Locus Amoenus provides a pioneering collection of new perspectives on Renaissance garden history, and the impact of its development. Experts in the field illustrate the extent of our knowledge of how the natural world looked and how humans related to their environment. * A ground-breaking collection of new perspectives on garden history * Essays demonstrate the extent of our knowledge of how the natural world looked and how humans related to their environment * The book's broad coverage includes botany and herbals, literary reflections of changing ideas of landscape and nature, and human's place within it * Contributors come from a wide range of experts, including archaeologists, scholars and the librarian and archivist to the Royal Horticultural Society * Reflects the growing emergence of this field, which has been assisted both by archaeology and ideas from green studies and environmental criticism * Richly illustrated throughout

Cut and come again forestry - reviving the ancient practice of resprout silviculture to power local woodland-based economies. Coppice Agroforestry is a richly illustrated, comprehensive guide to resprout silviculture - managing trees and shrubs by coppicing, pollarding, shredding, and pleaching - for a continuous supply of small diameter polewood for products from firewood to fine furniture. Contextualizing resprout silviculture historically, ecologically, and economically, Coppice Agroforestry explores the potential of this ancient practice for modern times. Coverage includes: The cultural history of coppicing in Europe and North America Tree and shrub anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology A suite of woodland management systems Dozens of handcrafted wood products on a continuum of value, offering a wide range of business opportunities Case studies of diverse coppice-based enterprises Assessing existing forests for coppice potential Designing new resprout silviculture systems Tables highlighting diverse species for various uses A vision of a modern resprout silviculture renaissance. A decade in the making, encyclopedic in scope, and written by the hand of a woodsman, Coppice Agroforestry is a deep dive into this ancient practice, blending it with modern science, systems thinking, and tools to land it firmly into the 21st century. Whether you have a few trees or an entire forest, Coppice Agroforestry is the must-have practical guide for homesteaders, farmers, foresters, land managers, and educators who ally themselves with the remarkable resilience of woody plants.

Aeroponics: Growing Vertical covers aspects of the emerging technology, aeroponics, which is a sister to hydroponics, involving state-of-the-art controlled environment agriculture. The book begins with an introduction of aeroponics followed by a summary of peer-reviewed technical literature conducted over 50 years involving various aspects of aeroponics. It covers the science and all the patent literature since 2001 to give the reader a comprehensive view of the innovations related to aeroponics. This book is a useful reference for people interested in learning about how aeroponics works. This book is for novices as well as scientists interested in research activities conducted in countries around the world as well as work in using aeroponics in outer space. Designed for the user interested in research conducted in the past, this a helpful resource for those in the next generation of profitable agricultural endeavors. Features: * Comprehensive resource presenting key aspects of aeroponics * Focus on areas of aeroponics including its history, science, innovations, business, and practice * Provides a complete overview of the intellectual property associated with aeroponics * Presents a broad overview of research using aeroponic systems across the globe * Features information on key start-up businesses and activities that drive this technology Thomas Gurley earned a BA in chemistry from Houghton College and a PhD in analytical chemistry from Case Western Reserve University and has 40 years industrial chemistry experience with companies including Goodyear, Abbott Labs, and his consulting company, Manning Wood LLC. He holds two Fulbright scholarships to Ukraine and Uganda. He is currently R&D Director for Aero Development Corporation, a manufacturer of aeroponic commercial growing systems. He conducts research in aeroponics as an adjunct professor at Charleston Southern University in South Carolina.

First published in 1997, this volume contributes to the knowledge for the trade of vegetables, fruits and tubers (so-called horticultural commodities). As African policy makers try to keep pace with new developments in private food trade, they require knowledge of the structures of private trade systems and the factors that govern their long-term development. The study analyses the structure and development of horticultural marketing channels in Kenya. It is based primarily on surveys of some 500 farmers in four districts and 750 horticultural traders in 18 market places. Commercial horticultural farmers, domestic traders, export traders, agents, facilitators, marketing cooperatives and processors are all reviewed. The study devotes special attention to the efficiency of collecting wholesalers, and to the development of rural assembly markets. It develops a model which can elucidate vertical differentiation processes in the Kenyan horticultural channels. The analyses show that marketing channel theory can be of great relevance to the developing world. The proposed vertical differentiation model can aid in predicting future changes in horticultural marketing systems, in Kenya as well as in other African countries.

Fruit ripening is an important aspect of fruit production. The timing of it affects supply chains and buying behaviour, and for consumers ripeness not only affects perceptions of health but has nutritional effects too. Ripeness is closely related to spoilage which has a major financial impact on agricultural industries. Currently there are fast moving developments in knowledge of the factors affecting fruit ripeness, and this up-to-date monograph seeks to draw together the disparate research in this area. The aim of the book is to produce a comprehensive account covering almost every area related to fruit ripening including the latest molecular mechanisms regulating fruit ripening, its impact on human nutrition and emerging research and technologies.

Completely updated with new content and full-colour figures throughout, the second edition of this successful book continues to provide a comprehensive coverage of pineapple breeding, production and yield. Pineapple is an increasingly important crop and demand for fresh pineapple is steadily growing; stakeholders in the value chain are worldwide. The Pineapple: Botany, Production and Uses provides essential coverage from botany through to postharvest handling and provides the technical information required by all those working with the crop. The second edition: - Contains new chapters on organic production and production for other uses (fibre and ornamentals). - Includes major updates to content on taxonomy, biotechnology, cultural systems, nutrition, varieties and genetic improvement. - Explores physiological changes associated with the year-round growing of pineapple in addition to the associated cultural practices and mineral nutrition. - Considers the impacts of climate change and environmental issues on pineapple crops, and relevant mitigation strategies. - Looks at the effects of new cultivars and technologies on cultural practices and plant nutrition. Written by an international team of experts, this book is an essential resource for researchers, growers and all those involved in the pineapple industry.

This practical book provides a comprehensive and accessible overview of all aspects of the commercial production of blackberries and their hybrids, covering plant growth and development, cultivar description and selection, propagation, pruning, soil and water management, postharvest management, economics and marketing, and pest identification and management. Cultivated blackberries are a relatively new crop, but with new cultivars and cultural practices they are now grown and available worldwide. Production regions have expanded internationally due to innovative methods showing much promise and evidence of human health benefits. Blackberries and Their Hybrids explains the many complex steps involved in producing a conventional or an organic crop for the fresh and processed markets, and: - Contains information gathered from global sources - Is appropriate for areas that can produce blackberries for the local, domestic and/or export markets - Includes full-color images throughout Authored by a team of experts, this book is essential for growers, extension workers, fruit industry personnel, students, and lecturers involved in the commercial production of blackberries and their hybrids.

This book provides a means for the accurate identification of over 190 families and 2220 genera of flowering plants cultivated out-of-doors in gardens in north-west Europe and in other geographical regions with a similar climate, including parts of North America. The text is an abridged version of The European Garden Flora, published in six volumes, and consitutes a handy single volume digest that considers families and genera, but not species. A key to all the families is provided and for each of the families, a key to the genera within it. Scientifically rigorous descriptions of families and genera follow, including information on the number of constituent genera or species, and details of geographical distribution. Illustrations of genera from most of the major families are included to aid accurate identification.

Successful seed supplies are vital in maintaining vegetable production and availability, and for ensuring food security for many subsistence farmers in developing countries. Providing a broad and expert coverage of the horticultural production of vegetables grown from seed, this fully updated new edition includes new coverage of the production of genetically modified crops, organic seed production, packaging, and honey bee population, as well as updated references and further reading. It is an essential text for horticulturists, researchers, seed scientists, vegetable producers, students, technicians and practitioners in vegetable seed production in both developed and developing countries.

A beautifully illustrated and unique history of the rose-the "queen of flowers"-in art, medicine, cuisine, and more "From noted rosarian Peter Kukielski comes this unique and handsome book that traces the many ways that roses have captured human imagination throughout the history of civilization."-Meghan Shinn, Horticulture "I would recommend Rosa as a gift for anyone who loves flowers, although once purchased you would find it hard to pass on!"-Judith Blacklock, Flora Magazine Few flowers have quite the same allure or as significant a place in history as the rose. A symbol of love, power, royalty, beauty, and joy, the rose has played many roles, both literal and symbolic, in poetry, art, literature, music, fashion, medicine, perfume, decoration, cuisine, and more. In this beautifully illustrated guide, award-winning horticulturist Peter E. Kukielski and his coauthor, Charles Phillips, tell the fascinating and many-layered history of this "queen of flowers." The book explores many stories from the long association of roses with human societies, from their first cultivation-likely in China some five thousand years ago-to their modern genetic cultivars. It shows how roses have been prominent across time and many cultures, including ancient Greece and Rome, Christianity, Islam, and Sufism. The book, with more than 140 color illustrations, offers a unique look at the essential contributions that roses have made throughout human history.

In the heart of London, beside the Thames not far from the site of the world famous flower show, there is another magical garden. It has been there for over three hundred years and is now the calmest corner, and the most valuable four acres of freehold, in fashionable SW3. It has been the scene of some of the most important developments in the history of horticulture, medicine and twentieth-century agriculture. This book tells its fascinating story.

With the increased interest in and demands for compost from commercial horticultural industries, composting is on the verge of becoming an economically feasible option for waste management. While horticultural producers can create some of the compost to meet their own needs, demand has grown beyond what they can supply for themselves and others. Compost Utilization in Horticultural Cropping Systems gives you the tools to meet the needs of this growing industry.
Consider these statistics:
o Americans generate about 200 million megagrams of municipal solid waste per year
o The agricultural market for compost could reach over 680 million m3 per year
o Two horticultural areas together account for over 50% of compost use: landscaping (31%) and food crop production (25%)
Now consider this:
o Proven benefits of compost use, including plant disease suppression, better moisture retention, supplying plant nutrients, and building soil organic matter
o Increased pressure on peat supplies and wider availability of compost products
o Creation of composting enterprises by the horticultural industry in response to its own needs, rising disposal fees for organic waste, and consumer demand for compost at retail centers
The first book to establish a composite of the existing scientific knowledge on the use of compost in commercial horticultural enterprises, Compost Utilization in Horticultural Cropping Systems gives you a comprehensive review of the production, use, and economics of compost. It covers production methods, compost quality and the parameters associated with its measurement, and the biological, chemical, and physical processes that occur during composting. Rather than searching for information in various places, now you can find all the information you need in one convenient source.

The first of two volumes, this book covers major tropical fruits such as avocado, litchi, mango, papaya and pineapple. Early chapters describe the tropics and its soils and deal with key issues such as tree management and postharvest handling, updated and expanded to include best handling practices and food safety issues and the way to address these issues in marketing. Following these are self-contained chapters on single fruits which provide in-depth studies of botany, areas of origin and distribution, descriptions of ecological requirements and world production and utilization of each fruit. Propagation & cultural practices from ancient to modern are described to show the regional differences that environmental and biological pressures exert on fruit production and fruit quality. "Tropical Fruits" is essential reading for students and teachers of horticulture as well as horticultural industry personnel and policy-makers.

Although thought of as a minor crop, peppers are a major world commodity due to their great versatility. They are used not only as vegetables in their own right but also as flavorings in food products, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Aimed at advanced students and growers, this second edition expands upon topics covered in the first, such as the plant s history, genetics, production, diseases and pests, and brings the text up to date with current research and understanding of this genus. New material includes an expansion of marker-assisted breeding to cover the different types of markers available, new directions, and trends in the industry, the loss of germplasm and access to it, and the long term preservation of Capsicum resources worldwide."

Guava (Psidium guajava L.) is an exquisite, nutritionally and economically valuable crop of tropical and subtropical regions of the world. It outshines other tropical fruits in productivity, hardiness, adaptability, nutritional value, and ensures higher economic returns to growers. Guava is commercially grown in over 70 countries, and is gaining in popularity as a 'super fruit' due to its nutritional and health benefits. Notable recent developments include the potential to improve crop yields and quality. New research has also contributed to better understanding of the crop environment, plant growth and physiology of tree and fruit development, with implications for both breeding and cultivation. Guava is one of the few tree fruits where round-the-year harvest is possible by crop regulation. Interspecific hybridization with wild Psidium species has yielded hybrids which are resistant to wilt (a major guava disease in many countries) and are graft compatible. This book: * is the only publication available in English covering sustainable guava cultivation; * presents the current state of knowledge on the origin, history, physiology, culture and trade of guava throughout the world; and * addresses the major production and post-harvest problems. With contributions from international experts, this is a valuable resource for researchers and students in horticulture, and guava-industry support personnel.

Perhaps the least appreciated dramatis personae in human history are plants. Humans, like all other animals, cannot produce their own food as plants do through photosynthesis, and must therefore acquire organic material for survival and growth by eating plants or by eating other animals that eat plants. Humans depend on plants not only as a food source, but also as building and clothing materials and as sources of medicines, psychoactive substances, spices, pigments, and more. With plants being such valuable resources, it is therefore not surprising that plants have been involved in practically all violent conflicts among different human societies. Ironically, plants have also been the source of materials to construct weapons or weapon parts. Wars have always constituted a large part of human history, and the overall theme of this book is that to understand the history of violent human conflict, we need to understand what specific materials plants make that people find so useful and worth fighting over, and what roles such plant products have played in specific conflicts. To do so, Plants and Human Conflict begins with a chapter explaining the basic biological facts of the interdependence between plants and humans, and the subsequent seven chapters describe the physical and chemical properties of specific plant products demonstrating how the human need for these products has led to wars as well as contributed to the prosecution of wars. These chapters recount some well-known (and some lesser known) historical events in which plants have played a central role. This book uniquely combines the modern scientific knowledge of plants with the human history of war, introducing readers to a new paradigm that will make them reconsider their understanding of human history, as well as to bring about a greater appreciation of plant biology.

Food gardening is becoming increasingly popular, as people look for new ways to live more sustainably and minimize harm to the environment. This book addresses the 21st century trends which bring new challenges to food gardening - anthropogenic climate change, environmental degradation, natural resource scarcity, and social inequity - and explains the basic biological, ecological and social concepts needed to understand and respond to them. Examples throughout the text demonstrate how to successfully use these concepts, while supporting gardeners' values, and their goals for themselves, their communities and the world.

"Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard" illuminates the meaning of Johnny "Appleseed" Chapman's life and the environmental and cultural significance of the plant he propagated. Creating a startling new portrait of the eccentric apple tree planter, William Kerrigan carefully dissects the oral tradition of the Appleseed myth and draws upon material from archives and local historical societies across New England and the Midwest.

The character of Johnny Appleseed stands apart from other frontier heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, who employed violence against Native Americans and nature to remake the West. His apple trees, nonetheless, were a central part of the agro-ecological revolution at the heart of that transformation. Yet men like Chapman, who planted trees from seed rather than grafting, ultimately came under assault from agricultural reformers who promoted commercial fruit stock and were determined to extend national markets into the West. Over the course of his life John Chapman was transformed from a colporteur of a new ecological world to a curious relic of a pre-market one.

Weaving together the stories of the Old World apple in America and the life and myth of John Chapman, "Johnny Appleseed and the American Orchard" casts new light on both.

Wild Edible Underutilized Plants explores the role of wild plants in human nutrition-a topic that continues to take precedence in various fields of research. Despite the increasing evidence on past and present nutritional roles of wild edible plants, the use of these resources is often overlooked and neglected in countless policy areas. This book emphasizes the importance of these plants and explores their relevance to sustainable agriculture, biodiversity, and public health in different agro-ecological regions. The book implements a conceptual approach to wild plants, focusing on the benefits of incorporating these plants into people's diets and daily lives and the advantage they will provide to future generations. The book also addresses widespread issues of scarcity, proposing solutions that promote food sovereignty and security. The book begins by first discussing the nutritional aspects of wild edible plants to explore their value as a source of vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, minerals, and other nutrients. It then continues to elaborate on the anti-nutritional elements of these plants, providing a comprehensive overview of their utility.

The common fig (Ficus carica L.) is one of the oldest fruits domesticated by humans, and is native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean. Figs have been associated with health and prosperity since ancient times. They are rich in fibre, potassium, calcium, and iron, as well as being an important source of vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants. In recent years, increased consumption has caused fig production to shift to new countries such as Mexico, Brazil, India, and China. However, fig is a challenging fruit crop to grow. It is susceptible to insect pests and diseases as well as injuries from abiotic stress during fruit development and ripening. As a delicate fruit it also requires complicated postharvest procedures and climate change presents additional challenges. Comprising 29 chapters written by international experts, the book includes sections on: History Biology and Orchard Management Fruit Ripening and Postharvest Management Pests and Diseases Omics Analysis Cultivars and Breeding Products and Trade. This volume serves as a comprehensive reference for current and future practices of fig production, consumption, research and innovation, and is essential for academic researchers, and those involved in research and development in the fig industry.

This book is concerned with the growing and maintenance of trees from the point of view of ornament and amenity, whether they are in the town or the countryside. It includes details of such matters as spacing, transplanting, pruning, protection and safety, and provides valuable information on the identification and treatment of many of the diseases and insect pests that attack trees.
In addition the book covers such varying subjects as botanic gardens and arboreta, a summary of all the principal law cases which have been concerned with trees, arboricultural education and the choice of trees for urban areas. Intended for outdoor as well as indoor use, The Arboriculturalist's Companion is written in a concise and readable form and is a book that no one who is responsible for trees can afford to be without.
The second edition of The Arboriculturalist's Companion will be an indispensable reference for professional and weekend gardeners as well.

This book has been prepared to provide every production aspect of important vegetables along with information regarding origin and distribution, composition and uses, botany, varieties, climatic and soil requirement, cultivation practices, harvesting, post-harvest management, insect-pests and diseases along with their control measures. Its users would find this book very practical for raising vegetable crops profitably.

This new and updated edition of a highly successful practical book covers major topics of interest to blueberry breeders and researchers including: breeding, varieties, botany, physiology, nutrition, growth regulation, cultivation methods and practices, photosynthesis, plant interaction with the environment, weeds, pests, diseases and postharvest management. The focus is on the highbush blueberry, though information on other blueberries and related species is also provided. Blueberries are cultivated worldwide and this book explores plantings in a great diversity of environments, reflecting on the development of innovative cultural practices and conditions. It examines the increased scope and depth of research activities related to this crop and brings together the current status of knowledge on blueberry science and management. Explaining in an understandable manner the basic science behind the growth and development of blueberries, their botanical characteristics, as well as the implications and effects of various management practices and environmental conditions, Blueberries 2nd Edition also: - Highlights emerging genetic information on the blueberry. - Includes new information on pruning, grafting and irrigation. - Covers current and potential uses of plant growth regulators. - Gathers new information on fruit quality and consumer acceptance. This definitive guide to blueberry cultivation is an essential resource for soft fruit researchers, extension workers, academics, breeders, growers and students.