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H ORTI CULTURE 



May 19, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FLORIST, PLANTSMAN, LANDSCAPE 



GARDENER AND KINDRED 



INTERESTS 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 



II HAMILTON PLACE, BOSTON, MASS. 



Telep. O' «, Oxford 292 



WM. J. STEWART. Editor and Manager. 



Decoration Day, or Memorial Day as 

 Decoration many prefer to term it. has taken a 

 Day strong hold upon the hearts of the 



people, regardless of condition, and now 

 occupies a position second to no other holiday in the 

 florists' calendar. In some sections, indeed, the busi- 

 ness directly due to the special demands of the occasion 

 exceeds that of any other holiday in the year, Christmas 

 and Easter not excepted. The sent i incut which finds 

 expression in the peculiar observances and popular cus- 

 toms of this day is such that it assures a perpetual 

 endurance of the holiday in its present form, with a 

 certainty of increasing prominence from the standpoint 

 of the florist and he makes no mistake who gives lib- 

 erally of time and room to the production of crops 

 especially for this occasion. A Lavish abundance, with 

 reasonable prices, will yield ample returns. 



Each year sees the insect problem 

 To investigate assuming a more serious aspect 

 injurious insects f or the grower — out-doors or under 

 glass. We can. possibly, render 

 no greater service to the horticulturist than to assist 

 him in combatting these insect enemies and the many 

 plant diseases that impose so heavy a burden upon him. 

 With this in view Horticulture lias secured the serv- 

 ices of a trained entomologist and pathologist and will 

 lie glad to receive from its readers specimens of 

 diseased twigs, plants or fruits or of injurious insects 

 for identification and if the results obtained will in 

 any way help the grower our object will have been 

 attained. Send sufficient quantities and a full descrip- 

 tion of the trouble. Insects should be sent alive in a 

 tight tin box with food enough to last through the 

 journey. Postage is one cent an ounce on specimens. 

 Mail manuscript separately. 



The business of the nurseryman 



An instance dealing in ornamental trees and 



of short-sightedness shrubs, the gardener, and the 



florist, are so closely interwoven 



,ind these three have so much in common that the lack 



of cohesion seems quite remarkable. The wonderful 



increase in demand for hardy planting material now in 

 evidence gives promise of extended prosperity on this 

 and related lines for many years to come. No doubt 

 it is a fact that the unprecedented call in an unusually 

 short spring season has made it impossible for the 

 dealers to assume any additional burdens at this time 

 but it is certainly greatly to be regretted that the pro- 

 posed out-door exhibition under the auspices of the S. A. 

 F. at Dayton has thus far received so scant attention 

 from those in whose interest it was projected and to 

 whom it holds out advertising opportunities such as 

 have never before been offered in this country. It is 

 not to lie expected that the presenl preponderance of 

 demand over supply can long exist. The many new 

 and extended nursery plantations and heavy importa- 

 tions must have their effect in due time and it would 

 seem that it is not too early to start in now on those 

 business publicity methods from which, sooner or later, 

 there is no escape for the man who proposes to keep 

 in i ln j lead. We are pleased to learn, however, that 

 despite the marked apathy on the part of the nursery- 

 men a splendid out-door display at Dayton is assured, 

 large spaces being already planted with cannas and 

 hardy border plants. 



To t lie grower and the dealer and to 

 Some peculiar i|„. lover of spring-flowering trees 

 results of the . m ,| shrubs generally there comes 

 past w.nter every spring the absorbing question 

 i if I he extent and character of the 

 preceding winter's ravages. So erratic and unpre- 

 dictable are these results a- a rule that comparisons of 

 niie season with another bring out little of value on 

 which to base conclusions as to cause and effect. The 

 season just passed is no exception in this respect. For 

 instance, just why Rhododendron dahuricum, earliest- 

 flowering of all the garden shrubs, which has yielded a 

 gorgeous display in the neighborhood of Boston for 

 several consecutive springs should have every flower hud 

 blasted this season, while the hybrid evergreen rhodo- 

 dendrons which in recent springs have lost a larger part 

 of their flower buds have this season every bud intact, 

 is a problem difficult to solve. Why should wistaria 

 which was a mass of flowers last year be almost com- 

 pletely blighted this year while a few feet away stands 

 a dogwood loaded with blossoms which last year and 

 the year before lost every single flower head? Many 

 other anomalies are in evidence. Daphne mezerium ha? 

 been generally a failure; forsythias, on the other hand, 

 are fuller and more gorgeous than ever before. Roses 

 have wintered exceedingly well. Clematises, also, have 

 been killed back only to a trifling extent. Prunus to- 

 mentosa, usually covered with flowers, is but sparsely 

 furnished this year and kalmias and enonymuses have 

 suffered considerable damage to their foliage. Prunus 

 cerassus bore a normal crop. However, we have much 

 cause for congratulation that the warm mid-winter and 

 the fierce March that followed did not cause much more 

 serious damage than now appeal- to have been the case. 



