June 1, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE, 



[supplement] 



9 



school 

 cause 



led as an exceptionally good training 

 for the art of garden-makmg be- 

 ^ of tlie stimulating influence caused by 

 ,ts do^ connection with the celebrated Royal 

 SJd^s at Potsdam. Owing to frmt cul- 

 fure having grown so important m Germany, 

 £ branch ha^ become highly valued, and, 

 when nine years ago the schools were re- 

 iiTnLsed, equal consideration was given to 

 S branch of horti-cui ture . Gei^enheim 

 fc situated amongst the vineyards which are 

 encircled by Germany's most beautiful river 

 Se 4ine,^and it i/ therefore natural that 

 viticulture and fruit culture should receive 



_ ^ ' school, 

 irthe '^cond group I include the higher 

 private hoxticuHural rtrainmg ^cliools, ot 

 which I may name the Pomologbsches Insti- 

 tut at Reutlingen as the oldest. The pro- 

 vincial horticultural training schools, of 

 which there are six in Prussia and baxony, 

 also belong to this group. 



\ special position is occupied by the third 

 group comprising the private horticultural 

 schools for women, of which I am .acquainted 

 with four in Germany , not counting the 

 agricultural schools with special courses tor 



^^InTheSourth group I may include all the 

 many smaller horticultural training schools, 

 which are partly independent, but which, 

 more frequently, are connected with agri- 

 cultural continuation schools. In many of 

 these schools, instruction is confined to the 

 Avinter months. In many towns in Germany 

 there are horticultural supplementary 

 schools where instruction is given oiilj J^n 

 the evenings ana on Sundays, so that the 

 apprentices and young assistants from nur- 

 series are able to attend. 



Between the first and fourth groups tlhere 

 is a wide margin which is clearly shown m 

 the scholastic attainments of the students as 

 well as in the ends to be attained. The dif- 

 ferent groups, however, are not sharply de- 

 fined, but there are transitions from the 

 lowest to the highest institutions. In fact, 

 in many schools there is a higher and a lower 

 division to which the students are admitted 

 according to their general education. The 

 preparatory training in the lower horticul- 

 tural training schools consists of attendance 

 at a public elementary school until they 

 reacl'i fourteen years of age. This is gene- 

 rally followed by a three-years' practical 

 apprenticeship, where the young gardeners 

 acquire practical experience in digging, 

 watering, planting, sowing, etc. The course 

 of training at the lower horticultural schools 

 generally lasts one year. According to the 

 preparatory training of the young men the 

 instruction in these schools is mainly prac- 

 tical. At the same time the most necessary 

 Itieoretical explanation as well as instruc- 

 tion in knowledge of species^ elementary 

 drawing and botany are given. In addition 

 to this instruction, the ordinary school sub- 

 jects, particularlv G erman composition and 

 mathematics, are taught. Young men who 

 have passed through such institutions work 

 3^st as do other gardeners who have not at- 

 tended such horticultural scjiools. As jour- 

 neymen gardeners, however, if they are 

 otherwise capable, they are more intellectual 

 and are therefore preferred for better-class 

 ^ork. From this class many are selected 

 to foremen as well as head-gardeners to 

 the nobility and gentry and to market 

 gardeners. This is a short sketch of the 

 training of gardeners in the lower horticul- 

 tural schools. 



The greater the requirements i 



theoreti- 

 cal and practical prejiaration the better is 



and"^^^^^^^^ the teachers have to work upon. 



th 



the 



Itie 



--.^ ^ ^.n^ W ^ WTV/J-X^ ^^^^'EMy 



ot course, the better the teachers are, 

 , better are the average successes, 

 scftool cannot, of course, make the man's 

 areer, it can only give him the foundations 

 tin ^ T ^^^^ ^^^^^ ^'^^k ^^is own posi- 

 schoiar fr"^^^' therefore, happen that a 



iTfp^fr ^ ^If-taught man, 

 cnln^^^ S^^^ through the curri- 



Hshm + ^"^"^ ^"^^^^ liigher training estab- 

 The r^l ^' "^^^^^ ^^^^ however, exceptions, 

 ^'^ie IS that the students who have gone 



a lower horticultural school, 



better 



through the course at our higher gardening 

 colleges are generally selected for leading 

 positions. 



Now before I pass on to discuss more fully 

 1\he course of instruction in the higher in- 

 stitutions, I should like to point out the dif- 

 ference existing at the present day between 

 the training of lady garcteners and that of 

 men gardeners. Whereas the male gardener 

 serves a practical apprenriceship before at- 

 tending the horticultural training school, 

 most ladies, who are desirous of taking up 

 this profession, attend such schools for women 

 without having obtained any previous know- 

 ledge whatever, and hope to be both prac- 

 tically and theoretically trained in two 

 years. As long as the ladies do not have 

 the same training as their male comrades, it 

 is not possible for them to do the same work. 



and technical colleges. Instead of a two- 

 years' practical training, Dahlem requires 

 one of four years. Owing to this, Dahlem 

 is enabled entirely to omi* practical work 

 during the two years of study whereby a 

 great deal of time is, of course, gained for 

 the theoretical and technical education. 

 Just as in the lower gardening schools, the 

 Royal Horticultural Colleges, with the ex- 

 ception of Dahlem, unite theory with prae- 

 tice, regular working hours being adhered 

 to. In my opinion, students who have had 

 only two" years' previous practical work 

 cannot omit the practical work while at the 

 training school. Those who are acquainted 

 with the practical work in .such schools can- 

 not fail to be convinced that this practical 

 work at school is incapable of taking the 

 place of the i^eal workmanlike praetice in a 



BEGONIA PRINCESS VICTORIA LOUISI-. 



Flow^ers soft salmon. 



A.M., R.H.S. (I.H.E.), May 22. 



Twerton Nursery, Bath. 



Messrs. Blackmore and Langdon, 



Moreover for about five vears outsiders Mave 

 been admitted to the horticultural colleges, 

 and ladies, with the same preparatory train- 

 ing as men, can enter as full-course students 



at Dahlem. 



I have brought you the prospectuses ot the 

 hiffher horticultural training colleges. On 

 comparing them you will find t(hat Dahlem 

 differs from the rest in the following par- 

 ticulars. Dahlem makes the greatest de- 

 mands with regard both to generaJ education 

 and to practical 



other training colleges require that students 

 should have passed tthrough only four classes 

 at a " Gymnasium," Dahlem is the only hor- 

 ticultural training school in Germany that 



1 been 



r^uuxxc. classes to have been parsed 

 through, the student thereby is required to 

 give only one year's military service. Dahlem 

 thus requires the same as tlhe agricultural 



nui^ry garden. ITie very fact that a large 

 number of young people must be employed 

 in a comparatively small concern is detri- 

 mental to success. Another stUl more impor- 

 tant fact is that tlie students lack that feel- 

 ing of responsibility which sharpens the 

 young assistants who are doing practical 

 work At tlie Dahlem horticultural institu- 

 tion theoretical instruction is supported by 

 practical demonstration, and it moreover 

 requires that the young people come with 

 a four-vears' practical training. In the fol- 

 lowing'! will give you a short account of 

 the course of training of young gardeners at 



The Roval Horticultural College at Dat 

 lem near Berlin, is under the joint super- 

 vision of the Boaxd of Agriculture, and an 

 associated body of Governors, with Mr. 1. 

 H. Echtermeycr as Director. 



