horticulture [Lat. hortus=garden], science and art of gardening and of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. Horticulture generally refers to small-scale gardening, and agriculture to the growing of field crops, usually on a large scale, although the distinction is not always precise (for example, market gardening market gardening, cultivation, on suburban land of high value, of vegetables and flowers for the supply of nearby cities. Heavy fertilizing and the planting of successive crops are employed to obtain continuous returns from the acreage.
..... Click the link for more information. could be classed either way). A horticultural variety of a plant is one produced under cultivation, as distinguished from the botanical species or varieties, which occur in nature. Although many horticultural practices are very ancient (see botany botany, science devoted to the study of plants. Botany, microbiology, and zoology together compose the science of biology . Humanity's earliest concern with plants was with their practical uses, i.e., for fuel, clothing, shelter, and, particularly, food and drugs.
..... Click the link for more information. ), comparatively recent knowledge of genetics, plant physiology, biochemistry, ecology, plant pathology, entomology, molecular biology, and soils, and the systematic application of such knowledge to practical use (e.g., in plant breeding breeding, in agriculture and animal husbandry , propagation of plants and animals by sexual reproduction ; usually based on selection of parents with desirable traits to produce improved progeny.
..... Click the link for more information. ), has expanded horticulture into an extremely complex science. Agencies such as the various bureaus of the Dept. of Agriculture, the state experimental stations, and the many agricultural colleges; organizations such as the American Horticultural Society and the various state horticultural societies and local granges and garden clubs; and the commercial flower-growing and experimental nurseries (see nursery nursery, in horticulture, an establishment or area for the propagation, breeding, and early cultivation of plants. In North America the term nursery originally specified a place where hardy woody plants, especially fruit trees, were started; but as the market
..... Click the link for more information. )—all engage in developing, analyzing, systematizing, and disseminating improved horticultural practices for the benefit of both amateur and professional gardeners. See also garden garden, land set aside for the cultivation of flowers, herbs, vegetables, or small fruits, for either utility or ornament. Gardens range in size from window boxes and small dooryard plots to the public botanical garden and commercial truck garden (see truck farming ).
..... Click the link for more information. .

Bibliography

See E. P. Christopher, Introductory Horticulture (1958); J. B. Edmond et al., Fundamentals of Horticulture (3d ed. 1964); T. H. Everett, The New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture (10 vol., 1980–82).

horticulture

Branch of agriculture concerned with the cultivation of garden plants—generally fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamentals such as plants used for landscaping (see landscape gardening). Propagation, the controlled perpetuation of plants, is the most basic horticultural practice. Its objectives are to increase the numbers of a plant and to preserve its essential characteristics. Propagation may be achieved sexually by use of seeds or asexually by use of techniques such as cutting, grafting (see graft), and tissue culture. Successful horticulture depends on extensive control of the environment, including light, water, temperature, soil structure and fertility, and pests. Two important horticultural techniques are training (changing a plant's orientation in space) and pruning (judicious removal of plant parts), used to improve the appearance or usefulness of plants. See also floriculture.

horticulture

the art or science of cultivating gardens
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Bibliography

horticulture

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