234 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in such an education as that. Our high schools graduate the sons 

 and daughters of laboring men, and then the question witli them 

 is, What next? They have been so educated as to look for some- 

 thing very different from manual labqr. Thes' look about for posi- 

 tions ; and after waiting for months may find a vacancy to teach. 

 Boys starting in life are educated awa}' from the idea of labor. 

 The}' look for places in counting-rooms, but there are plenty of 

 rich men's sons who will take these positions for fiftj' dollars a 

 year, and others are forced to go into retail stores where they get 

 onl}- enough to pa^' for their board and clothes. The educational 

 conditions here are revolutionized. The system of manufacturing 

 also is entirely' changed ; years ago apprentices were wanted, but 

 now the}' are not. Forraely one man made a shoe complete, now 

 it takes thirty-five men to make one, and each man is narrowed 

 down to one thirt^'-fifth of a shoemaker. This increased facility 

 of manufacture is a benefit to the community, but you cannot get 

 a boy into a manufactory to learn a trade. He knew of a boy 

 who wanted to learn the machinist's trade, and went to the foreman 

 of a machine shop, who informed him that they did not take appren- 

 tices ; and it became a question how he should get the training he 

 desired. If it cannot be obtained in shops we must have schools to 

 supply it. 



William C. Strong said that he had been much interested in Col. 

 Need ham's paper, though it was quite different from what he had 

 anticipated. The system of garden work in the school at Provi- 

 dence as pictured by the essayist was admirable ; he did not feel 

 quite sure that we had made advances on it even in the agricultural 

 colleges. The system of stimulating the industry of the boys was 

 excellent. 



O. B. Iladwen spoke of the great value of the school at Provi- 

 dence described by the essayist, where he also was educated. 

 Though only eight years old he recollected the ploughing of the 

 ground before the spading, which was all done by tiie boys. 

 These plots presented as good a garden as could be found any- 

 where. He planted radishes on the margin of his plot, and 

 melons inside ; and took great pride in them ; flowers were also 

 grown. This was his first experience in horticulture, and he 

 worked early in the morning and at the recess of fifteen minutes, 

 watching careful!}' the sprouting of the seeds and the progress of 

 the plants. Such has been the advance of horticulture since then 



