September 21. 1907 



HORTICULTURi: 



.381 



HORTICULTURAL EDUCATION AT 

 AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 



By Tlici.diire Worth, supt. of Parks of 

 llinneiipolis, Minn., at S. A. F. Con- 

 vention. Philadelpliia. 



Ml-. President, and Fellow Members 

 of the Society of American Florists 

 and Ornamental Horticulturists. 



Ladies and Gentlemen, — I have been 

 asked to prepare a paper on "Horticul- 

 tural Education at Agricultural Col- 

 leges," and I hardly know how to ap- 

 proach the subject, for, personally, I 

 have no experience whatever as a stud- 

 ent or graduate of such an institution 

 of learning. 



1 attended school until I was sixteen 

 years old, and when I arrived at that, 

 what I considered very ripe age, and 

 barely graduated with figures which I 

 don't care to remember, I was of the 

 opinion that additional wisdom, to be 

 gained from profes.sors and books, was 

 superfluous technical theory, which 

 would be of little help in practical 

 work. I thought it was a kind of pol- 

 ish that would wear oft soon and most 

 likely spoil the leather, and that it 

 would be better to grease the boots to 



begin with and go to work, and so 1 

 did. 



I served one of those good Old Coun- 

 try apprenticeships where I had to 

 work three years, not only for nothing, 

 but ray governor had to pay my board 

 besides. I don't know now, whether at 

 that time I earned my board, but I had 

 a feeling that I did that and more too. 

 However. I graduated with honors as 

 a full-fledged gardener, and I dis- 

 tinctly remember the great celebration 

 that took place at that memorable 

 time, which clearly shows that my 

 memory was good under the most 

 trying circumstances. 



Since then I have followed the noble 

 profession of gardening in many of its 

 branches and in different lands and 

 climates, and have ff und pleasure, con- 

 tentment and happiness in all I have 

 approached and worked at, and if 1 

 could return to boyhood and had a 

 chance to make my selection of trade 

 again, 1 would most certainly select 

 the "gardener's" profession. 



But, who has passed through life, 

 successsful or otherwise as it may be, 

 who would not omit some things he has 

 done and do some things he left un- 

 done, if he was to live the same 

 period of life over again? No one— 

 and it is through this, our experience, 

 that we must attempt and endeavor to 

 teach those that follow us. to become 

 wise whei e we were unwise. 



I therefore appear before you, not as 

 a student or graduate from any horti- 

 cultural college, but as one who wishes 

 he had made use of the opportunity to 

 be such, at the time he had the chance. 



I have, in my professional life, come 

 in c(mtact with voung meit of practical 

 schooling only, men of theoretical 

 schooling only, and men of both, and I 

 have often had occasion to envy the 

 latter. I have observed, however, that 

 among the foi mei- two, the first had 

 by far the advantage, but I am con- 

 vinced that a happy combination, in 

 which the practical schooling is pre- 



dominant, is the ideal course for hor- 

 ticultural education. 



From prospectuses that I have read 

 of different agricultural colleges, and 

 through conversations which I have 

 had with some of the leading teachers 

 at such institutions of learning, I feel 

 convinced that a sincere interest and 

 support given those institutions by in- 

 rtividtial and combined effort of our 

 craft, would result in a more progres- 

 sive and beneficial treatment of hortl- 

 cullural sub.iects in general, and hor- 

 ticultural interests especially, than is 

 at present the case and possible. 



I feel assured those institutions are 

 sincere and anxious to help us with all 

 their available means and opportuni- 

 ties, and if we give them the glad hand 

 of support, interest and appreciation, 

 the combined efforts of both will be 

 crowned with unbounded success to 

 the benefit of all the far-reaching in- 

 terests concerned. And who is better 

 adapted and able to give that support, 

 and who is closer to that calling than 

 oar S. A. F.? 



I believe that our Society should take 

 into earnest consideration what could 

 and should be done tr further our in- 

 terests in the horticultural education 

 of the younger members of our craft. 



Let lis exchange ideas how it miglit 

 be done. 1. for one, wonder whether it 

 might not be possible to select one of 

 the many excellent State Agricultural 

 Colleges, one as centrally located as 

 possible to make the study of horti- 

 culture, and especially floriculture, a 

 special attraction along lines which 

 would meet with our ideas of practical, 

 commercial usefulness. For instance, 

 would it not be practical to have a col- 

 le.ge equipped with an up-to-date com- 

 meirial plant, for the culture of plants 

 both tnder glass and out of doors? 

 Would it not be possible to market the 

 products of this college plant at fair 

 open prices, without creating an un- 

 fair competition to local trade in the 

 vicinity of the institution? If so, 

 would not this btanch of such a col- 

 lege became more or less self-sustain- 

 ing, and would not the very desire of 

 making it so. and the need of success- 

 fully meeting such commercial com- 

 petition, spur both teachers and pupils 

 to achieve results far beyond the aim 

 and the possibility of the ordinary col- 

 lege plant and experiment station? 



If all this is possible I think it is 

 well worth our while to secure it, 

 and I think it should be our aim. A 

 forceful, eai-nest combination of our 

 intt rests and practical experiences 

 with those of the scientific and the- 

 oretically advanced researches of the 

 teachers of our colleges. I believe 

 would result in horticiiltural education 

 along most remunerative lines. 



I should like to see some of our 

 leading professional men connected 

 with the Governing Board of such an 

 institution, and I should want some of 

 our successful practical gardeners on 

 the staff of teachers. I should like to 

 see the theoretical and scientific leach- 

 ings of our professors of botany, en- 

 tomology, chemistry, etc., brought into 

 uninterrupted and closest contact with 

 the piactical experiments and demon- 

 strations of our experienced leading 

 practical gardeners, so that the teach- 

 ings of both, supplementing each other. 

 ma>- tell the student why and how and 

 when and where. 



The merits of such an institution I 

 think would speak for Itself, and it 

 seems to me would be universally 

 recognized at any early date of its ex- 

 istence. Its beneficial and educational 

 influence would not be limited to the 

 building up of a young generation of 

 well educated, practical craftsmen, 

 but it would also become the central 

 station of horticultural and floricul- 

 tural inteiests in general, a place we 

 all would want to visit, a trial and ex- 

 perimental station open to all intro- 

 ductions and pioducts of our ever ad- 

 vancing skill and progress. 



Its seal of merit and excellence 

 should be the coveted prize of profes- 

 sional advancement, achievement and 

 ambition. 



Every year a number of our suc- 

 cessful and leading fellow craftsmen 

 go to Europe on a combined pleasure 

 and business trip, and we all knov/ 

 that travelling with open eyes means 

 to learn and profit. If a few such trav- 

 ellers would act as a committee and 

 together visit some of the horticul- 

 tural schools of Germany, France and 

 Switzei'land, I believe some of the 

 things they would see there would be 

 helpful towards the realization of my 

 dream herein outlined. True, condi- 

 tions and requirements here and there 

 differ greatly, but in a g'eneral way our 

 aims are the same. There and here 

 we must have and do have at heart the 

 advancement of our noble calling, the 

 profession of a "Gardener," of which 

 I pride myself to be a member, and 

 anything that can be done to further 

 such advancement through combined 

 and individual effort should receive our 

 hearty and active support. 



HYDROCYANIC-ACID-GAS FOR 

 WHITE FLY. 



Editor of Horticulture, 



Dear Sir: I have a greenhouse 12x 

 7.5 where tomatoes have been growing 

 this summer and the house has be- 

 come infested with white flies. Please 

 give me the name of that gas that de- 

 stroys them, also the amount and how 

 to mix and oblige, W. D. 



White flies may be eradicated by the 

 use of hydrocyanic-acid-gas used in the 

 proportion of one ounce of pure cya- 

 nide of potassium for each 1.000 cubic 

 feet of air space in house, and left over 

 night with all apertures closed. To 

 breathe the gas is fatal, hence great 

 care must be exercised and some way 

 devised for opening the ventilation 

 from the outside after fumigating to 

 clear the house before attempting to 

 enter. 



The materials required are 98 per 

 cent cyanide of potassium and com- 

 mercial sulphuric acid. Small earthen 

 Jars are placed in the paths of the 

 houses, one to about every 50 feet 

 in length of an ordinary IS-foot wide 

 house. Into each jar is put first water 

 and then sulphuric acid in the propor- 

 tion of about halt a pint of water and 

 three-quarters of a pint of acid to 

 which eight ounces of cyanide is added 

 later. The cyanide crystals should be 

 wrapped in two or three thicknesses of 

 paper and, when all is ready, dropped 

 into the jar either by a string con- 

 trolled from outside or by dropping 

 in by hand and then sprinting for the 

 door. 



