Ulysses Prentiss Hedrick (1870–1951) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and

horticulturist Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

. His main interest was cultivated

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...

s and he published a number of volumes dealing with such fruits as

cherries A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour ''Prunus cerasus''. The nam ...

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began perhaps 8,000 years ago, ...

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

s, and

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

es.

Biography

Hedrick was born in 1870 in

Independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

. He grew up in Northern Michigan near Harbor Springs, an experience recalled in his memoir ''The Land of the Crooked Tree'', and was the brother of Wilbur Olin Hedrick. He attended

Michigan State Agricultural College Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

(MSAC), now Michigan State University, receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree in 1893 and a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

degree in 1895. He worked as Assistant Horticulturist at MSAC from 1893 to 1895, while studying for his M.S. From 1895 to 1905, Hedrick taught

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

Oregon Agricultural College Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

(1895–1897), Utah Agricultural College (1897–1899), and Michigan State Agricultural College (1899–1905). He became a horticulturist at the

New York State Agricultural Experiment Station The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an agricultural experiment station operated by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. In August 20 ...

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

in 1905. While in Geneva, Hedrick was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree at Hobart College in 1913. He continued to work at the Station, which he directed from 1928 onwards, until 1937, when he retired. Hedrick was made a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1911, and of the

New York State Historical Association The Fenimore Art Museum (formerly known as New York State Historical Association) is a museum located in Cooperstown, New York, Cooperstown, New York (state), New York on the west side of Otsego Lake (New York), Otsego Lake. Collection strengths i ...

and a member of the

American Society for Horticultural Science Founded in 1903, the American Society for Horticultural Science in Alexandria, Virginia is "the largest, most visible organization dedicated to advancing all facets of horticultural research, education, and application." The ASHS's purpose is to pr ...

(president 1913) and

American Pomological Society The American Pomological Society was founded by Marshall Pinckney Wilder in 1848, to foster the growing of fruit and the development of new varieties, and is the oldest fruit organization in North America. Publications The organization's primary ...

. During his lifetime, he authored or co-authored more than a dozen publications, which are "still frequently consulted", on the subjects of

pomology Pomology (from Latin , “fruit,” + ) is a branch of botany that studies fruit and its cultivation. The term fruticulture—introduced from Romance languages (all of whose incarnations of the term descend from Latin and )—is also used. Pomol ...

and horticulture. His

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

s on fruits, including publications such as ''The Pears of New York'' (1922), "have become classic references on the fruit cultivars of the period". Hedrick died in 1951.

Publications

* ''Grapes of New York'' (1908) * ''Plums of New York'' (1911) * ''Cherries of New York'' (1915) * ''Peaches of New York'' (1917) * ''Manual of American Grape Growing'' (1919) * ''Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants'' (1919) * ''Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits'' (1921) * ''The Pears of New York'' (1921) * ''Systematic Pomology'' (1925) * ''Small Fruit of New York'' (1925) * ''The Vegetables of New York'' (1929) * ''History of Agriculture in the State of New York'' (1933) * ''Fruits for the Home Garden'' (1944) * ''The Land of the Crooked Tree'' (1948) * ''Grapes and Wines from Home Vineyards'' (1945) * ''A History of Horticulture in America'' (1950)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hedrick, Ulysses Prentiss Botanists with author abbreviations 1870 births 1951 deaths American botanists Botanists active in North America Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni Michigan State University alumni Michigan State University faculty Oregon State University faculty Pomologists Utah State University faculty American horticulturists People from Independence, Iowa