Dr. E. J.
Kraus was an outstanding botanist and
horticulturist.
Dr. Kraus was born in Michigan, obtained his B.S.
degree at Michigan State College in 1907, and his
Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 1917. He was
Professor of Horticultural Research at Oregon State
College in 1918-1919 and Professor of Applied Botany
at the University of Chicago in 1919 where he became
Distinguished Professor in 1943. He retired from the
Chairmanship of the Department in 1947. He was
Principal Plant Physiologist of the U.S.D.A. for a
number of years beginning in 1938. He was president of
the American Society of Plant Physiologists. His
research has been in the field of plant reproduction
and metabolism, effect of growth regulators, and
nutrition of plants of economic importance.
His Vegetation and Reproduction with Special
Reference to the Tomato published in January,
1918, as Bulletin 149 of the Oregon Agricultural
Experiment Station is a classic and was of outstanding
importance in stimulating chemical work for the
following decades. This work may well be considered
the first important chemical study in the field of
horticulture. Dr. Kraus greatly inspired his students
and fellow workers in botany and horticulture. He
initiated much work through his counsel with
investigators. Several years ago he was voted one of
the three greatest living horticulturists.
Dr. Kraus resided in Corvallis, Oregon, until his
death in 1959. He spent his last years in breeding
chrysanthemums, day lilies (Hemerocallis), Clematis,
and Azaleas. Many of his hardy chrysanthemum varieties
have been introduced to the trade and are being grown
commercially. He produced also many outstanding
cultivars of Hemerocallis.
