HORSE-RADISH 



HORTICULTURE 



755 



1076. Root cuttings of 

 Horse-radish (X %). 



are made from the roots, not less than one-fourth of an 

 inch thick and 4-5 in. long (Fig. 1070). To facilitate 

 planting the large-end up, the upper end is cut off 

 square and the lower oblique. If set small-end up 

 no growth may result. In horizon- 

 tal planting this special cutting is 

 unnecessary. Root - crowns are 

 sometimes used, but since these 

 develop a large number of roots 

 too small for profitable grating, 

 they are employed only for increas- 

 ing stock. 



The land having been prepared, 

 shallow furrows are laid off 30 in. 

 apart and 2-5 in. deep, according 

 to the method of planting. Sets are 

 planted horizontally,vertically, and 

 at all intervening angles, the large 

 ends being made to point in one 

 direction to facilitate cultivation 

 and digging. The angle is a mat- 

 ter of choice, good returns being 

 obtained in each. The usual dis- 

 tance between sets is about 12 in. 

 Cultivation is given after every 

 rain, or once in 10 days, until the 

 Ivs. shade the ground. 



Double-cropping is common in 

 Horse-radish growing, early cab- 

 bage, turnip beets and other quick- 

 maturing plants being used. The 

 sets are dibbled in 2-4 weeks after 

 the first crop, vertically, 18 in. 

 asunder, between the rows of cab- 

 bage, which are not less than 2 ft. 

 apart. One management answers 

 for both crops until the first is re- 

 moved, when, after one cultivation, 

 the Horse-radish usually takes full 

 possession. Deep burying of the sets at the time the 

 first crop is planted is also practiced, the object, as in 

 the first case, being to prevent the appearance of the 

 former until the latter is almost mature. 



Horse-radish makes its best growth in the cool au- 

 tumn, steadily improves after September, and, not be- 

 ing injured by frost if undug, is usually left until late 

 before harvesting with plow or spade. Storage in pits 

 is best, since the roots lose less of their crispness, pun- 

 gency and good appearance than if stored in cellars. In 

 trimming for storage, the lateral roots are saved and 

 buried for next season's planting. Exposure to air, sun 

 and frost robs the roots of their good qualities and in- 

 jures their vitality. % 



The insect enemies of this plant are those that attack 

 other members of the cabbage family, the harlequin 

 bug being the most dreaded. Remedies are the same as 

 for other pests of this group of plants. Only two dis- 

 eases have been reported, and these are seldom trou- 

 blesome. 



In the neighborhood of cities, especially where oysters 

 are cheap, this crop is generally profitable, the usual 

 retail price being 10 cents per pint, freshly grated, but 

 without vinegar. This quantity weighs a scant half- 

 pound. The cost of growing per acre is about as fol- 

 lows : Cuttings ( 10,000 Co) $2 ) , $20 ; fertilizer ( 1,000 Ibs. ) , 

 $17.50; cultivation (6 times), $6; rent of land, $5; plow- 

 ing, wear of tools, etc., $3.50; setting roots, at 30 cents 

 per 1,000, $3 ; total, $55. A marketable crop varies 

 from 3,000 to 6,000 pounds, which may sometimes be 

 sold as high as 5 cents per Ib. for first-class root, and 

 2/4 cents for second grade. Usually, however, prices 

 seldom rise above 4 cents and 2 cents for the two grades. 

 Under good cultivation, the proportion of No. 1 to No. 2 

 root is about 1 to 1 by weight. Lower prices may rule 

 in well supplied markets, and higher in poorly furnished, 

 and when sold in small lots to retail graters, even 7 cents 

 may be obtained. ^ M< Q. KAINS. 



HORSE-RADISH TREE. Moringa pterygosperma. 

 HORSE SUGAR. Symplocos tinctoria. 

 HORSETAIL. Equisetum. 



HORSEWEED. Collinsonia. 



HORTICULTURE (hortus a garden, originally an in- 

 closure; cultura, to care for or to cultivate). Horticulture 

 is the growing of flowers, fruits and vegetables, and of 

 plants for ornament and faiu'.y. Incident to the growing 

 of the plants are all the questions of plant- breeding, 

 variation of plants under domestication, and the bear- 

 ings and applications of many biological and physical 

 sciences. Primarily it is an art, but it is intimately con- 

 nected with science at every point. From agriculture it 

 has no definite boundary. It is, in fact, a department of 

 agriculture, as forestry is; for agriculture, in its largest 

 meaning, is the business of raising products from the 

 land. It is customary, however, to limit the word agri- 

 culture to the growing of grains, forage, bread-stuffs, 

 textiles, and the like, and to the raising of animals. In 

 this restricted application it is practically coordinate, in a 

 classificatory sense, with forestry and Horticulture. 

 Etymologically, agriculture is the tending of the fields 

 (agri, field) or those parts which, in earlier times, lay 

 beyond the fortified or protected inclosure, or at least 

 more or less remote from the residence; Horticulture 

 was concerned with the area within the inclosure. Equiv- 

 alent to Horticulture in etymology is gardening 

 (Anglo-Saxon gyrdan, to enclose, to which the verb to 

 gird is allied). By custom, however, garden and gar- 

 dening denote more restricted areas and operations than 

 are implied in the term Horticulture. The word para- 

 dise is connected with the idea of an inclosure and a 

 garden. Early gardening books of the Cyclopedia type 

 are sometimes known as paradisce. Parkinson's famous 

 Paradisus, or account of "a garden of all sorts of pleas- 

 ant flowers," was published in England in 1629. 



The only demarcation between Horticulture and agri- 

 culture is the line of custom. Sweet potatoes are usu- 

 ally considered to be a horticultural crop in North 

 America, particularly in the northern states, but round 

 or Irish potatoes are usually classed as an agricultural 

 crop. Nor is there a definite division between Horticul- 

 ture and botany. The science of plants is botany ; yet some 

 of the most significant problems relating to plants their 

 response to the needs of man are ordinarily resigned 

 by the botanist to the horticulturist. Horticulture is a 

 composite of botanical and agricultural subjects. 



But Horticulture is more than all this. It is a means 

 of expressing the art-sense. Plant-forms and plant- 

 colors are as expressive as the canvas work of the 

 painter. In some respects they are more expressive, 

 since they are things themselves, with individuality 

 and life, not the suggestions of things. The painter's 

 work excels in its power to suggest, and in its con- 

 densed portrayal of expression. But the essentials of a 

 good landscape painting often can be presented in an 

 artificially-made landscape. This effort to plant what 

 the artist paints is modern. It is strictly not Horticul- 

 ture, although Horticulture is contributory to the re- 

 sults, as paint-making is contributory to painting. 

 Landscape making is fundamentally a fine art. In this 

 work it is treated under Landscape Gardening. 



Horticulture divides itself into four somewhat coordi- 

 nate branches (Annals Hort. 1891, 125-130) : 



Pomology, or the growing of fruits; 



Olericulture, or vegetable-gardening; 



Floriculture, or the raising of ornamental plants for 

 their individual uses or for their products ; 



Landscape Horticulture, or the growing of plants for 

 their use in the landscape (or in landscape garden- 

 ing)- 



In the world at large, floriculture is the most impor- 

 tant as measured by the number of people who are in- 

 terested, and by the number of species of plants which 

 are grown ( see Floriculture). In North America, pomol- 

 ogy is the most important in respect to commercial 

 supremacy. North America is the great fruit-growing 

 country of the world ( see Pomology ) . Relatively speak- 

 ing, vegetable-gardening is undeveloped in the New 

 World. Landscape Horticulture and landscape garden- 

 ing will appeal to a constantly enlarging constituency 

 with the growth of culture and of leisure and the deep- 

 ening of the home life. 



Strictly speaking, there are few horticulturists. The 

 details are too many to allow any one person to cover 



