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JULY 24, 1913. 



The Florists' Review 



COMMERCIAL FLORICULTURE 



TO BE TAUGHT IN CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



VOCATIONAL SCHOOL PLANNED. 



Chicago to Lead the Country. 



To teach the aspiring apprentice flo- 

 rist I he "why" as well as the "how" 

 of hiN occupation is the plan of the Chi- 

 cagii public school authorities. 



Tlif vocational schools of Chicago are 

 famous the educational world over — but 

 thev have only reached the stage of 

 prov.il practicability; the day of expan- 

 sion is .iust dawning. During the last 

 school year only five vocational courses 

 have l)een given, but they have been so 

 sucK't'ssful that many others will be 

 added as fast as the necessary organiza- 

 tion can be developed. A course in 

 commercial plant growing, to eventu- 

 ally include ev«ry phase of the subject, 

 will lie one of the first to be established 

 if present plans do not miscarry. It 

 will be the first school of the kind in 

 America. 



Beinberg Enthusiastic. 



Peter Reinberg, who was the pioneer 

 among the Chicago growers of cut flow- 

 ers to build glass by the acre, is presi- 

 dent of the Chicago board of education 

 and is enthusiastic in his advocacy of 

 the vocational schools, particularly the 

 proposed school for florists and gar- 

 deners. He is the largest employer of 

 labor in the greenhouses within the city 

 limits of Chicago and knows the needs 

 and ambitions of the boys just starting 

 in the trade as few other men do. 



But the man to whom the trade really 

 will owe the school for florists is Will- 

 iam M. Roberts. Mr. Roberts for years 

 was assistant superintendent of schools 

 in Chicago, but recently was relieved of 

 that office to become district superin- 

 tendent in charge of vocational schools 

 and the various special classes that have 

 been instituted to meet the needs of 

 <'hieago's cosmopolitan population. It 

 '8 to Mr. Roberts that the board has 

 entrusted the duty of extending the 

 trade schools, free to all citizens of Chi- 

 <'ago between 16 and 21 years of age. 



He is even more enthusiastic than Mr. 

 Reinberg in his belief that a school for 

 gardeners will "fill a long-felt want." 



The Present Schools. 



The range of activities under the 

 direction of Mr. Roberts already is 

 something remarkable. There are night 

 schools for day workers and day schools 

 for night workers — even a class in a 

 downtown school to teach English to 



SUBJECTS 



on which instruction will eventually 

 be given : 



PROPAGATION 



CUT FLOWER GROWING 



POT PLANT GROWING 



HARDY PLANTS 



NURSERY PRACTICE 



LANDSCAPE WORK 



VEGETABLE FORCING 



MARKET GARDENING 



SOIL FERTILITY 



MARKETING METHODS 



CUT FLOWER 



ARRANGEMENT 



GREENHOUSE 



CONSTRUCTION 



GREENHOUSE HEATING 



PLANT DISEASES 



the foreign-born women who scrub in 

 otfice buildings all night. One of the 

 latest is a school for cooks, the pupils 

 being apprentices in hotel and restau- 

 rant kitchens, chefs in embryo. The 

 course includes cleanliness and sanita- 

 tion as well as the culinary art. 



The trade schools are a part of the 

 high school course. The beginning was 



made with the building and allied 

 trades and was with the backing of the 

 unions and the employers' associations. 

 Any boy in high school is permitted to 

 take a vocational course if he wishes, 

 but that is not the purpose of the 

 school. The idea is to draw the pupils 

 from the apprentices who are working 

 in the trade. Take the electrical work- 

 ers as an example. The classes meet 

 one forenoon each week, in a room in 

 a high school that has been fitted up 

 with $15,000 worth of equipment. By 

 an arrangement between the union and 

 the employers' association, the appren- 

 tices are given the time off with pay. 

 The carpenters' course is a little differ- 

 ent. There are daily classes for three 

 months each winter. The course is like 

 the apprenticeship, four years. The 

 pupils from all parts of the city attend 

 the one class, as their number is not 

 large enough to justify any other plan. 

 The instruction in the vocational classes 

 is as close to the working practice as 

 circumstances will permit; it is in the 

 hands of instructors who have worked 

 at the trades and who know the points 

 on which beginners are weakest. In the 

 five building-trades classes there are 



600 pupils. 



The Plan. 



The plan Mr. Roberts has in mind for 

 florists is to establish a course in the 

 fine new Nicholas Senn high school, 

 which is right on the edge of the green- 

 house district- on the north side. The 

 plans for the building contemplate the 

 erection of a greenhouse to be used lio 

 produce plants for the structure and 

 grounds. Although President Reinberg 

 has expressed his belief in the inade- 

 quacy of this greenhouse for practical 

 purposes, it can be added to as the needs 

 develop. An instructor is being sought 

 and one of the qualifications will be 

 familiarity with a number of depart- 

 ments of the business, so that he can 

 take up subject after subject as the 

 interest develops. 



There are three or four state institu- 



Nicholas SeoD High School, Where Chicago Proposes to Statt a Public Vocational School for Florists and Gardeners. 



