Course for Educated Women in Horticulture and Forcing
Marienburg lies close to the Rhine, in Leutesdorf. The larger agricultural property, with ornamental park, fruit and vegetable garden, greenhouses, hot-beds belonging to Neuwied, a neighbouring country residence, serve as the practical field of work for the school. All the labour needed is done by the students. The school is in two buildings, with single-and double-bedded rooms for the reception of twenty ladies. Hot and cold water is laid on, with bath-rooms and central heating. Comfortably furnished sitting-rooms give the opportunity for social intercourse during off-time. This school gives educated girls and women the chance to acquire the requisite practice and knowledge to work a garden correctly and independently.
Practical and theoretical instruction are both given, but the greater value is placed on thoroughly comprehensive practical knowledge.
I.—TWO YEARS’ COURSE
For those ladies who wish to fit themselves for a gardener’s calling, and later take posts as gardeners on estates, in villa gardens, sanatoria, house-keeping schools, educational institutions, etc. (2,000 have taken situations with salary, six without).
A.—PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION
Pomology: Hybridisation, care, forcing, sale. Vegetable culture: Open-air and forcing, sale. Floriculture: Hardy and hot-house flowers, balcony and room decoration, arranging, making wreaths. Commercial gardening: Sale and despatch, with practical book-keeping. Landscape gardening: Designing, laying out and care of gardens. Basket weaving, joinery, glazing.
B.—THEORETICAL INSTRUCTION
Pomology: Breeding, pruning, forcing, knowledge of species. Vegetable culture and forcing. Flower propagation and hot-houses, forcing. Forestry: Description and crossing of the most important trees for landscape gardening. Landscape gardening. Legal knowledge. Book-keeping and correspondence. Botany: Morphology, anatomy, physiology, systems, geography of plants, plant diseases. Zoology: Animals useful and hurtful to horticulture. Chemistry: Soils and manures. Geometry and surveying.
Theoretical instruction is given by a head-gardener, a highly-educated scientific master, and by the principal herself. The head-gardener instructs in the practical department with the help of a basket-maker and joiner for those branches. Admission to the course is in the beginning of April and October.