Liberty Hyde Bailey

  This post is part two of the series about something near and dear to my heart that began with Anna Botsford Comstock (see link below). Just one more person to tease you with, and then I'll tell you why I'm sharing about these two.

Liberty Hyde Bailey was born in Michigan in 1858, but ended up in New York at Cornell University. His life actually overlapped with mine as he did not die until 1954.

At Cornell, he became chair of Practical and Experimental Horticulture, and founded the College of Agriculture, one of Cornell's signature courses of study. He is considered to be a champion of farm and rural life. He is credited with starting 4-H, and bringing electric service to rural areas. A prolific writer, he published books about botany, agriculture, horticulture, and even poetry. He wrote 65 books and edited two magazines. Wikipedia says he "dominated the field of horticultural literature."

There is no doubt that he knew the Comstocks.

But the connection between these people, as it relates to my life, is not directly a result of their professions. However, there is a thread of common ground. Stay tuned.

In other news: I was gooder than good today. I did laundry, I cleaned the kitchen, I did paperwork, I did editing. I may have worn out my self-discipline for a while.

See Anna Botsford Comstock