DEGREES IN HORTICULTURE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIV, 24 March 1921, Page 3

DEGREES IN HORTICULTURE

J.MPOHTANCK OF 'FI i JO VJ-y;!*:-TAIM.F K i.VDDD.M In (‘onmv; ion w ith I he iu mi m icni i's 1‘ >\lviciiltnre mill n*>rr i • 11 11 u r«■, llio (hi ve rmne nl, awakened to the neci'ssily nf nil ample 11pply i I' 1 (,megrow n t i in ft >r n in i to i In ■ desiraoilny i.tl affording wider opportunities loi employment, in rural district, ims launched mid subsidised n scheme id’ iin liomd alforesta! ion. under ; he di reeimit of l,ord I,oval, writes (lie Lon don corresDondeiiL' oj : I lit* (.'liristelinre.-i Dress under date F(>l)nmry ;ird. The Vice-Chancellor of ilit; Fuiver.-i-Ly ol’ Condon. Dr Russell Wells, went to ilie Ilorticultnral (‘ollege for Women, m Swaniey. .Kent, to address the stiiileni s at the opening ol’ ihe nee, session and to call intention to tne i iai i tii'it. o\\ iny lo fhe exiinided eunrses now given. the College is ivm l :- iiised by tpe ( nivei'sil \ mr preparation for the mm IJ.Sc. in i ion leu t,lire. The students, who now numher -Id, are very iit'i'iietue m their dark brown, short-skirted dresses. and gipsy hand- | I'.ereleels wound round the head. | I nfori iinateiy, the piomised gram from the Hoard ol’ Agrienli are ng m I TUMI'IO, mi vhe hasis of pound I’m j pound In proportion to the moiag eollee.e'l. is lo he u'dlihehii on t hi ground ol’ national economy. .\mw ith.'taading t!.is great hlow , i he Col I eye is doiiey wonders uilh ihe funds ii its eomraand. Some time ayo the i’eii ‘I rnsteos .save toOO towards developim-nl. The new principal. Miss ,\! iekiethv. a ite, w ho is a mosi capable an.l a lirst-ratc ehemisi. is I also an old Swanley student and holder of the Beit Scholarship. The College stands in o2 acres of freehold hind, consisting; of a’nont .12 acres of kitchen and market garden, 2d acres of fruit plantation, nine acre.s of ara- | hie land, besides llower garden ami j farm For i! u 1 In o-years' course, specially designed to give women a j thorough training in liortieniture and food production, and to prepare them for . he management o! small holdings, market gardening or fruit farming students work daily in one or other ol’ these departments, and are taught methods of packing; and marke ing produce. There are also small-holders’ courses, and a diploma course in gardening, botany, chemistry, and physics, horticultural science, entomology, bee and poultry keeping, dairv work, ami fruit preservin' l . Di- n. Wells sc,id that he was ouo of those who had had a great deal to do behind the scenes in founding fhe li.Se. in I lorticnltnre, which bad i been [imposed by Sir Albert Rollit, One of the first difficulties they had was io convince certain members of the Senate- that gardening was worthy of academic distinction. A. distinguished member of fcho Senate suggested that they would want to give degrees in boot-blacking next. ‘‘Doth are mechanical arts,” ho said, “and where will yonr degrees stop!-’’ Dr Wells pointed one that the bulk of the food and clothing of mankind was derived from the vegetable kingdom. and that, whereas agriculture was the means of raising only a comparatively few plants for the food of human!beings, all the rest of the vegetable kingdom was at the disposal of horticulturists, who had the whole Hold of the botanical world to range over, not merely plants which flourished in these islands, but plains from Hie ntttermost parts of the eanh, while the plagues, and pests, and disease with which they had, to deal came from every clime under the inn, 'Pile subject of horticulture was inHnitely greater than the subject of agriculture, and if degrees in agriculture could ho justified, degrees hi hor-

ticulture could V [nr more jii’-i:Cip'?. Of course, a men ."mild :icf(uii ;■ a “rule of thumb’’ idea of gardening tnd obtain good results, up tn a ■■errant point. Directly one catnc 10 the m I>ject of disease, however. Dr MelN ci ntonded that the horticulturist HiouM be the doctor of tlie pin nr, .no! tin’s was impossible without sclentiilc knowledge. They should know the l:lchistory of every insect and )’ti n s tit,a I affected plant'., and understand r-n-nt structure and rite practical appimau >n of their knowledge. In America trey bad what he might call vegerahie s: nitary institutes, when l one i.tight get an expert opinion on a plant that, showed signs of disease, and he hoped Swanley would heroine such a t institute for Kerr, the garden of K.ighed. Here they might coneern thems'dves with the laws of heredity in t lams in the host: varieties, and in disease-in-sisting species. They l:ad inspectors whose work was jo look .■)the health conditions of the conn'.:,', and since people were so dependent on the vegetable kingdom, he thought that in the future the countv councils might have inspectors whose tint'. - ifwould he to inquire into the laallh of the vegetables, which were sit.pie foods, and for this they night nave training in plant breeding. plant pathology and entomology. Tins export knowledge existed, but at present it was lost, locked up in the blades of bot.anisgs. lie urged the students to regard themselves as debtors to their profession. a"d not (o he s;.( n'i.‘,| t:il they liceefifed ihe commit m! v a t large.