Nursery Production

PLSC 467

Fall 2000

The purpose of this course is to introduce student to nursery production techniques. Students will apply information learned in other courses to production problems encountered in both container and field nursery production.  Students will participate in a group project that will provide an opportunity to apply information, solve problems and gain practical experience dealing with plant production.

Personnel

     Instructor:    Dr. John Frett

                        161 TNS

                        jfrett@udel.edu

            If students can not contact the instructor, they may phone 831-2531 and leave a message.

Course Time /Location

            Lecture/Lab:    Fri 1:25 – 3:25 PM

                                    103 FGL

Required Texts

Davidson, H., R. Mecklenburg, and C. Peterson. 2000. Nursery Management, Administration and Culture, 4^th edition.  Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

American Association of Nurserymen.  1996.  American Standard for Nursery Stock.  American Association of Nuserymen, Washington, DC.

Suggest references

Harris, R.  1992.  Arboriculture.  Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Pirone, P.  1978.  Diseases and Pest of Ornamental Plants, 5^th edition.  John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.

Hartman, H.T., D.E. Kester and F.T. Davies.  Plant Propagation Principles and Practices. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY. 

Dirr, M.A. and C. W. Heuser, Jr.  1987. The Refference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation.  Varsity Press, Athens GA.

Journals

American Nurseryman

Nursery Manager

Journal of Arboriculture

Proceedings of the International Plant Propagators’ Society

Proceedings of the Southern Nurseryman’s Association

Grading

                                                            Points for each               Total points

Examinations (2)                                        100                        200

Project (1)                                                 200                        200

“Qiuzzes”                                                    10                        100

Total points possible                                                                500

            Grades will be assigned according to the following schedule:

                        Total points                           Grade

                         500 - 465                                   A

                         464 - 450                                   A-

                         449 - 435                                   B+

                         434 - 415                                   B

                         414 - 400                                   B-

                         399 - 385                                   C+

                         384 - 365                                   C

                         364 - 350                                   C-

                         349 - 335                                   D+

                         334 - 315                                   D

                         314 - 300                                   D-

                         299 -                                          F

            Examinations will be given during the lecture period and university scheduled final period. Exams may cover any information from lecture or lab since the last exam. Exams will begin promptly at the start of the period and will be collected at the end of the period, if they are not turned in prior to that time.

            Make-up exams will be given only in the case of excused absences (illness or family emergency). You must notify the instructor prior to the exam or you will receive a 0 score for that exam. Upon returning, students will provide documentation of the illness and a written request to schedule a make-up exam. All make-up exams will be ORAL.

Class enthusiasm

            The final determination of grades will include such factors such as enthusiasm in class, effort put forth, improvement during the semester, attendance in lab, etc. These factors, grouped under the heading student enthusiasm, will largely affect students that are between 2 grades. No special or extra credit projects will be accepted to improve grades.

General Policies

Attendance:

            You are responsible for the satisfactory completion of this course. I feel that this requires your attendance at all lecture and lab sessions. If you are absent for any reason, it is your responsibility to obtain any material that you missed. If it is an excused absence, I will be more than happy to go over the material with you. If repeated unexcused absences occur, your academic dean will be notified.

Classroom Discussion:

            I encourage students to interject pertinent comments during lecture and lab sections. This will stimulate 2-way discussions rather than monotonous lectures and allow students' input into the material discussed. You should feel free, at any time, to ask questions.

Contention of Grades:

            Any grade may be contended after one day and within 2 weeks of the time the exam is returned. After 2 weeks the grade stands as is. All disagreements must be submitted in writing with supporting documentation (copy of notes, book, etc.). The work will then be completely regraded and returned to the student. The text for the class will serve as the definitive authority for all disputes.

Plagiarism:

            The temptation for plagiarism is often times great. The instructors will do all that is practical to reduce the opportunity for plagiarism to occur but inevitably the occasion will occur. If any student is caught plagiarizing, that student's academic dean will be notified immediately.

Late Work:

            All late work will be assessed a late penalty of 10% per day to include weekends and holidays. Thus, after 10 days a score of 0 will be recorded.