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
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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
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