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HORTICULTURE 



May 26, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FLORIST, PLANTSMAN, LANDSCAPE 



GARDENER AND KINDRED 



INTERESTS 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 



II HAMILTON PLACE, BOSTON, MASS. 



T«leph»n« t Oxford 292 



WM. J. STEWART. Editor and Manager. 



The plaint which comes from 

 The cut flower ,,,,,, f ur western eorrespond- 

 trade and the Greek en t s anent Greek competition 

 in the flower trade is one 

 which, sooner or later, is sure to come from every com- 

 munity where a surplus stock is in evidence. The 

 Greek or other "curbstone merchant"* (they are not all 

 Greeks) thrives on the surplus. The remedy lies at the 

 foundation; either curtail the production by restricting 

 greenhouse extension or make other disposal of it, 

 destroying it or shipping it elsewhere. Neither of 

 these courses has any fixed practicability. The situa- 

 tion and its annoying perplexities are easily understood 

 but the flower trade has no monopoly on it. for the 

 problem of "ruinous competition" is as old as business 

 and is likely to continue to the end. We might men- 

 tion in passing that the grower is losing no sleep on the 

 Greek question. 



Among the most important measures 



Two important on which action by Congress is 



measures called for are the parcels post bill 



and the appropriation of three mil- 

 lion dollars for the creation of forest reserves in the 

 water 'sheds of the Appalachian and White mountains. 

 Both of these projects should appeal strongly to every 

 friend of horticulture, the first because it furnishes a 

 much-needed means for the delivery of seeds, plants, 

 flowers, etc., at small cost and provides a safeguard 

 against extortion by express companies, and the second, 

 not only for utilitarian reasons which are now gener- 

 ally well understood but also for aesthetic considerations 

 — the rescuing from destruction of a small remnant of 

 our forests of noble trees and the practical recognition 

 of that beauty and sublimity of landscape which is the 

 • basis of all our out-door decorative work. It will be a 

 matter of but a few minutes for each one of our readers 

 to write to his -senator and representative asking him 

 to support these two measures. Do it now. 



Considering the long hours of em- 



A promising ployment, the experience, intelligent 



outlook for the s\\\\, and unremitting attention 



gardener demanded, we believe that gardeners, 



whether employed in a commercial 



or private capacity, are among the most poorly paid 



workers on this continent. Florists' clerks — that is. 

 in city stores — receive salaries much larger than the pay 

 of the average grower. One reason advanced in explan- 

 ation of the inadequate compensation received by expert 

 greenhouse and garden workers as a rule is the con- 

 stant influx of gardeners from foreign countries who, 

 unmindful of the greater cost of living in this country, 

 eagerbj accept wages which appear to them large as com- 

 pared with what they have been receiving hitherto. It 

 is from this foreign-born element that the majority of 

 our best gardeners have come. Well -trained American- 

 born experts have been out of the question, partly 

 because of the characteristic indisposition to give neces- 

 sary time tn thorough training, but largely because the 

 outlook for future emolument was so disproportionate. 

 We think we see signs of a change now. The future of 

 horticulture in this country has taken on a different 

 aspect within a few years. Sons of men who have 

 achieved success in commercial horticulture are stay- 

 ing in the business instead of deserting it. Note the 

 appearance of the young men shown in our picture of 

 last week of the graduating class in horticulture at 

 Amherst College. Do they look like "$1,000 a year" 

 men? These are some of the influences to which we 

 may confidently look for an uplifting and dignifying of 

 the gardeners 5 calling. The outlook grows hopeful. 



The landscape presents noth- 



Some park attractions i n g m0Te beautiful in the 



of the week parks and parkways of Boston 



at the present time than the 

 dogwoods (Cornus ilorida) which Mr. Pettigrew has 

 planted by the thousand along the borders of the 

 woods. The pink variety is especially striking and is 

 easily the finest of our spring flowering trees. Unfortu- 

 nately it frequently fails to carry its flower buds through 

 the winter and it is several years since we have had a 

 display equal to that of the present week. The azalea 

 plantations are beginning to show color, Rhododen- 

 dron Yaseyii being already in full bloom with the 

 ghents and nudiflora following closely. The evergreen 

 rhododendrons have come through the winter carrying 

 all their buds uninjured and will make a gorgeous show 

 in about two weeks. The forsytbias have been finer 

 than ever before but they as well as most of the pyruses 

 have already passed and the lilacs, loniceras, berberises 

 and early viburnums have taken their place as objects 

 of interest. One of the prettiest of the uncommon 

 things in the arboretum is Cercis canadensis alba. It is 

 truly a beautiful tree. The exochordas have done poorly 

 this season — a very common failing in this section 

 which is much to be regretted for no spring flowering 

 tree can be lovelier than a well-bloomed exochorda. At 

 Swan Point Cemetery in Providence, E. I., they are 

 usually to be seen at their best. Eugosas and other 

 early roses are beginning to open their flowers. Thus 

 the beauteous procession advances each day opening up 

 some new object to admire. This is one of the great 

 charms of these shrubbery plantations. 



