What Science Has Done and Will Do for 
Floriculture 
By Prof. Edward A. White, New York 
IX this a.y^e of intense specialization in all liorticultural 
jjractices it may be well to review some of the 
scientific factors which ha^•e played and are now 
plaxing such an important part in the develojiment of 
ornamental plant production. 
In the earlier periods of ayricnltiu'al education the 
term IturticiiltKre covered a wide range of subjects. In 
many agricultural colleges the horticulturist was ex- 
pected to teach forestry, landscape gardening, plant 
breeding, pomology, vegetable gardening and floricul- 
ture. In some cases he was also expected to teach bot- 
any, entomology and other sciences. In fact, it was ex- 
pected the instructor would be capable of teaching all 
subjects which pertained in any way to plant life. Not 
only was he expected to teach these subjects, but much 
of his time wa.s required for the administration of the 
business of his department ; also for research and for 
what we have now come to know as extension teaching. 
This field was altogether too broad for the ordinary 
man to master, although certain horticulturists did make 
a marked success, even when handicapped by the re- 
quirements of such a broad field of duties. The scope 
of the work was nevertheless too varied for the best re- 
sults. 
The last decade has witnessed a decided change in all 
lines of agricultural teaching. What was formerly des- 
ignated as agriculture in the curricula of land-grant col- 
leges, has been subdivided into dairy industry, animal 
industry, poultry raising, farm crops, and subjects of a 
like nature, until there is now no distinct course in gen- 
eral agriculture given in some agricultural colleges. 
The same trend toward speciahzation has been notice- 
able in horticultural subjects, and the old idea of horti- 
culture has been merged in the development of special 
departments, such as landscape gardening, fruit-grow- 
ing, flower-growing, forestry, vegetable gardening, and 
the like. This is an age of specialization, and the ad- 
ministrators of agricultural colleges have come to ap- 
preciate the fact that no individual can teach satisfac- 
torily a wide range of subjects, requiring such intensive 
ap])lication as do those dealing with special phases of 
animal and plant life. 
In the earlier ])erio(ls of horticultural teaching, major 
attention was given to fruit culture, some emjihasis was 
laid on landscape gardening and vegetable culture, but 
little attention was given to instruction in flower grow- 
ing. .\ few agricultural colleges had ranges of glass 
where some flowering plants were grown, but these were 
largely plants of botanical interest rather than of com- 
mercial importance. About ten years ago a Department 
of Floriculture was organized at the Massachusetts Agri- 
cultural College and distinct courses in commercial flower 
growing were ofl'ered. A little later, courses in flower 
growing were developed at the University of Illinois. 
So far as can be learned, these were the first atteni])ts in 
this country to train men in a broad way in distinctly 
scientific aspects of the subject. Since that time, courses 
in floriculture have been introduced into the curricula of 
many agricultural colleges, and much investigational 
work along flower-growing lines has been undertaken. 
In the larger number of instances, however, this work is 
*.\n abstract of .T lecture tlelivered .it tlu animal banquet at the Missouri 
jnotarical tianleus, St. Louis, IVceuibtr, 1*^16. 
Still intimately connected with other branches of horti- 
culture, and the work is being done by men interested in 
other subjects. 
The application of :_',cientific principles to floriculture is, 
therefore, of comparatively recent date. The flower- 
growing business, however, is an old one. In the early 
days of American flower production, commercial grow- 
ers of flowering plants recognized the need of but few 
scientific principles. The greater number of these florists 
received their training abroad, and the apprentice svs- 
tem through which this was obtained, taught methods 
rather than priiicif'Ics. These men learned to grow plants 
and to know under what conditions they attained their 
best development, but they knew little of the reasons for 
their successes and failures. During the last decade, 
conditions have changed in a marked degree. The de- 
mand for rare flowers of better quality has steadily in- 
creased, and with this demand there has come a keener 
competition. This competition and the demand for bet- 
ter products has made it necessary for present-day lead- 
ers in the flower-producing industry to call on science 
for every assistance possible, so that there should be 
better methods of production and these at the least pos- 
sible expense. The margin of profit in the flower busi- 
ness is not a broad one. 
In the earlier periods of work in teaching floriculture 
the writer met with but little encoiu-agement from men 
engaged in the business. Their opinion of the courses 
at the agricultitral colleges was often expressed in terms 
far from comjilimentary. Within recent years the hori- 
zon has broadened and many men who at first ridiculed 
the teaching of floriculture in agricultural colleges have 
so completely changed their opinion that they are now 
not only eager that their sons should take work in these 
institutions, but they are ofTering most cordial co-opera- 
tion in every way possible. 
The field trulv has broadened during the period in 
which floricultural instruction has been given in the 
United States. 
But we should review rather briefly the relation which 
the various sciences bear to methods of present-day 
flower and plant production. Botany in its various 
branches prol)ablv touches the subject most closely, for 
in ]ilant growing untler the somewhat artificial condi- 
tions in greenhouses an application of the principles 
which govern healthy reproduction and growth in jilants 
is constantly necessary. However, before we have plants 
we must have soil, and the application of chemistry to 
the soil is doubtless as important as is botany. 
The flower-growing business in the United States is 
im])ortant. In New York State it is especially so. The 
last census states that the value of the production of 
flowers and ]ilants in this State approximates five million 
dollars. This is approached by no other State. The 
total annual jiroduction for the United States was valued 
at thirty-four and one-half millions. This was an in- 
crease of 85 per cent, during the last decade. 
In the early history of plants and our study of ]ilant 
nomenclature such names as Theophrastus. Pliny. Lin- 
naeus and others stand out prominently, and we must 
not forget that scientific floriculture as it is ])racticed 
todav owes much to these men. 
During the earlier periods of ornamental i)lant culture, 
11 
