100 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The true value of technical education, I take it, is to give such a 

 foundation and training that a youth may profit by his experience and 

 become in due course an intelligent, enlightened, proficient, and progres- 

 sive journeyman in his craft. 



It must also be admitted that there is often as much waste on the 

 theoretical side in a horticultural course as on the practical, especially 

 when the idea is entertained that men who are to gain their living by the 

 practical culture of gardens and orchards should be able to do their own 

 soil and manure analysis, and other scientific examinations ; in fact, be their 

 own chemist, botanist, vegetable pathologist, <fcc. To equip them to do 

 this they are usually called upon to spend part of their limited time in 

 doing elementary chemical analysis and in making sections of tissues &c. 

 for microscopical examination. Such work had better be left by horticul- 

 turists to specially qualified and trained men who have had the varied and 

 lengthened experience which qualifies them to be recognised as experts in 

 some one department, be it soil or manure analysis, fungoid plant diseases, 

 or insect attacks See. What is really wanted in the training of the future 

 practical man is that he should, possess that knowledge of the theory of 

 his calling, i.e. of the scientific principles on which it is founded, which 

 will enable him to recognise the value of an appeal to science. He there- 

 fore can so appreciate the work of scientific specialists that he applies to 

 them for specific information, and he utilises the information so gained 

 in conjunction with his own personal experience and practical knowledge. 



This knowledge of the principles of horticulture is a useful asset, 

 whether the horticulturist works under tropical or temperate conditions. 

 So also is a knowledge of the methods of grafting, budding, and the 

 other details of plant manipulation. What, however, is desirable in the 

 interests of those who are going abroad is that the general outlook be 

 widened, and this could be best done by making comparisons, which 

 perforce must be chiefly theoretical. When a man learns to do certain 

 things under certain conditions in this country, he should at the same 

 time learn what he should or could do under other conditions. In no 

 other country in the world can this information be so well obtained or 

 supplied as in England, where so many men are to be found who have 

 practised horticulture in all parts of our world-wide Empire and under 

 every possible variety of conditions. When the Dutch are able to give in 

 Holland courses of instruction in colonial and tropical agriculture and 

 horticulture, why cannot we do the same ? When the Austrians, who do 

 not possess colonies of their own, find it so advantageous to study the 

 agriculture, horticulture, and economic products of other countries and 

 their colonics that the premier position is generally conceded to them for 

 such studies, is it not a matter of surprise that the United Kingdom, 

 which is the centre of the greatest empire in the world, has so long 

 neglected her opportunities ? 



i have now endeavoured to place before you a short resume of what is 

 being dono in the interests of horticultural education throughout the 

 Empire, and I have also noted some of the considerations which, to my 

 mind, ariso from such a survey. There are, no doubt, many points in this 

 paper open to question, and therefore to discussion, and such would be 

 welcome, for publicity usually begets interest ; and if this be aroused 

 progress is assured. 



