Several of the reports of foreign schools which I am able to give, through the kindness of their directors, show that other nations are in advance of us in two points, at least, connected with this branch of study.
THE RUINS GARDENS, SLOUGHAM PLACE, SUSSEX.
LAID OUT BY THE HON. MRS. CHARLES SERGISSON.
Photograph by Pictorial Agency.
In Germany, Holland, and Italy, great stress is laid upon the ultimate use of horticultural courses. They are intended especially to fit young women to be useful in their own homes, either while living with their parents, or later when they marry or have homes of their own. This applies to women with means who are not obliged to earn a living. They are considered, with a knowledge of fruit culture, flower and vegetable gardening, jam making and fruit preserving, to become valuable adjuncts to the household. The word “Hausfrau” nowadays includes these garden matters, and we in England might profitably follow this example. If a young woman marries well and has servants who do all these things for her, she will still never regret having herself mastered difficulties, and probably she will be better served by being able with experience to criticise the work of others. Then, too, we notice in the foreign syllabuses that a doctor’s certificate of health is required before a young girl thinks of studying gardening.
It is certainly advisable that the family doctor should give advice before any decision is made as to the vocations of young women. This should be all the more insisted upon, when the would-be student suffers from some malady, whether it appears to be but a trifling one or not. It is a practical certainty that many minor maladies and symptoms are entirely removed when a suitable life is led. On the other hand, others apparently equally insignificant are harbingers of grave illness. It is possible that these remain dormant, or are not accentuated in the ordinary quiet routine life at home, but assume grave proportions as the result of the greater physical requirements of work in a garden. Therefore, parents should ask advice of a doctor before encouraging their daughters to take up gardening. It probably will be found by those who are able to adopt it as a profession, that there will be fewer aimless and useless existences, and that there will be many more happy, long-lived people.
CHAPTER XI
WOMEN GARDENERS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
There is small doubt that the subject of emigration to South Africa appeals to young Englishwomen, buoyant with youth and hopefulness, ambitious for adventure. A singular fascination exists about that virgin soil, clear air, brilliant sunlight. We know that nurses, teachers, mothers’ helps, servants are needed there. Unhesitatingly we recommend young women who belong to these professions to go to South Africa. They must thoroughly weigh beforehand the hardship of leaving home, and fully realise the obstacles they will have to overcome in a new country. Having faced these difficulties, they can, however, be confident of success, for the refining influence of women is fully appreciated in what are still somewhat uncivilised surroundings.
“Is this so with lady gardeners, are they likely to prove useful in South Africa?” This is a question often asked, and still somewhat difficult to answer. Experience of the subject is meagre, and the idea of sending ladies as gardeners to our colonies is a new one. We have had brilliant examples of success, and at the present moment a lady gardener at Bloemfontein is doing good work. Miss Hewetson’s report to the South African Colonisation Society, on Cape Colony Fruit-farming, tells us, perhaps, most about the subject, and we feel that her views can guide us, as her supervision of the work of Kaffirs for a year and a half gave her personal experience in the matter. We know that there are vast possibilities of fruitful cultivation if only there existed more skilled, directing heads. What a change might be made in the production of the soil, if educated guides superintended the merely mechanical work of Kaffirs!