Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1890 [PAGE 187]

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190

UNIVERSITY O F ILLINOIS.

Bural Economy.—Relation of agriculture to other industries and to national prosperity; influences which should determine the class of farming to be adopted; comparisons of special and general systems; uniting of manufacturing with farming; culture of the various farm crops—cereals, grasses, etc.; farm accounts. History of Agriculture.—Progress and present condition in this and in other countries; influence of climate, civilization, and legislation in advancing or retarding; agricultural literature and organizations. Bural Law.—Business law; laws especially affecting agriculture—tenures of real estate; road, fence, drainage laws, etc. Elements of Horticulture.—The following topics are discussed: Orchard sites; the age of trees to plant; the season to plant; how to plant; what to plant; the management of the soil; pruning and care of trees; gathering and preserving fruit; diseases and injuries; the nursery; ornamental trees and shrubs; flower gardens; vegetable gardens, including propagating beds and houses; the vineyard and small fruits, and timber tree plantation. Students have instruction and practice in grafting, budding, propagation by cuttings, etc. Each student has usually grafted from two hundred to one thousand root-grafts of apples. Landscape Gardening.—Lectures are given upon the general principles of the art, the history, and the styles, the kinds and uses of trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers, the introduction and management of water, the construction and laying out of drives and walks, fences, buildings, etc. The class draw first from copy, then, after the actual study of some locality with its environments, design and draw full plans for its improvement, indicating positions of all prominent objects, including the kinds and groups of trees and other plants. These plans, with specifications, are to be deposited in the library of the school. Excursions are made when found practicable, for the study of public and private grounds. The three following studies constitute a year's work designed for those who wish to prepare themselves for special horticultural pursuits, and may be taken as substitutes for agricultural or veterinary studies: Floriculture.—The study of the kinds, propagation, growth and care of flowering and other ornamental plants. Each student has practice in propagating by cuttings and otherwise, in potting and shifting, and in care of plants requiring various treatments. Insects and diseases, with the remedies, are thoroughly treated, and the means of securing vigor of growth and abundance of flowers are studied and illustrated by practice. Pomology and Forestry.—Much of the first half of the term is spent in the orchards, nurseries, and forests, making observations and collections, and in the laboratory work determining species, varieties, etc. A large collection of apples, pears, grapes, peaches, etc., is made each year, and the chief characteristics of each are pointed out. Practice is had in making drawings and plaster casts. Written descriptions of the fruits are carefully made and compared with those given in the books, and systems of analysis and classification are put to practical tests. Students see and perform the skilled operations usually practiced in the propagation and growth of trees. Various methods of pruning and training, especially of grapes, are discussed in the class-room, and illustrated upon the grounds. Students study the injurious insects and fungi which cause or accompany diseases of trees and fruits, and the methods of preventing or diminishing their ravages. The native forests of the vicinity and of the country at large are studied as a foundation for the lessons upon the influence and value of timber and other trees and their artificial culture. For the latter the forest tree plantation on the University grounds, and the arboretum, afford practical illustrations. Plant-houses and Management.—This study includes gardening and landscape architecture; the methods of construction, heating and ventilation, and general management, so as to secure, under the different cir-