DEVELOPMENTS IN HORTICULTURE 



J. C. BLAIR, Professor of Horticulture 



HE HORTICULTURAL developments of our state started 

 with the organization of the State Horticultural Society 

 in 1864, and the opening of the Illinois Industrial Univer- 

 sity in 1867, when instruction in horticulture and botany 

 was made a regular part of the program of state education. 

 The progress made during the first quarter-century of 

 this time was slow, both as regards the commercial development and 

 educational developments in horticulture. Of course, the commercial 

 development has been largely the outgrowth of the educational ad- 

 vancements which have taken place through the state organizations 

 and the State University. 



In 1877, ten years after the University had started, nine students 

 were registered in the horticultural courses; and eighteen students, 

 including the special students, in agriculture. The total appropria- 

 tion for the Horticultural Department was seventy dollars and re- 

 ceipts for that year netted not quite three hundred dollars. At this 

 time, be it remembered, and for many years to come the College of 

 Agriculture was divided into two schools, the School of Agriculture 

 and the School of Horticulture. The object of the School of Horti- 

 culture was to afford a scientific and practical education specially 

 adapted to the wants of those who cultivated garden and orchard 

 plants, or wished to manage nurseries, parks, and pleasure grounds. 

 The instruction was both theoretical and practical. The classroom 

 recitations and lectures were supplemented by practise in the fields and 

 plant houses. The technical studies pursued were : elements of horti- 

 culture ; pomology and forestry ; plant houses and management ; land- 

 scape gardening; floriculture; and horticultural history and rural 

 law. 



It was not until 1896, with the reorganization and reestablish- 

 ment of the College of Agriculture at the University, that horticulture 

 was truly given that impetus which would justify its place as a perma- 

 nent factor in any system of state agricultural development. It is 

 therefore simply to the last twenty-five years of our history that we 

 look for any record of real achievement. 



CONDITIONS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AGO 



Twenty-five years ago with a large acreage in the state devoted 

 to orchard fruits, small fruits, and vegetables, and with almost no 



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