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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



WOMEN IN HORTICULTURE. 



{Continued from July issue) 



The different occupations open to women in hurticiilture can 

 be classilied in the following categories : 



I. Private Estates. There have always been a certain num- 

 ber of women employed upon private estates, and it is probable 

 that this condition will continue in the future. While, in cer- 

 tain cases, woman has been employed by preference, according 

 to her individual capacities, m other cases the proprietors, be- 

 longing themselves to the sex preferred to have, among the per- 

 sons surrounding them, an educated woman as the chief gardener. 

 It will be indispensable for the woman in this walk in life, to 

 be an enthusiast in her work, for her life will often be very soli- 

 tary, and she will have constantly before her a work that is 

 l-.ard and absorbing. This existence would be even unendurable 

 without the compensation experienced by all true lovers of 

 gardening in the practise of their occupation. 

 " II. Horticultural Establishments or Nurseries. Here 

 again we lind ourselves in the presence of a branch of horticul- 

 ture in which a limited number of women can be employed. 

 Although, for the reasons already indicated, the bulk of the 

 work of these estalilishments will always devolve upon the male 

 sex, the man of middling strength being capable of accomplishmg 

 a superior amount of labor, and being certain, by this fact, of 

 being emploved in preference to the woman in the majority of 

 cases, it occurs often, nevertheless, that she gives proof of spe- 

 cial aptitudes for certain works, especially those of theiii that 

 concern the numerous manipulations relating to the multiplication 

 of plants. She learns quickly, in general, and is clever as well 

 as careful in her work. It is clear that if woman is going to 

 attain to any consequence in these kinds of occupation it will be 

 necessary for her to bring all her attention to bear and not to 

 spare any effort to perfect herself in the practise of the opera- 

 tions; for those will succeed in this specialty who will show 

 themselves superior to the man of ordinary skill. 



III. SciENiFic employments. The majority of women en- 

 gaged in horticulture have been recruited among educated women, 

 and have thus acGuired their initiation into horticulture in the 

 scientific atmosphere of a school, or horticultural college. It is 

 then not strange that many of them have been sufficiently 

 equipped, on the intellectual side of research work, to perfect 

 themselves in it, and to occupy consequently positions permitting 

 them to put to advantage the knowledge thus acquired. Occupa- 

 tions of this kind have become greatly generalized during recent 

 years; they represent a vast field for action for women having 

 love for tiie work and possessing sufficient experience. These 

 occupations can be grouped in the following manner: 



A. Professors in schools anil colleges of horticulture. The 

 number of feminine professors has always been_ inferier to the 

 needs in this spcciaUy. The principal cause resides in the fact 

 that no special course has yet lieen provided for students de- 

 sirous of devoting themselves to this professorship. Those who. 

 in association with instruction in botany and the natural sciences, 

 desire to attain to the position of professor of horticulture, in 

 our days are obliged to pursue the ordinary course in a school 

 of horticulture and then to complete these studies in a university. 

 This represents long years of toil, and very few have the means 

 to undertake such a task. It would be possible considerably to 

 abridge the duration of these studies by the creation, in horti- 

 cultural schools alreadv giving practical instruction sufficient 

 in all branches of the profession, special courses having for 

 their end the preparation of future professors and their perfect- 

 ing in the important theoretical subjects connected with garden- 

 ing. Actually the majoritv of professors of botany in schools 

 for girls have received their theoretical instruction in a college, 

 generally situated in the midst of a town, where there is no 

 real facility for acquiring a practical acquaintance with living 

 plants. It would be quite preferable for these women that they 

 should be able to do their studies in an institution where they 

 would have the possibility of having theoretical courses asso- 

 ciated with experience and with demonstrations executed in a 

 practical manner in the open air. The assembled professors 

 would then at the same time be able to give an entirely new 

 orientation to botanical instruction and be able to call forth, 

 among their pupils, a taste for gardening and an understanding 

 of it, if desirable, and for work in the fields. 



B.' Instructors and insfcctors of horticulture. The educa- 

 tional value of gardening in the rural schools is, in our day, gen- 



erally admitted and in order to develop it many county councils, 

 have created positions of instructors and inspectors of horticul- 

 ture. The occupations of persons occupying these positions vary 

 according to them ; nevertheless there is demanded of them ia 

 general instruction in schools of gardening, the keeping in touch. 

 with primary schools, the giving of aid and advice in all matters 

 touching on their subjects, and the organizing of numerous 

 courses and conferences for adults. Many women have already 

 been invested with these employments and there is no reason to 

 forbid the belief that many others have marked out for them- 

 selves this walk in life. It will, however, lie necessary for them 

 to possess extensive practical knowledge of horticulture as well 

 as perfect acquaintance with the scientific principles upon which 

 this profession fundamentally rests. 



C. Scientific rescarcli. There exists, finally, a possible future 

 for women in the scientific work and research of horticulture. 

 Those who already possess sufficient experience and who show a 

 special taste for certain problems of science such as the reproduc- 

 tion of plants, ve.getable pathology and physiology, etc., will not 

 have any diflSculty in finding in the profession a .field of action 

 relating to the investigation of these subjects. It is necessary 

 to notice that these researches require a high degree of knowl- 

 edge ; their adepts will have to be botanists and experienced 

 chemists and possess in addition enough practical instruction in 

 horticulture. The woman who has within her the requisite- 

 adaptation and who at the same time possesses the means for 

 undertaking the necessary studies riught to succeed in this career. 



Tliere remains finally a question that deserves to be considered, 

 it is that of the type of woman having the most chance of suc- 

 cess in tlie practice of gardening. Before the war the women en- 

 gaged in horticulture were drawn almost entirely from the edu- 

 cated classes. This came from the fact that the necessary ap- 

 prenticeship could be found only in a college or in a .school of 

 horticulture and from the fact that this was hardly accessible 

 e.xcept to those possessing sufficient pecimiary means. The 

 horticultural colleges have since been obliged to direct an im- 

 portant part of their course toward instruction in the elementary 

 operations of gardening. This practical acquaintance became 

 tlien much more widely open to the students and those just en- 

 tering upon the occupation and without any supplementary ex- 

 pense to them.' 



The war, however, has brought new conditions which have 

 had a twofold influence upon the entrance of women into horti- 

 culture. 



In the first place it has opened to them the gates of numerous 

 gardens, where it is possible for them to accomplish their initial 

 practical apprenticeship without having to pass through the dif- 

 ferent schools and colleges. It must be hoped that this new sit- 

 uation will have its reflex influence in the future upon the schools 

 1)1 gardening, and will give them the occasion to raise the com- 

 mon level of studies, while directing their instruction toward 

 ends more modern and more specialized. 



In the second place the exigencies of tlie war have produced 

 a new type of feminine worker in horticulture : numerous young 

 girls belonging to the laboring classes were drawn toward the 

 ■^'army of the land" and induced by the advantages of life in the 

 open air. A certain number among them have maintained their 

 employments of that time and are still employed in the private 

 gardens and horticultural establishments. These women \yill 

 some day perhaps experience a desire to study the scientific 

 principles upon which rest the manual operations which thev have 

 had to execute. If this case occurs it can be resolved in two 

 ways. By the organization of appropriate courses in the institu- 

 tions of applied agriculture; 2. By the creation of fellowships 

 and of bonuses for certain designated schools of horticulture : 

 these advantages being accorded only to women engaged in their 

 profession after a certain time and not possessing the pecuniary 

 means suflicient to pursue their studies to advantage. — Translated 

 from Rcziie Tlorticole. 



WATERING AND FEEDING PLANTS IN POTS 



Plants grown in pots, particularlv those in house windows, 

 often die either throudi lack of sufficient moisture at the roots 

 or are "killed with kindness" through watering them, not wisely, 

 but too well. It is obvious that a general rule cannot be laid 

 down for all and sundry plants, as they differ in their needs. 

 Take the case of Azaleas, purchased often when in bloom ; these 

 in many instances do not live very long, and die off in a manner 



