Gardening and Horticulture Stamp

I saw this stamp in my husband’s collection and I really liked it. During the spring and summer, I do a lot of gardening so this was a perfect stamp to reflect one of my hobbies.

The three-cent green Gardening and Horticulture stamp (US #1100) was issued on March 15, 1958, in Ithaca, New York. It was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on a rotary press. The stamp was issued in conjunction with the one-hundredth celebration of Liberty Hyde Bailey’s birth.

Liberty Hyde Bailey is known as the Father of Modern Horticulture in America. He was born in Michigan in 1858. He studied botany during his college years at Michigan Agricultural College (MAC) which is now known as Michigan State University. He graduated in 1882 and went to Harvard University to work as an assistant to Asa Gray. Asa Gray was a famous botanist known around the world.

In 1884, Bailey went back to Michigan Agricultural College and started the first horticulture department in the United States. He established the first horticultural laboratory in the United States in 1888.

He served as a professor of botany and horticulture at Cornell University from 1888 to 1903. When he was at Cornell University, he started an extension program to teach people in rural areas about agriculture. This motivated New York State to open the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell that was run by Bailey. Bailey created the Bailey Hortorium which houses one of the largest collections of preserved plant material.

The Bailey Museum and Gardens are located in South Haven Michigan. The homestead is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The home was built from 1853 -1856 and is one of the oldest standing homes in South Haven Michigan. The museum’s grounds feature gardens with interpretive signage, community garden plots, an old smokehouse, a blacksmith shop and carriage barn, and a nature trail.

Class activities:

1. Who is Asa Gray and why was he famous?
2. Identify an artifact from early horticulture. Describe its function.
3. Find a plant and share more about the plant.

References:

https://www.mysticstamp.com/Products/United-States/1100/USA/?gclid=CjwKCAjw47eFBhA9EiwAy8kzNA8YHpKXBJI-qjkoEtzaNkOKYSBE-em8o_9rO2oiBovohg-RDCeroRoC8_UQAvD_BwE

https://rise.natsci.msu.edu/about/who-was-liberty-hyde-bailey/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Liberty-Hyde-Bailey

https://www.libertyhydebailey.org/

Original photo by Pat Hensley