3. In regard to the status and prospects of professional women gardeners in Canada, I have been unable to get much information. Few, if any women here, have deliberately chosen this calling as their life’s work. It must be remembered that almost every woman living in the country in Canada, whether married or not, has to do a large part, often all, of her own housework, servants of any kind being, except in the towns, almost unobtainable—in the North-West Provinces absolutely so; this renders it difficult for her to undertake outdoor work that would occupy a great part of her time. I think all gentlewomen thinking of settling in the rural parts of Canada should fully realise the bearings of that most troublesome enigma, “the servant problem,” which we have in its extremest form in this country. Apart from this I should imagine that gardening, in the neighbourhood of a good market, might be carried on by women with very satisfactory results—some capital and good business ability being supposed.
I do not think there would be at present many openings in Canada for lady teachers of gardening, as such subjects as “nature-study,” etc., are taught in the public schools by teachers of other subjects, and in the private schools (which, though the wealthier parents send their children to them, are generally inferior from a pedagogical point of view to the public or free schools) nature-study is very little attended to.
A career for women that might offer inducements to some is that of “orchardist,” which in Nova Scotia especially pays well, and is in many ways agreeable. I know of many married women who assist their husbands in the apple orchards, and at least one, a widow, I think, who owns and manages a large orchard with great success; and there are probably many others. Of course, capital is required, and some knowledge of local conditions.
4. In regard to opportunities for the education of lady gardeners, I may say that in all agricultural and other colleges supported by public money women are received and taught on precisely the same terms as men. This includes the Agricultural College at Truro, Nova Scotia, Prince of Wales College, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (which has agricultural courses), the Agricultural College at Guelph, Ontario, and the Macdonald College at St. Anne, Bellevue, Quebec. The latter is said to be the most advanced and well-equipped institution of its kind in America.
THE MACDONALD SCHOOL GARDENS
The following information relative to the School Garden movement is taken from a paper written by Mr. R. H. Cowley, and originally published in the Queen’s Quarterly.
In the spring of 1904 a group of school gardens went into operation in each of the provinces of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. These school gardens are associated with Sir William C. Macdonald’s plans for the improvement of Canadian schools, and they constitute a notable feature of the general scheme devised by Professor James W. Robertson, director of the Macdonald educational movement.
At a meeting of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in 1890, a paper on horticultural education for children was read by Mr. Henry Lincoln Clapp, master of George Putnam School, Roxbury, Mass. At this school a garden was established the following year as a result of the interest awakened. This garden, which appears to have been the first of its kind in the United States, was devoted exclusively to native wild plants until 1901, when a vegetable plot was added. Here and there within the past decade, and with various objects in view, the idea has been employed by private citizens, charitable associations, commercial firms, horticultural societies, and a few educational institutions, but as yet the school garden has not become an organic feature of any state system of education.
In Canada the school garden idea has also received some recognition prior to the Macdonald movement. For several years a very successful and quite extensive garden for boys has been conducted at Broadview, Toronto, by Captain Atkinson, of the Boys’ Brigade Institute. Here and there throughout the Dominion, floriculture has been encouraged to some extent in the elementary schools. Under the aggressive advocacy of Dr. A. H. MacKay, Superintendent of Education, whose faith in all branches of nature-study has been fully justified by his works, Nova Scotia has taken a leading place in establishing school gardens. In 1903 there were 52 school gardens in the province. Last July 79 in all were reported. The special courses in agriculture and nature-study, recently provided for teachers, has had a considerable influence in promoting the school garden movement, though outside the Macdonald gardens few are yet more than temporary efforts of the teacher for the time being.
It is apparent that three leading motives underlie the origin and growth of school gardens in Europe:—(1) to provide a convenient means of supplementing the teachers’ income, thereby simplifying the problem of maintaining the public school; (2) to promote a practical knowledge of horticulture and agriculture, thereby increasing the national prosperity; (3) to furnish means and material for the practical study of botany as a desirable department of scientific knowledge.