Gardening for women

by Viscountess Frances Garnet Wolseley

STUDLEY HORTICULTURAL COLLEGE, STUDLEY, WARWICKSHIRE

Founder: The Countess of Warwick

Warden: Miss Mabel C. Faithful

STAFF OF INSTRUCTORS

Horticulture, Mr. W. Iggulden, F.R.H.S., and Mr. W. Sarsons; Botany, Mr. W. B. Groves, M.A. (Cantab); Poultry, Mr. George A. Palmer; Dairy Farming and Agriculture, Dairy Instructress, Miss K. A. Baynes, N.D.D., B.D.F.A., Diploma; Book-keeping and Business Training, Mr. A. E. M. Long (Chartered Accountant); Apiculture, Mr. W. Herrod, F.E.S.; Fruit Bottling and Jam Making, Miss Cran; Cooking Lessons, Miss Faithfull.

Studley Castle is situated about two and a half miles from Studley Station (Midland Railway) on a branch line between Birmingham and Evesham.

AT WORK IN THE VINERY, STUDLEY COLLEGE FOR LADY GARDENERS.

Students may enter for a course of instruction in any of the following groups:—

(a) Horticulture and Bee-keeping.—Certificate course two years; diploma course three years.

(b) Dairy Work, Poultry and Bee-keeping.—Certificate course one year; diploma course two years.

The Session (year) is of 40 weeks’ duration, and consists of three terms of about thirteen weeks each, beginning respectively in September, January, and May. Students are advised to enter at the commencement of the session, in September, although they can be admitted at any time.

An examination in each group is held at the end of every term. A final examination is held at the end of the session (July), and Studley College certificates and diplomas are awarded to successful candidates who have completed their full course.

Short courses of instruction lasting either six or ten weeks are held at the college, the subjects taught being in accordance with the work done in each department at the particular time of year.

Studley College grants diplomas and certificates to those students who have completed their training, and who have passed the necessary examinations. It is believed that these diplomas and certificates will have a distinct value in the educational and business world, as being the distinctions awarded to skilled and practical workers.

The arrangements for the horticultural sections are as follow:—

Certificate in horticulture, both practical and theoretical, will be granted after two years’ training; it will include horticulture, botany, soils and manures, entomology, and book-keeping. The diploma in horticulture will only be granted after three years’ training.

SCHEME OF WORK

1.—Students may prepare for either or both the examinations of the Royal Horticultural Society and Studley College certificate and diploma.

(a) The Royal Horticultural Society.—This examination is held in April or May, and includes:—

The Elementary Principles on which Horticultural practice is based: (1) Soils; (2) Requirements of growth—water, heat, air; (3) Seeds; (4) Roots; (5) Stems and Branches; (6) Leaves; (7) Tubers and Bulbs; (8) Growth and Development; (9)Flowers; (10)Fruit; (11)Seed; (12) Variation and Selection; (13) Names and Orders of Common Garden Plants, Trees, etc.

Horticultural Operations and Practice.—(1) Elements of Surveying and Landscape Gardening; (2) Choice of Site for Garden; (3) Description and use of Implements; (4) Operations connected with the Cultivation of the Land; (5) Propagation; (6) Fruit Culture; (7) Vegetable Culture; (8) Flower Culture; (9) Manures; (10) Hybridisation and Selection; (11) Arboriculture; (12) Insect and Fungus Pests.

Practical Work.—This includes the care of lawns (mowing and rolling), paths and beds; weeding, potting; planting and propagating flowers and vegetables; mixing soils; seed sowing. Work in kitchen and flower gardens, shrubberies, greenhouses, frames, and hot beds. Budding, grafting, pruning, and planting. Rotation of crops. Orchard work. Cultivation of tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons. Planting of herbaceous borders. Classification of plants, fertilisation. Diseases of plants. Labelling plants and seeds. Table decorations, wreath and bouquet making.

Bee-keeping.—Students are prepared for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Class Experts’ Examination of the British Bee-keepers’ Association and are fully instructed in apiculture, both in theory and practice.

Fruit bottling and preserving.—Course of instruction in fruit bottling and preserving, jam making, etc., will be held during the fruit season (June to October). Students can join for two weeks at a time or longer. Fee, including board and residence, £5 5s. for two weeks.

Marketing department and business training.—Students, on the completion of their full course, may take a course for three months in the marketing department, at the usual fees. This will enable them to obtain a knowledge of this important branch, which it is impossible for them to get during their regular period of training. Students may enter for this branch alone if desired.

The course includes:—Business methods; the markets, and methods of buying and selling goods; packing; railway rates, etc.

Manual training.—Instruction in manual training and woodwork is given by the college carpenter, and includes:—Tools, their names and uses, proper methods of using and sharpening; simple joints, etc. Construction of portable poultry-house and appliances; beehives and appliances, garden appliances, and various articles of general utility.

FEES

All fees are required to be paid terminally in advance, i.e., on or before the first day of each term. A full term’s notice in writing must be given to the Warden before the removal of any student from the college in default of which notice payment of the term’s fees will be required. Notice of removal received after a term has begun will take effect at the end of the term next ensuing.

Short courses:—Students may enter for these at any time when they are arranged.

All fees must be paid in advance. In no cases can fees be returned.

RESIDENT STUDENTS

Full training, with board and residence at the college, in horticulture, or dairy and poultry work: cubicle, £80 a year; study-bedroom, £100 and £120 a year. Short courses for ten weeks: cubicle, £25; study-bedroom, £30. Short courses for six weeks: cubicle, £15; study-bedroom, £18. Bee-keeping is optional, and may be combined with either of the above courses, an additional fee of £5 5s. a year, or £2 2s. a term, being charged. Fruit bottling and preserving:—Two weeks’ course, including board and residence, £5 5s. Manual training and carpentering, £3 3s. a year, or £1 10s. a term. Cooking lessons, £1 5s. a term. Extra charges: Use of microscopes, 5s. a year; use of gardening tools, 5s. a year; use of carpentering tools, 5s. a year.

PREPARING THE FRAMES AT STUDLEY COLLEGE FOR LADY GARDENERS.

NON-RESIDENT STUDENTS

Non-resident students can be received at the college under certain conditions. Fees for instruction in each department, 25s. a week, or £13 6s. 8d. per term.

Candidates for admission to the college are requested to write to the Warden for full particulars and admission form, which must be filled in with the name, age, and experience of the intending student, the particular course of study which she wishes to follow, and her ultimate object in seeking instruction. (These admission forms will be regarded as strictly confidential. After receiving notification that her application has been accepted, the intending student will be liable for a term’s fees.)

The Warden of the college prefers to interview intending students previous to admission whenever possible.

The college is open to visitors, but they are asked to make an appointment beforehand. The best route is from Euston, 9.20, reaching Birmingham 11.30; train for Studley, 12 o’clock, from same station; returning from Studley, 4.38, and Birmingham, 7 o’clock. Studley can also be reached from Paddington, G.W.R., viâ Evesham. Students must be in residence at the college on the day previous to the commencement of a term.