288 



HORTICULTURE 



March 10, 1906 



ROBERT CRAIG 



The Best SCARLET ever offered to the trade. 



We can make immediate delivery of rooted cuttings of the above variety. 



I 



$12.00 per 100. $100 per 1,000. 

 ; J. D. Thompson Carnation Co., Joliet, 111. J 



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►*•*•+•♦•♦•♦•*■•♦••♦••♦■•♦ •«< 



>••*•*••*•♦•■♦••♦•£ 



RAILROAD GARDENING 



(Remarks by Paul Huebner, Superintendent of Gardens and Grounds of the Reading Railroad System, at the 

 monthly meeting of the Florists' Club of Philadelphia, March 6, 1906.) 



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At Reading Railroad Station, Pa. 



At 



I have been requested by your com- 

 mittee to say something about the 

 subject of railroad gardening. I had 

 the pleasure of appearing before you 

 on the same subject a number of 

 years ago, and while I do not know 

 that I can tell you anything further 

 now, I can at least refresh your mem- 

 ories on some of the salient features 

 of this particular phase of horticul- 

 ture. 



The most important point in rail- 

 road gardening to my mind is how to 

 achieve effectiveness at a minimum 

 of cost. Around this fundamental 

 idea all our thoughts and efforts eon- 

 centrate and from this radiates all 

 that we do and all that we leave un- 

 done. A railroad company does not 

 beautify its station grounds for phil- 

 anthropic reasons. The basic idea is 

 to increase traffic, and to do this, sur- 

 roundings are made as attractive as 

 possible. Another point we have 

 aimed at is hedging for the purpose 

 of preventing snow-drifts, as well as 

 for ornament. For this purpose we 

 have found nothing to beat the Cali- 

 fornia privet. We have heard some 

 complaint as to the hardiness of this 



plant, but our experience has been 

 very fortunate. We have lost but 

 few even in the bad years that killed 

 off so many in this latitude. The 

 Osage orange we have discarded en- 

 tirely. It is subject to scale and the 

 robber roots run all over the adjoin- 

 ing field. Besides that, it is very hard 

 to trim unless when it is in the soft 

 state. California privet is very easily 

 trimmed. 



During the years that have elapsed 

 since I talked to you before the most 

 decided change that has taken place 

 in methods is the increased use of 

 hardy herbaceous plants and ever- 

 greens. The evergreen is not only 

 showy in summer, but is soothing and 

 picturesque in winter and gives that 

 pleasing touch to the landscape which 

 we all so much appreciate. All the 

 thujas and retinosporas are good, but 

 I do not recommend the arbor vitae 

 on account of the bag worm. For em- 

 bankments we find the Scotch broom 

 a very satisfactory shrub. We do not 

 use the Wichuriana rose much for em- 

 bankments, as it costs too much to 

 prepare the soil. For shrubbery 

 groups the weigelia, forsythia. lahur- 



Trenton Junction, N.J. 



num. Prunus Pissardi. and amygdalus 

 are excellent. Of course we have to 

 depend on the old fashioned carpet 

 beds to brighten things up with color 

 around the stations. Our best scarlet 

 geranium is Denison's seedling, and we 

 also use a good many of John Doyle, 

 which is the same color. S. A. Nutt 

 is too dark for railroad purposes, and 

 it does not clean itself enough. La 

 Pilot is about as dark as we can use 

 effectively, but this variety is running 

 out somewhat, and we need one with 

 a better constitution. In pinks we pin 

 our faith to Glorieaux. La Favorite 

 is one of the best whites I have tried. 

 In cannas, we still believe in Fuerst 

 Bismark. It is an elegant bright scar- 

 let with green foliage, a fine grower 

 and blooms all the time. It also cleans 

 itself nicely and always looks fresh 

 and bright. Madame Berat is a good 

 pink and is grand all by itself in a 

 big bed. We like Buttercup better 

 than Florence Vaughan for a yellow. 

 Of the giant orchid-flowering cannas. 

 we like Kate Grey the best. For a 

 large bed twenty or thirty feet in di- 

 ameter, this is hard to beat. Bouvier, 

 Egandale, and Madame Crozy are still 



