832 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 51. 



which the subject of plant cultivation offers 

 as a means of education. Horticulture is 

 ordinarily taught in a technical or profes- 

 sional waj^, as a direct training for the in- 

 tending farmer or gardener; but the pur- 

 pose at Cornell has been much different, 

 and it may be said broader than this. The 

 subject seems to be capable of adding much 

 to the value of a course of liberal academic 

 training. In the older fields of education 

 such an outline as is here proposed might 

 seem to be presumptuous, but in view of 

 the novelty of tlie present subject and the 

 awakening interest in it the sketch may 

 perhaps be pardoned. 



MATERIAL EQUIPMENT. 



Before proceding to the more important 

 aspects of the subject the reader may de- 

 sire to know something of the facilities for 

 the teaching of horticulture at Cornell. 

 The material equipment is not large. It is 

 exceeded in several other institutions in 

 the country. If landscape gardening be 

 added to the subject it must be said that 

 the equipment and facilities in this theme 

 are practically nothing. The horticultural 

 department comprises two diverse yet cog- 

 nate lines of effort, the teaching and the 

 research. The latter is commonly known, 

 now that the experiment station idea is 

 widespread, as experiment work. The 

 same lands and glass houses serve the two 

 purposes. About ten acres of hilly and 

 uneven land, upon which a miscellaneous 

 but not large collection of fruits is growing, 

 are allotted to tlie department. Something 

 over an acre of this area is set aside for 

 flower growing. The glass houses com- 

 prise eight structures, all connected, with 

 an aggregate glass area of less than 9,000 

 square feet. Tliese are plain, cheap struc- 

 tures, of which the total original cost, in- 

 cluding heaters, was about $4,000. They 

 are of the forcing-house type, and are 

 adapted to the growing of the ordinary 



commercial crops, such as winter melons, 

 cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce, beans, carna- 

 tions, chrysanthemums and the like. There 

 are no museum collections, except a very 

 valuable and rapidly growing herbarium of 

 cultivated plants, in which there are now 

 about 9,000 specimens. The small equip- 

 ment is admirably supplemented in some 

 directions by the orchards and gardens of 

 the State, for it is the purpose to rely much 

 upon the actual condition of horticulture 

 in the Commonwealth as a basis of experi- 

 ment and research. There are many experi- 

 ments of importance which are now going 

 forward on the farms of New York State ; 

 and whenever the investigation is of such a 

 character that it can be conducted satisfac- 

 torily off the University premises it is in 

 some respects better for the alienation, be- 

 cause it spreads the work before a larger 

 constituency and ensures an accurate meas- 

 ure of its practical worth. But for teach- 

 ing purposes these remarks will not apply. 



THE MOTIVE OF INSTRUCTIOI-i". 



The teaching of horticulture is of very 

 recent origin. There are only two or three 

 professorships of horticulture, uncombined 

 with related subjects, in the whole country. 

 The teaching of both agriculture and horti- 

 culture is commonly conceived of as a train- 

 ing for actual participation in these occu- 

 pations. Most of the agricultural colleges 

 are essentially training schools, at least so 

 far as these subjects are concerned, and it 

 is incontrovertible that they have exer- 

 cised a powerful influence for the better- 

 ment of rural life. The Cornell teaching 

 aims not so much to make farmers as to 

 educate farmers' sons and daughters. In 

 other words, its fundamental idea is to give 

 those students who anticipate a rural life 

 such a breadth of training as will put them 

 into touch and sj'mpathy with the tradi- 

 tions of education, with all the larger move- 

 ments of the day, and which shall enable 



