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GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



doing and if they have any suggestions to offer us as the Directors 

 of this Association to go onward, — that, in my opinion, is the 

 whole thing, not that voting power, that is too mucli like politics. 



Mr. Don.ald: What was the origin of this thing? What 

 started up this thing? Did the branches ask to get a vote in the 

 convention whether they were represented or not.' 



The Pkeside.n-t : There are only going to be National Associa- 

 tion members belonging to the branches, consequently they are a 

 voting power if they come here. 



Mr. Dox.vld: What do you mean by saying that you give them 

 so much per cent? ■ ^, • • i 



The President: That is, supposmg a club m Lhicai^o witn 

 quite a number of members had only one man commg from that 

 local branch to the convention. Some have read this thmg as 

 meaning that all of the members belonging to that branch could 

 vote If they had hftv members they could cast lifty votes, con- 

 sequently it would swamp our meetings. We don't believe in that 

 and we are talking this over to see if we can get a better way out 

 of it. 



Mr. Stu.\rt : The trouble today is that the branches don t have 

 enough authority in the conventions. They ought to have some 

 say in the w^orking of this. If they had some authority, sorne 

 connection with the Board of Directors in the working of this 

 Association you would ha%-e more interest in the whole thing. I 

 was told tha't the Nassau Branch has almost out- functioned just 

 because there is no connection between them and the workmg of 

 this Association. They are absolutely almost independent. If we 

 could establish some connection either between the Board of Di- 

 rectors or the Association and the branches, it would give them 

 something to go by. Let them recommend something to us. Listen 

 to their voices l)y all means in whatever they have to suggest or 

 say, otherwise tliev cannot be fully represented at these conventions. 

 Mr Stew.\rt:' I would like to ask the last speaker, for in- 

 stance, if any issue came up in the local branches and it was ac- 

 cepted' by three or four of these local branches, and if the Directors 

 see fit to throw that down, would it be their place to do so ? 



The President: It would come up at the annual convention 

 where it would be settled. Is there any further discussion? 



Mr. Forbes moved that the amendment be adopted. Seconded 

 and carried. 



The President: The next thmg to come up is a discussion on 

 the Two- Year Course for Gardeners at the Massachusetts .Agri- 

 cultural College, opening September 27, 1922. I wonder if Mr. 

 Downer wouldn't read about this course at Amherst. Probably then 

 you would have a chance to discuss it better. 



Mr. Downer read an outline of the course to be given at Am- 

 herst. September 27, 1922. 



The President: Are there any remarks? 



Mr. McC.m-LCM : I think it is the opinion in Europe that 

 a man should learn to work with his hands first. The boys who 

 go from high school to college are afraid to get dirt under their 

 finger nails, and they don't take kindly to work. I think it is 

 better that "men should become journeymen gardeners before they 

 take this course. 



The President: You will notice that they have to have two 

 years' experience before they begin this course. 



Mr. C.arter: I see tliat at the end of this trainin.g, it says they 

 will be e.xamined by a Special Board. I am looking for informa- 

 tion. I would like to know wdiat kind of a special Ixiard would be 

 selected. 



I am reminded of a letter which I read in the Chronicle some 

 time ago by one of our worthy members wdio said that he w'ould 

 venture to think that if this examination for gardeners was estab- 

 lished and adapted on the .same lines as in Europe, tliat our college 

 professors who were teaching horticulutre here in this country 

 would fail to pass an examination similar to that conducted in 

 Great Britain, for instance. If the ones teaching horticulture in 

 this country wouldn't be capable of passing the examinatit)n, it is 

 a question in my mind as to who would be capable of examining 

 the students. 



The President: I don't quite agree with you. I think that 

 there are men as capable in this country as there are in Europe 

 today. 



Mr. C.nrter : I was looking for information as to who the 

 Special Board would be and who would have the duty of ap- 

 jK)inting this Special Board. 



Mr. Downer: I think it is clear in the pamphlet. It states that 

 at the end of their second year of theoretical training, if success- 

 ful, they will receive a ccrtilicatc from the college, based, of course, 

 on the theoretical training. From this point they enter upon an 

 apprenticchip of two years, supervised by the National Associa- 

 tion of fiardencrs. That is the practical work. 



At the end of this time they wiU be examined by a Special Board, 

 and, if successful, will receive the dii)loma of the National Associa- 

 tion of Gardeners. That special board might be made up of mem- 

 bers of the Gardeners' Association and the authorities at Amherst. 

 It doesn't say anything about a set examination. 



The President: I should like to tell you the story of a boy I 

 have working for me now and whom 1 wish to take this course. 

 He came from high school and he had been there two years. I 

 found out that he knew a good deal about vegetables. I said. "You 

 are quite interested in this work, aren't you ?" He said, "I have 

 taken all my studies in school on gardening." I said, "You are 

 eligible for this course at Amherst." So I asked him if he wouldn't 

 consult his father and the superintendent of schools about going 

 there. He came back and sai<l that they both thought well of it. 



One morning I said to him, "You must remember that it will 

 cost you in Amherst from eight to twelve dollars a week." He 

 said, '"I am prepared. 1 have a thousand dollars, in fact, I have 

 two thousand dollars." That boy has just passed his seventeenth 

 birthday. I said, "How did you make this money?" He said, "I 

 had a garden and grew vegetables. One year I sold $250 worth 

 of vegetables. My father said that if I would save l\\>j hundred 

 dollars he would double it. Since that time 1 have saved another 

 thousand." 



1 paid that boy sixteen dollars a week, and that is what they 

 expect to get, those going to college — or perhaps twelve dollars a 

 week. 



Mk. C'k.mc: ■ I want to tell you my experience with college boys. 

 I think they are better in every way than the boys without train- 

 ing, far better. They are quicker to learn, their brains are clearer, 

 they are more studious and they are going to make better men. 



The same applies in our profession. The men who are going to 

 fcillow us are going to be a very different type of men. And if 

 we are to build our Association up and get the type of men that 

 we need, we must help to boost this college course. It is gotten 

 up with the sincere hope to elevate our profession and give us a 

 type of men we need to build up a better type of horticulture in 

 America. I am hoping to send my boy there and we want you to 

 send boys there to help us. 



I think there is a small body of three men qualified to pass on 

 those boys in our profession, don't you? I am not going to be in 

 it much longer, but I hope to see one or two of my boys follow 

 in the line for a time, at least. I want them to have the credit of 

 an education which was denied to us when we were small. Don't 

 belittle our profession, but help us in this course, help build it up 

 and help build up your Association at the same time. 



Mr. Rogers : I was interested in the lectures at the Garden and 

 Floral Club this last Spring when this issue came up at the pre- 

 ceding meeting, and in our minutes of that meeting Mr. Craig 

 claimed that bigger and better brained men would come out of 

 that college course. 



At that same lecture we had a Professor from Amherst, Profes- 

 sor Thompson, and I think some of you present remember how he 

 complimented the men who served an apprenticeship across the 

 water, and he was a college professor himself. 



The men who served an apprnticeship across the water in the 

 old way, it seems to me, are good growers and good men, but 

 they haven't got the flow of language that a college graduate has. 

 If you think this is going to be a benefit to the boys, try it. I 

 sometimes think it is going to be a success. 



Mr. Erv.ant: I would like to say a few words. I think that 

 this is worth trying out if it is given the way it is stated in this 

 Iini.gram, giving a blend of the tlu-oretical with the practical, and 

 I think that probably it would be a mighty good thing. 



I took a short course at Amherst just for the pleasure of it and 

 I had a very enjoyable and educational time there. I think that 

 if everybody could do the same thing, it is surprising what enjoy- 

 ment could be gotten out of it. I think that we all feel that the 

 more education we .get the better (iff we are and the better off the 

 world is for it, but I do think, as Brother Mackintosh says, it 

 depends upon the boy or the man. 



Mr. Stu.\rt : The members seem to think that this is a new 

 move. It might be new to the National .Association of Gardeners, 

 but I remember about tw-enty-two years ago when I started looking 

 for a head job in Boston, they advised me there were only head 

 jobs for those who took a ccillege course. That was twenty-two 

 years ago. What do yon find the condition to<lay? 



I have been here for a week and around to the best places in 

 Bdston. some beautiful places that have fine .gardeners and a 

 haven't seen a college graduate on one. Is that an iiidic.-itidu that 

 the college man will be successful in the future? 



The President: I should like to .say to Mr. Stuart that this 

 is the lirst time that a course like this has been given in the 

 I'nited States, consequently, he couldn't sec very many who took 

 a course like this to get gardeners in the profession. So that in 

 the future, if he comes back another twenty years from now, I 

 think he will probably sec some of these men around. 



Mr. Stiart: Wasn't th;it same thing .-ivailable twenty years 

 ago ? 



The President: No, sir. Xothing like it has ever been given 

 in this country, and wc ought to feel proud that our .Association 

 is the first to take this thing up and is starting a course like this. 

 I would like to have it adopted. 



Mr. M.XfKiNTnsH : By all means. I thought that was 



