28 STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



EEPORT OF HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT. 



To the Presideni: 



Sir— I submit herewith the report of the Horticultural Department for 

 the past twelve months. 



The instruction given in this department has been along the same lines 

 as in former years. The seniors who elected the subject took up in the 

 spring term the construction of greenhouses, and the methods of growing 

 some of the more important crops that are forced under glass, such as let- 

 tuce, roses, carnations, violets, etc. They devoted some time also to the 

 study of some of the more troublesome diseases of the apple, pear, plum, 

 peach, cherry, raspberry, strawberry, tomato, bean, rose, carnation and 

 other plants of economic importance. They also prepared all of the lead- 

 ing insecticides and fungicides, and made drawings, of the various fungi 

 studied, for exhibition at the Columbian Exhibition. 



The brief time allowed for the juniors to complete their class-room 

 instruction in horticulture (ten weeks in advance work), has again been 

 altogether too short. An attempt was made, however, to consider the sub- 

 jects of pomology and vegetable growing, and some attention was paid to 

 the improvement of varieties, the propagation of plants by the various 

 methods, transplanting, pruning, training and, in a general way, the 

 preparation and application of the remedies for the various fungi and 

 insect pests. As a part of the afternoon laboratory work, they were given 

 practical instruction in the various methods of grafting, the making of 

 cuttings and sundry other lines of nursery and greenhouse work. 



During the season of growth each student was placed in charge of some 

 crop, or was given some experiment to care for, and he was expected to 

 perform all of the work of planting, tending and harvesting, besides keep- 

 ing the necessary notes of his work, and destroying the insects and fungi 

 that might attack it. In addition to this special work that each student 

 was supposed to carry on, an endeavor was made to give each of them an 

 insight into other lines of work, by assigning them to work with other 

 students when their own work did not need attention. During the 

 summer and fall terms considerable time was spent in studying the char- 

 acteriBtics of many of the leading varieties of fruits and vegetables. 



The sophomores were given instruction in landscape gardening during 

 the first half of the fall term. Here again the time was found altogether 

 too short, as it was not only lessened one week by changes iu the catalogue, 

 but it was still further shortened by the giving up of one week of the term 

 for visiting the Columbian Exposition, so that the real time for advance 

 v/ork was but little more than four weeks. 



THE EXHIBIT AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. 



The department occupied a space of about 100 sc^uare feet at the World's 

 Fair, in connection with the other departments of the college in the Lib- 

 eral Arts building. The exhibit was designed to be educational in its 

 character, and consisted largely of samples of the work of the students, 

 with a small collection of garden and greenhouse hand tools and a few 



