world demands "captains of industry" 

 to conduct large operations. These 

 men are of necessity broadly educated. 

 Many of our florist establishments are 

 passing from the "small mill" stage 

 Into the huge factory with its many 

 departments of specialized labor. The 

 florist of the future must be the pro- 

 gressive man, the educated man, who 

 can supervise and direct these large 

 enterprises. 



While it is true that many men de- 

 velop an aptitude for business without 

 special training, history has shown 

 that those most successful are the edu- 

 cated men. Many times this educa- 

 tion has been self-acquired and has 

 come after long years of patient labor, 

 but it has nevertheless been essential 

 for the success of the individual. 



Frequently it is said that there are 

 no good American florists. The men 

 who have been the most successful 

 have received their preparation 

 through a period of apprenticeship and 

 training in England, Germany, or some 

 other European country. I do not in 

 the least question the splendid impetus 

 these men have given the industry and 

 skill which they have shown, but I 

 think that the time has come when 

 the sons of these men and the sons of 

 American-born florists should have 

 even better educational facilities and 

 training in this country than can be 

 obtained abroad. 



America boasts of her splendid edu- 

 cational systems, and it is true that 

 along many lines there are no better 

 methods of teaching in the world than 

 are found in our public and private 

 schools and colleges. There has been 

 an effort to furnish those branches in 

 the curricula of educational Institu- 

 tions which meet a demand. That there 

 are not better schools in which to 

 train gardeners and florists seems to 

 be not so much the fault of the institu- 

 tions as the fault of the people. We 

 have not made the demand for voca- 

 tional training for our sons along this 

 line of work. 



Horticulture was formerly consid- 

 ered to deal principally with the grow- 

 ing of plants and to Include mostly 

 those grown for ornamentation or for 

 table use. As we understand the sub- 

 ject today it is much broader in its 

 scope; so broad in fact that few indi- 

 viduals can expect to acquire a thor- 

 ough knowledge of all Its many 

 branches. There are departments of 

 forestry, landscape gardening, market 

 gardening, fruit culture and floricul- 

 ture. 



As has already been stated, this has 

 come to be an age of specialization, 

 and in order to become a specialist one 

 must be trained in some deflnite 

 branch of plant growing so that he 

 knows more about that particular crop 

 and can produce better results in its 

 culture than can anyone else. 



However there is a danger and a 

 real danger that our gardeners and 

 florists become too narrow in their 

 knowledge of plant life through In- 

 tense specialization. There is prob- 

 ably no position which demands that a 

 man have a broader knowledge than 

 in the work of the private gardener. 

 Tco frequently he must not only be 

 well equipped in his knowledge of 

 plants, but he must know all about the 

 management of the live stock, the 

 cook, the butler, and even the cham- 

 bermaid. In the plant world he must 

 not confine his studies to ornamental 

 flower growing, but must be well 

 versed in the principles of fruit cul- 

 ture, vegetable growing and general 

 agriculture. 



While, as has been said, the special- 

 ist is the important grower of the pres- 

 ent period, there is now and probably 

 always will be a class of men who do 

 a wholesale and retail business and 

 whose trade demands that they grow a 

 miscellaneous collection of plants. 

 Those doing the largest amount of 

 business either in a wholesale or retail 

 capacity will have their work so thor- 

 oughly organized that there will be a 

 series of important sections with the 

 special grower in charge of each sec- 

 tion. The owner himself, however, 

 cannot afford to be ignorant of how 

 the different departments should be 

 run, or to be dependent upon his grow- 

 er for his information. His education 

 and experience must of necessity have 

 been broad in order to successfully 



manage the business. The man who 

 personally constructs his own range, 

 arranges the heating system, propa- 

 gates and grows his miscellaneous 

 crops and markets the same success- 

 fully must of necessity be a man with 

 a well developed intellect in order to 

 successfully compete in the business 

 world. 



So \\e see that it is not sufficient 

 therefore, that we have our schools of 

 general horticulture, although these 

 are necessary for the training of the 

 best equipped "all-round" men; it is 

 not sufficient that we have our divi- 

 sions of these horticultural schools in- 

 to departments of floriculture, market 

 gardening, and the like, although they 

 are essential for training general grow- 

 ers. There is a need in America today 

 for definite and extended courses in 

 tlie growing of conservatory plant.T for 

 the young man who is to make the cul- 

 ture of these his life work; specl'.l 

 courses in rose growing, carnation 

 growing, orchid growing and the like, 

 also courses in the culture of outdoor 

 trees, shrubs and herbaceous perenni- 

 als. In other words, we should train 

 specialists as well as general growers. 



In this connection it may be said 

 that the best training for a specialist 

 comes through his practical experience 

 in the range. Much is said in favor of 

 the apprentice system practised in the 

 older countries and I do not question 

 the value of this system for those 

 countries, but American conditions are 

 very different. There is no question In 

 my mind but what the best material 

 out of which to develop educated plant 

 growers and specialists comes from 

 those young men who have been 

 brought up in the actual work of the 

 range. However, a better knowledge 

 of science is developing daily and 

 these young men must be brought Into 



FLOWER MARKET! SHOW^ 



ON Q APRIL 12th, 19131 



The Boston Co-operative Flower Market 



will hold an exhibition of all kinds of commercial flowers, plants and 

 floral designs. We expect this exhibition to exceed ail previous shows 

 which we have held and the premiums, amounting to over eight hundred 

 dollars, should induce strong competition. All flowers, plants and designs 

 should be staged and ready for the judges to pass on not later than 11 

 A. M., positively. The exhibition will close at 8 P. M. 



■\f^. NA/'. -r.4KIL.I 



