Horticulture

Horticulture is a branch of agriculture concerning the science and art of producing, managing, and cultivating plant. As opposed to agriculture, which deals with mass production of food crops, horticulture is more focused small scale planting. This includes fruits, vegetables, spices, ornamental plants or trees, herbs, nuts, mushrooms, flowers, sprouts, algae, seaweed, and grasses.

Divisions

Modern subsections of this field include:

• Pomology: the study of fruiting plants
• Olericulture: the science of growing vegetables
• Viticulture: the growing of wine grapes
• Floriculture: the practice and science of flower and ornamental plant growing
• Arboriculture: the practice and science of tree, shrubs, vine, and woody plant growing
• Post-Harvest Management: the processing, handling, packaging, and marketing of the horticultural products after they are harvested
• Environmental Horticulture: the science and care of plant growth in green spaces

Prominent Horticulturalists

• Liberty Hyde Bailey : American horticulturalist who confounded the American Society for Horticultural Science. Often referred to as the father of American horticulture
• Luther Burbank : Pioneering American botanist and horticulturist. Created 800 plant varieties over a 55 year career.
• William Hooker : English botanist and the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Contributed a lot of knowledge to the studies of fungi, algae, and ferns.
• George Bentham : named the “Premiere botanist of the nineteenth century”
• Joseph Hooker : Founder of geographical botany
• John Abercrombie : Scottish horticulturalist, known best for his book “Every Man His Own Gardener”
• Chris Baines : English naturalist, a leading environmentalist in the UK, and a landscape architect
• Carolus Clusius : French scientific horticulturalist of the 16th century, most known for his cultivation of the tulip, potato, and chestnut. His work began the tulip industry of the Netherlands
• Mary McMurtie : Scottish botanical artist and horticulturalist who wrote and illustrated three pictorial flower guides

References

[1] "Why Horticulture?". Department of Horticultural Science. University of Minnesota. Archived from the original on 2019-05-02. [2] Janick, Jules (1979). Horticultural science. p. 1. ISBN 0-7167-1031-5. OCLC 4194358 [3] Cameron, Ross; Hitchmough, James (2016-03-24). Environmental Horticulture: Science and Management of Green Landscapes. CABI. ISBN 978-1-78064-138-6. [4] “Definition of Horticulture and its Branches". agrihortieducation.com. [5] "The Royal Horticultural Society, UK charity focussed on the art, science and practice of horticulture". The Royal Horticultural Society Website.