The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-06-08
THE evening. and after that candidates were
initiated into tho Alpha Phi fratcrniay.
BOTANY. HORTICULTURE AND ENTO-
MlIlGY

MOLOGY. eie
| At tho head OF this department IL Fro.
fossor Il, H. Price. who Is assisted by Pro-
fcssor II. Ness. Professor Price is native
OF the odd Dominion" where he graduated
first in the School of Agriculture In 1855.
ana has been directly connected with sta
tlon " college work ever since. During
| the five years he has been connected with
| the Agricultural aud Mechanical college and
experimental station of Texas he has writ
| ten Sin bulletins on solcutliio aud practical
horticulture. These bulletins emhody re-
cults OF experiments he carried on at tho
state experiment station. These bulletina
have been widely distributed over the State
and large number of volunteer tcsti-
inon'als have come from horticulturtsts and
farmers praising them and asking for more
information. During the past year he
wrote Il valuable text book ON tho sweet
potato. which rs the only scientific pub
hcation on the subject In any language.
Professor Ness Is a graduate of this Ag-
ricultural and Mechanical college, aud has
been connected with II for number Of
years, During the past Two summers ha
took pest graduate work In botany at Cor
noll university The work OF these two
nien covers a very broad field. viz, horti-
culture, botany ana entomology, both for
tho college and station. This is different
from many Of our beet Agricultural and Me-
chanlcal colleges, where each one of tho
above subjects Ia thought worthy OF a sep
arate department. Notwithstanding this.
some OF the graduates OF this department
Are now taking rank both as scientific and
Araoticnl men. One. last scesion. won bon
ora in competitive examination Mt Belize
vue hoSpital,Now York city, another Is con-
ncctcl with the famous Shaw Botanical
gardens OF ST. Louis another is nursery
man at Gonzales, Texas, etc.
rhe object OF the teaching is to prepare
the students TO engage In tho newer
branches OF agriculture, such as truck
farming. orchard growing and small fruit
culture. The student ls made thoroughly
familiar with the various new and old
methods of culture. best varieties. best fer
tilizcrs TO uAo and how to- control and pre-
vent injury done by inaects aud dseascs.
Many unskillod people who do not UNDER
stand how to control theee serious enemies
frequently lose largo per cent OF their
Grops that could easily have been saved.
Each student in this department In an
sgnel II fine compound nllSoscope. with
which he studies the various spores which
| cause dlseasa. as well M tho minute struc-
| ture OF the plant itself. The large number
| of fruits and vegetables growing here serve
| for ample practice In fold conditions. Tho
students Themselves engage In vegetable
| growing. nursery work and orchard Gull
| ture. horticulture being one OF the fine
! arts. 1t is one OF the unniistakabie evidences
OF the civilization and refinement OF a ma
ton The occupation appeals to the deyel-
opment of the higher and finer clements OF
humanity. The beneficial influence OF fruit
and vegetables upon the health OF the fam
lily is admitted by all Since the homes arc
tho cradles of nation anything which
tends toward their betterment may be Of
untold advantage to n nation In building IL
no in morality and civilization. Here. In a
cotton growing State like Texas, It In fire.
quently these things arc neglected more
than they should bo and II Ia Of prime Inn
portance that people shosld be encouraged
IN growing fruits and Flowers around their
homes. 10 diversity their crops. to save
money by not having to buy SO many neces-
sarY things which can so easily be grown
at homo with so little effort. This IL madc
one of the paramount objects OF this de-
pnrtmont. Since the Ordinary unBkilled
laboror can not hope for success in this
work like no can IN the growing of such or
binary farm crops as cotton. corn and
wheat. horticulture offers special induce
mon,s to young mon to prepare themselves
10 engage In this new industry, the influ-
ence OF which Ia Just beginning to be felt
In Texas. In some respects Texas could
prove 10 he formidable rival TO the famous
fruit craving State OF California owing -
tha IN ri npss nf her epuPonN