“In other countries, schools of gardening for women are holding a recognized place in the educational world.  In England, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Russia, such institutions have long passed the experimental stage; graduates from their schools are managing large estates or holding responsible positions as directors of public or private gardens, as managers of commercial greenhouses, or as consulting horticulturists and lecturers.  In this country there is a growing demand for supervisors of home and school gardens, for work on plantations and model farms, and for landscape gardeners.  Such positions command large salaries, and the comparatively few women available for them are almost certain to attain success.”

Already one of the graduates has issued a modest brown circular stating that she is equipped to supply ideas for gardens and personally to plant them; to expend limited sums of money to the best advantage for beauty and service; to take entire charge of gardens and orchards for the season and personally to supervise gardens during the owners’ absence; to spray ornamental trees and shrubs, and prune them; and to care for indoor plants and window boxes.

“She is making a success of it, too.  She has all she can do,” comments one of the women directors, who is standing by.

A smiling strawberry student, who is passing, readily tells all that going to a garden school means.

“Each one of us has her own small plot of ground for which she is responsible.  We have to plant it, care for it, and be marked on it.  We all have special care of certain parts of the greenhouse, too, and each has a part of the nursery, the orchard and the vineyard.  Even the work that is too heavy for us we have to study about, so that we can direct helpers when the time comes.  We have to understand every detail of it all.  We have to keep a daily record of our work.  This is the way to learn how long it takes for different seeds to germinate, and thus we watch the development of the fruits and flowers and vegetables.  You see, the attendance at the school is limited to a small number; so each one of us receives a great deal of individual attention and help.

“We learn simple carpentry, as part of the course, so that we shall be able to make window boxes, flats, cold frames and other articles that we need.  We could even make a greenhouse, if we had to.  We are taught the care and raising of poultry, we learn bee culture, and we have a course in landscape gardening.  There is a course in canning and preserving, too, so that our fruits and berries can be disposed of in that way, if we should not be able to sell them outright, when we have the gardens of our own that we are all looking forward to.”

In the cozy cottage that serves as a dormitory, there is a large classroom, where the lectures in botany, entomology, soils and horticultural chemistry are given.  There is a staff of instructors, all from well-known universities, and a master farmer to impart the practical everyday process of managing fields and orchards.  Special lectures are given frequently by experts in various subjects.  In the cottage is a big, homelike living-room, where the girls read and sing and dance in the evening.  Each girl takes care of her own bedroom.