History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 136

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 756

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The society has had its share in bring- ing about State and Federal legislation for

the better support of instruction in agricul- ture, horticulture and home economics in schools. It has gone on record from time to time as favoring greater interest in truck farming, home production, home markets, a public roads system, better rural sanitation, a more generous and liberal support of state and local fairs and expositions, improved nur- sery products, bird protection, street shading and parks for cities, seed selection, farm di- versification, the encouragement of the live stock industry, forest protection, a State markets bureau, the Torrens system of land registration, appropriations for a hog cholera serum plant at Auburn, and a State drainage and reclamation law.

At the meetings every subject of impor- tance to the horticulturist has been discussed, the papers representing the actual experi- ences of the authors. In this way the meet- ings have served as a clearing place of ideas and views, all of which have in turn been reflected in a substantial advance in meth- ods and practice from year to year. In the national effort for the extermination of the cotton-boll weevil, the society in 1904 urged on the State authorities "the support of every feasible effort and cooperation to avert the threatened disaster to the greatest of Ala- bama's interests."

Presidents .- W. F. Heikes, 1903-1911; J. H. McCary, 1911 -.

Secretary and Treasurer .- R. S. Mackin- tosh, 1903-1908; P. F. Williams, 1908-1912; J. C. C. Price, 1913 -.

Annual Meetings, 1903-1916 .- The list which follows gives the number of session, place of meeting, inclusive dates, and bibli- ography of the Proceedings, viz:

Organization meeting, Jan. 27, 1903.

Special meeting, Feb. 13, 1903.

Proceedings in next title.

1st annual meeting, Mobile, Jan. 26-27, 1904. 8vo., pp. 52.

2d, Montgomery, Jan. 24-25, 1905, pp. 54.

3d, Thorsby, Jan. 30-31, 1906, pp. 76.

4th, Montgomery, Feb. 6-7, 1907, pp. 62.

5th, Birmingham, Feb. 13-14, 1908.

6th, Mobile, Jan. 26-27, 1909.

7th, Bessemer, Jan. 28-29, 1910.

Proceedings of the 5th-7th meetings printed as Bull. 36 of the Alabama State Dept. of Agriculture and Industries, 1910, pp. 240.

8th, Birmingham, Jan. 19-20, 1911.

Printed as Bull. 42 of the Dept. of A. & I., 1911, pp. 116.

9th, Jasper, Jan. 25-27, 1912, pp. 98.

10th, Bay Minette, Jan. 23-25, 1913, pp. 82.

11th, Thorsby, Mar. 4-6, 1914, pp. 103.

12th, Montgomery, July 21-22, 1915, pp. 60.

13th, Brewton, Aug. 30-31, 1916, pp. - PUBLICATIONS .- Proceedings, 1904-1915. 10 vols. For pagination and details, see subtitle Annual Meetings above. These volumes consti- tute a large fund of important historical, scien- tific and practical information.

REFERENCES .- The sources are found in the Proceedings noted above. In the volume for

MISS JULIA STRUDWICK TUTWILER

Teacher, civic and religious worker, author of the State song, "Alabama," and through whose efforts women were admitted to the State University

Vol. 1-45

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1914, pp. 46-53, Prof. Ernest Walker has an illuminating paper on the "Influence of horti- cultural societies," based on a letter to a cor- respondent in reference to the influence of such organizations on the economic welfare of farm- ers.

HORTICULTURE. In Alabama horticul- ture is much encouraged. It is the art of growing flowers, fruits and vegetables, and of plants both for ornament and fancy. (Bailey). While it is an art, it has its scientific side. There is no definite bound- ary between agriculture and horticulture.

For purposes of classification, horticulture is a branch of agriculture, just as forestry is, since agriculture in its largest meaning is the business of raising products from the land.

Agriculture, however, is limited usually to the growing of grains, forage, breadstuffs, and the like, and to the raising of animals. It is the tending of the fields, or of those parts which in early times, lay beyond the fortified or protected enclosures, or at least, more or less remote from the residences.

Horticulture was considered as the culti- vation of the area within the enclosure. It is derived from the word "hortus," the garden, originally an enclosure, and "cultura" to carry up, or to cultivate. Agriculture is de- rived from the word "agri," field, and "cul- tura," meaning the cultivation of the fields unenclosed.

While horticulture includes gardening, the garden and gardening denote more restricted area and operation than even the term horti- culture.

Different articles of cultivation may belong to both fields, that is, to horticulture and to agriculture. To illustrate, sweet potatoes are considered a horticultural crop, while Irish potatoes are usually classed as an agri- cultural crop, but they may be one or both. Many of the experiences of botany are worked out in the field of horticulture. Therefore, horticulture is a sort of combina- tion or composite of botanical and agricul- tural subjects.

Horticulture is practically considered as having four branches:

(1) pomology, or the growing of fruits,

(2) olericulture, or vegetable growing,

(3) floriculture, or the raising of orna- mental plants for their individual uses or for their productions,

(4) landscape horticulture, or the grow- ing of plants for their use in the landscape, or landscape gardening.

Of horticulture, there are two types, first that which is immediately associated with the home life, and that which is undertaken primarily for the earning of a livelihood. The former is amateur. He grows things which appeal to his personal taste, the things which he needs for his own use or for his family. The other is commercial horticulture, and is of relative late development. While agri- culture is employed in earning a living from the soil, for the most part horticulture comes

only with the demand for the luxuries and refinements of life.

In North America commercial horticulture begins with the opening of the nineteenth century. There were excellent home gar- dens more than a century ago, in which many exotic plants were grown, but such gardens were isolated. There are relatively few studies in our horticultural history. The earliest writing in which records are to be found include descriptions of plants by phy- sicians and naturalists, who were interested in exploiting the wonders of the country, rather than the development of business.

HORTICULTURE, STATE BOARD OF. An ex officio executive board consisting of five active and two advisory members, established by act of March 5, 1903, and amended Sep- tember 28, 1915. Its members are the presi- dent of the Alabama State Horticultural So- ciety, the ranking Alabama officer of the Gulf Coast Horticultural Society, the director of the experiment station of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, the State horticulturist, and the commissioner of agriculture and in- dustries, who is the chairman. It has two advisory members, namely, the entomologist and the plant pathologist of the Alabama Ex- periment Station. The secretary and execu- tive officer is the State horticulturist (q. v.).

The board has full power to enact "such rules and regulations governing the examina- tion, certification, sale, transportation, and introduction of trees, shrubs, cuttings, buds, vines, bulbs, and roots, and the planting and growing of such in nurseries, orchards, and on premises of every kind and nature in this State, that they may deem necessary to pre- vent the further introduction, existence, in- crease and dissemination of insect pests and plant diseases." It is the duty of the board to "promulgate rules and regulations in ac- cordance with [the laws] for the government of the state horticulturist in the duties de- volving upon him;" to adopt "rules and regu- lations, not inconsistent with the laws and constitution of this State and of the United States for the preventing the introduction of dangerously injurious crop pests and dis- eases of all kinds from without the State, for preventing the existence of such pests or dis- eases on any premises of whatever nature and kind in this State, for the preventing of the existence of infested or diseased plants, trees or shrubs that are hosts for said pests or diseases, when same are in the counties wherein the said pests or diseases are already in existence, or regarding the dissemination of crop pests and diseases within the State, and for the governing of common carriers in transporting plants liable to harbor such pests or diseases, to and from and within the State and such regulations shall have the force of laws;" and from time to time to draw up and promulgate through the press of the State, or in bulletins, or both, rules and regulations defining "what diseases or mala- dies, both insect and fungus, shall constitute infestation in trees and plants.

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and what plants, trees or shrubs are hosts for the various pests and diseases in the counties of the State in which the respective pests or diseases have an existence."

Under the act of February 11, 1915, abol- ishing the immigration commissioner, and imposing his duties in large part upon the commissioner of agriculture and industries, certain supervisory powers in respect to the publication of literature on the resources of the State, and other phases of projected im- migration activities, are placed upon the board.

The original act establishing the depart- ment of agriculture and industries, February 23, 1883, required the encouragement of hor- ticulture as a primary duty. It was further required that "diseases of grain, fruits and other crops growing" in the State, and rem- edies therefor, should be investigated; and by act of February 16, 1897, the commissioner was given authority to cause an examination and analysis to be made of diseases among apple, peach, pear or other fruit trees, cal- culated to permanently injure or destroy or- chards, or fruit crops in any county or section of the State, and, after a hearing, to require the owner to destroy and burn any and all trees so infected. However, comparatively little was ever done except the publication of a few bulletins; and the organization of the state horticultural society and the State board of horticulture was found necessary to con- serve these important interests.

The legislation for separate State regula- tion of the horticultural interests of Alabama dates from an act of March 5, 1903, "to fur- ther protect horticulture, fruit growing, and truck growing, and to exclude crop pests of all kinds in the State." This was brought about directly through the efforts of the newly formed Alabama State Horticultural Society. The law remains in force substan- tially as then adopted, although the amend- ments of September 16 and 28, 1915, have served to strengthen and to make it more effective.

In the absence of legislation, the Alabama Polytechnic Institute, through its horticul- turist, as well as other departments, had for years contributed materially in aid of the growing of fruit trees, protection from insect pests, and in other ways. Bulletins were published, containing horticultural sugges- tions, orchard notes, and special articles.

See Gulf Coast Horticultural Society; Hor- ticultural Society, The Alabama State; Hor- ticulturist, The State.

REFERENCES .- Code, 1907, secs. 811-826; Acts, 1896-97, p. 1141; General Acts, 1903, p. 140; 1915, pp. 81, 568, 923; Ala. Hort. Society, Pro- ceedings. 1904; Agricultural Experiment Sta- tion, Bulletins, 1903, vol. 11, pp. 73-104.

HORTICULTURIST, THE STATE. A State executive office, originally created by act of March 5, 1903. The professor of hor- ticulture of the Alabama Polytechnic Insti- tute is ex officio State horticulturist, and secretary of the State board of horticulture. His work and activities as such official are

under the supervision of the board, which is given authority to promulgate rules and reg- ulations for his government in the execution of his duties under the horticultural laws. It is his duty generally to execute the orders of the board and to stimulate interest in horticulture, the planting and growing of trees, shrubs, and vines in nurseries, or- chards, and on the farms of the State, and to do everything possible to exterminate and to prevent the further introduction, existence, increase, and dissemination of insect pests and plant diseases. He is allowed such cleri- cal assistance as in the opinion of the board is needed. He is required to make a quar- terly report of his work and expenditures to the board.

Ample powers are given for the destruc- tion or treatment of infested trees and plants. He or a deputy duly authorized by the board, must visit any section of the State where plant diseases or pests are supposed to exist, and determine whether the infested vegeta- tion is worth remedial treatment or should be destroyed; and in the former case, establish quarantine measures by means of suitable tags or cards posted at the principal en- trance to the premises, setting forth the name of the disease, the extent of its preva- lence, and such other information as may be necessary to prevent the spread of infection or infestation. He can also prescribe a method of treatment, which must be executed under his supervision at the expense of the owner, or, if necessary to destroy such trees or plants, it is to be done by him or his deputy at the expense of the owner. In the discharge of their duties, he or his deputies may enter upon any premises, public or private.

Under act of September 16, 1915, provi- sion is made for the appolntment of county horticulturists and deputy county horticul- turists, to be nominated by the State horticul- turist, and who are to be graduates of accredited agricultural colleges, and of not less than five years practical experience in horticultural pursuits. Detailed regulations are provided for the performance of the du- ties of such appointees, all of which are de- signed "for the protection of orchards, trees, farms, vines and shrubs, and the products of said orchards, trees, farms, vines and shrubs."

Horticulturists. - Roger S. Mackintosh, 1902-1910; Percy F. Williams, 1910-1912; Emil P. Sandsten, 1912-1913; Ernest Walker, 1913-1916; J. J. C. Price, 1916 -.

See Horticultural Society, The Alabama State; Horticulture, State Board Of.

REFERENCES .- Code, 1907, secs. 811-826; Acts, 1896-97, p. 1141: General Acts. 1903, p. 140; 1915, pp. 568, 923; Ala. Hort. Society, Proceed- ings, 1904; Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletins, 1903, vol. 11, pp. 73-104.

HOSPITALS. Institutions or organiza- tions, public or private, for the treatment of disease or injury. They are also known as infirmaries and sanatoriums. Public hos- pitals are maintained by the general govern- ment, the State, counties and municipalities. Private institutions of this character are usu-

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ally the property of individual physicians or groups of physicians, or are conducted under their control with partial municipal support.

It is not regarded as a function of the State to maintain a public institutional hospital service, other than for its insane, epileptic, feeble minded and tubercular population. The health needs of the indigent poor are a proper free charge upon counties and municipalities, but it is not considered the duty of these governmental units to maintain free relief- agencies for any other groups than the in- digent. However, contributions are often made, on broad and charitable grounds, both by counties and municipalities toward prac- tically all relief or humane agencies within their hounds.

In Alabama the Marine Hospital at Mobile (q. v.) is an excellent illustration of a pub- lic institution, conducted under the United States Public Health Service. During the progress of the European War detention hos- pitals or houses were maintained at Annis- ton and Montgomery, with hospital facili- ties for venereally infected persons. Follow- ing the closing of army camps and demobili- zation (1919), hospitals and dispensaries where persons infected with venereal disease could secure free treatment, have been main- tained at Anniston, Huntsville, Mobile, Mont- gomery, Sheffield. These are known as venereal disease clinics.

County Hospitals .- County authorities are authorized to establish "within the county, hospitals, temporary or permanent, for the reception of the sick or infirm, or of persons suspected to have infectious or contagious diseases, and may make all needful rules and regulations for the control and management thereof, and shall have authority to confer by contract upon any institution for the in- struction of students of medicine located in the city, town, or county in which such hos- pital is situated, upon such terms and for such number of years as they may deter- mine, the right to select the visiting staff of physicians to such hospital for the col- legiate course of each year and to hold clinics on the patients therein and have its students attend such clinics." Authority is given also for counties and cities to unite in the estab- lishment and support of hospitals.

The original provisions of the law govern- ing public health and sanitation date from 1807, but it appears that the authority of counties in the matter of hospital service was first given in the Code of 1852. Since 1903 courts of county commissioners of counties having over 35,000 population, are empowered to make appropriations "to aid in maintaining and taking care of sick and wounded persons, who are unable to provide for themselves, in any hospital maintained in their respective counties exclusively for the care of the sick or wounded within the limits of such counties." In other cases counties care for their indigent poor in local alms houses, under the care of the county physician.

Municipal Hospitals .- Municipal authori-

ties are given power "to aid, establish, set up, and regulate hospitals, poorhouses, work- houses, houses of correction, and pesthouses, anywhere in the county in which the city or town is situated, and cause persons af- flicted with contagious, infectious, or pesti- lential diseases to be removed to such hos- pitals or pesthouses as may be provided for the purpose, and to cause persons who have been exposed to such diseases, or any of them, to be removed to some suitable place of de- tention and detained for a reasonable length of time."

The foregoing authority exists independent of the powers referred to in the preceding subtitle, which are conferred alike upon coun- ties, cities and towns.

Private Institutions. - Numerous well equipped, commodious and finely located pri- vate institutions are to he found throughout the State. In the larger centers from the earliest period in its history, leading physi- cians have maintained sanatoriums and in- firmaries. At first they were small, inade- quate and poorly equipped, but with the advance of medical science, growth of popu- lation and general improvement in living con- ditions and social aspirations, improvements have rapidly been made. Some of the pic- tures of buildings and specimens of equip- ment and instruments then in use are in- teresting evidences of the great progress made in hospital service.

In the fascinating autobiography of Dr. J. Marion Sims, the great gynecologist, en- titled "The story of my life," will be found references to medical and surgical conditions wounded persons," can be located, estab- in Montgomery prior to 1850. He says: "I had a little hospital of eight beds, built in the corner of my yard, for taking care of my negro patients and for negro surgical cases." For his white patients there was no place for attention other than their homes.

Among the earliest of the privately main- tained hospitals, mention must be made of the effort of charitable agencies of the Catho- lic Church. Providence Infirmary at Mobile, St. Vincent's Hospital at Birmingham and St. Margaret's Hospital at Montgomery are representative types of institutions so main- tained. They are wholly under church con- trol, but the organizations in immediate charge vary.

For many years certain well-known min- eral springs in the State enjoyed a wide popu- larity, not only as recreational resorts, but because of the supposed medicinal value of the waters. At Blount Springs, Blount County, Bailey Springs, Lauderdale County, and Bladon Springs, Choctaw County, sana- torium facilities, with a physician in attend- ance were offered.

Since April 21, 1911, however, no "hos- pital, infirmary, or institution of any kind, for the care and treatment of sick and lished or built in any county or municipality of the State until authorized by the county board of health, after a careful examination of the proposed location, etc. This statute is said to work in a wholly salutary way.

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HISTORY OF ALABAMA

See Can't Get Away Club; Charity Organ- izations; Child Welfare; Epileptic Colony; Health, State Board of; Insane Hospitals; Marine (U. S.) Hospital at Mobile; Masonic Home; Mental Defectives; Odd Fellows; Old Age Relief; Pensions; Poor Relief; Quaran- tine; Salvation Army; Tuberculosis; Tuber- 'culosis Commission; The Alabama Violun- teers of America.

REFERENCES .- Code, 1852, sec. 956; 1907, secs. 734, 1277; Mclaughlin and Hart, Cyclopedia of American Government (1914), vol. 2, p. 127; Sims, Story of my life (1885) ; General Acts, 1911, p. 573, and numerous citations under cross references in preceding paragraph.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Legislature.

See

HOUSTON COUNTY. Created by the leg- islature, February 9, 1903. Its territory was taken from Dale, Geneva and Henry Coun- ties. It has an area of 579 square miles, or 370,560 acres.

The county was established, and with less than the constitutional requirement of 600 square miles, in obedience to a proviso in sec. 39 of the constitution of 1901, viz .:

"Provided, that out of the counties of Henry, Dale and Geneva a new county of less than six hundred square miles may be formed under the provisions of this article, so as to leave said counties of Henry, Dale and Geneva with not less than five hundred square miles each."

Location and Physical Description .- It is in the extreme southeastern corner of the State, bounded on the east by the Chatta- hoochee River and the State of Georgia, on the north by Henry County, on the east by Geneva and Dale and on the south by the State of Florida.

The country is level and gently rolling. In the eastern section of the county the draln- age is into the Chattahoochee River, and the Chipola River and its several branches drain the lower section. The Atlantic Coast Line runs along the dividing ridge between the head waters of the Chipola and the waters of Omussee and Hurricane Creeks. The ele- vation at Dothan is 355 feet. The county lies in the Coastal Plain, and its soils belong to the St. Stephens group of Eocene. The sandy soils prevail, with yellow loam on the up- lands. The soils are early, well drained, easy of tillage, and suited to the usual crops. The timber growth is hickory, oak, ash, walnut, sweet gum, bay and pine.

The mean annual temperature is 67.1º F., with a maximum of 101º F. and a minimum of - F. The annual rainfall is 53.50 inches. Details of the extent and character of pro- duction are noted in the statistics below.

Aboriginal History .- On Chattahoochee River are found the remains of the villages which branched out from the Seminole towns of southwest Georgia and the Flint River re- gion. On the Cay Thompson property near Fullmore's Upper Landing is found a burial mound from which Clarence B. Moore se-

cured some characteristic earthenware. On the Green Pate place in the Choctawhatchee Swamp east of the river, is a large burial mound 15 feet high by 60 feet in diameter, from which pottery has been secured. Six miles northeast of Dothan on Omussee Creek, on the farm of T. J. Watson is a mound evidencing a village site. This site is hardly the main town of Omussee, but may have been a branch. At and near Neal's Landing, Jackson County, Florida, are found many evidences of aboriginal life and these extend up into Houston County. This is probably the site of Otchisi, a Seminole town. One and a half miles below Columbia, on property of W. L. Crawford, is a large domiciliary mound.

Farm, Livestock and Crop Statistics, 1918. -The statistics below are given for illustra- tive purposes, and in tabular form, without any attempt at comparison or analysis. They were gathered under the direction of the Bu- reau of Crop Estimates, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

Number of all farms (1917), 2,200.

Acres cultivated (1917), 192,820.

Acres in pasture (1917), 45,720. Farm Animals:

Horses and mules, 6,500.

Milk cows, 6,900.

Other cattle, 12,000.

Brood sows, 10,500.

Other hogs, 49,000. Sheep (1917), 400.

Selected Crops (Acres and Quantity .-

Corn, 97,000 acres; 670,000 bushels. Cotton, 40,000 acres; 8,300 bales.

Peanuts, 51,400 acres; 1,280,000 bushels. Velvet beans, 34,000 acres; 10,000 tons.

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History of Alabama and dictionary of Alabama biography, Volume I, Part 136

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869- Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company Number of Pages: 756

Author: Owen, Thomas McAdory, 1866-1920; Owen, Marie (Bankhead) Mrs. 1869-
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, The S. J. Clarke publishing company
Number of Pages: 756