Classic Papers in Horticultural Science

by Jules Janick

This compilation is an introduction to classic scientific papers in horticulture, originally published in 1989. Each paper chosen concerns some plant or phenomenon and has had an impact on the horticultural scientific tradition or the horticulture industry. Each paper is accompanied by an introductory essay contributed by a prominent horticulturist. These essays place the historic papers in their contemporary setting as well as describe their impact on the future course of horticulture. Each paper has a unique story to tell and many still engender controversy and passion today. Taken together, they underscore the richness and diversity of horticultural science.

Table of Contents

Part I Propagation and Tissue Culture

Theophrastus (ca. 300 BC) The modes of propagation in woody and herbaceous plants. Propagation in another tree: grafting. Introductory essay by Jules Janick

Lewis Knudson (1922) Nonsymbiotic germination of orchid seeds. Introductory essay by Joseph Arditti

Lewis Charles Chadwick and Donald C. Kiplinger (1938) The effect of synthetic growth substances on the rooting and subsequent growth of ornamental plants. Introductory essay by Charles F. Hess

Frederick Campion Steward, Marion 0. Mapes, and Kath Mears (1958) Growth and organized development of cultured cells. II Organization in cultures grown from freely suspended cells. Introductory essay by A. D. Krikorian

Georges G. Morel (1960) Producing virus-free cymbidiums. Introductory essay by Peter Carlson

Toshio Murashige and Folke Skoog (1962) A revised medium for rapid growth and bioassays with tobacco tissue cultures. Introductory essay by Roberta H. Smith and Jean H. Gould

Part II Physiology and Culture

Stephan Hales (1727) Experiment CXXII. Vegetable staticks. Introductory essay by M. J. Bukovac

Thomas Andrew Knight (1806) On the direction of the radicle and germen during the vegetation of seeds. Introductory essay by C. A. Mitchell

Liberty Hyde Bailey (1891) Some preliminary studies on the influence of the electric arc lamp upon greenhouse plants. Introductory essay by Darlene Wilcox-Lee

Ezra Jacob Kraus and Henry Reist Kraybill (1918) Vegetation and reproduction with special reference to the tomato. Introductory essay by J. Scott Cameron and Frank G. Dennis, Jr.

Wightman Wells Garner and Harvey Ardell Allard (1920) Effect of the relative length of day and night and other factors of the environment on growth and reproduction in plants. Introductory essay by Albert A. Piringer

Franklin Kidd and Cyril West (1930) The gas storage of fruit. II. Optimum storage temperatures and atmospheres. Introductory essay by R. 0. Sharples

Homer C. Thompson (1933) Temperature as a factor affecting flowering of plants. Introductory essay by Sylvan H. Wittwer

Kenneth Post (1934) Production of early blooming of chrysanthemums by the use of black cloth to reduce the length of day. Introductory essay by Robert W. Langhans

Arthur J. Heinicke and Norman F. Childers (1937) The daily rate of photosynthesis during the growing season of 1935, of a young apple tree of bearing age. Introductory essay by Miklos Faust

Arthur C. Bobb and Maurice A. Blake (1938) Annual bearing in the Wealthy apple was induced by blossom thinning. Introductory essay by Louis J. Edgerton

Paul C. Marth and John W. Mitchell (1944) 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid as a differential herbicide. Introductory essay by Stephen C. Weller and J. Ray Frank

Jean P. Nitsch (1950) Growth and morphogenesis of the strawberry as related to auxin. Introductory essay by Frank G. Dennis, Jr.

Harry A. Borthwick, S. B. Hendricks, Marion W. Parker, Eban Henry Toole, and Vivian Kearns Toole (1952) A reversible photoreaction controlling seed germination. Introductory essay by Robert J. Downs

Martin J. Bukovac and Sylvan H. Wittwer (1958) Reproductive responses of lettuce (Lactuca sativa, variety Great Lakes) to gibberellin as influenced by seed vernal-ization, photoperiod and temperature. Introductory essay by Lawrence Rappaport

Stanley P. Burg and Ellen A. Burg (1967) Molecular requirements for the biological activity of ethylene. Introductory essay by Mikal E. Saltveit, Jr.

Bock G. Chan and John C. Cain (1967) The effect of seed formation on subsequent flowering in apple. Introductory essay by John T. A. Proctor

S. Dan Goldberg and Menachem Shmueli (1970) Drip irrigation: a method used under desert conditions of high water and soil salinity. Introductory essay by Daniel C. Elfving

Part III Breeding and Genetics

William W. Hooker (1818) Account of a new pear (with a Figure) called Williams’ Bon Chretien; in a letter to Joseph Sabine, Esq. Secretary. Introductory essay by Jules Janick

Gregor Mendel (1865) Experiments on plant hybrids. Introductory essay by Jules Janick

George D. Karpechenko (1928) Polyploid hybrids of Raphanus sativus L. x Brassica oleracea L. Introductory essay by Edward I. Ryder

John Charles Walker and Rose Smith (1930) Effect of environmental factors upon the resistance cabbage to yellows. Introductory essay by Dermot P. Coyne

Henry A. Jones and Alfred E. Clarke (1943) Inheritance of male sterility in the onion and the production of hybrid seed. Introductory essay by W. H. Gabelman

Hitoshi Kihara (1951) Triploid watermelons. Introductory essay by 0. J. Eigsti

Peter S. Carlson, Harold H. Smith, and Rosemarie D. Dearing (1972) Parasexual interspecific plant hybridization. Introductory essay by David A. Evans

Robert B. Horsch, Robert T. Fraley, Stephen G. Rogers, Patricia R. Sanders, Alan Lloyd, and Nancy Hoffman (1984) Inheritance of functional foreign genes in plants. Introductory essay by Peter B. Goldsbrough