Cal State Polytechnic College - El Rodeo Yearbook (San Luis Obispo, CA)

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HORTICULTURE DEPARTMENT The horticulture department was reorganized this year offering to the student a two-year course of complete training in the fields of landscaping, orchard management, greenhouse practice and truck crops. Field trips to surrounding areas provided additional opportunity to observe and to study methods of growing and handling field crops in extensive plantings. Dur- ing the two-year course, the student keeps complete records of commer- cially-productive projects. Instruction in landscaping included greenhouse practice, nursery prac- tice, landscape practice on the grounds and buildings on the school campus, the laying out of the garden at the San Luis Obispo Mission, plant propa- gation and plant identification. The rebuilding of the glasshouses and the installation cf an automatically-controlled steam heating system has made possible the raising of many young perennial and annual plants. The re- landscaping of the campus has been taken over by the horticulture depart- ment and the raising of the shrubs for this work has been greatly facili- tated by the rebuilt glasshouses. A nursery plot has been established near the propagation house and several hundred trees and shrubs are already planted here to grow large enough to be set out around the buildings on the campus. A large cut-flower garden supplies all the school needs and is an object of beauty. Among the plants produced this year were approxi- mately two thousand trees, five thousand shrubs, and eight hundred flats of annual and perennial flowering plants. Part of the plants were sold and the money turned into the project fund, some were planted on the campus. On January 14 a field trip was made to Santa Barbara. This trip in- cluded the Gillespie Gardens, Blakesley’s Botanical Gardens, the Santa Barbara Court House, the Samarkand Hotel and several of the city parks. The purpose of this trip was to familiarize the students with good types of landscaping and the different kinds of trees, shrubs and flowers as to their foliage, type, soil requirements and various other characteristics. Orchard management included pruning, thinning, grafting, budding, general orchard care and a study of the common deciduous fruit varieties, with practice on the school units. Instruction in truck crops included a study of vegetable varieties, growing, disease prevention and control. Field trips were taken to study methods of growing and handling truck crops and commercial seed raising. Productive projects were carried on by the students, including the raising of one thousand Youngberry plants, three-fourths of an acre of Stone and Marglobe tomatoes grown up on stakes, one-fourth of an acre of Brussels Sprouts grown under overhead sprinkling system to combat insect pests, three-fourths of an acre of early sweet corn, two acres of stock beets and stock carrots and the growing of two hundred flats of young annual and perennial flowering plants. Several projects of raising trees for nursery work are also in progress. Among the community activities were the drawing of plans for the restoring of a garden at the San Luis Obispo Mission and talks and demon- strations before Farm Center meetings.