PART ELEVEN 



HORTICULTURE 



Travelers are immediately struck by the great green carpet 

 that covers the earth. Deserts have a surprising number of 

 plants and even the apparently barren oceans have their 

 quota of large and small algae. 



Horticulture deals with cultivated annuals, herbaceous 

 perennials, ornamental shrubs, and fruit trees. The modern 

 horticulturists are quite different from those practising this 

 art in the 1930s. Today frequent use is made of radioactive 

 tracers, of the auxins indole acetic and indole butyric acid, 

 of 2-4-D and many other modern chemicals. Plastic green- 

 houses are being experimented with. Potted plants on green- 

 house benches are being watered automatically. The impor- 

 tance of day length in flowering has been discovered and 

 chrysanthemums and some other plants are covered and 

 uncovered for pre-determined lengths of time to bring the 

 plants into flower at the proper time. 



Not only does the horticulturist bring joy to the hearts 

 of the flower gardener but he helps the nurseryman, the 

 greenhouse grower, and the orchardist. He is going more and 

 more into pure research and the fundamental information 

 gathered is being used in solving practical problems in this 

 area. 



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