HORTICULTURi: 



679 



Horticulture 



ITS FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES. 



Horticulture or gardening is a branch of agriculture 

 •of great interest and importance. It may be called in- 

 tensive farming, because the same general principles of 

 culture apply, whether the work is carried on on one or 

 one hundred acres. 



While extensive farming is the culture of cereals for 

 the use of food for man, and grasses and legumes both 

 for him and the lower animals, horticulture means moi-e 

 particularly the cultivation of such a variety of fruits, 

 vegetables, shrubs, trees, and flowers, as are especially 

 fit for human nourishment and enjoyment at all the 

 productive seasons of the year, out of doors, and by ar- 

 tificial means at all seasons. 



Herbs, plants and flowers, which form the delight of 

 the horticulturist, are scattered over many regions of 

 the earth, and their collection and arrangement in ap- 

 propriate places are full of interest. Thus the clever 

 gardener adopts and cultivates the succulent foods des- 

 tined for his use, and finds pleasure in the necessary ex- 

 ertion of his mental and bodily faculties, while his toil 

 is amply rewarded by luxuriant crops, delicious fruits, 

 charming flowers, and stately trees. 



Horticulture has the beneficial effect of improvin.u- 

 the natural productions subjected to their infiueneo. 

 The flowers, the fruits, and the esculent vegetables all 

 acquire under their care and treatment new and valuable 

 qualities. The color of one, the perfume or symmetry 

 of another, are improved; and of fruits, the size, the 

 richness of flavor, or prolific habit are increased in value. 

 The plant, which in its wild state is nothing but a 

 worthless weed, is by the gardener's skill converted into 

 a valuable herb, or beautiful flower, and the trees and 

 shrubs of the forest are made ornaments to our lawns 

 and parks. The botanist, the herbalist, the florist, and 

 the pomologist, each finds exercise for his powers, and 

 no wonder that his profession is raised to the dignity of 

 a science, more especially since the advance that has 

 been made of late years, and is still making in all pro- 

 gressive countries. It is obvious that the art of garden- 

 ing must increase in importance with the progress of 

 commerce, the advancement in education and the in- 

 crease of population. A wider field is opened to all 

 branches of horticulture by the increasing opulence of 

 the people and the fostering of aesthetic tastes in all 

 classes of the community. 



If there is an occupation that requires enthusiasm, it 

 is horticulture; no one can be accomplished in any art 

 or profession unless he loves it, but the practice soon 

 inspires the love necessary for proficiency. 



The underlying bases of successful horticulture are 

 first enthusiasm, second application, third punctuality 

 in actions, fourth study and observation, fifth experi- 

 mentation, sixth securing all means to increase a knowl- 

 edge of the subject. Competition has its advantages, if 

 carried on in a friendly spirit ; the desire to excel is in- 

 herent in liimian nature, and there is a pardonnlde pride 



in having produced a superior article. The gardener, 

 who by his skill and industry has raised a new and. much 

 impi'oved variety of fruit or flower, is as much entitled 

 to honor and commendation as the inventor of some new 

 and useful machine. There arc a few fundamental rules 

 of practice that the clever horticulturist will ever keep 

 in view, viz. : that the soil is chiefly an anchorage for 

 the jilant, containing the chemical ingredients of which 

 the ])lant food is composed, but that these are capable 

 of exhaustion and must be replenished by manure, 

 either natural or artificial, or by an interchange of 

 crops; otherwise, fertility will be impaired and will ul- 

 timately cease. 



That a certain amount of moisture is necessary to 

 bring the fertilizing material into action; that plants 

 derive part of their nourishment also from the atmos- 

 phere, by means of the leaves and roots, therefore, the 

 former should be exposed to the light, air, and vapor, 

 and not be allowed to overcrowd eath other, but the 

 branches be thinned by pruning, and the latter be 

 aerated by frequent stirring of the soil. That weeds 

 are robbers that must be promptly destroyed in their 

 infancy, that rnii-ii- 'jiMuths are the chief cause of dis- 

 ease, and nni.-l \>r :inv-i,.,l by the prompt use of fungi- 

 cides; that iiiMiis iii'c lid less dangerous, and must be 

 guarded against Ijy the use of poisons suitable to their 

 peculiarities in feeding; that early cropping is neces- 

 sary in our short seasons ; that change of seed is advisa- 

 lilc; that iiiiuc hut tin- innr^t reliable seedsmen should be 



(Iriih \viili. and the ,v I ]>lanted only when the soil is in 



-nod (iinilition til ivccive it. Then, the growing croji 

 duly and very carefully cultivated, and after all has 

 hcen faithfully done, the result be patiently left in the 

 hands of an over-nil in>i- Prnvidencp. 



Death of Henry Eckford 



Mr. Henry Eckfonl. of Wem. Shropshire, who had 

 gained the title of the ''Grand Old Man of the Sweet 

 Pea World." did not survive many weeks to enjoy the 

 distinctiiin ennfcired upon him by his ardent admirers 

 in Eniiland ;iiiil America. His long life of useful service 

 to horiieiiitui-e il(i<ed on Dec. 5th. The enthusiasm 

 which he possessed for sweet peas has been inherited by 

 his son, who is continuing the business on the lines 

 which the founder of the firm inaugurated. In the re- 

 markable advance made in the culture of sweet peas in 

 this country, Mr. Eckford took no small part. The 

 many riovelties he introduced year by year added to the 

 interest gardeners felt in this particular subject, and at 

 the shows of the National Pea society his newest intro- 

 ductions were to be seen on most of the stands. Mr. 

 Eckford's name will be perpetuated I)y a popular variety 

 which is likely to be seen on the show tables. In the 

 work of the National society Mr. Eckford took a very 

 practical interest. Tliis organization had its origin in 

 the splendid exhibition held at the Crystal PaLace to 

 celebrate the bi-centenary of the introduction of the 

 sweet pea into Europe. In the raising of culinary peas 

 Mr. Eckford was equally successful, several sterling va- 

 rieties having been sent out from Wem. British horti- 

 culture is the poorer for the loss of this venerable and 

 distiniiuisliod memher. W. K. A.. Loudon. 



