■>n 



HORTICULTURE 



March 3, 1906 



that date, wonderful, long, stiff stems, 

 and of a very lovely light flesh shade, 

 and unusually productive; for many 

 years the best if its class, but it final- 

 ly succumbed to disease and was dis- 

 placed by Fair Maid and Enchantress, 

 both excellent varieties. In fact, I 

 think Enchantress the best carnation, 

 all things considered, ever sent out in 

 this country. It is still very popular, 

 and as long as it continues to be as 

 good as it is now, it will take a won- 

 der, indeed, to displace it. It is a 

 model in all that constitutes a good 

 carnation, and raisers of new varieties 

 should aim to get its qualities in their 

 seedlings. What a boon a clear yel- 

 low Enchantress would be! 

 The Scarlet Class. 



But I find my paper likely to take 

 too much of your time, so in consider- 

 ing the important scarlet class, I will 

 pass over them with brief mention. 

 What a demand for this color at 

 Christmas, it goes so well with the 

 holly berries, the cheerful chimes and 

 the general joy! Century was raised 

 in 1878 by the late Charles T. Starr, 

 and while more of a carmine than a 

 scarlet, was very bright and was very 

 useful until the advent of John 

 Thorpe's Portia, which was a brilliant 

 scarlet, and very largely grown for 

 many years. Its color has never been 

 excelled; it was very productive; lack 

 of size was its greatest drawback. 

 Then we had in rapid succession Lady 

 Emma, Alegatiere, Garfield (this is 

 the variety that Donald McCallum 

 called Robert Craig, thinking he had 

 a sport, but after being considerably 

 grown as Robert Craig, turned out to 

 be Garfield), then Estelle, still grown 

 in some sections; G. H. Crane, for 

 years a good one; then America, 

 Adonis, and finally Cardinal. This 

 has proved to be a good one in the 

 western states, but has, so far, hardly 

 come up to expectations in the east; 

 in fact, it has been a great disappoint- 

 ment, producing a large percentage of 

 worthless blooms. 



The White Class. 



Now, we will briefly consider the 

 white class, so largely used for 

 funerals, weddings and in general 

 floral work. The oldest white one that 

 I know was President Degraw, im- 

 ported from France about the same 

 time as La Purite, and introduced to 

 commerce by the late lamented Chas. 

 Zeller of Flatbush. the original carna- 

 tion enthusiast of America, whose 

 stock of more than fifty varieties I 

 had the pleasure of inspecting some 

 thirty-five years ago; carnation grow- 

 ing was in its infancy then. They 

 were most grown in pots, although 

 they were beginning to be planted by 

 a few growers, mostly in solid beds 

 and a few on benches, which is now 

 the most popular way of growing. 

 President Degraw had a long run, 

 many years of popularity. Then came 

 Peerless or Edwardsii. followed by 

 Hinzie's White, Peter Henderson, 

 Snowden, Silver Spray, a good one; 

 Lizzie McGowan, none better in its 

 time; Flora Hill, for a long time fa- 

 mous and still grown to a considerable 

 extent; Glacier, Queen Louise, The 

 Queen, Lady Bountiful, most beautiful 

 (the greatest defect in this fine va- 

 riety is the tendency to be a shy 

 bloomer in the fall and early winter) ; 

 white Lawson. and. finally. Lieut. 

 Peary, which. I think, is the most 

 valuable white to dale. Vesper is an- 



other good one, and not as well known 

 as it deserves to be; it is vigorous, 

 early and continuous, very satisfac- 

 tory with many growers. White En- 

 chantress promises well. The Belle 

 is a very good white with many 

 growers. 



In crimsons, which is one of the 

 least important, commercially, we have 

 had Black Knight, Louis Lenoir, 

 Anna Webb, Crimson King, F. Man- 

 gold, Seawan, Gomez, Maceo, Daheim, 

 Harlowarden and Harry Fenn; the 

 latter two are the best in this class 

 and are still cultivated. 



White Variegated. 



The class known as white varie- 

 gated has been represented by a num- 

 ber of varieties; enjoying a large 

 measure of popularity the best have 

 been Hinsdale, a good variety exten- 

 sively grown fifteen or twenty* years 

 ago. I never saw it better than at 

 John H. Taylor's, Bayside, L. I. For 

 several years he grew it in large 

 quantity: Chester Pride; Variegated La- 

 Purite, a sport from the great La Pu- 

 rite; Mrs. Bradt and Lilly Dean, 

 Olympia, Prosperity, M. A. Patten and 

 Variegated Lawson. The latter two 

 are the latest and best. Jessica, which 

 is being introduced this year, looks 

 promising. 



In yellow variegated, we have had 

 Astoria, introduced by Wm. Wilson of 

 Astoria about thirty years ago, a fine 

 variety in its day. Then came Chas. T. 

 Starr's Buttercup, introduced to the 

 trade in 1S84, and the best one we 

 have ever had; followed by Andalusia 

 and Sunrise and Eldorado, which are 

 now probably both out of cultivation. 

 We need a good, new one in this class. 

 American Carnation Best. 



Now, I have named in all the classes 

 most of those that have been specially 

 valuable in the past and those which 

 are the best at the present time. I 

 have also had the temerity to pick the 

 winners of those being introduced this 

 year. It is interesting to note that 

 the early and free blooming qualities 

 of the American carnation are begin- 

 ning to be recognized by some of the 

 wide-awake English growers. Among 

 the kinds that have done well over 

 there may be mentioned Enchantress 

 and America. Fair Maid, The Belle 

 and Harlowarden have done particu- 

 larly well. I recommend our English 

 friends to try Helen Goddard, and, 

 when they are introduced, Winsor and 

 Beacon. Although there is a lack of 

 sunlight in England, the free-blooming 

 American varieties produce some flow- 

 ers in the fall and winter and in 

 March, April. May and June bloom 

 freely. As the London fashionable 

 season runs into July, there is always 

 a good demand for the blooms. The 

 method of growing, heretofore, in 

 England has been in pots, but the 

 American method of growing on 

 benches has been introduced. Mr. 

 Ditton, one grower near London, has 

 been quite successful. 



One thing seems clear: The best of 

 the American sorts are superior in 

 productiveness to any on earth, and 

 equal iii form and color to the best 

 anywhere. Although there have been 

 many disappointments, the advances 

 are surprising, almost bewildering, 

 and it is to be hoped that those who 

 have devoted so much time and 

 thought to seedling raising may con- 

 tinue with enthusiasm in the good 

 work and that the number of those 



who are engaged may be largely in- 

 creased, for when success comes to 

 any, it may be enjoyed by all, both 

 professional and amateur, who are 

 willing :o participate. We owe much 

 to those whc are willing to grow hun- 

 dieds of seedlings and to test them at 

 great expense for several years in the 

 hope of occasionally getting one good 

 enough to send out. The cool, calcu- 

 lating, sure-thing, business man is not 

 likely to spend much time raising 

 seedlings, but the intelligent enthu- 

 siast in the carnation field is always 

 likely to become a benefactor to us 

 all. 



CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES. 



The first annual report of the Con- 

 necticut Forestry Association is in the 

 hands of the printer, and when com- 

 pleted can be obtained of E. S. Geer of 

 Hartford. 



At the meeting of the New Haven 

 Horticultural Society on the evening of 

 Feb. 20, Walter Angus, gardener for 

 H. & H. Scofield, delivered an in- 

 structive address on chrysanthemums. 

 A smoker and supper closed the 

 evening. 



The Rhode Island Horticultural So- 

 ciety held its meeting in Falstaff Hall, 

 on Feb. 21. The feature of the even- 

 ing was a lecture by Prof. F. W. Card, 

 on small fruits. A brief address was 

 given by H. G. Breese, a noted fruit 

 grower of Hoosick, N. Y. 



The annual carnation exhibition of 

 the Huntington Horticultural and Ag- 

 ricultural Society will be held in the 

 trade school building, Tuesday even- 

 ing, March 6. The schedule comprises 

 carnations, roses, violets, and copies 

 can be had from President Walter 

 Shaw or Secretary A. H. Funnell. 



The annual banquet of the New Bed- 

 ford Horticultural Society was held in 

 the Mansion House, on the evening of 

 Feb. 21. Frank C. Barrows was mas- 

 ter of ceremonies. President William 

 Keith stated that the society had 

 grown from 76 to 110 during the year. 

 A vote of thanks was extended to 

 Messrs. James Garthly, H. A. Jahn and 

 Peter Murray for the flowers furnished 

 for the decoration of the tables. 



The Cincinnati Florists' Society will 

 have a special exhibition of carnations 

 on March 10, 1906. Prizes will be of- 

 fered as follows: Best vase white, 

 light pink, dark pink, red, variegated, 

 respectively, 50 blooms each, 1st prize, 

 $5.00; 2d, $4.00; 3d, $2.00. Best vase 

 seedlings, 25 blooms, 1st prize, $4.00; 

 2d, $3.00; 3d, $2.00. 100 mixed, not 

 less than 6 commercial varieties, 1st, 

 $8.00; 2d, $6.00: 3d, $4.00. Best gen- 

 eral display, $10. 



OBITUARY. 

 Samuel Hartwell, a prominent fruit 

 grower of Lincoln, Mass., died on Feb. 

 21, aged 72 years. His death was 

 caused by pneumonia and followed the 

 demise of his wife by but ten days. 

 .Mr. Hartwell was an active member of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural So- 

 ciety for forty years, serving a long 

 time on the vegetable and fruit com- 

 mittees. He was a conscientious, kind- 

 ly man and enjoyed in an exceptional 

 degree the esteem of his associates in 

 the horticultural society and his fellow 

 townsmen. He held many official posi- 

 tions of honor in his native town. 



