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- Author or Editor: Mark K. Mullinix x
Horticulture departments have been experiencing a decline of students studying pomology and the tree fruit industry suffers from a shortage of horticulturists. Wenatchee Valley College responded to the tree fruit industry's request to develop an undergraduate pomology program. The program has an industry advisory committee, is industry oriented and emphasizes the art and the science of deciduous tree fruit production. Industry and field-based instruction is a significant component of the curriculum. The fruit industry funded the development of two laboratory orchards totaling 53 acres. Industry satisfaction and student placement is high. Wenatchee Valley College's success motivated the industry to encourage the Washington State University Dept. of Horticulture and Wenatchee Valley College to join in an educational partnership. The Washington Tree Fruit Program was implemented in 1993. It is the state's first educational program cooperatively developed by two state institutions of higher education and boasts 55 degree-seeking students. The articulated curriculum has many innovations and represents a significant departure from traditional undergraduate pomology curricula.
To address the acute need of Washington's tree fruit industry for professional horticulturists, the Agriculture Sciences Department at Wenatchee Valley College and the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Washington State University have developed and implemented a unique undergraduate degree program. This program represents a new way of addressing the need for professional horticultural positions in Washington's tree fruit industry amidst tradition, reductions in state higher education budgets, and eroding confidence in the public education system. This program is not a credit transfer program but a fully articulated agreement. We established a small working team that represented the partners. Their goal was to discuss and develop a concept framework that has three parts: administrative, curriculum and industry support. The objectives of the program are to address the need of Washington's tree fruit industry for entry level horticulturists who could assume more responsibility earlier in their career, to make the fruit industry and integral partner, to prepare students for graduate study as well as industry professionals and to capitalize on the respective strengths of the partners.
Abstract
The effects at 2 different rates of the gibberellins A4 and A7 plus 6-beneyladenine (GA4+7 + BA) on the length/diameter (L/D) ratios of both standard- and spur-type ‘Delicious’ apples (Malus domestica Borkh.), when combined with bloomperiod fungicides applied at different stages of blossom development, were evaluated. The effectiveness of GA4+7 + BA was not reduced by combining it with selected fungicides. GA4+7 + BA at twice the suggested rate usually resulted in increased fruit L/D ratios. Full-bloom applications were most effective for fruit elongation of spurtype strains, whereas full-pink applications were most effective for standard-type strains.