H. Harold Hume Collection

Of rural Canadian roots, H. Harold Hume's college training was received at the Ontario Agricultural College (Guelph), the most respected school of agriculture in Canada. He earned an M.S.A. from Iowa State and in 1899 Hume became head of the Department of Botany and Horticulture at the Florida Agricultural College in Lake City. After five years of vacillating support from the Florida legislature, Hume resigned his position and accepted a similar post at the North Carolina Experiment Station. Fortunately for Florida, however, Hume's work with pineapples and other crops had established for him an excellent reputation. Thus opportunities opened up which led Hume back to the land which he must have already come to love. Relinquishing his academic career, Hume became associated with the Glenn St. Mary Nursery Company, one of the two oldest, and at the time, one of the largest nurseries in the state. His active association with the Nursery lasted for twenty-five years; he concluded his tenure as Chairman of the Board. During the same period Hume was president of the E.O. Painter Fertilizer Co. of Jacksonville.

In 1929 Florida agriculture faced a major crisis - that of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly. So great was the threat to the state's fruit and vegetable industry that practically every state employee in agriculture and many from private industry were recruited to fight the invasion. Hume was among these, and his work in the eradication campaign led in 1931 to his appointment as Assistant Director of Experiment Stations. Since his previous association with the state, the number of employees in the experiment station(s) had increased from four to seventy-five. In a few years Hume was promoted to Assistant Dean and then in 1938 was appointed Dean of the College of Agriculture. In 1943 with the retirement of Wilmon Newell he acquired the title of Provost of Agriculture which he held until his own retirement in 1949 at the age of 74.

With his release from administrative duties, Hume pursued his horticultural interests with renewed fervor. European travel expanded his circle of camellia enthusiasts to include some of England and the Continent's foremost plantsmen and taxonomists. His interest in Hollies deepened and he published a definitive work on the subject, his eighth major horticulture work. He continued to play an active role on numerous boards and committees, including several of international scope. His vigorous mind did not succumb until his ninetieth year.