EXPERIMENT STATIONS 



EXTENSION TEACHING 1199 



field of agriculture in particular. All call to mind that 

 the "Origin of Species" is but a short statement of the 

 theory of evolution which is then shown to be an 

 impregnable fact by a vast amount of evidence over 

 which Darwin labored for twenty years, biding time 

 until his views reached full maturity. There is every 

 temptation to publish prematurely, but permanent 

 work is that which is completely worked out. Besides, 

 given time, investigation is easier, material coming of 

 itself which, under speed, would have required travail 

 of mind to bring forth. 



The immediate field. 



In conclusion it may be well to state, as a record of 

 the times, and for possible suggestive value, some of 

 the present problems of horticulture. 



Experimentation is needed in the oldest of horti- 

 cultural operations pruning. It must be approached 

 through physiological botany. We know next to 

 nothing about the feeding of plants and the influences 

 of the food elements on plant-products current 

 methods of fertilizing are largely arbitrary. Many 

 questions having to do with sex are before us. There 

 is need of more precise knowledge about bud-forma- 

 tion and the setting and dropping of fruits. There is 

 yet much to be done in the classification and descrip- 

 tion of horticultural plants. More than elsewhere in 

 agriculture, horticultural plants are inter-planted as 

 in catch-crops, cover-crops and in crop-rotation; the 

 inter-relationships of plants and the effects of crop 

 residues, therefore, must be studied. Greater knowledge 

 of the associations of plants would throw new light on 

 the relations of climates and soils to plant-growing 

 plant ecology. We have not yet reached the limit of 

 improvement in any cultivated species and plant- 

 breeding must be given attention. The relationships 

 of parasites and hosts involving the whole matter of 

 predisposition, resistance and immunity offer a series 

 of problems. The good and bad effects of sprays, 

 quite aside from their insecticidal or fungicidal func- 

 tions, are worthy of study. Much has been written 

 but very little is really known about the reciprocal 

 influences of stock and graft. The whole matter of 

 stocks needs experimental attention, fruit-growers in 

 particular having little to guide them in the choice of 

 stocks for the several fruits. We know that cultivated 

 plants vary greatly: are any of the variations heritable 

 or do they appear and disappear with the individual? 

 A study of the last problem would bring one to a much- 

 needed investigation of mutations. Acclimatization 

 deserves consideration. There yet remain many native 

 plants worthy of domestication. Forcing of plants 

 brings up many problems; as, the influence of heated 

 soils and atmospheres, soil sterilization, artificial lights 

 in place of sunlight, the use of electricity in forcing 

 growth and the physiological disturbances of the plant 

 brought about by the changed environment. Lastly, 

 those who ship and store horticultural products are call- 

 ing for experimental aid to solve their many problems. 



EXTENSION TEACHING IN HORTICULTURE. 



Extension work is the effort made by an institution of 

 higher learning to carry outside its own walls and 

 directly to the people, any form of helpful educational 

 influence. A state university, or institution that 

 derives financial support from the state, may legiti- 

 mately be called upon to give instruction to the people 

 who cannot attend its courses, if means are provided 

 for the performance of this office. Such an institution 

 no longer fulfils its complete function when it confines 

 itself to teaching students who come to it and to the 

 investigation of problems within its laboratories. A 

 strong college of arts and science, necessarily the center 

 of the great university of today, "may extend its educa- 

 tional ideals and its higher educational functions to 

 the people of the state as well as to the students who 



reside within it. The professional schools of law, medi- 

 cine, education, engineering, journalism, agriculture 

 and others (articulated with the college of arts and 

 science, to make up the university) are each investiga- 

 ting the problems of their respective fields and gather- 

 ing information that may be carried to the people of 

 the state, through organized extension work. More 

 and more the people are coming to depend upon this 

 information as a basis for better enactment, better 

 municipal functions, better sanitation, better regula- 

 tions as to health, better civic improvement of all 

 phases, and last, but not least, better agriculture, 

 better roads, and a higher plane of country life. 



Extension work in horticulture is that phase of 

 organized extension activity that has to do with better 

 production, better handling and better marketing of 

 horticultural products and the higher efforts of living 

 to which this work contributes. 



Horticultural extension is conducted by means of 

 private letters, lectures, publications, correspondence 

 courses, demonstration schools, demonstration experi- 

 ments, and the like. 



Private correspondence. Every fruit-grower, gar- 

 dener, florist or other horticultural worker may 

 encounter special problems upon which he needs 

 individual advice. The horticultural department in 

 any of our leading colleges of agriculture is called 

 upon to answer thousands of letters of inquiry every 

 year. Each of these inquiries is referred to the mem- 

 ber of the horticultural staff best qualified to handle it. 

 Many of these inquiries entail special letters. Some of 

 them may be more fully answered by sending circulars 

 or bulletins. 



Publications. Departments of horticulture dissemi- 

 nate much information through bulletins, circulars 

 of information and press notices. These bulletins are 

 the published results of the investigation of special 

 problems by the members of the horticultural staff. 

 Circulars of information are more popular treatises 

 of horticultural subjects of interest in the state, and 

 pertaining to which the department has gathered 

 information of interest. Press notices are usually timely 

 topics or seasonal advice furnished the press of the 

 state to publish at the opportune time for their readers. 

 If an insect or disease appears suddenly and promises to 

 become widespread, due to unusual conditions, it often 

 may be checked by prompt action. Unusual weather 

 conditions may sometimes call for unusual methods of 

 management of plants or of crops. 



The publication may take the form of an organized 

 reading-course effort without assuming to construct 

 and conduct correspondence courses. 



Extension lectures. Hundreds of lectures on horti- 

 cultural topics are given by members of the horti- 

 cultural staffj at schools, teachers' meetings, civic 

 improvement societies, commercial club meetings, 

 nurserymen's conventions, canners' associations, fruit- 

 growers' organizations, florists' clubs, and other gather- 

 ings. In this way something of the work of the Depart- 

 ment may be carried to every organized body in the 

 state which is interested in a phase of horticulture. 



Surveys. That the department of horticulture may 

 be of special service to a horticultural center, or special 

 horticultural industry, a careful survey of the horti- 

 cultural conditions as they exist may be desirable. 

 Such a survey may determine what varieties are prov- 

 ing most profitable, which of the prevailing methods of 

 management are yielding the most satisfactory results, 

 what are the difficult problems that need investiga- 

 tion and what are the reasons for successes or failures. 

 The average result may throw much light upon what 

 is already proving best in the neighborhood. A 

 question that is vexing the average grower may have 

 been answered by the work of the best growers, whose 

 results show the answer to the question. As an exam- 

 ple of the plan and possibilities of such surveys may 



