THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



53 



study before one can even yain a fair knowledoe of the 

 fundamentals of this profession ; and what learning a 

 gardener must acquire before he can declare — I am a 

 master of my vocation! It remains with the gardener 

 to disabuse the minds of people that gardening is but 

 little more than ordinary labor and to teach them that it 

 is based on scientific principles, obtained only through 

 long practical training. And how can you better elevate 

 this profession in the eyes of those who do not yet know 

 it as such, than through co-operating to bring your ac- 

 complishments nearer home to them through the activi- 

 ties of your national association and local societies? 



Let us turn to the local societies whose influence to-day 

 is restricted to the communities they serve. Is there any 

 reason to doubt that through co-operation with the nation- 

 al association their influence, which is now purely local, 

 could be made nation wide? Is there any reason why 

 through such co-operation the gardeners' national and 

 local societies should not be able in time to wield a similar 

 influence as do the legal and medical societies and those 

 of other sciences? These professions have been devel- 

 oped by the organizations which represent them ; and 

 their interests are now being carefully guarded through 

 these organizations, which in almost every instance con- 

 stitute a national and local societies working in conjunc- 

 tion and in harmony with each other. What these organ- 

 izations have done and are doing for their respective 

 professions can also be accomplished for the gardening 

 profession if the same persistent efl^ort is put forth that 

 they employed. The local problems of a profession can 

 usually be coped with by the local body. But those prob- 

 lems which concern the profession as a whole require 

 united application to work out their solution. Lentil a 

 profession is thoroughly organized this is difficult to 

 attain ; but once the national and local associations be- 

 come co-operative, a base is established which provides 

 the munitions for concerted action, and prepares the way 

 for the profession's aggrandizement whenever the oppor- 

 tunity presents; and for its defense if occasion requires. 



The educational possibilities and benefits that are to be 

 derived from closer association between the national and 

 local bodies must not be overlooked. 



A contributor to the horticultural press, himself an 

 eminent gardener, recently wrote : 



"If the profession wishes to obtain that full and 

 complete recognition to which its requirements and 

 knowledge entitle it. still further steps must be taken 

 to place itself in the professional class by acknowl- 

 edging the value and necessity of scientific attain- 

 ments. Men are graduating every year from agricul- 

 tural colleges who on that account consider them- 

 selves fitted for the position of private 'estate man- 

 agers. Employers too are in many cases under the 

 impression that a college man is necessarily better 



than one without college education. 



Al- 



though plenty of instances can be found where 

 college men have fallen down when they have at- 

 tempted to run either a farm or garden, this has not 

 been because of, but in spite of, their college educa- 

 tion. To produce the best results practice must be 

 combined with science so that a man may have a 

 knowledge of the why and how of what he does. 

 A man with practical experience who will take the 

 trouble to acquire a working knowledge of the scien- 

 tific principles of his profession can do so with great- 

 er benefit to his practice than a man starting to learn 

 these principles without any practical knowledge 

 whatever. . . . Whatever value the experienced 

 gardener may himself place upon the knowledge and 

 skill gained through years of study and practical 



work he must make up his mind that scientific educa- 

 tion has come to stay and act accordingly." 

 What this writer states is a condition that the gardener 

 of the future will have to contend with even more so than 

 the gardener of to-day, and he must prepare himself for 

 it. The young men serving their apprenticeship, and all 

 others not too old to learn, should be encouraged in seek- 

 ing scientific knowledge w'hich they might apply to their 

 practical experience. Most of them cannot seek it at col- 

 lege, so their local society should be their source to which 

 they might look for at least part of this education which 

 the\- cannot obtain through their manual training. Some 

 of the stronger local societies have in the past conducted 

 successful class studies in various departments of horti- 

 culture, and if sufficient interest should manifest itself, it 

 would be no stupendous task to inaugurate a regular 

 system of teaching in which all the local societies might 

 participate ; and the installation of such a system should 

 in time lead to the adoption, by the national association, 

 of a plan similar to that of the Royal Horticultural Socie- 

 ty of England, providing for examinations to gain an 

 association's diploma, which should bring to the posses- 

 sor distinction in his profession. 



Through an exchange of views and the disseminating 

 of reports of the doings of local societies, the experience 

 of one may aid others and the accounting of the upbuild- 

 ing and success of the strong may prove helpful to the 

 weak. 



It pays to advertise! This axiom is as applicable to a 

 profession as it is to a business or to an individual. The 

 other sciences seize every opportunity to keep before 

 the iniblic eve, and the time is at hand when the oldest 

 of all the professions must attempt to get before the 

 public eye and remain before it. As an example, take the_ 

 flower shows. Thousands attend, admire the Ix-auty of 

 flowers and plants, but how many give one thought to 

 the skill that creates them ? You ask why do they ignore 

 this? Because little is known of the profession that 

 makes flower shows possible. Publicity of it must no 

 longer be confined to the horticultural press alone. _ Its 

 progress must be heralded broadcast. It is a national 

 task, not local, and will require the co-operation of the 

 national and local forces. 



In what I have presented in behalf of an<i as a plea 

 for co-operation, I have only skimmed the surface of the 

 subject. The field for achievement is tremendous, and 

 opportunities will materialize as the work progresses. 

 Immediate results are not to be calculated on. The pro- 

 fession has been as long as the world is old getting to 

 where it finds itself to-day. Time will be consumed be- 

 fore the profession can be advanced to where its fol- 

 lowers may come into their own, and many will have 

 gone to join the Master Gardener before then, but the 

 elevation of the profession is not intended for to-day, or 

 to-morrow, but for always. 



In conclusion let me say that the national association 

 and the local societies will make but slow progress singly 

 or co-operativelv. unless the support of the members indi- 

 vidually stands 'behind them. Let me urge that no gar- 

 dener assume the attitude of the old Scotchman, who, on 

 beine warned that he would lose his sight if he did not 

 .stop^ dissipating, replied, "Well, I guess it's no matter. 

 I've seen about all's worth while." If you feel content 

 that the profession has treated you well and owes you 

 nothing, remember that you owe it to your fellowman, 

 less fortunate than you, to lend'your aid in the uplift for 

 genuine gardening. 



AJdrcxr iy M. C. Ebcl. Secretarv National .Association of Gardeners, 

 before tlie IVestehcster and Fairfield Society, at Greenwich, Conn., June IZ, 

 1914. 



