Transcript Introduction to Horticulture

Introduction to Horticulture
Horticulture
Word first used in 1600’s
 Comes from two Latin words




Hortus “Garden”
Cultura “Cultivation”
Horticulture means “cultivated garden”
or “culture of garden plants”
Life Sciences

Biology is the branch of science that
deals with both plant and animal
organisms and life processes.


Zoology is the part of biology that deals
with animals.
Botany is the part of biology that deals
with plants.
Plant Sciences

Applied plant sciences are based on the
purpose for which the plants are grown.




Agronomy
Forestry
Horticulture
What do these terms mean??
Agronomy
The science and practice of growing
field crops such as cotton, wheat,
tobacco, corn and soybeans.
 Can be used for food, fuel, and fibers

Forestry

The science and practice of growing,
managing and harvesting trees for
building materials and other products.
Horticulture

The science and practice of growing,
processing and marketing fruits,
vegetables, and ornamental plants.
Introductory Horticulture

Horticulture differs from agronomy and
forestry because…..


Requires more intensive management and
higher labor inputs than other branches.
Horticulture offers a higher gross return
per unit area per unit time.

Ex.- Greenhouse grower ($20.00 per ft2/yr)
Branches of Horticulture

Olericulture


Pomology


The growing and study of fruits and nuts.
Viticulture


The growing and study of vegetables.
The growing and study of grapes or vines.
Floriculture

The growing and study of flowers.
Branches of Horticulture

Greenhouse Management


The growing and study of plants in
greenhouses.
Turfgrass Management

The growing and study of turfgrasses. This
includes home, municipal, and commercial
lawns; sports turf maintenance; highway
rights-of-way; and seed and sod
production.
Branches of Horticulture

Nursery Management


The growing and study of trees and shrubs
that are produced primarily for landscape
purposes.
Arboriculture



The growing and study of trees.
Known as silviculture in forestry.
Synonymous with urban forestry.
Branches of Horticulture

Landscape Horticulture


The application of design and horticultural
principles to placement and care of plants
in the landscape.
Interiorscaping

The application of design and horticultural
principles to placement and care of plants
in indoor environments.
Branches of Horticulture

Horticultural Therapy

The use of horticultural plants and
methods as therapeutic tools with disabled
and disadvantaged people.
Horticulture:
Science or Art?

Known as applied botany because….


Also uses other sciences such as….


Takes principles of botany such as
morphology, anatomy, and physiology and
applies them to the growing of crops.
Chemistry, biochemistry, physics,
mathematics, and genetics.
So, horticulture is obviously a science.
Horticulture:
Science or Art?
But horticulture is also a art form.
 Where practical experience is helpful.


Example: A person may know the science
of cultivating plants, but be unsuccessful
due to a lack of a “green thumb.”
Horticulture:
Science or Art?

Art forms in horticulture




Grafting
Floral Design
Landscape Design
Horticulture is an applied science
and an art form.
History of Horticulture

“Garden of Eden”


Romanticized garden of paradise.
Ultimate goal throughout history.
History of Horticulture

Prehistoric people
were primarily….


Hunters and
gatherers.
Collected seeds,
fruits, and nuts.
History of Horticulture

Primitive people began to study plants.





Is it edible?
Does eating it modify well-being?
Does it taste good?
Can it used to keep me warm? As fuel? As
clothing?
Is it useful to combat pain? Disease?
History of Horticulture

When were plants
first cultivated?


Neolithic Age (7000
– 10000 years ago)
First farmers were
women!!!!
History of Horticulture

By 3000 B.C. in
Egypt



Land preparation
Irrigation
Pruning
History of Horticulture

Meanwhile in Mesopotamia,
Babylonia, and Assyria…..


This system kept 10,000 square miles under
cultivation…..


Irrigation canals lined with burnt brick and sealed
with asphalt joints.
Which fed 15,000,000 people
Cultivated roses, figs, dates, grapes, and olives.
History of Horticulture


Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
One of 7 Wonders of the
Ancient World
History of Horticulture

Eventually people began asking questions
such as…..
 How do they grow?
 How do they reproduce?
 How are they constructed?
 How are they nourished?
 How are they related to one another?
 How are traits passed from one
generation to the next?
History of Horticulture

Meanwhile, back in
America……

The Pre-Incas were
cultivating maize
(corn)
History of Horticulture

Other Indian crops
included……






Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Peppers
Squash
Tomatoes
Cocoa
History of Horticulture

The use of plant
products eventually
led to physicians,
pharmacists, and
scientists.
History of Horticulture

Theophrastus




371-287 BC
1st scientific
horticulturist
Student of Plato and
Aristotle
Wrote the books
History of Plants and
The Causes of
Plants.
History of Horticulture

History of Plants



Morphology of roots, flowers, and leaves.
Anatomical features such as bark, pith,
fibers, and vessels.
The Causes of Plants





Relationship of weather, soils, and agricultural practices.
Importance of seeds
Value of grafting
Tastes and flagrances of plants
Death of plants
History of Horticulture

Dioscorides




40-90 AD
Early Christian Era
Wrote about the
medicinal uses of
plants
Proposed ideas
about the
relationship of plants
History of Horticulture

Middle Ages



Little advancement in horticulture
Arabs (established botanical gardens)
Scientific advances of Greeks and Romans
were preserved in monasteries.
History of Horticulture

Renaissance



Rebirth of energetic attention to scientific
discovery.
Taxonomy, morphology, and anatomy
branches of botany began to grow.
More and more plants were discovered due
to exploration which required a system of
classification.
History of Horticulture

Linnaeus (1707-1778)





Swedish botanist.
Developed binomial
classification scheme for
plants.
Based on their sexual or
flowering parts.
Basis for all classification
systems today.
Built upon the work of
the Greeks, especially
Dioscorides.
History of Horticulture

As the Renaissance
evolved……

Creation of formal
Gardens


Versailles
Belvedere in Vienna
History of Horticulture


Improvements in fruit,
nut, and vegetable
production.
Influx of new plants
from “the colonies”.

Some of these plants
became mainstays
of European diets.
Horticulture in America

When the Europeans arrived they
brought seeds, cuttings, and plants.


Orchards were established
Crops brought to America



Oranges
Wheat
Cabbage
Horticulture in America

Early horticulturists in America




John Bartram (1699-1777)
George Washington
Thomas Jefferson
John Chapman

aka. Johnny Appleseed
Horticulture in America

New life in horticulture



Morrill Act of 1862.
Established land-grant
universities.
Encouraged the growth
of agricultural knowledge.
Horticulture in America
Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858-1954)
 “Father of American Horticulture”
 Educated at Michigan Agricultural College


Present Day Michigan State University
Studied at Harvard under Asa Gray
 Then was a professor at Michigan
Agricultural College and at Cornell
University.

Horticulture in America
Established the 1st horticulture
department
 Prodigious Writer


Hortus


Taxonomic index of horticultural plants.
Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Cultural and taxonomic information of plants.
Horticulture in America

Established the Bailey
Hortorium.


“things of the garden”
Established the (ASHS)
American Society of
Horticulture Science in
1903.
Modern Day Horticulture





New Cultivars
Plant-Water
Relationships
Temperature
Light
Plant Nutrition





The Rhizosphere
Integrated Pest
Management
Plant Growth Regulators
Mechanization
Post Harvest Factors