JXJNE 8, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



435 



of the 



HORTICULTURAL 

 EDUCATION IN AMERICA. 



The following is the text of the paper by 

 Professor L. H. Bailey, of Cornell University, 

 Ithaca, U.S. America, read at the Confer- 

 ence on Horticultural Education held m con- 

 iunction with the Eoyal International Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition at Chelsea. 



General horticultural education m the 

 United States is mostly a part of a national 

 system of industrial education of collegiate 

 grade or name. There is little development, 

 as yet, of the training-school idea on either 

 k private or a public basis, and relatively 

 few institutions or establishments m which 

 persons are trained for " gardening " as they 

 are trained in the Old World. There is no 

 recognised apprentice system for gardeners. 



The whole subject, therefore, needs to be 

 considered quite by itself, and not in com- 

 parison with systems or methods of educa- 

 tion in horticulture in other countries; and 

 it is necessary to understand something of 

 the system of publicly endowed industrial 

 education, of which, this is but an incident or 



a part. 



The public industrial education 

 United States, of college grade, is founded 

 on the Land Grant Act of 1862. By the 

 terms of this great instrument, every State 

 received from the Federal Government 

 30,000 acres of land for every representative 

 that it had in Congress, the proceeds of 

 which are to be used for "the endowment, 

 support, and maintenance of at least one 

 college where the leading object should be, 

 without excluding other scientific and clas- 

 sical studies, and including military tactics, 

 to teach such branches of learning as are 

 related to agriculture and the mechanic 

 arts, in such manner as the legislatures of 

 the States may respectively prescribe, in 

 order to promote the liberal and practical 

 education of the industrial classes in the 

 several pursuits and professions in life.'' 

 Tliis endowment has been supplemented by 

 subsequent direct federal appropriations, to 

 further the objects for which the original 

 grant was made. On this liberal foundation 

 all the forty-eight States comprising the 

 Union have ^^established colleges of agricul- 

 ture and the mechanic arts, about half of 

 them separate institutions and about half 

 of them connected with, or part of. State 

 universities or other general institutions. 

 The States themselves have supplemented 

 the proceeds of the land grant, often many 

 times multiplying their incomes. These col- 

 leges represent many types of organisation 

 and method. Many of them cannot be called 

 technical colleges. Their purpose is increas- 

 ingly to train young men and women broadly 

 by means of agricultural and country-life 

 subjects. They are now exerting great in- 

 fluence in re-directing ruf al civilisation in 

 the United States. They are rapidly put- 

 ting agricultural and rural subjects into 

 educational form, and are demonstrating 

 that such subjects may have training and 

 even cultural value equal to that of his- 

 torical subjects. 



The land-grant colleges contain many de- 

 partments, and horticulture is usually one 

 of these departments, co-ordinate with the 

 others. In one college of agriculture, for 

 example, which is part of a university, there 

 are twenty-two teaching departments, aside 

 from the work in the fundamental arts and 

 sciences, as follows: Chemistry in its rela- 

 tion with agriculture; entomology, biology, 

 and nature-study; plant physiology; plant 



f pathology; plant-breeding; soil technology; 

 arm crops ; farm management (the prin- 

 ciples of business as applied to farming); 

 . horticulture ; pomology; forestry ; animal 

 husbandry ; poultry husbandry ; dairy in- 

 dustry; home economics ; farm mechanics; 

 rural economy ; landscape art ; drawing ; 

 rural education ; meteorology ; extension 

 teaching. It will be seen, therefore, that 

 horticulture is only one contributing part in 

 an educational establishment for the teach- 

 ing of agriculture in a broad way ; and the 

 same may be said of all the other land- 



grant colleges. There are a few other regu- 

 lar colleges that teach horticulture with 

 other work, but they have not made great 

 headway, although the subject will asserf 

 itself strongly in many of these institutions 

 in the future"! There are two or three train- 

 ing schools, one for women. 



The students in agriculture in the land- 

 grant colleges number many thousands, in 

 some cases a thousand and more in one in- 

 stitution. They come from all walks and 

 conditions of life, and irom city and country 

 alike. Some of them, of course, hare strong 

 inclinations for horticulture, and soon spe- 

 cialise in that subject. The full course of 

 instruction is uniformly four years, follow- 

 ing college-entrance requirements, and the 

 student at graduation receives a diploma car- 

 rying Bachelor of Science or a similar degree. 

 In many of these institutions, pdst-graduate 

 work in a variety of subjects is provided, 

 leading to a master's degree, or even to a 

 doctors degree. 



The Horticultural Work. 



We may now consider the horticultural 

 work of these colleges in more detail. 



In the early days of such instruction, the 

 horticulture was set over against the agri- 

 culture, and these two comprised the main 

 applied groups. The breaking-out of the 

 group of horticulture was really the begin- 

 ning of the broadening of these institutions 

 and of their more perfect articulation with 

 the conditions before them. 



Horticulture, as understood in these col- 

 legos, comprises fruit-growing, flower-grow- 

 ing, vegetable-gardening, together with the 

 nurserv and glasshouse subjects naturally 

 asso€ia"^ted with them. With the further dif- 

 ferentiation of the curriculum, horticulture 

 tends to be split or separated into its three 

 main parts, with separate units or teacher- 

 ships for each, but this division has not yet 

 proceeded far. If this division is ever car- 

 ried to its conclusion, the name "horticul- 

 ture" as an administrative unit will pass 

 out. 



In the colleges horticulture is regarded as 

 a phase of agriculture. For the most part, 

 the student approaches the subject from the 

 point of view of farming by means of fruits 

 or vegetables, or even of flowers. The strictly 

 amateur or plant^love phase is incidentally 

 emphasised, as a rule, and this undaiibtedly 

 is one of the weaknesses of American 

 horticultural instruction. The amateur atti- 

 tude, however, will appear more markedly 

 as time goes on. The present attitude very 

 well represents the development that America 

 is now making, as expressed particularly in 

 the great orchard interests. The gardeners, 

 as a group, have had relatively little touch 

 with these institutions in the way of dicta- 

 ting or even influencing their development. 

 So far as institutions are concerned, the gar- 

 dening pha^e of horticulture is best ex- 

 pressed where the great collections are, as 

 at the Shaw or Missouri Botanical Gardens, 

 Arnold Arboretum, Bussey Institution, New 

 York Botanic Gardens, and the like; and 

 these institutions will also pj-oduce highly 

 trained specialists in related scientific lines. 

 This excellent class of institutions I am not 

 discussing in this paper. 



Courses of Instruction. 



The content of the work in the land-grant 

 colleges varies greatly, depending, of course, 

 on the constituency of the particular col- 

 lege, as well as on the stafP. Naturally, in 

 the States in which horticultnral interests 

 are large, the work will express itself strongly 

 in the college. At one of the colleges, in 

 which there are four professorships and a 

 number of minor posts in horticulture, about 

 two dozen separate courses are given. These 

 are transcribed here, not at all as patt 

 but merely as an indication of the kind and 

 scope of work that such institutions may 

 offer : — 



Elementarv Pomology.— First term. Three 

 hours. A study of the methods of propaga- 

 tion and early care of commercial fruits, in- 

 cluding the growing of seedlings, cuttings, 

 and layers; the principles of budding, graft- 



ing, pruning, and planting; the soils, varie- 

 ties, and planting plans for the orchard. (See 



following course.) 



Elementary Pomology.— First term. One 

 hour. Required of stijdent^ t^aking tlie ad- 

 vanced courses in Pomology. Liaborafcory 

 course to accompany preceding course. A 

 studv of the methods of budding, grafting, 

 pruning, and planting; varieties, nursery 

 trees and fruit buds. 



Pi-actiicai Pomology. — Second term. 

 Three hours. Pre-requisite first course above. 

 A study of the soils and varieties for the 

 orchard; cultivation, cover crops, fertilsa- 

 tion, spraying, pruning, and thinning as 

 practised in orchard maniagement ; the pick- 

 ing, grading, packing, storing, and market- 

 ing of fruit. This course consider^ the apple, 

 pear, quince, cherry, plum, apricot, 



peach, and the .nuts. 



Bush Fruits.— Second term. One hour. 



A lecture 



Pre-requisite first course above, 

 course which considers the grape, raspberry, 

 blackberry, dewberry, .nirrant, goot>eberry, 

 and strawberry. The topics discussed ai-e: 

 Varieties, planting, culture, picking, grad- 

 ing, J) 11 c king, and mar ke t i n g . 



Spraving of Fruit Threes.— 'Second term. 

 Two hours. Prenrequisi'te first course above, 

 a course in Plant Pathology, and a cour.se 

 in Entomology. A study of the preparation 

 and ai>plication of the ispray mixtures used 

 in orchard practice. 



Advanced Practical Pomology. — First 

 term. Two hours. Pre-requisite first two 

 courses above, and a course in Botany or one 

 in Biology. The course considers the pack- 

 ing of apples in !l>oxes and l>arrels ; a com- 

 prehensive study of the varieties of peaches, 

 plums, grapes, pears, and apples; the judg- 

 ing of fruits; the preparation of plantang 

 and working plans; tlie disposition of in- 

 ferior grades and culls. From the students 

 in this course, teams will be chosen to do 

 practical judging at the .annual meetings of 

 the State -societies at Rochester. The pre- 

 paration of the fruit exhibit at the college is 

 required of the student^ in tliiis course. 



Systematic Pomology.— Second term. Two 

 hours. Pre-requisite, first three and last 

 courses albove. and a course in Botany or one 

 in Biology. A course designed primarily for 

 graduates and students who are preparing 

 to do experimental work. A study of the 

 characters and botanical relationsliips of the 

 fruits of the United States. EacQi student 

 is required to collect and mount a number 

 of varieties and species, 



Research in Pomology. Throughout the 

 year. One or more hours a term. Pre- 

 requisite first thiree courses a-bove, and last 

 course but one above; students taking this 

 course are required to take Seminary in 

 Pomology, mentioned below. Original in- 

 vestigation of problems in Pomology. A 

 type\vritten thesis is required. 



Seminar v. —Second term. One hour. 

 Oi>en only^to graduates and students taking 

 lariit two courses mentioned above. 



Commercial Floriculture. — Second term. 

 Three Jiours. Pre-requisite first term of 

 Greenhouse and Garden Practice (<see below), 

 or commercial experience. Students are ad- 

 vised to take Greenhouse Construction before 

 entering this course. Studies in the propa- 

 gation and culture of the leading florist 

 crops. A^ faoilities permit, students will be 

 ass-igned space in the greenh-o^ses for prac- 

 tical experience in tlie groAVing of roses, oar- 

 nations, chrysanthemums, violets, sweet 



peas, etc. 



Commercial Floriculture. — First term. 

 Three hours. A continuation of the preced- 

 ing courjse, with discussions on diseases, in- 

 set^ts, botany, and the packing, handling, 

 and marketing of cut flowers and plants for 

 retail and wholesale markets. Cla&> will 

 particitpate in a required excursion. 



Garden Flowers. — Second term. 

 houJTs. This course is designed to acquaint 

 the student with garden plants and to give 

 practical knowledge of the propa^gation and 

 culture of the annuals, herbaceous peren- 

 nials, bulbs, and shrubs used for cut flowers 

 or in ornamental planting. 



(To be concluded.) 



Tliree 



^ 



