364 
THE GARDENING WORLD . 
April 30, 1904. 
to detect the difference between the teaching of a schoolmaster 
and a horticultural instructor who had previously acquired his 
practical work by going through some years’ training in 
gardens in the usual way. 
A correspondent last week hints at something of this sort., 
and we doubt not that properly-instructed gardeners would 
he superior to .schoolmasters. in the long run unless the latter 
are prepared to continue their studies for several years in 
succession. Not all of them probably will care to make them¬ 
selves proficient in the practice of gardening unless they have 
some inherent love for it, as gardening, like agriculture, in¬ 
clude® some jobs which require a considerable amount of 
muscle and bodily endurance. 
The holiday course of instruction offered by the Education 
Committee includes the principles aud practice of horticulture. 
The first refers to the principle® that underlie the practice of 
horticulture 1 and refers to a. branch: of education that is com¬ 
paratively new in gardening. The time® have changed con¬ 
siderably, however, since the rule of thumb was considered 
sufficient for the carrying out of gardening operations. Many 
of the people of this country, particularly the florists andl 
market gardeners, have now to compete with Continental 
gardeners, and workers who have received the advantages of 
a good education and are enabled to. turn: it to> excellent 
account by producing the best article at a cost which enable® 
them to compete in our markets with profit. 
The class is: to sit six days a week, though only on the morn¬ 
ing of the first Saturday. During the first five week-days 
the class will sit three hours in the morning, three hours in 
the afternoon, and two hours of the evening will be devoted 
to some out-door demonstration!. During the mornings of the 
first week the class will study a typical plant; the composition 
of the soil; the physiology of the root in the matter of absorp¬ 
tion, sensitiveness! and respiration; alsoi the gross structure 
of stem and leaf, movement of water, and transpiration. On 
the morning of Saturday there will he a garden demonstration 
on desirable herbaceous plants. 
On the afternoon® of those days they will study soils and 
their use for seed-sowing and potting; seed-sowing in the 
open; practice in the use of tools; the planting of Straw¬ 
berries and Celery; and the transplanting of green crops. 
Thus it will be seen that the mornings are devoted to lectures 
in the laboratory together with what, work of a practical 
character can be done there. The afternoons will be devoted 
to study of a practical character so as to bring the student 
into contact with various classes of soils: or composts as a 
gardener would describe them and the practical handling of 
pots and plants. The sowing of seeds and the use of tools will 
be something of a: useful nature by enabling the students to 
become acquainted with the same. The time, however, for 
such practice is too limited in duration, and should be con¬ 
tinued not only in their school gardens, but also under the 
supervision of a man who lias acquired his knowledge by long 
practice. The evenings will be chiefly devoted to the making 
of observations! and attending to the demonstrations in the 
open air. Other' stages of plant life will be dealt, with in the 
second week, and the practical operations will also be con¬ 
tinued. 
- — 1 ~ - - — 
Examination in Horticulture. 
The annual examination in horticulture, under the auspices 
of the Royal Horticultural Society, was held on the 20th inst., 
and the questions asked seem to be getting more and more 
difficult, or, at least, lengthy. The examination lasted for 
three hours, the first one and a. half hours being devoted to 
the elementary principles of gardening, and the second half 
of the time to horticultural operations and practice, the ex¬ 
amination, of course, being in. written form. The second half 
of the examination seems to. have been difficult chiefly on 
account of the lengthy nature of the answer’s that, might have 
been given, though we are not quite sure whether lengthy 
answers were expected, or that the questions were so set as 
to find out what knowledge the student had of the subject. 
Eight questions in. each division, were put. in the papers, but 
of course only half of the questions—that is, four from each 
division—were to be attempted by the student. Even then,, 
however, if the student, was well acquainted with the subject 
asked be would have been unable to properly express himself 
in the time at command. For instance, one question asked : 
“ Which were the best, fruit trees and bushes for garden cul¬ 
tivation?” Some students might think "they had to. give the 
varieties of each kind of fruit tree, and, if such was the case, 
quite a book might he written upon the subject, especially 
when asked to deal with propagation and the subsequent treat¬ 
ment necessary for the trees. As this, was one out of four 
questions to be answered in one arid a half hours it would 
take a master in the art of description to give his opinion in, 
so few words that they could be written down, in. the time at 
command. 
Another question required an, account of a, conservatory and 
its occupants ; that is, the student had to describe how it could 
he kept gay all the year round, and not only so, hut. to give 
the culture of the principal occupants. 
Another somewhat tiresome question related to common 
diseases caused by fimgi and insects which live upon vegetables. 
This question also admits of a large amount of interpretation, 
as according to garden usage it would include the Tomato and 
its varied enemies which are certainly troublesome. It. would 
also include a. host of subjects which attack the Cabbage tribe, 
others that attack Onions, Car-rots, Parsnips, Celery, etc. 
This'lengthy question, would also' include remedies for the 
various enemies which the student might describe. To men¬ 
tion only the common ones would require considerable space 
and time, and' with more time at command the writer could 
amplify his subject into quite a book. 
We presume, however, that the student who attacked the 
subject by dealing very clearly with a few of the common 
enemies would have just as. much chance of passing the ex¬ 
amination as those with a. much more extensive knowledge of 
the subject. If this; is not the interpretation of it, the question 
could not be dealt with in anything like a satisfactory manner 
in the time allowed. 
Another question, also, admits of a very wide interpretation, 
as it deals with ornamental trees and shrubs, of which the 
student was expected to give the name®. Evergreen and de¬ 
ciduous subjects had to be taken into account and the student 
was; required to deal with the propagation of certain of them. 
Narcissus cyclamineus. 
{See Supplement.) 
Our supplement this week consists of a representation of a 
very interesting Daffodil, which, although not new, has not 
yet found its way into so many gardens as we should like to see 
it. The relatively small size of the flower no doubt militates 
against it in the face of such giants as are now obtainable in 
the family, but N. cyclamineus is one of the earliest to bloom, 
and, therefore, has very few competitors. Its season is also 
an extended one, if bulbs are planted in different situations 
out. of doors. The photograph was taken, about, the middle of 
March, in the nursery of Messrs:. Barr and Sons, King Street, 
Covent Garden, and some bulbs were flowering beautifully out 
of doors even then, while late ones are still in presentable 
condition. 
The species also takes readily to cultivation in pots and 
pans, but. that might he said of practically any Daffodil, with 
the exception, perhaps, of the wild N. Pseudo-narcissus. The 
plant wasi very early introduced to this country, but it became 
lost until more recently re-discovered. So different is this 
species in structure and general appearance from most other’s 
that botanists were inclined to believe that, it was a. product 
of the imagination. Some cultivators are of opinion that it 
has no tube below the segments, but that is scarcely exact. 
