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The Weekly Florists' Review* 



January 23, 1908. 



changed bands on the transaction. But 

 the Illinoisan is an impressionist and 

 does not seek a model, but puts up a 

 good, fat figure without much regard 

 to form. In each case galax leaves are 

 used for a background, one being bor- 

 dered with smilax and the other left 

 wholly unadorned. Asters were used in 

 Maine and white carnations on the prai- 

 rie. 



One of these designs is the work of 

 a woman, Mrs. FraSclin D. Hartshorn, 

 of Augusta, Me., and the design has 

 been adopted by Capitol Aerie, of that 

 town, as the oflScial piece of the order, 

 to be sent by them at the death of any 

 member. The other design is by Claude 

 "Wisely, of Murphysboro, 111., who start- 

 ed the business as a boy in knickerbock- 

 ers and does a prosperous trade. 



FLORICULTURAL EDUCATION. 



Travel and Observation* 



, I have just read with much interest 

 Mr. Kempton's inquiry, " Floricultural 

 Education," of January 16, and, as I am 

 trying to learn the florists' trade also, 

 perhaps my reply may be of interest 

 to him and others. 



He asks, "Where can a young man 

 learn the trade?" I would say, by 

 doing as our employers have done; trav- 

 el from one place to another; get differ- 



ize that the more the employee knows 

 the more intelligence he shows in his 

 work? 



I see no reason why a young man 

 of today cannot become as good, if not 

 a better, florist than those of the past. 



J. E. M. 



Agricultural G>IIeges. 



It seems to me that there are two 

 possible solutions to the inquiry of 

 Thomas A. Kempton, on page 5 of the 

 issue of January 16 of the Eeview. 

 One solution is to become an apprentice 

 to some leader in the line of work 

 chosen. To thoroughly learn the "tricks 

 of the trade" from this leader the ap- 

 prentice may have to pay what might 

 be called a "tuition." When such is 

 done it can be demanded that the master 

 instruct the apprentice in the arts of 

 the trade. Where one simply hires him- 

 self to the master, only such things 

 may be learned as the employee may 

 pick up from observation, the employ- 

 er not necessarily being under any ob- 

 ligations to teach any of the ' ' secrets ' ' 

 of the craft or trade. Such education as 

 this w^ill undoubtedly make a one-sided 

 man. Emphasis has been placed en- 

 tirely on the ' ' how "of doing any par- 

 ticular piece of work. The apprentice 

 in such cases has little chance of rising 

 above the standard of the master. 



But to become one of the future lead- 



The Eaglein Maine. 



ent men's ideas, methods, etc. I am 

 afraid that he will be unable to find a 

 place where he can learn the trade 

 "from seed sowing to hybridizing," 

 for the florists are going more into spec- 

 ialties. 



I note that he mentions that florists 

 do not wish to bother with learners. I 

 would say that I have always found 

 my employers as willing to teach me 

 their business as I was to learn it, 

 and why shouldn't they, when they real- 



ers in horticultural work there is, and 

 will be, a much stronger struggle for 

 existence than has been the case in the 

 past. This brings me to the second 

 solution I have to offer to Mr. Kempton's 

 question. The agricultural colleges of the 

 country are yearly turning out hundreds 

 of young men and women who have been 

 given solid and thorough training in the 

 "why" of doing the various phases of 

 work incidental to all of the multitudi- 

 nous lines of soil cultivation. These 



young men have a broad, solid founda- 

 tion for their future work. It is true 

 that the education which some of these 

 men receive is purely "book learning" 

 and they are only partially equipped 

 for the struggle for existence. The 

 practical end of their work, the money 

 making end, has to be learned after they 

 get out of school. But in the better 

 schools of agriculture of today, equal 

 emphasis is placed on the practical side 

 of all work. The students are taught 

 how to do a certain piece of work and 

 then why it is done in that particular 

 manner. The purpose is to develop the 

 mind as well as the hand. It is a com- 

 bination of the purely practical and the 

 theoretical, and makes a broader man, a 

 man better equipped for his work, than 

 when emphasis is placed only on one side 

 of the training. 



As for a college education costing 

 lots of money — 'it is true that it does 

 cost money. But the total amount of 

 a four-year course in college need not 

 scare any one off. Each year there 

 pass under my observation hundreds 

 of young men who are working their 

 way through school. Some of these 

 young men work for every cent they 

 get from the first day they leave home 

 till the day they graduate; others may 

 get some assistance from their parents 

 or friends. But it is a usual and ex- 

 pected thing for many students in col- 

 lege to work their way through. And 

 it is a good thing for the student in agri- 

 cultural schools especially, as there is 

 always a demand for help on the farms 

 or gardens, and the students get addi- 

 tional practical experience in their train- 

 ing and are just that much better equip- 

 ped in the end. 



I am sorry that there are not more 

 schools giving instruction in floriculture, 

 but to my knowledge only two agri- 

 cultural colleges make any special at- 

 tempt at it, namely, the universities of 

 Illinois and Massachusetts; while a num- 

 ber of others give a good course in gen- 

 eral horticulture which equips one for 

 taking up floriculture after leaving 

 school. This lack of instruction in flori- 

 culture is because there has been only 

 a small demand for work of this sort. 

 But for any young man who is desirous 

 of following commercial floriculture, I 

 would strongly urge him to lay a good 

 foundation. This can be done by tak- 

 ing a full course in some good agricul- 

 tural college, laying especial emphasis 

 on the horticultural end of the work. 

 Much practical work will be obtained 

 while doing this, and the theoretical 

 obtained will better enable him to quick- 

 ly grasp the reasons for doing other 

 practical things which can be learned 

 only by experience. It is the practical 

 end of the training that makes the money, 

 but one with a good foundation can more 

 quickly acquire and understand these 

 practical phases than one trained in 

 the practical work only. 



During the next generation there will 

 be a greater demand for these college- 

 trained practitioners than there has been 

 in the past. It was not many years 

 ago that no one thought of going to 

 college to learn to do practical work. 

 But each year sees a change of sentiment 

 and there is an increasing demand for 

 college-trained men, and most of these 

 college men are outstripping their prac- 

 tical brothers in the same lines of work. 



E. H. Favor. 



Nashville, Tenn. — Geny Bros, are 

 picking 1,000 violets a day from plants 

 under sashes and find them selling well. 



