22 



The Florists' Review 



Dbcember 5, 1012. 



greatest benefit may be derived if this 

 practical experience is later supple- 

 mented by a period of graduate work 

 at the Agricultural College. I might 

 say in this connection that I am now 

 considering a project with the head of 

 the graduate school whereby our grad- 

 uates who go out into practical work 

 may return after a prescribed period 

 and after a supplementary scientific) 

 study of their specialty be given the 

 degree of Master of Science in Flori- 

 culture. 



Short Courses in Floriculture, 



But not everyone can afford to spend 

 four years or longer in study of funda- 

 mentals, nor is it for the best interests 

 of the industry that they should. To 



has seemed to prove that this subject 

 does not lend itself to those courses. 

 The lectures, text books and questions 

 are sent out to the people taking the 

 courses, but in the majority of cases 

 these individuals do not take sufficient 

 time to read over the subject matter 

 and to transpose it into their own lan- 

 guage. They look up the answers to 

 the questions in the lectures and text 

 and answer them verbatim in the words 

 of the lecturer or the writer of the text. 

 It seems that the individual gets little 

 lasting benefit from such a course. 



High Grade Help Pays Best. 



I believe, however, that there is a 

 splendid opportunity for extension 

 work in floriculture along other lines. 



Front of the New IndUoapoIit Store of the Hill-He Ut Co. 



Massachusetts is a state where the in- 

 dustry ranks of major importance and 

 where the amount of capital involved 

 is considerable, I believe there is room 

 for one or two extension schools of 

 floriculture in the state and I should 

 like especially to see one of these 

 started in connection with the Boston 

 Gardeners' and Florists' Club, Courses 

 such as these would give the industry 

 a splendid impetus and they would be 

 the means of giving many young men 

 who a"re already engaged in the busi- 

 ness, on private estates, in retail estab- 

 lishments and in commercial ranges, a 

 chance to learn much of benefit at a 

 minimum expense of time and money. 



What the industry needs today is a 

 liigher grade of workman and this will 

 never come until the young men have 

 better chances for learning the business. 

 One of the most prominent New Jersey 

 growers told me recently that he was 

 convinced that it paid him to employ a 

 high quality of labor even at higher 

 wages, and I know for a fact that an- 

 other large corporation is employing 

 men of this grade as managers and fore- 

 men in the diflferent departments. Too 

 frequently men employed in the larger 

 ranges get training only in one or two 

 branches and therefore are not well 

 balanced in their development. They 

 are specialists in the narrow sense of 

 the word. There is then, again, an un- 

 fortunate opinion among some growers 

 that it is detrimental to their best in- 

 terests for young men to learn the 

 secrets of their success. As in every 

 industry where competition is keen, 

 there are certain methods which any 

 grower may legitimately keep to him- 

 self, but there is much general informa- 

 tion which might be given to the 

 younger generation without injury in 

 the least to the business of any indi- 

 \i(lua]. 



An Extension School of Floriculture. 



T would suggest, therefore, that in 

 such an extension school, definite 

 courses in special subjects be given 

 and that a man be allowed to take as 



meet the needs of these individuals, the 

 college now ofl'ers a si)ecial course for 

 men of mature years who have had a 

 high school training and who want to 

 devote a little time for special train- 

 ing. These men come to the college 

 for one or two years and take special 

 work in those definite sul)jects in which 

 they are especially interested. For the 

 most part these same subjects are given 

 to the regular junior and senior stu- 

 dents. These men are given no diploma 

 or certificate. They come only for 

 what they can get out of the courses 

 offered. 



Then, again, the college offers excep- 

 tional opportunities by a ten weeks' 

 short course during .January, February 

 and the first part of March, when men 

 may come to the college to get in a con- 

 densed form in this short time much 

 that is given in the longer courses. 

 They meet men with kindred interests 

 and derive much benefit from an inter- 

 change of ideas. Practical men come 

 to the college for lectures on special 

 subjects and these men give to the stu- 

 dents many suggestions which their ex- 

 periences have proved to be valuable. 



Then there are correspondence 

 courses in floriculture for those who 

 cannot leave their home duties. To my 

 mind these courses are of minor im- 

 portance, for my experience wi<h them 



Window of the New Indianapolis Store of the Hill-Heller G>. 



