Virginia has an excellent manual. I just wish they provided inexpensive updates each year. If you want a new one they'll sell it to you but it's expensive. Of course, there's one at the office but it's not as handy as having your own.

(Swap)

(Tsk! Tsk!) ;-)

Palm Beach County, FL's program had a huge set of manuals that came with the fee. I can't get over how much information there is available in them.

Our website is also excellent. They also list the Ohio program as a link--their manual is online.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ohio State MG Manual

I am taking the course now in MN and I think that our book is great...I am taking it online so we also get great links to great sites from different Universities..and Ohio is one of them.

well I think most do - its quality is dependant on the state though. Va is great, Indy is iffy, PA I haven't got one yet - when you transfer you don't get one that easily!

The problem with the manuals (good ones in particular) is keeping them up to date without winding up with a book shelf of material. Our manual is two 5 inch notebooks and growing. I understand our hort agent is attempting to combine materials so what is used in class is compiled into a less massive amount of paper. The last two I had were one large volume but not anywhere near as informative. Sandy

I live in NJ but we use Maryland. Instead of writing a new one, Rutgers is going to help write updates.

California completed their manual about 3 years ago. It costs about $30 and is available from nurseries as well as the state. I have not heard how they plan to keep it updated. Considering how large a stste it is with a great amount of contrasts, I think it is very well done. Al

If I recall correctly, Illinois have their manual on disk which is much better than the bookshelve manuals. Updates are also easier if you have an electronic version of the manual. I like the idea of MN above that allows you to take the class online too. Do any other states offer that, I wonder.

I am about 1/2 way into the MG program and, yes, we have a manual. Not being able to compare it to other states manuals, I don't know if it's better or of less quality than others, but it is quite informative.

Claudia

Here in Oregon we also have the 2, 4-5 inch thick manual. the first one with notebook is given at the the beginning of the course and then a second is accumulated over the rest of the course. I am taking my final right now. which is what I should be doing instead of playing on the garden web. I love the classes!

NY has a great, comprehensive, huge(4 inch) 3-ring binder produced by Cornell University. Great stuff. We get extra handouts in class to add the binder in the appropriate section.

I'm a master gardener in Rhode Island when I took the class we used the PA manuel but now I believe they have developed their own I still refer to the PA manuel all the time it is so full of good info!

I am taking the MG course here in NC right now. The fee was $65 which included a huge manual and all the classes.
Hostacrazy

Pudue (Indiana's Ag College) provides us with 2 huge notebooks for our manual BUT they have recently put the whole thing in pdf format and is now available to us on cd and they have an excellent website with all the publcations. They are a few discontinued pubs I'd really like that I wish were still available.They have also just produced a propagation cd that I think looks pretty nice.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pudue Publications

In Michigan, we have a great manual put out by Michigan State University Extension Office.

Our manual (supplied by WVU Extension Servie) is a 4-inch 3-ring binder filled with lots of useful information. It was included in the $65 fee for the class. The great thing is that so much in it is specific to our area. Also, the handouts we got in the class are terrific. The only drawback to the manual is that it is so thick and unwieldy that "flipping through" is not an option.