March 27, 1909 



horticulture: 



427 



Sodium Cyanide and Potassium 

 Cyanide 



Etlitor of HoRTicfLTURE: 



Dear Sir: — The following exijlanation eon«erning 

 sodium cyanide aud potassium cyanide may be of inter- 

 est to readers of your pajaer. 



Both these substances are composed of cyanide, com- 

 bined in the one case with sodium and in the other with 

 potassium. With salts of equal purity there would be 

 more cyanide in the sodium C3'anide than in the potas- 

 sium cyanide in the ratio of about 5 to 4. Potash costs 

 more than soda, and there is less soda in the one than 

 there is potash iii the other. 



When the sulphuric acid is added, the cyanide is let 

 loose aud potassium or sodium sulphate is left behind in 

 the dish and, while the sulphate of potash is more valu- 

 able than sulphate of soda, this is not a matter of any 

 moment, for it is not common to use this impure sodium 

 sulphate as a fertilizer. 



From the horticultural point of view the considera- 

 tion is the gas made from the sulphuric acid and the 

 cvanide, and it can make little or no difference whence 

 it comes in the case of these two salts. 



From the commercial point of view, the question is, 

 to get cyanide as cheaply as possible. It is common to 

 quote prices on these two chemicals not so much per 

 pound for one or the other, but to quote a price in the 

 ratio of about 5 to 4 of the cyanide content. In this 

 case the buyer may pay his money and take his choice 

 unless there are some minor points that may influence 

 him, in one way or the other, of which we have not 

 spoken. 



As a matter of fact we would expect that the cyanide 

 in sodium cyanide should be purchased a wee bit cheaper 

 than cyanide in potassiiim cyanide for the reasons above 

 mentioned; unless the manufacture of the sodium salt 

 is more expensive, which we do not believe. So on the 

 whole there can not be any tremendous advantage in the 

 use of either one over the other. 



British Horticulture 



THE PERPETUAL FLOWERING CARNATION SOCIETY 



An interesting display is expected at the show which 

 will be held by tliis Society in London on March 24th. 

 At the annual meeting it was reported that a scheme 

 for the registration of the names of new varieties has 

 been adopted. The scale of points for judging and for 

 awarding certificates and awards of merit has been 

 altered. A variety must gain at least 85 points to en- 

 title It to a first-class certificate, and 75 points to entitle 

 It to an award of merit. The points allowed are as 

 follows: Color, 20; size. 20; fragrance, 10; substance 

 10: calyx, 5; habit of plant, 20; form. 15. Two cups 

 have been presented to the Society— one by the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society and the other bv Lord Howard 

 de Walden. It has been decided that these trophies 

 shall lie held as challenge cups in perpetuity. 



THE R. n. S. FIXTURES 



.Vn exceptionally fine display was made at the forced 

 spring bulbs show at the Eoyal Horticultural Society's 

 hall on March 9th. An excellent list of fixtures has 

 been arranged by the Society for the remainder of the 

 year. On April 20th an auricula and primula show 

 will be held, and on May 14th there is to be a show of 



tulips. The spring flower show takes place at the Tem- 

 ple Gardens on May 26th. The first Masters' memorial 

 lecture is to be delivered by Prof. Hugo de Vries, on 

 -June 22. The summer show at Holland Park takes 

 place- on July 6. Other important dates are July 21, 

 carnations; July 23, sweet peas; Sept. 16, autumn roses; 

 Dec. 1, colonial grown fruit and vegetables; Dec. 8, 

 winter carnations. 



London, Eng. 



yy^rf, dM^^. 



Recollections of Father Terry 



I had heard occasionally of this patient, hard-working 

 man, and about seven years ago I made him a visit. It 

 was when his glorious peonies were in full bloom. Up 

 to that time his collection was the finest I had ever seen. 

 The man impressed me from the first. His was the 

 soul of beauty. He was a favorite of good mother Na- 

 ture and seemed at home in her very "holy of holies." 

 How he loved his flowers. We spent a long time among 

 them and I helped him name some of them. 



He had already originated some 50 kinds of plums 

 and had named perhaps 75 kinds of peonies. The num- 

 ber afterward reached 100. With soul attuned to the 

 beautiful, with an intense desire to benefit the world 

 with his new creations, in financial matters he was as 

 helpless as a child. I contrasted his condition with Kel- 

 way of England. Taking out half a dozen of his finest, 

 Terry had as choice a collection as Kelway, 

 The races each was propagating were different; very 

 many of the English born were far too delicate 

 and sensitive to our western condition. Planted side by 

 side, one class in a trying season would hardly produce 

 a flower while those born in Iowa were full of vitality 

 and the great robust blossoms would seem to look down 

 on their foreign sisters with pity. 



The difl'erence between the two men was largely in 

 printer's ink. One man was selling plants of no espe- 

 cial merit at enormous prices and another was selling 

 very fine ones at a low price and the whole stock seemed 

 to go begging. I asked him how much he was selling a 

 year? Only about $100 out of that splendid collection. 

 The sig^ht was pathetic. All around was dilapidation. 

 The barn had been burned up. The house was poor, old, 

 unpainted and uncomfortable. The wife — a noble 

 woman — was working beyond her strength. It recalled 

 the case of Bull of Concord fame — a wonderful faculty 

 for blessing the country and the age and no faculty 

 whatever for getting money out of it. 



You need not wonder I took the case, writing for 

 papers with a half million circulation. I told as best I 

 knew how of his grand work. Two years after I visited 

 him again aud he was selling $1,000 worth a vear and 

 soon after he sold most of his collection for $2,.500. The 

 help did me good and it was but justice to him. 



I spent his 80th birthday with him. His soul was 

 still young and he was planning for the future. He 

 and his wife belonged to one branch of the Saturday 

 Saints. Xot the Utah polygamous bunch but to the 

 evangelical branch led hy the sons of the founder who 

 are utterly repudiated by the main body of the Mor- 

 mons. Such a man ought not to be forgotten. He 

 named and put on the market too many peonies. But 

 at least 10 of them are of superior merit. They will 

 perpetuate his memory and his soul will smile through 

 them upon thousands of admirers for years to come. 



York, Neb. 



C ^/flX/KH/tWi 



