104 



HORTICULTURE 



January 27, 1906 



ent has this special influence. He 

 hopes in time, by constant systematic 

 recording of results, to work out a 

 rule that can be relied upon in breed- 

 ing to a specific object. On the best 

 time of the year for pollenating he 

 did not agree with Prof. Hall, but 

 thought January and February prefer- 

 able to October, November or Decem- 

 ber. Mr. Ward also emphasized the 

 necessity of securing parents in good 

 health, not overfed nor weakened in 

 any way. 



President Fisher and R. WWter- 

 staetter agreed with Mr. Ward as to 

 the desirability of yellow in lighten- 

 ing up color in carnation progeny. 



Selection of next place of meeting 

 was next in order. Invitations were 

 received from the Pennsylvania Hor- 

 ticultural Society to hold the meeting 

 of 1907 in Philadelphia. J. H. Dun- 

 lop presented similar invitations from 

 the Toronto Electoral District So- 

 ciety and the Toronto Horticultural 

 Society on behalf of Toronto, 



Nominations for officers were the 

 next business, and resulted as fol- 

 lows: For president, J. H. Dunlop, 

 Toronto. Ont.; vice-president. W. J. 

 Palmer, Buffalo, N. Y.: secretary, A. 

 M Herr. and treasurer, F. E. Dorner; 

 director to succeed himself, Eugene 

 Dailledouze; judge to succeed him- 

 self, W. N. Rudd. 



The session of Thursday morning 

 was opened rather late, it being 10.45 

 A M when President Fisher called 

 the meeting to order. The first thing 

 on the program was Thomas F. Gal- 

 vin's paper on "The Carnation from 

 the Retailer's Standpoint. On account 

 of .Mr. Galvin's illness the paper he 

 had prepared was read by his brother, 

 J. Mitchell Galvin. 



The paper was as follows: 

 Being a business man, and also 

 wholly unsuited to take up the matter 

 devolving upon me, viz., to present the 

 commercial aspect of the carnation to 

 your readers and the public, I am free 

 to acknowledge that I approach the 

 subject with much trepidation, but the 

 results of the improvement of the car- 

 nation, as a vital adjunct of the florist 

 business have been so far-reaching, 

 and the extraordinary popularity that 

 it has attained in recent years leads 

 me to venture the statement that it 

 has almost supplanted the rose, in in- 

 terest and importance. 



From the small, weak and insignifi- 

 cant pink, slender and drooping in its 

 characteristics, we now have one of 

 I he most vigorous, strongest and most 

 important gems of the whole floral 

 kingdom, and so general has been the 

 interest in the development of this 

 popular flower that, beside the above 

 improvements, there have been added 

 many new. brilliant and dazzling col- 

 ors, which, when massed or assembled 

 and gathered together, produce an ef- 

 fect almost bewildering in attractive- 

 ness. In fact, today perfect carnations 

 are an indispensable adjunct of the 

 business of the florist. They have the 

 keeping qualities so necessary for the 

 satisfaction of lovers of the beautiful 

 in flowers, and many instances can be 

 cited * where they have graced the 

 boudoir and table and staterooms of 

 many a transatlantic palace liner, 

 when the charm and beauty and fra- 

 grance of all other flowers have passed 

 away. 

 With the present system of growth. 



in many instances single flowers have 

 been produced which could not be put 

 into a large sized goblet without being 

 crushed; and with stems so firm and 

 rigid that they could be used for a 

 multitude of purposes without being 

 wired. While this might be considered 

 a more commercial aspect of the ques- 

 tion, it is one that is far-reaching in 

 its results. I believe that the intro- 

 duction of the Lawson carnation has 

 done much to awaken enthusiasm 

 among all classes of our people in 

 favor of this type of flower. It is a 

 well-established precedent that noth- 

 ing can be made a genuine success 

 without having the attributes of true 

 merit behind it, and in order that the 

 public shall appreciate and realize the 

 good in any proposition or undertak- 

 ing, it must have the ear-marks of fu- 

 ture success. This proud distinction I 

 claim, without prejudice, for the Law- 

 son carnation, and from the time that 

 the wizard of carnation culture, Mr. 

 Peter Fisher, first brought it to my 

 attention, up to the present time, 

 nothing has been produced that can in 

 any way rival this magnificent produc- 

 tion. In all parts of the world where 

 the love of flowers is predominant, the 

 name of Lawson carnation is a house- 

 hold word. Its glories have stimu- 

 lated horticulturists in a laudable and 

 ambitious rivalry to produce some- 

 thing which could compete with it. and 

 while many new types have been 

 evolved which have been a revelation 

 in the floral world, the Lawson, with 

 its brilliant color and sturdy charac- 

 teristics, in my humble opinion, still 

 holds its proud place as the queen of 

 the carnation family. As our good 

 business stands today, our avocation, 

 with the carnation eliminated from 

 the channels of trade, would be like 

 Shakespeare's greatest production with 

 Hamlet left out. With the increased 

 public interest in the carnation a more 

 popular demand has been stimulated 

 in all that tends to develop and build 

 up a business which is increasing won- 

 derfully all over the world. From a 

 comparatively unimportant, and I 

 might almost say, obscure line of 

 trade, we are becoming a famous, pop- 

 ular, profitable and important indus- 

 try. Nature is so lavish with her 

 favors, and so wonderful are our re- 

 sources of soil and climate, and en- 

 vironment, being absolutely boundless 

 in their possibilities, that we have a 

 never-ending field for honorable serv- 

 ice and ambition to cultivate. Mont- 

 gomery gave to the world his magnifi- 

 cent results of rose culture; Coleman 

 first brought to our notice the great 

 possibilities of the chrysanthemum: 

 Fisher astonished us all by his care- 

 ful, patient and successful efforts on 

 the carnation. And I take a pardon- 

 able pride in a modest reference to the 

 fact that here in our own good city of 

 Boston, much that has been done in 

 growth, progress and good results has 

 been introduced and brought to a suc- 

 cessful conclusion by Boston men. 



Our business has reached a volume 

 and proportion beyond what the most 

 sanguine could be led to hope for, and 

 speaking from the standpoint of a re- 

 tailer, I can say the beautiful and 

 popular carnation has not been the 

 least of the factors contributing to this 

 attainment. 



The secretary then read a list of 

 the varieties registered during the 

 year. A discussion ensued on the 



necessity of a better system in the 

 department of registration, whTch 

 resulted in the adoption of a motion 

 to have a committee appointed to 

 make a set of new rules governing 

 the matter of registration. Messrs. 

 C. W. Ward. F. R. Pierson and J. A. 

 Valentine were appointed as the com- 

 mittee. An animated debate on the 

 recommendations in the president's 

 address brought out a vote that it is 

 the sense of the meeting that no final 

 certificates of merit be given to any 

 variety until the growing stock has 

 been inspected by a committee of 

 competent judges, and so recom- 

 mended by them for final action by 

 the society, and this matter was 

 given to the above-named committee 

 to be incorporated in their report. 

 The next thing on the program was 

 J. A. Valentine's paper on "Carna- 

 tions in the Rocky Mountains." Mr. 

 Valentine was received with great 

 cordiality, and his splendid paper 

 was accorded tumultuous applause 

 and a unanimous vote of thanks. 

 Lack of space compels us to hold it 

 over until next week. 



H. M. Altick made an interesting 

 report for the committee on McKin- 

 ley memorial, showing that he had 

 collected $795.39 in cash and had sev- 

 eral hundred dollars more subscribed 

 but not yet paid in. 



THE EXHIBITION. 

 As before stated, the exhibition ex- 

 celled in every respect anything thus 

 far in the Society's history, not only 

 in the extent and number of the ex- 

 hibits, but the quality of the blooms. 

 With the exception of Mr. Weber's 

 flowers, which were ruined in transit, 

 practically everything arrived in good 

 order, and it is especially gratifying to 

 record that the flowers held over splen- 

 didly, and Thursday morning found the 

 display almost as fresh and attractive 

 as on the opening day. Indeed, some 

 exhibits actually improved. The won- 

 derfully congenial atmosphere of Hor- 

 ticultural Hall for flower keeping was 

 again in evidence in a most unmistake- 

 able manner. 



The coveted Lawson gold medal was 

 won by Cottage Gardens with the 

 beautiful cerise, Elsa Struss, which 

 was described in a recent issue of 

 HORTICULTURE under No. 508. The 

 Lawson silver medal went to F. R. 

 Pierson Company for the pink gem 

 Winsor, also described at length in 

 these columns recently. Robert Craig, 

 from the Cottage Gardens, won the 

 Lawson bronze medal. The S. A. F. 

 silver medal was won by Cottage Gar- 

 dens with Mrs. C. W. Ward, described 

 in our columns recently under No. 504. 

 Two bronze S. A. F. medals were 

 recommended by the judges, one to 

 Cottage Gardens for Robert Craig, and 

 one to Peter Fisher for Beacon, a su- 

 perb red. 



Silver cup, offered by A. H. Hews & 

 Co., Cambridge, Mass., for the best col- 

 lection of carnations, four varieties, 25 

 blooms of each, to be shown in sep- 

 arate vases, either seedlings or named 

 sorts and no restrictions as to color — 

 William Nicholson, Framingham, 

 Mass. 



Silver cup. offered by Thomas F. 

 Galvin, Boston, for eight varieties of 

 carnations. 25 blooms to a vase.— Peter 

 Fisher, Ellis, Mass. 



Silver cup, offered by W. W. Rawson 

 Seed Company, for three varieties of 



