Horiculture, 



340 



[April, 1910. 



Commercial Fruit Growing Course. 

 (C. S. SNith.) 

 First Year.— Preparation of and set- 

 ting out ground for planting. Best 

 time of year to plant. Method of plant- 

 ing. Proportion of acreage according 

 to capital and labour obtainable. Selec- 

 tion of suitable varieties for different 

 soils and situations. Proportion of varie- 

 ties in order to obtain a continual supply 

 of produce. Care of plantations. Wire- 

 ing to prevent damage by rabbits, hares, 

 etc. Staking and trying. Winter pruning 

 of apples, pears, plums, currants, goose- 

 berries, etc. Summer pruning. Selec- 

 tion of stocks. Grafting and budding. 

 Cultivation and manuring, Gathering, 

 grading, and packing. 



Practical Work. — Planting, pruning, 

 grafting, budding aud staking trees. 

 Gathering, grading and packing fruit. 

 Washing trees and bushes for insect and 

 fungoid pests. 



Second Year. — Selection of a farm. 

 Suitable localities for fruit growing. 

 Situations — desirable and otherwise. 

 Capital required. Agreements, rent, etc. 

 Remodelling old plantations. Manage- 

 ment of orchards. Utilization of Avail 

 space. Recognition of varieties. Pack- 

 ing and marketing. Piece-work ani 

 management of men. Cost of planting. 

 Cost of upkeep. Returns. 



Facilities are obtained to enable stu- 

 dents to visit other fruit farms where 

 fruit-growing operations on practical 

 commercial lines may be seen in progress. 



Practical Work.— Planting, pruning, 

 grafting, budding, etc. Selection and 

 valuation of trees for planting. Naming 

 varieties. Gathering, grading and pack- 

 ing fruit. 



Vegetable Culture. 

 General principles underlying the grow- 

 ing, storing, and marketing of vegetables 

 Special requirements, cultivation, man- 

 uring, and general management of dif- 

 ferent vegetable crops. Forcing— veget- 

 ables under glass French systems. 

 Market houses : their construction and 

 management. Propagation by seeds, 

 cuttings, layers, etc. Special crops : 

 watercress, mushrooms, mint, lavender. 

 Disposal and sale of vegetables ; sys- 

 tems of marketing. 



Practical Work.— Students will take 

 part in the cultivation of the market 

 garden and vegetable grounds and in 

 the work of the glasshouses, &c. 



Chemistry. 

 First Year.— Chemistry of the com- 

 moner elements and their chief com- 



pounds. Elementary physical chemistry, 

 A limited number of types of organic 

 compounds. 



Ihe Plant.— Constituents of plants and 

 their distribution. The relation of the 

 plant to air, water, light, food material 

 in the soil. Chemical chauges during 

 germination, growth and maturation. 

 Effects of soil, season and manuring. 



Second Year.— The Soil. Origin, com- 

 position, chemical and physical proper- 

 ties of soils, Relation of soil to temper- 

 ature and water. Effect of tillage. Im- 

 provement of soils. 



Manures. — Composition of dung, chan- 

 ges which it undergoes in the heap 

 and in the soil. Green manuring:. Origin, 

 composition and properties of the chief 

 artificial manures, their action and value 

 under different conditions of climate 

 and soil. Chemistry of sprays aud 

 washes. 



Practical work in the laboratory is 

 concurrent with the lectures, and special 

 attention is paid to experiments illus- 

 trating the chemical changes which take 

 place during germination and growth 

 of plants, and to the chemical and 

 physical properties of soils and manures. 

 Analysis of soils and manures is also 

 included in the course. 



Horticultural Botany. 



The Structure and Functions of a 

 Flowering Plant. The flower — seed- 

 seed testing — seedlings and germination 

 —root — stem — leaf. 



The Plant in relation to Soil and 

 Food. Chemical composition— the soil — 

 the food of plants— artificial cultures — 

 manures. 



Methods of reproduction. Vegetative 

 propagation — cuttings, layering, etc. 

 Pollination— fertilisation— hybridisation. 

 Improvements of plants by selectiou 

 and cross fertilisation. Mendel's Law 

 and its application. 



Power of Recovery from Injuries. 

 The effect on the plant of bruising, cut- 

 ting,- pruning, grafting, etc. 



The Plant in relation to its Surround- 

 ings. Damage caused by extremes of 

 temperature and moisture. Methods 

 tried for protecting fruit trees against 

 late spring frosts. 



Injury caused by Fungus Pests and 

 Lichens. Character of a fungus— differ- 

 ent types of fungi. 



Classification of plants. Characters of 

 the principal natural orders to which 

 fruit trees and vegetables belong. Re- 

 cognition of plants by vegetative 

 charasters. 



