t2-L—castarfsnuii, iitrtiy, Fabrwry 23, ifO Meister HERSHEY-Horticulture is a broad term Including fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, both outdoor and greenhouse production, explained Richard T. Meister, at a recent Vegetable Growers Conference. It includes also direct to consumer marketing and U-pick which is growing rapidly. The outlook for com mercial horticulture is super, he said. It has never been better, on the demand side. Commercial hor ticulture is coming into its own, as consumers are turning more and more to the natural nutritive values in fruits and vegetables and ttie aesthetic qualities in plants and flowers around their home or on their apartment balconies. Last year the American Society for Horticultural Science celebrated its 75th anniversary. ASHS was referred to by Meister as the research arm of the hor ticultural industry. ASUS was founded by such horticultural greats as liberty Hyde Bailey and U. P. Hedrick. These leaders laid the groundwork for the horticultural industry with their visisions, knowledge, and encouragement Back in 1903, when the Society for Horticultural Science was founded there was a very different social and economic climate than today. The emphasis was on HOWTOGET A FAST START AND A BETTER STAND! Use These AGRA RIAN! tools to increase your yield of beans, corn, cotton, sorghum, sunflowers and vegetables V Tandem Blade Opener <v- *■£»' '* Trash Whipper™ Disks For John Deere Max-Emerge SEE THE TRASH WHIPPER DISK & V-9 SLICING ATTACHMENT AT THE FARM EQUIPMENT EXPO FEBRUARY 28. 29 & MARCH 1 Booth No's. 382 & 383 WINDY HILL ACRES ROI Box 468, Liverpool, PA 17045 Phone 717-444-3447 24 Page Free Catalog Available speaks to technology of production and there was considerable assistance from federal and state governments and the tone of public opinion was very supportive and favorable. Leading hor ticulturists were looked up to and glamorized. Horticulture exists in a vastly different climate today. For instance, the environmental movement has bad a considerable effect on commercial horticulture, Meistersaid. “There has been a remarkable increase in students studying hor ticulture a fantastic seven-fold increase/* be said. “Many of these students are young women who will take Jobs in nur series, garden stores, or chards and vegetable farms, or with companies supplying growers.” “Why this surge in enrollment? Because of interest in the environment and in quality of life and because agriculture has achieved a new social status In our society.” There has been a similar remarkable increase in interest in fresh fruits and vegetables as being “natural” -foods with health giving nutritive qualities, Meister added. “Take salad vegetables, for instance. New records of consumption are being set And now there are moves by large cor porations to industrialize the '1 -CSte*** -— vegetable tomato and lettuce, too, with what is called high yielding indoor farms using artificial lighting, artificial soil, and an artificial climate enriched withoo2.” Add to this, population growth figures which show a steady increase in demand coming for fruits and vegetables. The Bureau of Census predicts a 4% growth ip demand.by 1900 and * handsome 14% by 1990. The greenhouse part of horticulture has been growing also. A relatively new filing is selling bedding plants in pots instead of plant packs for Instant gardens. A California grower sold 30 million annals in 4-inch pots. Direct sales to consumers at roadside markets or farmers markets or with pick-your-own programs are also growing which restores local-market control. “You are not at the mercy of some far-off market,” Meister said. From the time ASHS was organized in 1903 until 1930, the emphasis was on production. The objective in our national life was to build factories and farms and railroads and highways and, most of all, new technology, Meister said. But in the thirties, because of the great depression and the breakdown in the banking system, the em phasis shifted to demand. Everyone talked about Trash Whipper™ Disks for IHC Cyclo Planter
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