January 16, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



67 



PERPETUAL FLOWERING CARNA- 

 TION SOCIETY. 



The fifth show of the. above society 

 was held on December 9 in the Royal 

 Horticultural Mall, London, Eng,, and 

 a very brilliant display was made. 

 Secreary E. F. Hawes and the officers 

 are to he congratulated on the result. 

 The schedule provided lor oS classes of 

 collections, groups, vases, bouquets and 

 table decorations, most of which were 

 well filled. Section C, open to mem- 

 bers, included several prizes presented 

 by American growers, viz.: E. G. Hill, 

 Fred Dorner and the F. R. Pier^on Co. 

 New varieties were judged by the Floral 

 Committee on the following scale: 

 Color 20 points, size 20, fragrance 10, 

 substance 10, calyx 5, habit of plant 

 ZO. form 15—100. To obtain a first- 

 class certificate, a novelty must obtain 

 85 points, and 75 tor an award of merit. 



A gold medal was awarded to Mr. 

 Leopold de Rothschild for a finely 

 flowered collection in pots. The blooms 

 were superb and consisted among many 

 others of Jessica, Eclipse. Beacon, 

 Winsor, Melody, Flamingo, En- 

 chantress, Lady Bountitful, Mrs. M. A. 

 Patten, etc. 



Bell & Sheldon had a fine lot — car- 

 nations and winter flowering sweet 

 peas. They, too, received a gold medal, 

 having a fine display of unnamed seed- 

 lings and beautiful bouquets of Aris- 

 tocrat, Britania, Beacon, Mrs. H. Bur- 

 nett, White Perfection and others. 



Hugh Low & Co. made a grand dis- 

 play in the middle of the hall with a 

 large circular stand having shelves all 

 around it. Ornamental greenery was 

 interspersed with vases of cut blooms 

 of the best and most up-to-date carna- 

 tions, l^nnamed seedlings were in 

 quantity. Helen Gould, Winsor, Vic- 

 tory, Beacon, Rose Enchantress, Brit- 

 annia and many more besides. 



A gold medal, the first prize in Class 

 1, was awarded to W. E. Wallace, a 

 fine collection of cut blooms on a table 

 10 feet by 3 feet. 



An imposing lot of Rose Doree was 

 made by Mr. Lancashire, and was 

 awarded a silver medal. There were 

 ten large vases of it, besides several 

 smaller ones. A big bloom and a soft 

 delicate color. 



H. Burnett had a large silver 

 medal tor a group in great variety. 

 Fortuna, Snowball, Winona, Rose Pink 

 Enchantress and others previously 

 named were shown in large numbers. 



A similar award went to Cutbush & 

 Son, whose flowers were staged in tall 

 stands. Jas. Veitch & Son had a good 

 lot of American sorts. Winona. Melody, 

 Afterglow, Mrs. T. W. Lawson, Win- 

 sor were only a few of the most meri- 

 torious. They also showed a long 

 group of winter flov/ering liegonias that 

 made a fine array of color. 



G. Engelmann also had a large silver 

 medal for carnations. Seedlings in 

 (inantitv, also My Maryland, Red Law- 

 son, Winona, Andrew Carnegie, 

 Beacon, etc. 



Heath & Son showed Yellow Queen 

 and Golden Glory. 



A silver medal went to the American 

 Carnation Nursery at Sawbridgeworth 

 tor an imposing display of well-grown 

 flowers staged in good form, and in- 

 cluding Victory, Boston Market, The 

 Belle, Imperial, Afterglow and all the 

 better known standard kinds. 



G. Lange showed a fine lot in vases 



and received a large silver medal, as 

 also did John Peed & Son, and C. E. 

 Waters. There were several other ex- 

 hibitors of rock plants, foliage plants 

 and other things of interest, 



C. HARMAN PAYNE. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



Chrysanthemums. A practical treat- 

 ise on their propagation, cultivation, 

 training, raising for market, exclu- 

 sively out of doors in the garden or 

 field. By Dr. J. H. Thomas. Price, 25c. 



Bulletin 21.3 of the New Jersey Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Stations, by John 

 B. Smith, Sc. D., is a very valuable 

 treatise on Insecticide Materials and 

 Their Application, with Suggestions for 

 Practice. Spraying machinery, noz- 

 zles, the various poisons used in the 

 work, analyses of certain proprietary 

 compounds, mineral oils, etc., with 

 directions for their mixture and uso 

 for different purposes and kindred 

 topics are well covered, and the 

 pamphlet is a good thing to have handy 

 for reference. We are pleased to see 

 that it has a good word to say for B. 

 G. Pratt Company's Scalecide, a 

 preparation continuously adver* !sed in 

 HORTICULTURE. 



The Nineteenth Annual Report of 

 the Missouri Botanical Garden has been 

 received. It is a volume of nearly 300 

 pages and there are 35 full page plates. 

 Among the valuable botanical contri- 

 butions is a paper by Prof. C. S. Sar- 

 gent, describing and classifying one 

 hundred and three species of Cratae- 

 gus indigenous to Missouri. Nearly 

 one half of the book is devoted to an 

 Ecological Cross Section of the Missis- 

 sippi River in the Region of St. Louis, 

 a very elaborate production of much 

 scientific interest by Henri Huss. 

 In the report of the Director, Profes- 

 sor William Trelease shows that the 

 institution is being conducted on a 

 high plane of usefulness, and its affairs 

 are prosperous in all departments. 



Bulletin 259 of the Department nt 

 Horticulture, Cornell University, is 

 devoted to the peony. The author is 

 J. Eliot Coit. The bulletin will be 

 found very valuable as a reference 

 book by peony fanciers. It comprises 

 SO pages, illustrated with numerous 

 portraits of varieties, giving much 

 information on the history, culture, 

 classification and description of va- 

 rieties which appear to be fairly au- 

 thentic as to nomenclature and de- 

 scription. In an introductory note 

 Prof. John Craig intimates that this> 

 bulletin is only a beginning of the 

 work contemplated and will be fol- 

 lowed by others as fast as definite 

 results are reached. A bibliography 

 of peony literature is included in this 

 numb&r. 



The twenty-fourth annual convention 

 report of the Sociiety of American 

 Florists and Ornamental Horticultur- 

 ists has been received from Secretary 

 Rudd. It is a publication of 276 pages, 

 similar in make-up to the preceding 

 annual reports and containing the pro- 

 ceedings in full of the convention at 

 Niagara Falls last August, reports of 

 Stat'e Vice-presidents, Entomologist, 

 Botanipt, Pathologist, details of the 

 trade e.^ihibition, bowling contests, etc., 

 with a list of the officers, committees 

 and members, and statistics of mem- 



bership. Brief reports cut the transac- 

 tions of the American Carnation 

 Society, American Rose Society, Ladies' 

 Society of American Florists and 

 Floi'ists' Hail Association are also ia- 

 cluded. 



We miss two familiar features of 

 the preceding annual reports — the 

 frontispiece portrait of the president- 

 elect and the list of plant introductions 

 for the year. The reports of entomolo- 

 gist, botanist and pathologist are new 

 and useful features but we believe 

 the list of plant introductions would 

 add value to the volume. The list of 

 members, life and annual, totals S99. 



PROMOTING ROOT GROWTH IN 

 ROOT CROPS. 



WTiat means have we growers and 

 cultivators by which we can induce 

 or further root-growth in such forms 

 as carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, gin- 

 seng and similar commercial roots? 



In a case like any of the above our 

 aim is to get large roots, not taps. 

 What can we do, presuming the crop 

 is worth the effort? W. 



The best means to promote root 

 gi'owth in the crops referred to is to 

 give each plant space enough for the 

 proper development of its root. Given 

 sufficient light and air the nitrogenous 

 food which under crowded conditions 

 produces excessive leaf growth, will 

 be stored up in the roots. In this 

 country we are apt to neglect the thin- 

 ning of the root crops. In Europe tur- 

 nips are usually sown in drills two 

 and a half feet apart and the plants 

 thinned to eight inches distant in the 

 drill, by means of a sharp hoe the 

 blade of which is the correct width 

 for the purpose. The result is that the 

 turnip roots usually fill the eight-inch 

 spaces. The same care is bestowed in 

 thinning other root crops such as car- 

 rots, parsnips, beets and mangels, giv- 

 ing each sufficient space according to 

 its growth, for full development of the 

 root. 



Occasionally an insufiicient root- 

 growth may result from acidity of the 

 soil: this may be corrected by a liber- 

 al application of air-slacked lime. In 

 most cases, however, it is the result of 

 crowding the plants. 



OUR EXCHANGES. 



The Iiong Island Agronomist is send- 

 ing out as a 190S year-end supplement 

 a reprint of "Agricultural Enquiries" 

 from Judge Richard Peters' Book, 

 published in 1796. 



The Fern Bulletin, quarterly issue 

 for October, 1908, has been received, 

 and we add it with pleasure to our 

 treasury of valuable literature. It is 

 as usual, carefully compiled, and con- 

 tains a number of interesting scientific 

 contributions from eminent tern stu- 

 dents, illustrated with original draw- 

 ings. It is the official organ of the 

 American Fern Society. Published by 

 Willard N. Clute & Co., Joliet, 111. 



A serviceable little desk tray, for 

 ashes or pins or other odds and ends 

 comes to us with the compliments 

 of W. Atlee Burpee & Co. A medal- 

 ion in the center shows an ideal musk 

 melon and tells us where to buy 

 "seeds that grow." Burpee has such 

 winning ways. 



