558 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



July 20, 1912, 



HORTICULTURAL 

 EDUCATION. 



Its Adva.nt£Lg^es a.nd Disadvan- 



tag^es. 



At the present day the subject of horti- 

 cultural education is being very freely dis- 

 cussed by the younger, and, if I may be 

 allowed to say so, the more progressive, 

 generation of gardeners. The latter are, 

 no doubt, distinct, and in a class by them- 

 selves. Their progressive tendency must, 

 however, not be misunderstood. If we as- 

 sume it to mean that they are better cul- 

 tivators of plants than those gardeners of 

 a former generation, I am afraid we shall 

 be somewhat in the wrong, or at least there 

 will bo a considerable element of doubt at- 

 tached to such an assumption. Neverthe- 

 less, the systematic training that was made 

 a compulsory matter in the days of the 

 apprenticeship system, has proved a great 

 boon to many gardeners. No doubt, it has 

 been the means of instilling the tenets of 

 discipline and attention to detail in the 

 minds of many raw youths who, if they had 

 been allowed to take their own course with- 



out guidance of any kind, would probably 

 have drifte<l onwards with no definite ob- 

 ject of any kind in view. 



In nearly every walk of life, this age we 

 live in is an age of cramming — an age of 

 effect. Everything must be made to move 

 as rapidly as possible, and the culmination 

 of our desires must be attained in the 



done honour to the profession. Many 

 bright intellects have, however, been lost 

 to it. I can recall a number of cases in- 

 volving men of unquestionable ability, who, 

 through no fault of their own have squan- 

 dered the best of their lives as foreman or 

 journeyman, and at mature ages have had 

 to confine themselves in that usually unde- 

 sirable abode known as a bothy, wherein 

 no home comforts are known. 



Undoubtedly, the principal reason why so 

 many able men have been disappointed in 

 their attempts to obtain posts of distinction 

 elsewhere, is that they waited for promo- 

 tions which never came until the best of 

 their lives had been spent in an unhappy 

 existence on twenty or thirty shillings a 

 week. Given the opportunity, it has been 

 proved that the large majority of educated 

 and well-trained foremen or gardeners have 

 experienced little difficulty in rising to 

 positions of great trust. It speaks well for 

 the profession that many of them have ulti- 

 mately become managers of estdtes. 



Employment for competent gardeners 

 has, however, been somewhat scarce of late, 

 owing no doubt to the breaking up of so 

 many large estates. The younger genera- 

 tion of gardeners must therefore turn their 

 attention to other branches of the profes- 

 sion, especially commercial horticulture. 

 A great many more opportunities exist " in 

 the trade " than in any other branch of 

 horticulture, for a man who possesses excep- 

 tional ability. His position is invariably 

 secured as soon as he can demonstrate his 



curred in the execution of duty, althoueh 

 as a matter of fact, they really are. Con 

 sequently a fifty pounds increase in salary 

 actually possevsses nothing more but a fic- 

 titious value, and I am constrained to men- 

 tion this fact because so many people are 

 apt to regard it in an entirely different 

 light. 



(Much comment has been made by so- 

 "-^lled authorities on the work of the 



shortest possible space of time ; otherwise worth satisfactorily, and from a commercial 



the desire itself is apt to vanish from our point of view ; and it is not unimportant to 



minds altogether To take a comparison note that remuneration progresses in keep- 



trom the work of our friend the farmer, it ing with achievements or successes 



IS well known that present-day competition The educated gardener is, or should be, 



does not admit of the slow fattening of ? 



beasts for the butcher — or of chickens for 

 the poulterer. Early maturity is the watch- 

 word here. Similarly, specimen plants, 

 whose extraordinary growth represented 

 the highest skill in the plant cultivator's 

 art, and which were the pride of the mid- 

 Victorian gardener, seem to have disap- 

 peared for all time, with only a few excep- 

 tions here and there. 



The gardener of old was, indeed, ofttimes 

 a patriarchal figure, slow to change, and 

 antagonistic to what we now term modern 

 progress. He paced his ground with mea- 

 sured tread ; he observed everything ; 

 thought of a multitude of things; and 

 solved all the problems that came his way 

 with a very sound knowle<lge and sense of 

 understanding IMaybe he was somewhat 

 philosophically inclined, and cultivated a 

 long grey bea.rd and an absent-minded ex- 

 pression — two characteristics which are in- 

 variably, and often wrongly, accepted as 

 the hall-marks of ability and power to 

 undertake responsibility. 



How customs have changed since those 

 days! Now the youthful and budding gar- 

 dener is crammefl with as much knowledge 

 and theory as he can possibly assimilate in 

 a short space of time. The cramming pro- 

 cess completed, more or less satisfactorily, 

 he immediately hies him away to get twelve 

 months' practical experience, first at one 

 establishment and then at another. 

 Finally, when remuneration and other at- 

 tractions are such as impede his further 

 progress, he comes to a dead stop. It 

 cannot be said that his education is com- 

 plete. As a matter of fact, it has only just 

 commenced, for he may now have the op- 

 portunitv to put a few of his own methods 

 or theories to a practical test. 



The Educated Gardener 



has existed since the days of Adam, so that 

 it appears unnecessary to quote names from 

 the long list of illustrious men who have 



teachers and lecturers who were created by 

 the County Councils some years ago. Now 

 these instructors were, for the most part' 

 practical and experienced, and if their 

 knowledge of chemistry, botany, and zoo- 

 logy did not come up to the high stan- 

 dards set by the colleges, it is at least cer- 

 tain that they gained the complete confi- 

 dence of those people whom they were sent 

 out to teach, by the very reason of their 

 practical experience. It was this which en- 

 abled them to advance rural horticultural 

 education more than any other class of 

 worker at that time. 



A National Diploma in 



Horticulture 



is by no means a new idea. I suggested it 

 myself some fifteen years ago, when I 

 realised the advantages yielded by similar 

 diplomas to young men taking up agricul- 

 ture as a profession, or even dairying. But 

 if the syllabus of the proposed National 

 Diploma of Horticulture is drawn up as it 

 should be, the task of securing such a 

 coveted distinction will be no easy one. 



Certificates for proficiency in the theory 

 and practice of horticulture, as now issued, 

 are all too easy to acquire, with the result 

 that they have a very low value as com- 

 pared with the distinction to be secured in 

 a comprehensive being — boasting a higher sister science, namely, the National 



school education than his fellow workmen, Diploma of Agriculture. Those who are 

 possessing a sound commercial knowledge of desirous of entering upon a teaching career 

 his work, and endowed by nature with the should obviouslv ?im at the National 

 power of organising and controlling the 

 work of others. 



Horticultural Instructors 



are now becoming fairly numerous. Often, 

 one is asked how it is possible to become 

 eligible for the post of County Instructor 

 in Horticulture. It may be said that up to 

 the present no definite qualifications have 

 been required of candidates who aspire to 

 these positions. At the same time, how- 

 ever, the obvious fact remains that few, if 

 any. County Committees would appoint a 

 man who is unable to testify as to his know- 

 ledge of the scientific aspect as well as of 

 the practice of horticulture. Unfortunately, 

 of course, this combination of science and 

 practice is difficult to secure, with the result 

 that the scientist 



kes a pitiable impres- 

 sion when he commences to demonstrate to 

 his class of students how some important 

 operation should be performed. 



The life of an average county instructor 

 is by no means an enviable one. He is 

 supposed to be a veritable encyclop^ia of 

 horticulture, available for reference by 

 anyone who has the most out-of-the-way 

 question to ask, or the most difficult pro- 

 blem to solve. If he has a home he can 

 only think of it as a blessed memory at 



e can seldom enjoy its 

 comforts. The best part of his time 

 spent in the joys of railway travelling, or 

 in the doubtful delights of cycling along 

 country lanes. 



As for remuneration, the average salary 

 paid, say, £150 a year, is altogether inade- 

 quate for the position he is called upon to 

 occupy. Anyone whohas haxi travelling ex- 

 perience knows only too well the heavy 

 drain that is made on the pocket in the 



^nenses. One cannot 



is 



shape 



these 



ob viously ? i m at 

 Diploma of Horticulture, or it may also 

 serve as a stepping-stone to the agricul- 

 tural degree of B.iSc. 



There are, of course, both advantages 

 and disadvantages connected with any new 

 innovation of this kind. We may, for ex- 

 ample's sake, seek a ooonparison in the agri- 

 cultural world. Suppose we examine for a 

 moment the careers of many who have 

 succeeded in gaining the National Diploma 

 of Agriculture, it is often found that they 

 are disappointed in not finding suitable 

 openings on leaving college. Posts as in^ 

 structors in agriculture are very few in- 

 deed, and so the college-trained youth has 

 to offer his services to the farmer, who, by 

 the way, has more use for the practically- 

 trained youth than the one who possesses 

 college distinctions. May we not experieijice 

 something of a similar nature in the case of 

 the National Diploma in Horticulture? As- 

 suming that it will take a youth two years 

 to qualify for his diploma at college, com- 

 mencing at the age of sixteen, what are his 

 prospects on leaving? Is it to be ima- 

 gined that he will be perfectly contented to 

 occupy a subordinate position in a garden, 

 perhaps commencing right at the bottom 

 of the ladder, as he must needs do if he 

 is to master the many practical operations 

 connected with gardening? On the other 

 hand, if a youth works for two years in a 

 garden, then goes to college for two years, 

 he will find himself handicapped just in" the 

 same way on returning to practice. 



That there will be a few good posts here 

 and there cannot be doubted, but I am 

 inclined to question very much whether 

 bona fide gardeners will prove successful in 

 obtaining them. Their position is this: 

 they are in competition with men who as- 

 sume a practical knowledge of gardening? 

 and who possess a college training. The 



