May 26, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



679 



AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 

 Those of our readers who have had 

 trouble with old-fashioned putty he- 

 cause it gets too hard or with soft 

 putty which is apt to peel from the 

 wood after a year or two, may like 

 to try the following composition which 

 J. B. Shurtleff. Jr., of Revere, Mass., 

 tells us he has used with invariably 

 good results, it is simply a quarter 

 pound of beeswax to two quarts of oil, 

 heated and mixed and applied with a 

 putty bulb. Mr. Shurtleff has used this 

 as a substitute for putty on hot bed 

 sash and greenhouse roofs and finds 

 it superior to anything else, after a 

 trial of several years. 



SPRAYING DEMONSTRATION AT AMHERST. 



A correspondent of the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, in issue of April 28, has 

 something to say in favor of ramie 

 fibre as a material with a great future 

 in the line of clothing, and instances 

 its extensive use in China and South 

 Africa as an article of wearing apparel. 

 We shall not mention any names but 

 have in mind an estimable gentlemen 

 in Washington who, a few years ago, 

 became so enthusiastic a supporter of 

 ramie culture for this purpose that hefi 

 had a suit of clothing made from the 

 home-grown product. It worked all 

 right and was greatly admired by the 

 frequenters of Pennsylvania Avenue 

 until one day a sudden rain storm 

 came up and then trouble began, for 

 the material when wet proved to he not 

 only clinging but transparent and our 

 friend was forced to take refuge in a 

 nearby shop and send home for a suit 

 of clothes. In China and South Africa 

 this trifling peculiarity of ramie 

 wouldn't count. 



We have been reading with consid- 

 erable interest and not a little amuse- 

 ment the witty description of a visit 

 to the Royal Academy by a correspon- 

 dent of the Gardeners' Chronicle, issue 

 of May 12. From our knowledge of 

 the fearful and wonderful creations of 

 some of the flower painters and en- 

 gravers on this side of the Atlantic we 

 are inclined to utter a responsive 

 amen to the incisive criticisms our 

 contemporary makes concerning the 

 pictures on exhibition. We clip a few 

 extracts: 



It is far better to exhibit no flower, 

 fruit or garden subjects than to deface the 

 walls with crude suggestions or "impres- 

 sions" of nothing. "Impressions" are some- 

 times very well from masters of art. but 

 we are nowadays far too often favored 

 with "impressions" from ladies and gentle- 

 men who have no foundation knowledge 

 and so have nothing to impress. 



441, Autumn Garden, Bavaria (Orrin 

 Peek): An unusually large picture, with 

 large, life size cabbages in the foreground; 

 it is easier to plant cabbages than Lilies. 



741, The Blessing of the Plants, Santa 

 Barbara, California (Orrin Peck): This 

 represents monks sprinkling pot-flowers of 

 unknown species with holy water. The 

 ecclesiastic who holds the holy water is 

 kneeling. 



756, Her First Communion (Mary P. 

 Raphael): This represents a girl clad in 

 white, with her face veiled; the veil, like 

 darkness or fog, comes in conveniently. 

 The maid is surrounded with what are 

 possibly meant for white Lilies; we are 

 uncertain. 



485, Fleur-de Lis, a lady in white (G. A. 

 Storey, A.): The lady is accompanied by 

 Lilies and Begonias of forms unknown 

 to the writer. Similar unusual vai 

 of plants occur in the same artist's 493, 

 Leda. 



566, Stocks (John Gray): We have never 

 seen stocks like these either in form or 

 color. 



There are flowers lu 395, The Murket 

 Place (Edith J. Sealy), but cue cannot 

 properly see the picture, which is close 



The spraying demonstration at. the 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College on 

 May 17, was a success, notwithstand- 

 ing the rain which set in at starting 

 time. The following program was car- 

 ried out: 



1. Traction sprayers. 



2. Power sprayers. 



3. Hand sprayers (barrel pumps). 



4. Bordeaux mixture (making). 



5. Lime-sulphur solution (making). 

 There was a good attendance. 



to the floor, wit limit doubling one's self 

 up like an acrobat, anil this feat we were 

 unable to accomplish. 



In 2ti7. Maud, the Daughter of G -' 



Coats, Esq.. visitors may note how Mr. 

 Sargent polishes off Roses; there are two 

 white Roses on the lady's neck, and a 

 third elsewhere. 



OBITUARY. 



George H. Rowden died suddenly at 

 his home in Wallingford, Conn., on 

 the evening of May 17. His death was 

 due to heart disease. 



Mr. Rowden was born in Salsbury, 

 England, October in, 1840, where he 

 attended school until he was fourteen. 

 He left school at that age to learn 

 flour milling in Amporte, serving at 

 that trade until he was nineteen. 



During the next three years he served 

 an apprenticeship as florist and 

 gardener on the estate of Earl Radnor 

 at Coleshill, under Henry Eckford, of 

 sweet pea fame, and in the nurseries 

 in Upper Clapton on the border of 

 London. For two years following he 

 had charge of the gardens of Colonel 

 Boxendale in Wetstone. The next 

 three years he had charge of the gard- 

 ens of Sir Granville Smith in Ashton 

 court, near Bristol. 



In March, 1867, he came to America 

 and went to Torrington, Connecticut, 

 where he did landscape gardening for 

 one year. In 1868 he went to work for 

 Edward Miller, of Meriden. laying out 

 and grading the extensive grounds of 

 the latter on South Broad street in 

 that city. He remained in the employ 

 of Mr. Miller for two years and then 

 moved to Chambersburg, Penn., where 

 he was manager of the Chambersburg 

 nurseries for three years. At the con- 

 clusion of his labors there he returned 

 to Mediden to resume work for 

 Mr. Miller. where he remained 

 for eleven years, making a total serv- 

 ice of thirteen years in the employ 

 of Mr. Miller. 



Jn May, 1884, be moved to Walling- 



ford and in partnership with William 

 Woodley, of Meriden, bought the 

 greenhouses that were owned at that 

 time by Henry Wallace on Academy 

 street. At the end of about three 

 years Mr. Royden bought out the in- 

 terests of Mr. Woodley. 



He was a member of the Society of 

 American Florists and at one time was 

 its state vice-president. He is sur- 

 vived by a widow, three daughters, 

 and a son. 



A well-known British nurseryman 

 passed away on May 7th in the person 

 of Mr. John Barron, head of the firm 

 of Messrs. William Barron and Son, 

 of the Elvaston Nurseries, Borrowash, 

 Derbyshire. The firm which was 

 founded by the deceased's father, had 

 been in existence for over half a 

 n-y. Besides having a nursery of 

 about ninety acres, the firm have a 

 very high reputation as landscape 

 gardeners. The founder of the firm in- 

 vented a machine for transplanting 

 trees, and this has been extensively 

 used in different parts of the country. 

 Deceased was in partnership with his 

 son Mr. W. Barron, who had charge of 

 the landscape department. At the in- 

 terment, a large attendance of resi- 

 dents testified to the high esteem in 

 which deceased was held. W. H. A. 



The death of William Schray on 

 May 15, removes from the ranks one 

 of the oldest florists in St. Louis. Mr. 

 Schray was 72 years old. He was a 

 member of the Society of American 

 Florists. 



William R. Watson of Pittsburg, Pa.. 

 who for many years has spent the 

 winter in the South, died at El Paso. 

 Texas, aged 38. A mother and sister 

 survive him. 



A. J. Ross of the Ross Seed Com- 

 pany, died at Louisville Ky„ on May 8- 



