South Dakota State College - Jack Rabbit Yearbook (Brookings, SD)

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DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY. As a department in an Agricultural College Botany occupies an important place. All instruction in agriculture and horticulture is founded upon this science. The teaching of the principles of plant life and growth therefore occupies a fundamental position with reference to the other branches mentioned. In the South Dakota Agricultural College, botanical instruction is given in the freshman year of all courses. The study of botany has a scientific, an :esthetic and a practical value. In an agricul- tural college, the latter is placed first because of the various applications to which the subject may be put in practical agriculture. The other two aspects, however, are not lost sight of. This department as it is organized in the South Dakota Agricultural College includes 'the instruction in botany and entomology in all courses given in the college, the botanical and entomological research of the Experiment Station, the supervision of the Highmore Experiment Station, the botanical work of the State Geological and Natural History Survey, nursery inspection and the enforcement of all requirements of the nursery inspection law in South Dakota. The head of the department acts therefore in the capacity of Botanist and Entomologist of the Agricultural College and Experiment Station, Super- intendent of the Highmore Station, Botanist to the Geological and Natural History Survey and State Entomologist. Students who enter college from the high school often expect credit for work done in the high school. Occasionally such credits can be given, but generally the work in graded or high schools is of such a character that even though it may be of assistance to the students in carrying on college work it cannot take the place of any definite course in the college. The first year's work of three terms gives a general survey of the plant kingdom in the branches of Morphology, Ecology, Physiology and Pathology. In the upper classes special courses are given in Mycology, Taxonomy, Physiology and Botanical Microteclmique. In the several courses given the aim is to instill 'in the mind of the student an intelligent idea of scientific work. The laboratory is considered the workshop in which to develop the faculty of original research and investigation. Laboratory side talks are given regularly to explain the work in hand. Lectures and recitations are resorted to mainly as adjuncts to the laboratory. In the work of the Experiment Station attention has been given to the study of plant diseases and to the practical methods of the treatment of such diseases- At the Highmore Experiment Station a large amount of experimental work is in progress to test and develop forage and grain crops for drouth resistance. The past season about 21,000 plants of millet, 1,500 plants of alfalfa, 2,000 plants of red clover, 1,000 plants of brome grass and thousands of other plants were grown in the plant breeding plots where the individual plants could be observed and selections made for breeding purposes. The aim of the plant breeding work at the Highmore Station is to secure the greatest practical value and at the same time to learn as much as possible about the scientific side of plant breeding. The botanical work of the Geological and Natural History Survey has for its aim the study and cataloguing of the state Hora. No appropriation having been made for this work not much has been accomplished. In nursery inspection and the enforcement of the nursery inspection law all nurseries requesting it are inspected by the head of the department each year. egggggr 23

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Department gf Art ADA B. CALDWELL MAUDE GODDARD Professor of Industrial Art Assistant in Art and Preparatory Departments 22

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Department qfBotany and Entomology 'RG -wN'Ax 5' to A ' BE T U oi SM ir wi. Y 2 WILLIAM A. WHEELER, M. S. Professor of Botany and Entomology 1' s- .rf t 5. 6'-' Bs 1 ,QQ L K as f A 1 'ix ffl h 'xx' 'Lt .1 Ax kuh I wi 5.5, . ' X W .Q ,3 w wf 'f 1 4 24