380 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



Adgust 21, 1902. 



country, particularly in the west, the 

 peony thrives greatly and is a far 

 more satisfactory plant than the rose for 

 outdoor planting. A vast number of in- 

 ferior forms of this family have been 

 disseminated and the nomenclature of 

 same is in a state of great confusion. 

 Our society could do a good work by 

 appointing an expert committee say on 

 the peony as a starter. A collection of 

 all the named sorts now in commerce 

 could be got together at little expense, 

 as most growers would gladly donate for 

 so laudable a purpose, and the synonyms, 

 the good, tlie indiflfercnt and the bad 

 forms, could be recorded in an authorita- 

 tive way. Such a reetnd would be of 

 untold value and would prove a great 

 .-stimulus t(i the popularity of the plant. 

 An outgrowth of such a collection might 

 be a peony exhibition at some central 

 point during the height of the flowering 

 season. The funds for carrying on the 

 work of such a conimitteo might be se- 

 cured partly b}' appropriation and partly 

 by donation or siibscription. The com- 

 mittee should have power to add to its 

 number where desirable and to raise 

 funds for the furtherance of the work 

 under the sanction of the executive of- 

 ficers of the society. 



The peony is only one of many hardy 

 plants, but it is a representative one and 

 eminently suitalile as a subject to com- 

 mence with. Too much stress cannot be 

 laid on the point that a commencement 

 should be made, for liardy plants are 

 rapidly coming to the front, and less and 

 less trade is to be expected in soft wooded 

 stock for carpet bedding, which has, for 

 so many years, been the mainstay of a 

 large section of the trade. The question 

 is not whether we approve of the change; 



a rule considerable land, or can readily 

 get same, should study this phase of the 

 Dusiuess and secure his share of the 

 trade in hardy plants. The recent addi- 

 tions to our original title of the words 

 "Ornamental Horticulturists" has pub- 

 lished the broadness of our work. The 

 laying out of grounds or landscape gar- 

 dening is a most important section and 

 we cannot do too much for this branch of 

 gardening. We should deprecate the cus- 

 tom which is common among many of 

 our fl(u-ists and jobbing gardeners of 

 calling themselves "landscape gardeners." 

 To be able to look after a greenhouse 

 and plant a flower bed may warrant the 

 title of florist, but certainly not that 

 of "landscape gardener." We should also 

 set our faces sternly against the abuse 

 of the word gardener. 



A person who milks the cows and mows 

 the lawn is a laborer, or man of all work, 

 and the looseness of expression in com- 

 mon use of calling him a gardener is 

 mainly responsible for bringing an an- 

 cient and honorable calling into such 

 disrepute that horticulturists, floricultur- 

 ists, landscape architects, and a host of 

 other titles have been resorted to which 

 are not nearly as accurate nor appropriate 

 as the old word. Gardening has been in 

 all ages the inclination of kings and the 

 choice of philosophers and, as the Prince 

 de Ligne has it, "is the only passion that 

 augments with age." Our best efforts 

 should be put forth in maintaining the 

 old title in its true significance. 



Ooser Relations. 



Ten years ago President Dean pointed 

 out that the custom of forming out of 

 our own membershi)) so many auxiliary 

 societies was likely to become so pro- 



House of Beauties at Bassett & Washburn's, Hinsdale, III. Planted just after Easter. 

 Photographed Aug. tst. 



we have to make the best of it, for the 

 new order of things is already with us. 

 And in this connection we must observe 

 the vast advance in the laying out and 

 planting of grounds in recent years. 

 The quantities of hardy stock required 

 have been immense and there is every in- 

 dication that the demand will be on the 

 increase for a long time to come. Every 

 commercial florist who does what is 

 termed "a general trade" and who has as 



nounced that there would be danger of 

 greatly weakening the parent body. The 

 Chrysanthemum Society, the Carnation 

 Socictj', the Eose Society, and talk of an 

 Orchid Society, a Dahlia Society, a Fern 

 Society and divers others suflSciently indi- 

 cated even then the tendency towards dis- 

 integration. Ever since that time efforts 

 have been made to stem this tide and to 

 inculcate correct principles of procedure 

 ill an opposite diroctioii. Various plans 



have been put forward, but nothing defi- 

 nite has yet been acompUshed excepting 

 the ripening of .sentiment in favor of 

 closer relations with these existing inde- 

 pendent bodies and of managing such 

 matters in future, either by committees 

 or sections. The committee plan seems 

 to be the most simple, flexible, and natu- 

 ral but an opportunity will be given for 

 a full and free discussion of the merits of 

 various suggestions and no doubt the best 

 will bo selected. Several of the bright- 

 est minds in the business have been 

 studying the subject for a long time and 

 will put the concrete results before you 

 at this meeting. 



Missionary Work. 



Missionary work among the children — 

 we should continue to preach the import- 

 ance of this in season and out of season. 

 We should keep everlastingly at it and 

 endeavor by every means in our jiower 

 to establish ways and means of interest- 

 ing the young in gardening. On the 

 continent of Europe they are in advance 

 of us in this direction and it is highly 

 desirable that we should have a full ac- 

 count of the system so that we may be 

 guided by practical experience. This 

 subject was agitated by President Smith 

 at St. Louis in 1893, and at that same 

 meeting Robert Farquhar read an able 

 paper on the subject and it was also 

 advocated then by George C. Watson in 

 his paper "How to Increa.se a Love of 

 Flowers Among the People." The im- 

 pressions received in youth are deep and 

 lasting and the training of the young 

 should form a part of every horticultural 

 or floricultural society. Our society ought 

 to have a strong standing committee to 

 attend to this work. 



Nomenclature. 



Years ago we had an active vigilance 

 committee on nomenclature. They did 

 good work for a while, but of late they 

 seem either to have been asleep or non- 

 existent. We need these watch-dogs all 

 the time to prevent careless or ignorant 

 dealers from taking advantage of us with 

 old things under new names. A little 

 timely barking from the committee now 

 and again has a powerful deterrent effect 

 and presen-es a healthy moral tone in the 

 trade on this subject. 



Convention Cities. 



We have wandered all over a great 

 part of North America in our annual 

 gatherings of the past, mostly in the 

 cast and north as is natural from the 

 density of our trade in these localities, 

 and sometimes have gone west and this 

 year we have come south. This last may 

 uot be the largest in point of attendance, 

 but it has several compensating features 

 and its influence both on ourselves and 

 on the south cannot fail but be beneficial. 

 Whenever we go from home we learn 

 something. Whenever we receive a visitor 

 we learn something; not so much in the 

 routine "iMisiness of the society perhaps, 

 as in keeping our eyes and ears open. 

 When a boy goes to a sliop. a factory, or 

 a farm, it is not so much by being told 

 about every little tiling that he gets a 

 grip of the business, but by keeping a 

 bright lookout and absorbing as he goes 

 along. If he cannot "catch on" in this 

 way no amount of teUing will ever do him 

 any good. To many of us the annual 

 convention is our only chance of seeing 

 distant places and for that reason it 

 seems a wise thing to select a new lo- 

 cility each year. But we ought to 



