Principles in horticultural science : Laboratory manual

Abstract

A laboratory course studying plants is an essential background for practising horticulturists. This manual is written for you, the student, because students often express the wish to know what is coming. Furthermore, when it is convenient, you can consider these exercises in the light of your lectures and reading. The subject matter of these exercises will be discussed in lectures. You may then wonder why have practical exercises as well. In our experience, students are often unaware of the benefits of practical work and rate it low in usefulness. However, practical exercises allow the student to: - consider plants as entities and not just as the spoken word of books and lectures, - make personal discoveries, - reinforce information learnt in books and lectures, - consider some topics of interest in greater detail than lectures allow. A further benefit of practical laboratory work, with supervision, is the training in scientific method. Science depends on careful observation, discriminating use of equipment and technique, and precision.