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Salhyrka Horticultural Experimental Station

The Salhyrka Horticultural Experimental Station (later — the Crimean Oblast Horticultural Station) was one of the oldest research institutions of Crimea, opened on 1 May 1913 at the Salhyrka estate (Simferopol). The institution played a decisive role in the research study of the gene pool of fruit crops, the development of biological plant protection, plant breeding, and the development of industrial horticulture in Crimea and southern Ukraine.

Overview

The idea of creating the first state horticultural experimental station in Crimea was discussed from the late 1880s with the active support of horticulturist-scientists Levko Symyrenko, Vasyl Pashkevych, and Mykola Kichunov. Founded on 1 May 1913 at the Salhyrka estate, the station evolved from a pomology-horticulture centre of the Taurian University into a leading scientific and technical centre of Ukraine for breeding and nursery production. In 2013, on the eve of its centenary, the station was liquidated as an independent institution.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Foundation and base at the Salhyrka estate (1891–1917): In 1891, on the basis of the state-owned Salhyrka estate, a three-year school for horticultural workers was opened. On 1 May 1913, the Salhyrka Experimental Station was officially opened. It was allocated the Vorontsov Palace for laboratories (pomology, phytopathology, entomology) and a lecture hall, as well as the Vorontsov kitchen (in the form of a Tatar mosque) for a chemical laboratory. The model garden covered more than 3 hectares, and the pomological collection numbered more than 200 varieties of world breeding.
  • First scientific achievements (1913–1917): Station employees were the first to conduct research on the aboriginal gene pool of apple and pear and the use of wild forms as rootstocks (published the work "Salhirska Pomology Station. A Brief Outline of Activities for 1913–1915" (Salhirska Pomolohichna stantsiia. Korotkyi narys diialnosti za 1913-1915 rr.), 1916). Under the leadership of the director-entomologist, the development of biological methods of pest control (cultivation of beneficial entomophages) was initiated. During World War I, the station grew medicinal plants (castor oil plant, saffron, atropine, opium) for the needs of the front.
  • As part of the Taurian University (1918–1922): During 1918–1922, the station was part of the agronomy faculty of the Taurian University, which significantly raised the level of scientific research and allowed the founding of an ampelographic (grape) collection.
  • The period 1923–1955 and the move to Staryi Krym: From 1923, the station was headed by Venedykt Kolesnikov (a student of Petro Shitt). In the 1920s–1930s, a large-scale hybrid fund of fruit crops was created, and employee P. Solianikov carried out a thorough survey of Crimean forest gardens (chayir). At the end of 1930, due to the transfer of Salhyrka to the Crimean Agricultural Institute, the station moved to Staryi Krym. During 1931–1939, the Staryi Krym (Salhyrka) Oblast Horticultural Station founded a network of support points in Alushta, near Sevastopol, in the "Vesna" state farm, as well as in the Bilohirsk (Karasubazar) state farm "Mariano" (from 1949 — "Peredhiria").
  • The "Golden Age" in Ukraine (1956–1980s): In 1956, the government of the Ukrainian SSR relocated the station to the settlement of Hvardiiske, and later — to the village of Malenke (Kechkene) of the Simferopol district under the subordination of the Yalta Horticultural and Viticultural College. Headed by Hryhorii Berezovskyi, the station grew millions of seedlings for the revival of horticulture in Crimea and all of Ukraine, introducing dozens of new varieties of apple and pear of its own breeding.
  • Decline and liquidation (2013): Due to the lack of proper support and the disconnection of the experimental farm, scientific activity narrowed. In 2013, on the eve of its 100th anniversary, the station was liquidated as an independent institution and merged into the Crimean Agrotechnological Institute (after 2014 subordinated to the Nikitsky Botanical Garden).
  • Center of Crimean horticulture — an article by Petro Volvach in the newspaper "Krymska Svitlytsia" (2018, No. 19, 21).
  • Simferopol — the capital of Crimea, in whose Salhyrka estate the experimental station was located.
  • Petro Volvach — a researcher of the history of the Salhyrka Horticultural Experimental Station.
  • Levko Symyrenko — one of the initiators of the founding of the experimental station in Crimea.
  • Horticulture and viticulture in Crimea — general context for the development of horticultural branches in Crimea.