Gardening and horticulture overlap with agriculture and domestic economy in the rare book collections, together making an incredibly strong emphasis encompassing a wide range of topics related to the cultivation and management of gardens. Early modern gardening and cultivation in the 16th and 17th centuries is a particular strength of the collections; these guides for wives and farmers often contain calendars for planting, sowing, and other home gardening activities, advice on the proper layout of kitchen gardens, tips on various uses of things grown in the garden, and advice on how to deal with pests and weather. The rare book collections also contain books on home gardens in the 18th-20th centuries, including upkeep of American farm gardens, and victory gardens and home food supplies during WWI and WWII. Coverage is strong between the 16th and 19th centuries, with less material from the 20th century.

To search our book collections specifically, limit your search to "Special Collections and Archives" from the default "Books, media, and articles" in the dropdown menu of the search bar.  Keyword examples:

• garden
• vegetable
• fruit
• horticulture
• plant breeding

Particular emphases include:

Journals and magazines

The collection is very strong in periodicals for both scientific and lay audiences. Important 19th century popular magazines illustrate the rise of home and hobby gardening, such as Curtis’ Botanical Magazine, Edwards’ Botanical Register, Paxton’s Magazine of Botany, The Botanical Magazine, The Horticulturalist and The Floral Magazine  appear with full or nearly full runs.

Fruit-Culture

There is a particular emphasis on fruit-culture in SCARC collections, with excellent examples of how apples, pears, oranges, berries, and other fruits were cultivated through time. Notable early works include Knoop’s Pomologia; Hooker’s Pomona Londinensis; and Risso’s Histoire naturelle des orangers. Later works apply these early discoveries to the American climate and practice, such as Hovey’s Fruits of America. Add "Oregon" to search for 20th century horticultural guides for growers in the state.