THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 



2. DEPARTMENT OF HORTICULTURE IN 

 GENERAL. 



Classification of Horticulture. — The World's Columbian 

 Exposition was divided into twelve great and coordinate 

 branches or departments, of which horticulture was one.* It 

 was a matter of pride and congratulation that horticulture was 

 thus accorded its rightful place as a leading source of interest 

 and wealth. The Department of Horticulture was itself divided 

 into three coordinate bureaus, — Pomology, Floriculture and 

 Viticulture. This division was unjust because it separated viti- 

 culture from pomology, of which it is rightfully a part,f and it 

 included the wine and brandy interests in horticulture, while 

 they belong with manufacture. In fact, the management was 

 so liberal in the viticultural group that mineral waters were 

 admitted to the floor. The aggrandizement of the wine inter- 

 ests in the schedules was the source of much opposition to the 

 organization of the horticultural department in the time preced- 

 ing the appointment of its officers, and when public opinion 

 upon matters concerning the Fair was forming; and it is 

 doubtful if the evil effects of the first provisional classification 

 — which was improved in the final scheme — were ever out- 

 grown. The organization of the Department was also faulty 

 in not recognizing the vegetable or truck-gardening interest as 

 coordinate with the other bureaus, particularly as it is of greater 

 economic importance than floriculture. The result of this 

 oversight was an almost entire absence of good vegetable exhib- 

 its, with the tw T o exceptions of a remarkably full exhibit extend- 

 ing through the season made by the New York State Experi- 

 ment Station, and a large display of stored vegetables from 

 Canada in the early days of the Exposition.^ For purposes of 

 exposition, the nursery and general tree interests should have 

 been recognized as of coordinate importance with other bureaus, 

 particularly because of the interesting and decorative displays 

 which they are capable of making in the open ground. The 

 tree interests w r ere not only insufficiently represented, but the 

 displays were so widely scattered and so differently planted 

 that much of the comparative effect w^as lost. But the most 



* Department A, Agriculture. B, Horticulture. C, Live Stock. D, 

 Fish and Fisheries. E. Mines and Mining. F, Machinery. CI, Trans- 

 portation. H, Manufactures. J, Electricity. K, Fine Arts. L, Liberal 

 Arts. M, Ethnology. 



t For a discussion of the classification of horticultural interests, see 

 Annals for 1891, 125. 



J For an account of these Canadian exhibits, see Garden and Forest^ 

 vi. 269. 



