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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



Departments of Foreign Exchange and Book Reviews 



WOMAN IN HORTICULTURE 



T X our age, when the participation of woman in work relating 

 •^ to horiticuiture is more than ever the order of the day, and 

 at the precise moment when onr National School of Horticulture 

 at Versailles offers to the feminine element the first real means 

 for engaging in this life, it will perhaps be not without interest 

 to consider the ideas that our neighbors and friends across the 

 Channel may have on this subject, those among whom the 

 emancipation of woman has lately made so great progress. 



We tind just now, in the March number of the Journal of J he 

 Ministry of Agriculture, a very interesting article by >Irs. Kate 

 Barratt, in which, under the title, "Women in Horticulture, Their 

 Future Possibilities," she sets forth her ideas and predictions 

 having to do with the conditions, actual and future, of women 

 engaged in our occupation in England. 



Although French horticulture may be in general in a condition 

 less favorable than English horticulture, and because for this 

 reason it cannot offer to our women the same chances of success 

 that are permitted their English sisters, it remains established 

 nevertheless that these last seem to have gained in their country 

 an important place in the different branches of trade. 



Their example will have, then, some advantage in being fol- 

 lowed by the feminine element of our country, desirous of 

 finding in horticulture a future situation in accord with their 

 tastes. 



The article bv Mrs. Barratt may, then, be of some interest to 

 all who, near or far, follow the development of this important 

 question. In order to preserve for this exposition the special 

 character which has been given it by its author we give below a 

 translation of the original as faithful as possible. 



For about a score and a half of years English women have 

 progressively addressed themselves to horticulture to the end 

 of finding a' stable occupation and of assuring themselves at the 

 same time of the means of existence. The first who engaged ni 

 this life had to face all sorts of prejudices and their lot was 

 not always very enviable; nevertheless, their number increased 

 so rapidly that soon they were met more and more frequently 

 and in occupations more and more important. The majority 

 among them found employment upon private estates, whether 

 as chief gardeners or simply as assistants ; others, in the suburbs 

 of London evervwhere, specialized, with success, in the manage- 

 ment of gardens: others, in fine, were found in floricultural 

 establishments or in nurseries, as well as in kitchen garden 

 establishments and in truck raising, some as proprietors, others 

 as employees. 



Among those who had been drawn toward horticulture by an 

 innate taste for this profession, or by desire for life in the open 

 air, several often were attracted by the scientific side of their 

 work: and, after having completed the appropriate studies, they 

 were not long in finding employment in the teaching corps of the 

 different schools and colleges. Beyond the advantage of work 

 more attractive, these women profited through a remuneration 

 more advantageous than in the case of employment merely 

 manual. 



Then, consequent upon the war, and when men had responded 

 to the call to arms, the women having practical knowledge suffi- 

 cient found a vast field for action open before them. One ot 

 the sudden results of the utilization and importance of the femi- 

 nine element in horticulture was a rapid dissemination of capable 

 workers, relatively few in number, among a large numlier of 

 newcomers possessing only rudimentary acquaintance with work. 

 It may be believed that this invasion of the profession by workers 

 without much aljility has an unfavorable influence upon the future 

 possibilities of women in . this life since the war. ^'e^y many 

 among them in our days endure with difiiculty competition with 

 men. " The rising of the cost of living also has made its effect 

 felt upon horticulture : in consequence of the repeated augmenta- 

 tion of salaries and in consequence of the shortening of the day's 

 work, very many gardens have proceeded to a noticeable reduction 

 of their staff, especially of the feminine staff, which, in certain 

 cases, has been entirely disbanded. The men are, in fact, more 

 fitted fur hard labor, and this is the one consideration in the 

 evaluation of their respective merits. 



The war has been the cause of a sudden complete change also 

 among the traditions of many private estates ; while at other 

 times the question of pure ornamentation was the most important, 

 although many of these estates are in a condition of perfect 

 maintenance, the predominant interest tends toward the caring 



for fruit gardens and vegetable gardens, because of the revenues 

 of which they are the source. On the other hand, truck garden- 

 ing has taken on, in these recent years, a great extension, in 

 consequence of the general increase in the price of commodities 

 consumed, and it has become a branch of occupation much more 

 important than in other times, although the selling price of greens 

 has now mounted scarcely to cover the cost of cultivation. 



These two factors have affected directly the employment of 

 female labor : in short, there, where the pecuniary revenue is 

 the sole aim in view, the quantity of work furnished, although 

 it ought to maintain a certain degree of quality, represents the 

 most important point in the production; and it is just the physical 

 disadvantage of woman that prevents her from being able to 

 meet the competition of man. 



The consideration of all these points involves the necessity 

 for woman to devote herself exclusively to branches of horti- 

 culture for which she is better formed. She will have to direct 

 herself toward occupations in which the lack of physical strength 

 is of the least importance, and in which she will have opportunity 

 to measure in value the special aptitudes inherent in her sex. 

 She will always have to be ready to render compensation for 

 limitation of work by the advantage of quality. Certain horti- 

 cultuial labors will suit her perfectly; for example, the propa- 

 gation of plants, packing, the work of sowing and transplanting, 

 the working with frames and hothouses, the culture of flowers 

 and bulbs, etc. * * * The remuneration accorded to manual 

 laborers being as yet raised only a little and not representing, 

 in the majority of cases, more than a sum just necessary for 

 existence, it will then be necessary for her, to render her life 

 sufliciently attractive, to find a compensation in the satisfaction 

 yielded by an occupation in the open air and with agreeable 

 esthetic sensibilities. — Translated froin Rcz^llc Horticolc. 



THE RAISING OF SEEDLINGS 



TF the art and right practices of germinating seeds were univer- 

 sally understood, a bad time for the seedsmen would be the 

 consequence. Nevertheless, there is no reason why every 

 garden owner should not learn to be successful at it. The 

 compost should consist of equal parts of old turfy loam, old 

 leaf mold, and quartz sand, well mixed together, and be the 

 right degree of moisture, neither too dry, nor too wet, just moist. 

 The drainage must be, above all, thorough, and for this reason 

 the cpiartz sand should be a mi.xture of the three grades, fine, 

 medium and coarse, proportioned to suit the seed to be germi- 

 nated. This compost will do, with the addition of 2 ozs. of 

 steamed bone flour per cubic yard of soil for pricking out the 

 seedlings into boxes, and with the addition of lime (purest grade) 

 and potash for potting up into thumb pots, 1}4 oz. of lime and 

 Vi oz. of sulphate of notash per cubic yard being the most suit- 

 able quantities. Seedlings which hate lime should have wood 

 ashes instead of the lime and potash, say 6 ozs. 



Procure clean 7-in. pots and in each one invert a thumb pot. 

 Fill in with crocks: over the crocks place a thin layer of dead 

 grass roots (not dead grass leaves), then fill up with compost 

 and firm the soil evenly, but not too hard. The seed should be 

 sown as thick as Mustard and Cress (I can hear mumiurings 

 of dissent all around), lightly covered with fine compost and 

 pressed firm and quite hard. The top of the soil should be 

 nearly level, except a very slight rise in the center. If ordinary 

 sized seeds are sown, water with rain water (freshly fallen rain 

 for preference), through a fine rosed can until the drainage runs. 

 In the case of very fine seeds, dip the pots in water to two-thirds 

 their depth and let the water rise through the pot till the surface 

 soil is wetted. Drain (being very careful to handle the pot 

 gently), cover with a sheet of glass, over which place sheets of 

 brown paper. The giving of more water as and when germination 

 is proceeding should be with the greatest care and judgrnent. if 

 damping off disease is to be avoided. Examine every morning and 

 evening in order to give some air, and only give more wafer 

 through a fine spray pump when the surface is actually dry. 

 As soon as the seedlings show leaves, give some air by covering 

 only two-thirds of the pots with the glass and remove the brown 

 paper altogether. 



Prick out the seedlings into shallow (2-inch deep) boxes as 

 soon as they can be handled, about 1 inch to VA inches apart. 

 In these Ijoxes they will make especially fine roots on account of 

 the steamed bone flour, which has an extraordinary vigorous 

 action on seedlings. 



