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THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



charge of a private estate necessarily more competent if 

 he has had a college education? Yes and no. Yes, be- 

 cause any knowledge about one's life work is of some 

 value, but no, if his knowledge ends with what he learned 

 at a college because there is no college in the country 

 which gives an education of such a character as to iit a 

 man to take a position as estate superintendent or head 

 gardener. In fact under the present conditions a college 

 graduate is really less fitted for these positions than a 

 man who has worked his way up upon an estate from 

 boyhood. Many instances have come under my personal 

 notice of college graduates obtaining positions as estate 

 managers and every one turned out a failure. 



An instance of the practical valuelessness of 

 college education took place upon an estate where a 

 graduate from a college making forestry a special branch 

 was given the position of forester. Previous to his tak- 

 ing up the position the owner had sold a number of black 

 walnut trees which were growing upon the estate and the 

 first work this young man had to see to carrying out was 

 the cutting of all the black walnuts over a certain size. 

 Subsequently the purchaser of the trees, who by the way 

 was acting as agent for a foreign firm who had arranged 

 for the trees to be exported, was advised that they were 

 ready for measurement and shipment. Upon the agent's 

 arrival he found that no walnuts had been cut and noth- 

 ing but ash ! 



From this it would appear that a scientific education is 

 of little or no value. On the contrary, however, the more 

 a man knows about the scientific principles of his pro- 

 fession the better he is fitted for it. The trouble is that 

 the average college graduate is one sided ; he knows more 

 or less (generally less i of science but absolutely nothing 

 of practice. He is like a doctor knowing the' composi- 

 tion of a drug without any knowledge of its effects ; or 

 knowing the symptoms of a disease but ignorant of how 

 to treat it. .A.fter a medical student has become suffi- 

 ciently well grounded in the scientific principles of his 

 profession to graduate from his medical college, he has to 

 spend several years studying the practice at a hospital 

 under experienced physicians before he can commence to 

 practice for himself, and even at this point he has onlv 

 just crossed the threshold of his professional knowledge. 

 A student studying with a view of taking up our pro- 

 fession has little or no opportunities at college to learn 

 anything of the practical work connected with it. A 

 failing too, of most men with a college education is that 

 they think their college education places them upon a 

 higher plane than the man who has gained his profes- 

 sional knowledge outside of a college "and they are pos- 

 sessed with the erroneous idea that thev cannot possibly 

 learn anything from the latter or anvone else. As Mr. 

 Farquhar said at our last meeting, it' takes twenty years 

 for a man to become a first-class gardener. Even at the 

 end of that period most people will admit the possibilities 

 of learning something, for it is only the more or less 

 ignorant who think they know it all. A somewhat promi- 

 nent man a short time ago gave expression to the opinion 

 about college education generally, that everv man should 

 go to college so that he mav know the usele'ssness of col- 

 lege education for the practical work of life. One of the 

 main reasons for this can be found in the fact that verv 

 few professors are practical men ; their knowledge being 

 entirely academic they are therefore unable to show the 

 practical bearing of the scientific knowledge thev impart, 

 thus rendering it of little value. 



Few will dispute the great value which a knowledge of 

 the scientific principles unckrlying his profession is to the 

 estate manager and gardener, but, as most of us can not 

 spare the time to spend several years at college, where 



can a man seeking to advance himself in his profession 

 and become better fitted for the practice of it. gain this 

 knowledge? The answer can be found in the following" 

 incident. 



A man once lectured before an educated and cultivated 

 audience at a town in Scotland. The lecture lasted an 

 hour and the audience was sorry when it ended. After- 

 wards the lecturer was asked at what university he grad- 

 uated. He replied, "At the Fireside University." "The 

 Fireside University ! I never heard of it." The lecturer 

 then explained that his schooling ceased when he reached 

 the age of 14, and that he had educated himself by means 

 of books in the evenings after working upon his father's- 

 farm in the Lothians. 



It is open to any one to adopt the same method of 

 obtaining a knowledge of the scientific principles of his 

 profession. In this way a knowledge of both science and 

 practice can be acquired simultaneously, which is the only 

 effective means, and he will then gain a daily increasirvg 

 grasp of his profession and instead of his work being 

 merely rule of thumb routine his ideas and outlook will 

 be greatly broadened and he will know more and more of 

 the reasons underlying his practice. 



Even if he cannot always at first see the practical bear- 

 ing of scientific facts, the obtaining of knowledge for its 

 own sake is always worth while, especially if it is con- 

 nected, however remotely, with one's life work. A man- 

 never knows amongst the thousand and one things which 

 daily crop up upon a country estate how soon he will be 

 up against a blank wall or when he will come across a 

 problem to which he knows of no solution, but which may 

 possibly be easily solved by any one having a knowledge 

 of the first principles underlying it. 



One of the great values of scientific principles is that 

 they are the same all the world over ; it is only the applica- 

 tion of them which differs according to one's environ- 

 ment, therefore a man with a knowledge of these princi- 

 ples finds it much more easy to harmonize his practice 

 with the conditions of a different climate, soil, etc., than a 

 man who has simply gained his knowledge by rule of 

 thumb and who is utterly at a loss when confronted with 

 conditions with which he has had no experience. 



The great work before our association as an organiza- 

 tion is to create and foster a professional spirit and to so 

 elevate the profession that more and more employers will 

 recognize it as such. In the old country an institution 

 exists which grants diplomas in estate management which 

 have full recognition by estate owners. The examina- 

 tion is both scientific and thoroughly practical and in- 

 cludes forestry but not gardening. The diploma is not 

 granted to those passing the examination unless a man 

 has been or until he has been, at least three years work- 

 ing as an assistant on an estate. The institution being' 

 purely examinary and not edticational fiiose taking the 

 examination study for it where and how they like. In 

 many cases 3"0ung men to get upon well managed estates 

 will work without salaries for a year or two and study the 

 practical and scientific sides simultaneously. \'ery often, 

 too, they pay a premivun as well for the privilege. 



The purely horticultural side is taken care of by the 

 examination of the Royal Horticultural Society which 

 also has its gardens where young men are taken for a two 

 year course which includes both the scientific and practical 

 side and there is no college in the world which turns out 

 men with a better working knowledge of their profession. 

 Perhaps some day the National Association of Gardeners, 

 in this country will have an examining body for the pur- 

 pose of granting diplomas. 



Salaries in our profession can never become standard- 

 ized as the value of positions greatly vary. My experi- 



