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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



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August 29, 1907. 



A FLORISTS' WINDOW WASHER. 



In the accompanying illustration, 

 showing the use of a combined brush and 

 hose in the washing of windows, the 

 manner of handling the device is so 

 clearly indicated that a description is 

 hardly necessary. Some of the advan- 

 tages in the use of the article are also 

 apparent, such as the convenience of op- 

 eration, the steady flow of clear water, 

 etc. The handle is made of galvanized 

 steel, reinforced by a hollow wooden han- 

 dle. Each brush is equipped with a wa- 

 ter-controlling cock and with a pair of 

 74 -inch standard hose couplings, so that 

 it can be readily attached to ordinary 

 garden hose. This novelty is being put 

 on the market by the Foley Manufactur- 

 ing Co., Chicago. 



HORTICULTURE IN COLLEGES. 



By Thkouoee Wikth. Minneapolis. 



[Uead before the Society of American Flo- 

 j'iKtB in convention ut Pliiladelpliia, August 22, 

 11K)7.] 



I have been asked to prepare a paper 

 on ' ' Horticultural Education at Agricul- 

 tural Colleges," and I hardly know how 

 to approach the subject, for, personally, 

 1 have no experience whatsoever as a 

 student in such institutions of learning. 



T attended school until I was 16 years 

 old, and when I arrived at that — as I 

 considered it — very ripe age, and barely 

 graduated with figures which I do not 



besides. I don't know, now', whether at 

 that time I earned my board, but I had 

 a feeling that I did that and more too. 

 However, I graduated with honors as a 

 full-fledged gardener, and I distinctly re- 

 member the great celebration that took 

 place at that memorable time, which 

 clearly shows that my memory was good 

 under the most trying circumstances. 



Since then I have followed the noble 

 profession of gardening in many of its 

 branches and in different lands and cli- 

 mates, and have found pleasure, content- 

 ment and happiness in all I have ap- 

 proached and worked at, and if I could 

 return to boyhood and had a chance to 

 make my selection of a trade again, I 

 would most certainly select the garden- 

 ers' profession. 



But who has not passed through life, 

 successful or otherwise as it may be, who 

 would not omit some things he has done 

 and do some things he left undone, if he 

 were to live the same period of life over 

 again? No one; and it is through this, 

 our experience, that we must endeavor to 

 teach those that follow us, to become 

 wise where we were unwise. 



I therefore appear before you, not as 

 a student or graduate from any horticul- 

 tural college, but as one who wishes he 

 had made use of the opportunity to be 

 such, at the time he had the chance. 



Theory and Practice. 



I have, in my professional life, come in 



Foley't Combined Brush and Hose. 



care to remember, I was of the opinion 

 that additional wisdom, to be gained 

 from professors and books, was superflu- 

 ous technical theory, which would be of 

 little help in practical work. I thought 

 it was a kind of polish that would wear 

 off soon and most likely spoil the leather, 

 and that it would be better to grease the 

 boots to begin with and go to work, and 

 so I did. 



I served one of those good old country 

 apprenticeships, where I had to work 

 three years, not only for nothing, but 

 my "governor" had to pay my board 



contact with young men of practical 

 schooling only, men of theoretical school- 

 ing only, and men of both, and I have 

 often had occasion to envy the latter. I 

 have observed, however, that among the 

 former two, the first has by far the ad- 

 vantage, but I am convinced that a happy 

 combination, in which the practical 

 schooling is predominant, is the ideal 

 course for horticultural education. 



From prospectuses that I have read of 

 different agricultural colleges, and 

 through conversations which I have had 

 with some of the leading teachers at such 



institutions of learning, I feel convinced 

 that a sincere interest and support given 

 those institutions, by individual and com- 

 bined efforts of our craft, would result 

 in a much more progressive and bene- 

 ficial treatment of horticultural subjects 

 in general, and floricultural interests es- 

 pecially, than is at present the case. 



I feel assured those institutions are 

 sincere and anxious to help us with all 

 available means and opportunities, and 

 if we give them the glad hand of sup- 

 port, interest and appreciation, the com- 

 bined efforts of both will be crowned 

 with unbounded success, to the benefit of 

 all the far-reaching interests concerned. 

 And who is better adapted and able to 

 give that support, and who is closer to 

 that calling, than our S. A. F.? 



I believe that our association should 

 take into earnest consideration what 

 could and should be done to further our 

 interests in the horticultural education of 

 the younger members of our craft. 



Commercial Gardening in College. 



Let us exchange ideas as to how it 

 might be done. I, for one, wonder 

 whether it might not be possible to select 

 one of the many excellent state agricul- 

 tural colleges, one as centrally located as 

 possible, to make the study of horticul- 

 ture, and especially floriculture, a special 

 attraction along lines which would meet 

 with our ideas of practical, commercial 

 usefulness. 



For instance, would it not be practical 

 to have such a college equipped with an 

 up-to-date commercial plant, for the cul- 

 ture of plants both under glass and out- 

 doors? Would it not be possible to mar- 

 ket the products of this college plant at 

 fair, open prices, without creating an 

 unfair competition with local trade in 

 the vicinity of the institution? If so, 

 would not this branch of such a college 

 become more or less self-sustaining, and 

 would not the very desire of making it 

 so, and the need of successfully meeting 

 such commercial competition, spur both 

 teachers and pupils to achieve results far 

 beyond the aim and the possibility of the 

 ordinary college plant and experiment 

 station ? 



If all this is possible, I think it is well 

 worth our efforts to secure it, and I think 

 it should be our aim. A forceful, earn- 

 est combination of our interests and 

 practical experiences with those of the 

 scientific and theoretically advanced re- 

 searches of the teachers of our colleges, 

 I believe would result in horticultural 

 education along most remunerative lines. 



Practical Gardeners as Teachers. 



I should like to see some of our lead- 

 ing professional men connected with the 

 governing board of such an institution, 

 and I should want some of our successful 

 practical gardeners on the staff of teach- 

 ers. I should like to see the theoretical 

 and scientific teachings of our professors 

 of botany, entomology, chemistry, etc., 

 brought into uninterrupted and closest 

 contact with the practical experiments 

 and demonstrations of oiir experienced 

 leading practical gardeners, so that the 

 teachings of both, supplementing each 

 other, may tell the student why and how 

 and when and where. 



The merits of such an institution, I 

 think, would be clearly apparent, and it 

 seems to me would be universally recog- 

 nized at an early date of its existence. 

 Its beneficial and educational influence 

 would not be limited to the building up 

 of a young generation of well educated, 

 practical craftsmen, but it would also 



