660 
THE GARDENERS’ MAGAZINE; ArausTso.ma. 
THE NATIONAL DIPLOMA 
IN HORTICULTURE. 
The following is the scheme for the 
National Diploma in Horticulture to he 
awarded by the Eoyal Horticultural Society 
under the arrangements approved by the 
Board of Agriculture -and Fisheries: 
1. Candidates for the Diploma must 
(a) Register themselves with the 
Society, and 
(b) Pass two examinations, a Pre¬ 
liminary and a Final. 
2. The Examinations are open to both men 
and women. 
Reg^istration. 
3. Candidates must register themselves at 
least four months before the date fixed for 
the Preliminary Examination, and may do so 
at any time after they have attained the age 
of 19. 
4. In order to register themselves candi¬ 
dates must supply the Council.of the R.H.S. 
with 
(a) A birth certificate as evidence of 
age, and 
(b) Some documentary evidence of the 
sufficiency of their previous gene¬ 
ral education (paragraph 5). 
5. To satisfy the requirements under 4b, 
the certificate of the College of Preceptors, 
the Oxford and Cambridge Local Examina¬ 
tions Boards, Matriculation at any British 
University, or any similar certificate which 
may from time to time be approved by the 
Council of the Society will be accepted. 
Candidates who are unable to produce any 
such certificate must submit themselves to 
(and pass) a qualif;5ring test established by 
the Society in the simple subjects mentioned 
in Syllabus 1. 
Qualifications for the Pre¬ 
liminary Examination. 
6. Registered candidates before sitting for 
the Preliminary Examination must, by the 
date of the examination, 
(a) Have reached the age of 21 years, 
and 
(b) Have served at least four years 
(1) in a public or private garden or 
nursery; or 
(2) in an approved Horticultural 
Institution, and have received 
a satisfactory report as re¬ 
gards conduct and work from 
the authorities of such Insti¬ 
tution ; or 
(3) partly as in (1) and partly as 
in (2). 
Note. —^It is absolutely necessary for all 
Candidates for the Diploma to pass the Pre¬ 
liminary Examination before they can enter 
for the Final, but the Preliminary Examina¬ 
tion by itself does not entitle those who pass 
it to any form of Diploma. 
Qualifications for Final 
Examination. 
7. The Final Examination is only open to 
those who have passed the Preliminary Ex¬ 
amination, and have subsequently bep en¬ 
gaged for not less than two years in the 
Practice of Horticulture. 
The Practice of Horticulture includes the 
following:—Florists, Fruit Growers, Gar¬ 
deners, Horticultural Inspectors, Horticul¬ 
tural Instructors, Landscape Gardeners, Mar¬ 
ket Gardeners, Nurserymen, Public Park 
Gardeners, and Seedsmen. 
8. Candidates for the Final Examination 
must give at least four months’ -notice to the 
Society of their intention to present them¬ 
selves in order that sufficient arrangements 
m.ay be made. 
Nature of Examination. 
9. In both Examinations the principal part 
will consist of tests of the candidates’ prac¬ 
tical acquaintance with plants and general 
garden work, and practical knowledge of 
horticulture. The practical tests will be 
conducted in a suitable garden or nursery, 
and will be supplemented by viva voce ques¬ 
tions and written papers. Candidates will 
be required to pass in all three parts of the 
examinations: practical, viva voce, and writ¬ 
ten; but no amount of excellence in the 
written part will qualify a candidate if he 
fail in the practical. 
Time of Examinations. 
10. The Examinations will, as far as pos¬ 
sible, be held in the latter part of June of 
each year. 
Fees. 
11. The entrance fees, which are payable 
in advance are— 
(a) for the Preliminary Examina¬ 
tion, £1; 
(b) for the Final Examination, <^3. 
Half the entrance fee will be returned to 
candidates unavoidably prevented from at¬ 
tending the examination. 
There will be no fee for registration, or for 
the qualifying test when that is necessary. 
12. The fees payable by rejected candi¬ 
dates entering again will be 10s. for the Pre¬ 
liminary Examination, and <^£1 lOs. for the 
Final. 
Examination Centres. 
13. The Examinations will be held at dif¬ 
ferent centres in Great Britain, regard being 
had especially to 
(a) The number of candidates in any 
district, and 
(b) The suitability of a locality for 
the practical part of the examina¬ 
tion. 
14. All particulars, forms, etc., may be ob¬ 
tained from the Secretary of the Royal Hor¬ 
ticultural Society Vincent Square, London, 
S.W. 
SYLLABUS. 
I.—Qualifying: Tests. 
Candidates requiring to take this test 
(paragraph 5) will be expected to 
15. Write on some given subject of gene¬ 
ral knowledge, as a test of their handwriting, 
spelling, and ability to express themselves 
clearly and grammatically. 
16. Show an acquaintance with arithmetic 
up to and including decimals and elementary 
mensuration. The questions asked will 
usually be such as might occur in ordinary 
garden practice. 
17. Having a general elementary know¬ 
ledge of geography, such as the relative posi¬ 
tions of the principal countries of the world, 
with some knowledge of their climates and 
of the causes which determine climate. 
At this stage no specdal knowledge' of 
plants will be expected of the candidates. 
II.—Preliminary Examination. 
The Preliminary Examination will be based 
upon the general principles of plant-g^rowdng, 
an elementary knowledge of botany, chemis¬ 
try, and physics, as far as acquaintance with 
these subjects is essential to an understand¬ 
ing of garden practice. Care will be taken 
to ascertain that the Candidate is able to 
p3rform the operations of gardening with 
proper skill, and also that he understands 
the reasons for the methods employed. 
The Examination will be based on the sub¬ 
jects mentioned in the following Syllabus, 
many more questions being asked than will 
be required to be answered, so that candi¬ 
dates will be given considerable choice. 
Syllabus. 
18. Choice of site, laying out, levelling, 
etc., of a garden. 
19. Composition of soils, and the manner of 
their formation. 
20. Cultivation of the soil: Trenching, dig¬ 
ging, hoeing, raking, rolling;. drainage and 
its effects upon soil and crops; the relation 
of the plant to the soil. The making of com¬ 
posts. 
21. Preparation of the ground for crops, 
and rotation in cropping. 
22. Nature and uses of manures in the 
garden. 
23. The part played by root, stem, leaf, 
flower, fruit, and seed in the life of the plant. 
The effect of water, air, light, and tempera¬ 
ture on the growth of plants, and the influ¬ 
ence of these on the choice of aspect and soil. 
24. Se^ed sowing, transplanting, and per¬ 
manent planting. 
25. Cultivation of kitchen garden plant*. 
26. Care of lawns, paths, flower beds, bet- t 
baceous borders, and rock gardens. ’ ’ ; 
27. Methods of propagation by seeds and I \ 
vegetative processes. I v 
28. Cultivation of ornamental plants itndfr I t 
glass: ventilation, watering, and Mgulatkn i 
of light and temperature. 
29. Fruit and vegetable cultivation under I 
glass. 
30. Planting, pruning, and training .f 
fruit trees and bushes in the open on wai« r 
and otherwise. r 
31. Planting, pruning, and training of or- 
namental trees and shrubs, including roses. 
32. Knowledge of the ordinary names, 
Latin or English, of garden plants, ehnbs, I 
trees, and weeds. r 
33. Symptoms and treatment of the oon- 1 
monest plant diseases and insect peeU. ? 
Methods of fumigation and spraying. i 
34. Use and care of tools and implemert* 
employed in the making and maintenance <: 
gardens. | 
III.—Final Examination. | 
The Syllabus for the Final Examinatior ■ 
will be divided into sections, each deal:r.e 
with one particular branch of horticulture. i 
Candidates may enter for the branch in 
which they feel themselves most proficient. 
Syllabuses will be published later. 
SUBSIDISED 
ORGANISATIONS. 
The President and Council of the B«e«I 
Horticultural Society have asked 
municate to you the following report oftlieir 
Parliamentary Committee on Subsi<lie> 
Co-operative Organisations:— 
" Your Committee, whilst welcoming th 
subsidies given out of public 
agricultural and horticultural orgamsaho^ 
when such organisations confine them*lto 
to educational, experimental, and re»eOT. f 
subi'ects deprecates any subsidies from 
ernment. County Council, and ^ 
bodies being granted to any orgWiMtw 
which is'allowed to embark in trad g p 
suits, holding it to be manifestly untor • 
private traders to allow such suhmdi^ 
ganisations to be financially *'**PfjL j,«i; 
^te with the trade. Your 0om“dt« 
also to point out a further agg . :: 
the iniustioe, viz., that often such - ■ . 
organisations do not pay I?'*' ” , I, 
taxes, nor income tax, b'fwk 
traders have to hear their full share o 
burdens.” , .gj. 
The Parliamentary Commit^ obieet 
was established in March last. 
generally to watch over the .dvi" -' 
culture in all its branches, ^.2^" ,, f. 
council of the society of 
using the great influence qt tne ^ 
in initiating legislation m n; 
culture, or for inflluencing gtw' 
way affecting horticulture and 
time be introduced into 
for informing the Department o p. jio 
and Horticulture of the views, 
wants of horticulturists; use**-* 
operating with the Department in 
and desirable horticidtwal mo 
Plumbago 
s attractive species are n^ ^ . 
d where attention devd^ 
ig and giving plenty of roo 
mt, they are^ well 
[)wths. Those required f^ ^or'tbe K 
wering should he teq^ 
tt€ about this date, 
be at their best after Chn 
►pped again about the not 
nber for the last time. - . 
owed to suffer from dry . p^^ved 
d they will > greatly imF ^ 
ekly application of ^ 
•tiliser until the colour of tn 
