54
THE BATTALION.
HORTICULTURAL DEPARTMENT.
The horticultural department is pre
paring to move into the new building
during the Christmas holidays. The new
rooms designed for general horticultural
practice and for fine microscopical work
on vegetable pathology are not surpassed
by any A. and M. college in the South.
New desks, tables, seats, etc., designed
and especially selected for this work,
will be placed in this new building. Such
improvements have been needed since the
department was organized in the Col
lege.
The small greenhouse turned over to
the department last summer has lately
been remodeled and a modern greenhouse
boiler placed in it. This greenhouse
will be used mostly to grow flowers for
beautifying the campus.
The horticultural department has just
completed an exhaustive bulletin on
“Pruning and Training Peach Orchards.”
Texas is becoming famous for her fine
peaches. A fine Texas peach orchard,
loaded with the crimsomcheeked, rich
and luscious fruit partially hidden by
the bright green foliage, is indeed a beau
tiful sight to see. These orchards are
not only things of beauty, but are prov
ing to' be very profitable.
The successful methods of pruning and
training of the College orchards here are
fully discussed in this new bulletin,
which will be distributed over the State.
There is a great deal of science in this
work not understood by the ordinary
grower. All the principles are fully
brought out by fine illustrations made
by a special artist under direction of
the horticulturist.
Several requests have been made lately
for students of this department to set up
and manage canneries in different parts
of the State. These positions pay all the
way from $75 to $150 per month.
CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT.
The very erroneous and mischievous im
pression that mere graduation from a
course of civil engineering thoroughly
equips one as a full-fledged engineer,
capable of successfully filling the most
prominent and responsible positions, pre
vails very idely among students of this
course. This impression would not be
so far wrong if such graduates were thor
ough masters of all the theoretical and
practical instruction that they had re
ceived from professors and text books,
but unfortunately such is not the case.
It is comparatively easy to memorize
several pages which describe accurately
and exhaustively the method of cross-
sectioning, but it is quite a different mat
ter to go into the Held and establish
grade lines, set slope stakes, stake out
openings, and find grade points with that
expedition and accuracy so necessary in
railroad construction. The graduate
fresh from college imagines that he thor
oughly understands the whole theory of
transition curves, but give him a transit
and tell him to connect two compound
curves by a transition curve, and he will
soon become painfully aware of the fact
that he has yet much to learn. A work
ing knowledge of these two things can
not be obtained without much practice
and painstaking observation.
It often happens that inexperienced
men, by the aid of influential friends, are