Horticultural Education

The following is an extract i'rom a paper by J. B. Parsons, President of the Kural Club of New York : It is sute to assert that as an art gardening is higher than either ])ainting or Bculpture. The sculptor must have a quiek perception of íorin, a knowledge of anatomy, and a power to throw Lis ideal into material forme. The painter needs tliese with au added appreoiation of the fföfit of colors. The gardener needs them aïl, with the exception of anatomy, and also needs inuch more. He must h:ivc an intimate acquaintunee with all known trees and shrubs and ilowcrs ; must be familiar with their forms at full agc and ■with the shades of color in their foliage ; must know whether their roots grow on the suri'ace like the Elm, or deeply like the Hiekory; and must know, nUo, the nature of the soil whioh tliey require. He must be, also, a good surveyoi', under stand thoroughly the principies of drainage, and havo a sufíicient aequaintance with vegetable physiology. He should also kumv, like the sculptor, how to materializa Lis ideal - huw to Diake a gay, channing place, aquiet, subdued one, or a park of baroniul jn;tc]sions. He should have a quick eye for natural beauty, and an ability to harmonice his plans with the general features of the country in which tiiey are executed. He should also have a quick iiuagination, and a readiness to look forward into the ■sta of half a century and see what liten will be the developnient of his plans; what forins his groups will then have asBumed, and what taen the shape of the noble trees which be plantod when ungs. A gardener should also bo a iural architeot; for it is essential that cutiré harmony should exist between the dweil ing and the grounds, and that the plans for ach should como out of the samo brain Hu ahould know the relative strength of different woods and stone and briok and iron, and should be familiar with all the appliances of luxury vvhich scienco has unfolded for man's ploasure. He should be abla to take the cream frora all science, and, uuiüns it with the highest kind of art, inake himself an artist as much superior to the painter or the Bculptor, as the majestic tree, or buddiag leaf', or brilliant flower, are superior to the pigments or marble with which they work. ïhese materializa thoir ideal through dead matter ; our artist does the Bamü through living, growing, vital íorws. The work of ono remains the (ame through centuries, that of the other develops new baauty every year.