The History of the Horticulture Department

In 1921, Dr. Cecil Patterson was hired as the first Horticulture lecturer and in 1922 Dean Rutherford appointed Patterson as the first Head of the newly formed Department of Horticulture Science.  The appointment of Patterson helped establish a larger number of horticulture classes and a horticulture option in 1934.  Until Dr. Patterson's appointment, all classes in horticulture had been offered in the Field Husbandry Department.  The main responsibilities of the horticulture department from its commencement until 1947 included maintenance of the University campus as well as horticulture research.  Initial research focused on the improvement of horticultural types of plants through a breeding and selection program.  There is also evidence of early variety testing in fruits and vegetables. 

In 1961, Dr. Stu Nelson was appointed Professor and Head of the Department and additional faculty members were appointed in 1962 and 1964.  By this time research in the department focused on fruit breeding, vegetable research, horticultural crop physiology and greenhouse work.  Dr. Nelson remained Head of the Department until his retirement in 1981.

Dr. Cecil Stushnoff was appointed as the Head of the Department in 1982 and remained in that position until his resignation from the University in 1989.  The Department would see a large expansion and changeover of staff between 1988-1991 with the addition of three new professional staff members

Dr. Ken Giles was appointed Head of the Department in 1989 and remained in that position until his resignation in 1994 leading to the appointment of Dr. Bryan Harvey for a six-month position as Acting Head of the Department.  In 1995, Dr. Harvey was appointed Head of the department for a five-year term, however in 1997, Harvey was appointed University Coordinator of Agricultural Research in the University's Presidents Office, leaving the department without leadership.

 In 1997, after internal discussions within the department and college determined there was no internal candidate willing to fill the position, Dr. John Stewart, Dean of the College of Agriculture, appointed Dr. Malcolm Devine acting Head for a 10 week period and assigned him the task of merging the Department of Horticulture Science with the Department of Crop Science and Plant Ecology.  On July 1,1998 the two Departments merged to become the Department of Plant Sciences with Dr. Graham J. Scoles as Head of the newly formed Department.

Under the umbrella of the Department of Plant Science in the College of Agriculture and Bioresources, today's Horticulture Science offers teaching, research and outreach relating to the development, production and management of Horticultural crops on the Canadian Prairies.  Horticulture Research involves the development of fruits, plant propagation, fruit and vegetable production, environmental stress physiology, nursery crop production, greenhouse management and soil health and crop nutrition in horticultural systems.

Year	Student	Title
1991	NEHRA, Narendar	Genetic stability of micropropagated strawberries and Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation
1993	WAHAB, M.N.J.	Productivity of Potato Seed-Tubers from Different Latitudes
1996	WEIR, B.J.	Development and Application of RAPD Analysis for Intra- and Interspecific Characterization Within the Genus Amelanchier
2001	RONALD, P.	Variability and Mechanism of Saskatoon Disease Response to Entomosporium mespili
2002	SHATERIAN, J.	Identifying Factors Converring Salt Tolerance to Diploid Potato Lines
2009	ETEHADNIA, M.	Salt Stress Tolerance in Potato Genotypes
2016	XU, J.	Developing a Novel Hypomethylated Population and Characterizing a Stable Early Flowering Epimutant in Strawberry (Fragaria vesca)
2017	DAWSON, J.	Concentration and Content of Secondary Metabolites in Fruit and Leaves of Haskap (Lonicera caerulea L.)
2017	GERBRANDT, E.	Diversity of Adaptation, Agronomic Potential and Fruit Quality of Lonicera caerulea L.
2018	WILLICK, I.	The Mechanism of Freezing Resistance in Cold-Acclimated Winter Rye and Rye Crowns