Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1884 [PAGE 219]

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The horticultural lands include the orchard, the forest plantation, and grounds used for eulture of grapes and small fruits, and for nursery and garden. All these lands are used, in a very direct sense, for experimental purposes. The orchard and the tree plantation were among the earliest enterprises undertaken by this department, and they necessarily require a very considerable number of years for the cycle of their investigations. It is expected that Professor Burrill will prepare a detailed account of each of them, and will present them to you in season to form part of the next biennial report. The plant house is an important adjunct to botanical and horticultural instruction. It should be, and it is, at once a place for instruction in methods of management, a propagating house, and a museum of living plants. When compared with the plant houses of similar institutions, its capacity is found to be very limited, and its ratio of cost to results is thereby much increased. The effort has been to raise plants for sale, with a view to make it nearly self-sustaining, but this effort has been only in part successful. This is difficult, because of the limited room in the greenhouse, and the limited market. The dimensions of the greenhouse give about 3,200 square feet, with space for plants about 2,400 square feet. The lands in this department are used thus: In orchard 30 acres t Forest pi antation '. 15 Small fruits and grapes 6 '' Garden and nursery 2 53 acres The public grounds. The care of these has been an adjunct of the Horticultural department, under the supervision of Prof. Burrill. They are: 1. The old campus and drill ground. This tract, containing about eleven acres, has lost the importance it had when it was graced by the old dormitory buildinsr. It is useful in the months of spring and autumn as a drill ground for the battalion. Its expense is only the maintenance of the fence, and the occasional cutting of the grass during term time. In the long vacation it gives a crop of hay. 2. The arboretum, containing about seven acres. This piece of ground is planted with forest trees in great variety. The fence on the north end has lately been moved to include the lots lying between it and the horse railway. The expense of this tract is little more than the care of fences and work; the grass pays for its cutting. 3. The college park, which contains about fifteen acres, mostly devoted to public uses. Considerable effort is expended on this piece of ground to make it ornamental and attractive, by keeping its fences, hedges, lawns, walks, drives, shrubbery and trees neat and beautiful, and making it a good example of landscape gardening. Besides the constant care of grass and flower plantings, some expense has been made on this ground in relaying the drains from the main building, laying water-pipe, grading, etc. In The estimates of expense, credit is given to the greenhouse for a quantity of plants furnished; they have cost the greenhouse something, but no return has ever been made to that department in the keeping of accounts. A considerable part of the work on these grounds has been done by Janitor Baker, and part of his wages might be charged against this account.

Balance Sheet of Horticultural Department, March 1, 1883, to March I, 1884.

Sales: Orchard Small fruits Nursery Sales: P l a n t s for public g r o u n d s Debits. L a b o r , o r c h a r d a n d forest Small fruits a n d n u r s e r y Greenhouse: Labor Fuel P o t s , p l a n t s , &c Repairs .. * Credits. .• $12 13 158 63 14 65 $371 72 300 00 $35 00 73 28 $632 52 155 00 51 26 120 80 959 58 1,067 86 $210 73

$185 41

671 72

$857 13

$108 28

B a l a n c e , loss