February 20, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



247 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 



This club had a glorious meeting last 

 Tuesday evening. There must have 

 been in the ueighliorhood ol two hun- 

 dred and fifty in attendance, including 

 ten visitors from Providence, R. I., 

 and a number from the North Shore 

 Horticultural Society. The Providence 

 contingent included Messrs. Appleton. 

 Chappell, Hartstra, Hockey, Hazard, 

 McCord. Macnair, J. A. Macrae, Alex 

 Macrae and Sweeney. James Wheeler 

 for the committee on hospital bed for 

 needy members of the craft recom- 

 mended no action; accepted. President 

 Downs presented the Executive Com- 

 mittee's report, which was accepted 

 ■without discussion excepting the 

 clause recommending that the club ap- 

 propriate a special prize for competi- 

 tion at the Market Show on February 

 27. This brought up an animated dis- 

 cussion resulting in the adoption of 

 the recommendation. Brief talks were 

 made by Messrs. McGregor and Shaw 

 for the North Shore and Macnair and 

 Chappell for Providence. An invita- 

 tion was received and accepted with 

 thanks to attend the dedication of 



l''rench Hall at Amherst on March 12. 

 Six nev; members were admitted. The 

 club banquet has been set for March 

 31. Details later. 



The exhibition of plants and flowers 

 was quite extensive. R. & J. Farquhar 

 & Co. showed Acacia heterophylla, 

 Primula obconica grandiflora and a 

 table of cyclamens, which were given 

 an award of cultural merit. A report 

 of highest merit was given, for the first 

 time in the club's historj', tor White 

 Killarney rose exhibited by Alex. 

 Montgomery. Wm. Swan of West Man- 

 chester showed double rose larkspur 

 and lupins of various colors, receiving 

 a well- deserved honorable mention for 

 the latter. Charles Simpkins of Pea- 

 body was the recipient of a similar 

 award for Beauty of Nice, Boston Flor- 

 ists' White and Empress Augusta Vic- 

 toria stocks. Chas. S. Strout of Bid- 

 deford. Me., showed a vase of Winsor 

 carnations that won for him a certifi- 

 cate of cultural merit. A vote of 

 thanks was accorded to each of the 

 following exhibits: 0. M. Wliittemore. 

 Framingham, carnations Splendor and 

 Victory: H. A. Stevens, carnation An- 

 dree; Peter Fisher, vase of seedlings: 

 James Wheeler, Primula Kewensis, 



THE HENRY F. MICHELL COMPANY PRIZE. 

 To Be Competed for at the Boston Market Exhibiton, February 27-28. 



This elegant prize is to be awarded 

 for the best twelve pots of Easter 

 lilies in bloom. It is made of heavy 

 silver plate, twelve inches In diame- 

 ter, and has a border of beautifully 

 chased acanthus leaves. The tray is 

 mounted on three very massive feet 



and makes an ideal piece on which 

 to stand a cut glass vase filled with 

 flowers. As has been the custom for 

 the past few years. Henry F. Michell 

 Co. are awarding this unusual piece 

 in preference to the usual prize cups 

 or trophies given at these flower ex- 

 hibitions. 



semi-double; H. Schrade, Saratoga 

 Springs, N. Y., carnation Kanarien- 

 bird: Alfred B. Parsons, West Man- 

 chester, carnation Enchantress; Dan- 

 iel Whyte, North Easton, Primula 

 Kewensis; E. B. Deals, seedling carna- 

 tions; Jas. D. Clark, a device for pro- 

 tecting trees against ascending insects; 

 F. W. Fletcher, Baronne Rothschild 

 ^iolets. 



A number of exhibits promised from 

 distant points failed to arrive, the 

 storm having delayed trains badly. 



The principal event of the evening 

 was the promised talk on Carnation 

 Culture by M. A. Patten, president of 

 the American Caniation Society. 



Mr. Patten did not present a pre- 

 pared paper but talked partly extem- 

 pore and from brief notes. He said, 

 in part, describing his cultural meth- 

 ods: 



"We will start with a healthy cut- 

 ting, well-rooted but not left too long 

 in the propagating bed. I prefer to 

 jiot all my young stock, using sizes of 

 pots adapted to the size of the cuttings. 

 If they require more room I repot into 

 :l or 3 1-2 in. pots or plant in boxes. 

 Many a, good cutting has been ruined 

 by neglect. Keep on the cool side, 

 water carefully, give air in plenty but 

 avoid drafts until they are well estab- 

 lished. 



"[n planting outdoors we leave gen- 

 erally 18 in. between the rows and 6 

 to 10 in. in the low. Keep the soil 

 open with a hand wheel cultivator. 

 Keep plants well cut back, but It is 

 better not to pinch too much at a time. 

 If properly attended to you should have 

 good sized plarits at benching time, 

 August or September, proyided the sea- 

 son has been favorable and rel spider 

 hiis forgotten to call on you. The 

 plants after being dug with a garden 

 fork arc brought into the workroom, 

 dead leaves removed, and if the balls 

 are dry we water and let them stand 

 a few hours before planting. Plant 

 firm and leave the ;5oil level. 



"The carnation is not particular as 

 to soil. Equally good results are ob- 

 tained in a clay or sandy soil as a 

 general thing, but I think tbe softer 

 growing kinds have stiffer stems in 

 soil of a clay nature. It is "the man 

 behind" who is responsible for suc- 

 cess or failure. Give a good watering 

 to settle the soil. Some support should 

 be given at once to keep the plants 

 upright. We like to shade if they wilt, 

 and think this is better than too much 

 spraying. Disbudding should be regu- 

 larly attended to and weeds kei>t 

 down. A sprinkling of lime and a 

 slight dressing of some good fertilizer 

 is beneficial. 



"Burst&d blooms are by some attrib- 

 uted to tbe use of manure water. We 

 have not used any this season and 

 some varieties have bursted more than 

 ever. Perhaps cold water has some- 

 thing to do with it. We used one bed 

 for fertilizer experimenting this year, 

 using soot from the chimney, ground 

 bone, fish and phosphate and pulver- 

 ized sheep manure, but could not see 

 any difference in growth or flowering. 

 We had a good compost to begin with. 

 Our temperature at night averages 50 

 to .53 deg., day 60 to 75 deg. if pleasant 

 and 57 to fiO deg. if stormy. 



"I like side cuttings from the flower- 

 ing shoots not too high nor too low. 



