682 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



September 7, 1912.' 



it was a real study to watch him critically 

 examining first one flower and then an- 

 other, betore he drew from his waistcoat 

 pocket a bit of pencil al>out half an inyh 

 long, with which he proceeded to write 

 down a few names on the margin of the 

 programme of events that he carried in his 



hand. • 



It is to the credit of the Shrewsbury Com- 

 mittee that, while its show has grown to 

 such gigantic proportions, it still encou- 

 rages the cottagers, and one tent Avas de- 

 voted to their exhibits, but I think the 

 society might do something more to edu- 

 cate its cottagers in metliods of exhibiting. 

 When inside the marquee 1 might have 

 \yeen hundreds of miles away from the 

 famous Shrewsbury Show in some little vil- 



V _ _ _ & M 



lage that was hokling its first exhibition. 

 Not but what the pnxluce was goo<l, but 

 there were all the things that are so pain- 

 fully and regretfully characteristic of cot- 

 tagers' shows, such as asters exhibited in 

 pa{>er collars, Phlox Drummondi adorned 

 in the'Rame absurd way, twelve pansies 

 occupying positions of stately solitude on 

 a bounl big enough for a dozen Japanese 

 chrysanthemums, and big, ungainly bun- 

 dles of garden flowers which the card un- 

 derneath describe<l as '* nosegays." Surely 

 one expiK'ted better things than this at 

 Shrewsbury, even in tlie cottagers' tent, 

 and one wonders how many years the 

 judges in this department have officiate^:l, 

 and whether they have ever matle a report 

 to the committee suggesting improvements 

 in the methods of exhibiting. 



It is interesting to note liow the person- 

 ality of a man follows him. I have said 

 that Wednesday at Shrewsbury is the day 

 for the notabilities of the gardening world, 

 and so it is in a general way, but on Thurs- 

 day afternoon I espied one well-known 

 figure, none other than the genial Mr. S. 

 T. Wright, of Wisley, and evidently 

 people had the idea that, as he is generally 

 managing shows, he must have been man- 

 aging Shrewsbury, for one exhibitor ap- 

 proached him and asked him a question as 

 to the arrangements that had been made 

 for removing the exhibits. As for Mr. 

 Wright, ho answeretl just as genially as 

 he did after the day and night work at 

 the International, but, poor fellow, he 

 doesn't manage every show he goes to, and 

 one thought that they might have left him 

 alone at Shrewsburv. 



The closing of the tents 

 time on the second dav at 



an exciting 

 Shrewsburv 



The balloons have gone up, the bands have 

 finished, the acrobats are packing up their 

 traps, the boxing kangaroo has doffed his 

 gloves, the horse-jumping is over, and there 

 is nothing left but the fireworks. The trips 

 are due out, at least some of them, and a 

 few odd thousands of people suddenly re- 

 meml>er that they must take something 

 back with them. So they crowd to the 

 tents again just when the police are trying 

 to clear them, and the exhibitors have not 

 the least difficulty in getting rid of flowers, 

 or, in fact, anything else for which they 

 have no further use. You see them later 

 wending stationwards, dozens of them with 

 the spoils of the show^ in the shape of 

 bunches of flow^ers, etc., the same rollicking 

 crowd that arrived in the morning, and 

 the quaint old Shrewsbury streets are like a 

 fair. They climb back into the carriages, 

 perhaps a dozen in one the same as they 

 came they shout farewell to thovse left be- 



and sit down to discuss the adven- 



hind. 



tures 



Sh 



of the day. They have been to 

 sbuiy Show once more, and will come 

 a2;ain next year if they are alive and well. 

 This is how the great event maintains its 

 '^opularitv. H. 



HORTICULTURAL 

 EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 



(Continued from page 621.) 



Superior Primary Schools. 



It is not only for an elementary primary 

 school that the school-garden is extolled, and 

 rightly, for its agricultural and horticul- 

 tural instruction, but also, and much more 

 so, for the superior primary school. 



The instruction has been carefully set out 

 by the Ministerial decree of August 18, 1893, 

 which states precisely, in a very clear man- 

 ner, in which way and with what develop- 

 ment's it is most convenient to carry them 

 out, and also what amount of time ought to 

 be devoted to agriculture and horticulture 

 respectively during the three years' training. 



By the terms of Article III. of this decree, 

 the programme and time-table of the profes- 

 sional sections (amongst which agriculture 

 figurofi) ought to be fixed for each estab- 

 lishment by the academy inspector upon the 

 suggestions of the manager or manageress, 

 after first consulting with the masters and 

 mistresses, taking into account to a very 

 large extent the local needs. 



Just as the general directions say, the in- 

 etruction in manual work in a superior 

 primary school ought to have, like the ele- 

 mentary primary school, an educative 

 character. In tlie superior primary school 

 it would at all times assure for the pupils, 

 by more varied lessons and by more extensive 

 application, all the necessary knowledge for 

 practice in life. 



Here again the school-garden allows of 

 demonstrations, applications, and lessons, 

 which together form a sound horticultural 

 training. 



Normal Schools for Masters and Mis- 

 tiwses. — It is mostly at the normal school 

 — that is to say, in the nursery — where ele- 

 mentary masters and mistresses are trained 

 in what is imiportant to assure for them the 

 necessary instruction and agricultural educa- 

 tion. Tlie better the master, as a pupil who 

 is to become a teacher, is prepared for his 

 task upon the subject of agriculture, the 

 better he will appreciate the beauty and 

 iitility of it, and the more successful and 

 productive of good results will be his efforts 

 once he enters upon the field of teaching. 



The theoretical course of agricultui^e is 

 entrusted to departmental professors who are 

 responsible for it in all parts of France. 

 (Note. — In each department of France there 

 is a normal school for masters and also one 

 for mistresses.) 



Horticulture forms an integral part of this 

 important course. In some normal schools 

 (such as those of Clermont-Ferrand, Dijon, 

 and Melun) a special professor and ex-pupil 

 of the National School of Horticulture at 

 Versailles is always engaged for the horticul- 

 tural section. 



One can understand how useful this latter 

 organisation is in diffusing the science of 

 garden culture. Thus instructed, however 

 zealous the professor of agriculture may be, 

 he cannot displace a specialist in the teach- 

 ing of such a special branch as horticulture 

 represents, and which, to be successfully 

 taught, requires special knowledge. 



For this reason it is to be hoped that there 

 wdl be an increase in the appointments of 

 special professors of horticulture. 



This point is not the only one upon which 

 there is ground to persist in connection with 

 agricultural and horticidtural 

 normal schools. 



trainins!' in 



A recent revision of the syllabus of studies 

 for these schools fixes the examination for 

 the " brevet superieur " (or higher grade 

 certificate) for the end of the second year- 

 as a consequence of this alteration the 

 courses of agriculture and horticulture are 

 carried forward into the third year (which is 

 called the "year of application") and shor- 

 tened somewhat. So that the studv of these 

 matters, in spite of their great importance, 

 remains at the present time without any cer- 

 tification, which is very regrettable. 

 _ The manner in which practical instruction 

 IS given in the garden of the normal school 



lays itself open also to some criticism. 

 More often than not it consists rather more 

 in purely manual work, with the object of 

 rendering immediate help to the steward, 

 than in judicious applications, well thought 

 out, and really worthy of the name. It is, 

 however, very necessary that future masters 

 should be initiated and trained practically in 

 the various horticultural operations of 

 primary importance, such as planting seed- 

 beds and plantations, cutting out suckers, 

 layering, taking cuttings, and pruning trees^ 

 shruljs, etc., etc. 



It should be necessary, moreover, in order 

 to complete it, that the practical instruction 

 should be certifietd to by a special and 

 thorough examination immediately before 

 leaving. 



Horticultural Instruction for 



Young* Girls. 



What has just been said about primary 

 schools of every kind — i.e., primary elemen- 

 tary schools, primary higher grade schools, 

 and normal schools — applies to those for 

 young girls as well as to those for boys — 

 that is, so far as relates to the official sylla- 

 bus. The persons who drew these up appear 

 to have considered that instruction in gar- 

 dening is at least more important for the 

 former than for the latter. 



In all country gardens, in fact, and more 

 particularly in the modest allotments, which 

 are much the more numerous, and, one may 

 say, also the more worthy of interest, it is 

 the mistress of the house, as housekeeper, 

 who assumes the care of the garden. Hence 

 the necessity for giving instruction in horti- 

 culture to young girls. 



Gardening figures as a subject for profes- 

 sional tuition in the syllabus of January 18, 

 1887, for higher-grade primary schools for 

 girls in the "Physical Education" section, 

 under the headings of " Manual Work," 

 " Work in the Garden," " The Fruit Garden," 

 The Kitchen Garden," "Notes on the Cul- 

 tivation of Flowers." 



The same subjects are prescribed for the 

 primary normal schools for mistresses. 



Gardening has figured for the first time 

 amongst the subjects for tuition in these 

 schools in the syllabus of August 4, 1905 (for 

 two hours per week, usiially on Thursdays in 

 the third year). 



This includes the cultivation of the prin- 

 cipal vegetables, the pruning and treatment 

 of fruit trees, making seed-beds, removal of 

 suckers, etc., etc. 



Schools of Housekeeping:. 



If tuition in gardening is to have any 

 place at all, it should be included in the 

 syllabus of schools of housekeeping, and more 

 particularly in those schools which are situate 

 m agricultural districts. 



One cannot too much insist upon this point, 

 since it is so singularly important for the 

 future mistress of a household to know how 

 to manage her garden, which is so closely 

 connected with rural life and household man- 

 agement. 



Also does horticulture hold a sufficiently in^ 

 portant place in the science of household 

 management ? Though only recently 

 organised in France, in the neighbouring 

 countries like Switzerland, Belgium, etc., the 

 teaching of agricidtural household manage- 

 ment has been mostly given in ambulatory 

 schools, to which at present, in France, 

 almost exclusive preference f«^ems to be 

 given, yet these ambulatory schools only very 

 imperfectly answer their intended object-- 

 that is, to give to a young girl an education 

 with professional instruction sufficient to put 

 her in a position to fulfil the important role 

 which devolves upon her on a farm. 



Tlien near us there exist already at least 

 twenty movable schools of housekeeping, 

 whereas one find^ only three or four sta- 

 tionary schools of this kind, and these are 

 all devoted to the teaching of dairy work. 



In the movable schools, where the fau 

 course lasts only three months, tuition in 

 gardening can only be theoretical, and this is 

 precisely one of the points where these schools, 

 which are excellent from all other points oi 

 view, fail. 



* 



