358 



HORTICULTURE 



May 1, 1920 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



If the school of horticulture for 

 women at Ambler, Pa., does not attract 

 a host of students this season, it will 

 not be due to any lack of good publicity 

 literature on the part of the officers. 

 A circular which has just reached my 

 desk from the able and popular director, 

 Miss Elizabeth Leighton Lee, is exceed- 

 ingly well written. It starts off as 

 follows : 



"There are girls who can dig a bed 

 as well as make a bed. They can plant 

 a tree, prune it, spray it and harvest 

 the fruit. They can plant, cuitivate 

 and pick vegetables. They can plan a 

 flower garden, raise the plants, dig the 

 bed, plant it, mulch it and do all the 

 technical and untechnical things." 



Then the author of this circular 

 brings in a bit of verse which instant- 

 ly catches the eye and brings a smile: 

 "She does not look so large and stout, 

 And yet they say she laid that garden 

 out." 



With all the qualities already as- 

 cribed to the Amber girls, it is prob- 

 ably sate to say that they could also 

 lay out any man who dared to criticize 

 their skill with the hoe, the rake or 

 the pruning shears. 



Good General Farmers 

 These girls, however, do not stop 

 with purely horticultural activities. 

 They can also milk the cows, care for 

 the poultry, and swarm the bees. Their 

 training all along the line embraces 

 every feature of the work which they 

 undertake. In the greenhouse, for ex- 

 ample, they learn the management of 

 the furnace as well as the care of the 

 plants and the forcing of vegetables. 

 Added to all this— and here is a point 

 of no little importance — they learn the 

 scientific side as well as the practical 

 side of their work. In other words, 

 they know what they are doing and 

 why they do it, which is more than 

 can be said of some men I have seen 

 in greenhouses. 



All joking aside, the work of the 

 school of horticulture for women at 

 Ambler is proving of greater value 

 than even had been anticipated When 



the school was started. The fact has 

 been demonstrated here as in England 

 that women are well suited for many 

 phases of horticultural endeavor. To 

 be sure, it is a new profession for 

 women, and it is not so easy now as 

 it will be for employers to realize that 

 they can fill the bill. Yet many of the 

 older avenues of employment open to 

 women, such as typewriting, stenog- 

 raphy and teaching, are overcrowded, 

 at least in places where the salary is 

 at all adequate. To be sure the finan- 

 cial returns from horticulture are not 

 as high in proportion as in some other 

 lines of work, yet it opens a new field 

 for women and one in which there are 

 many possibilities. Apparently trained 

 women have no diSiculty in finding 

 good positions. Even if the graduates 

 of the school get married, which many 

 of them do, the knowledge which was 

 acquired at the school can readily be 

 practiced at home, often in such a way 

 as to make the home keeper a money 

 maker as well. 



Has the School Proved Itself? 



With one exception all the graduates 

 and many of the Special Course stu- 

 dents are working along horticultural 

 lines, either in positions, profession- 

 ally for themselves, or on their own 

 places. Several are "Consulting Horti- 

 culturists," Superintendents of Estates, 

 and teachers of large school gardens. 

 One, who occupied a position at the 

 University of Tennessee acting partly 

 under the government in connection 

 with the Smith-Lever Act for the pro- 

 motion of Agriculture, "has just ac- 

 cepted a position in gardening in a 

 model village in the cotton mill dis- 

 trict in the south. The school enrolls 

 pupils from all over the country. 



It is neither a self-supporting nor a 

 charitable school, but one which was 

 founded several years ago by a num- 

 ber of public spirited women who 

 realized the need of a new and health- 

 ful outlet for women in business. 



The fees are kept as low as possible 

 in order that women of limited means 

 may be able to avail themselves of the 

 opportunity offered. 



Healthful recreation as well as work 

 is encouraged. Outdoor plays and 

 masques are favorite amusements. 

 One particularly charming play was 

 given in a newly cut wheat field. It 

 was an evening when the whole earth 

 and sky were flooded with that wonder- 

 ful light which comes at the time of 

 the setting of the sun and the rising 



MICHELL'S 



FLOWER SEED 



CINERARIA 



Our Grandirtora Prize Strain cannot 

 be excelled for size and beautiful 

 colorings. 



Vz tr. pkt. tr. pkt. 

 Grandiflora Prize. Dwarf.. .$0.60 $1.00 

 Orandijiora Prize. Medium 



Tall 60 1.00 



PRIMULA CHINENSIS 



(Cliine§e Primrose) 



A superb strain grown by a specialist. 

 % tr. pkt. tr. pkt. 



Michell's Prize Mixture. An 



even blending of all colors. $0.60 .$1.00 



Alba Marniflca. White 60 1.00 



Chiswick Red. Bright red.. ,60 1.00 



Duchess. White, with zone 



of rosy carmine, yellow eye. .60 1.00 



Holbom Blue 60 1.00 



Kennesina Splendens. Crim- 

 son 60 1.00 



Rosy Morn. Pink 60 1.00 



PRIMULA OBCONICA GICANTEA 



A great improvement over the old type, 

 flowers much larger tr. pkt. 



Lilacina. Pale lilac $0.50 



Kermisina. Deep crimson 50 



Roses. Pink 50 



Alba. White 50 



Hybrida Mixed 50 



Also All Other Seasonable Seeds, Bulbs 

 and Supplies. Send for Wholesale Price 



HENRY F. MIGHELL GO. 



518 Market Street Philadelphia, Pa°. 



of the moon in July. A poppy swayed 

 gently in the wind and a patch of corn- 

 flowers stirred and quivered in delight. 

 A bee from a neighlx)ring hive darted 

 hither and thither sipping honey first 

 from one flower and then from the 

 other; and they lifted their heads and 

 welcomed his friendly kisses. But, the 

 poppy and the cornflowers and the bee 

 were large, strangely large, and oh! 

 so pretty! Why, they were girls — just 

 girls, after all, in a flower masque — 

 taking part in the commencement ac- 

 tivities of this new kind of school. 



Women Workers Needed. 



Altogether the school has taken an 

 important place among educational 

 institutions in this country. I am sure 

 it deserves all the help which it can be 

 given by gardeners, florists and every- 

 body interested in horticulture from 

 any angle. There are gardeners no 

 doubt who have never thought of send- 

 ing their girls to such an institution, 

 perhaps not realizing that a school of 

 this kind existed. Yet it might be the 

 most desirable form of education which 

 they could receive. Gardeners, too, can 

 make no mistake in speaking a friend- 

 ly word for the school. There may be 

 a certain feeling among narrow minded 

 men that it is not good to have women 

 enter the profession, but in my opinion 

 the time is coming when women will 

 be found in greenhouses and doing all 

 kinds of farm and garden work every- 

 where, and that fact may as well be 

 accepted now as later. 



