August 24, 1907 



IIORTICUUTURE 



1351 



In the arrangement of plantings. 

 one great object, which is one of the 

 great principles in landscape garden- 

 ing, is in many cases lost sight of, 

 namely, the consideration of the sky- 

 line. Especially in large border plan- 

 tations this should be applied. Here 

 we have tall plantings broken with 

 lower ones, until Ihey finally run out 

 to very low plants at the edge. In 

 fact, in every bed, as well as in larger 

 displays, the relation of one bed to 

 the other should be treated this way. 

 While the beds are all more or less 

 formal, they should not appear stiff. 

 Every plant should have plenty of 

 room for full development, and where 

 a number of varieties are used in one 

 bed. the tall ones should not be 

 massed all together, but here and 

 there one should rise above the lower 

 ones, so as to present a loose and 

 pleasing arrangement, and in this 

 manner every plant will show its 

 valuable points more advantageously. 

 For example, a bed planted only with 

 Ficun elastica would look very stiff, 

 but intermingled with the graceful 

 Grevillea robusta and a border of ivy, 

 it would lose this stiffness and present 

 a very pleasing effect. This shows 

 that by careful study, we can improve 

 the bad points of one plant with the 

 good ones of another. 



Particular stress should be given to 

 the selection of the various tints, 

 blending richly colored foliage taste- 

 fully with the more gorgeous tinted 

 flowers, so as not to create too big a 

 contrast. Beds of solid colors, alter- 

 nating with some of less contrast will 

 harmoniously tie the entire display to- 

 gether and this will help greatly to 

 achieve the desired plan. It is in the 

 designer's power to present a very 

 brilliant or also a very quiet picture 

 according to the scheme that is re- 

 quired. Quiet and restful effects are 

 worked out by using tints of various 

 blues, whites and grav, variegated 

 glaucus and bronze foliage with a lit- 

 tle touch of red and Anthericum vit- 

 tatum var. Punica, Granatum, pumila, 

 Abella rupestris, heliotrope. Plumbago, 

 capensis, coerulea and alba. Phygelius 

 capensis. Santclina and Abutilon Sav- 

 itzii lend themselves well tor this pur- 

 pose. 



Much more could be said on the sub- 

 ject, but in my opinion, one runs no 

 risk of failure by adhering to the 

 points laid out in my modest essay. 



The paper was received with an ap- 

 preciative vote of thanks, ilr. S. C. 

 Moon then read his paper on hardy 

 shrubs, how to plant and treat them. 

 This was declared to be a paper of 

 unusual practical value and brought 

 out a number of questions which Mr. 

 Moon replied to briefly. We hope to 

 publish this paper in full at a later 

 date. 



The report of the exhibition judges 

 was then presented and was accepted 

 with thanks. Awards on novelties 

 were made as follows: Conard & Jones 

 Company, honorable mention for can- 

 nas William Saunders and New York; 

 W. A. Manda, certificate of merit for 

 Dracaena Mandaiana; honorable men- 

 tion to F. R. Pierson Company for 

 Nephrolepis superbissima; Charles 

 Eble, honorable mention for unnamed 

 Nephrolepis; John Lewis Childs, cer- 

 tificate of merit for white seedling 

 gladiolus; M. Rice & Co.. highly com- 



mended for ornamental tree log; D. B. 

 Long, highly commended for fine art 

 folders; certificate of merit to Hart's 

 Handy Handle, a device for support- 

 ing flower pots; honorable mention to 

 Wilson's steel concrete greenhouse 

 bench; Dayton Paper Novelty Com- 

 pany, highly commended for embossed 

 flower boxes. 



Next Year at Niagara Falls. 



The next business— selection of a 

 meeting place for 1907— brought out 

 the usual oratory. Ex-Mayor W. W. 

 Cutler of Niagara Falls, fi.Y., presented 

 the claims of that city. Detroit as rep- 

 resented by Philip Breitmeyer, grace- 

 fully withdrew and Niagara Falls got 

 a unanimous vote. For president F. 

 H. Traendly of New York and J. R. 

 Fi-eeman of Washington were nomi- 

 nated the first by W. F. Kastlng and 

 the latter by J. C. Vaughan. For vice- 

 president W. W. Cutler and Geo. W. 

 McClure were put in nomination. Sec- 

 retary Hauswirth and treasurer Beatty 

 were given each a unanimous nomina- 

 tion. 



Mr. Farquhar presented the report of 

 the committee on name of the society 

 and recommended that a petition be 

 presented to Congress asking that the 

 name be changed to The Society of 

 American Horticulture. This was the 

 signal for much oratory which was 

 finally cut short by a motion to post- 

 pone decision until Thursday morn- 

 ing. 



The Trip to Riverton. 



When the steamer Columbia started 

 out from her pier at the foot of Arch 

 street at 2 p. m., she carried one of the 

 largest and most representative gath- 

 erings of florists ever assembled in 

 America. Arriving at Riverton the 

 visitors were escorted to the Dreer 

 nurseries and an inspection of the ex- 

 tensive hardy perennial collections and 

 numerous greenhouses was at once be- 

 gun. Unfortunately a succession of 

 heavy showers interfered with much 

 out-door pleasure but all was merry in 

 the great sheds attached to the range 

 of fern houses where a substantial 

 lunch was dispensed amid suroundings 

 gorgeously adorned with brilliant 

 bloom. After all had been satisfied 

 President Stewart called the assem- 

 blage to order and briefly voiced the 

 appreciative gratitude of the visitors to 

 their hosts. A wild outburst of cheer- 

 ing greeted Mr. W. F. Dreer as he 

 mounted a chair and told of the pleas- 

 ure it had given him to welcome the 

 fraternity to his vast establishmenr. 

 Cheer upon cheer followed Mr. Dreer's 

 kind remarks. 



THURSDAY'S SESSION. 



The initial topic of interest at 

 the opening of the Thursday 

 morning session was the election of 

 oflScers. Mr. Cutler withdrew his 

 name as a candidate for vice- 

 president. Balloting went on for 

 one hour during which time the ques- 

 tion of the change of name of the so- 

 ciety brought out some lively discus- 

 sion on the phases of the society's 

 aims and legitimate field of operation 

 between the warhorses of the organi- 

 zation. After being amended the 

 proposition was finally defeated by a 

 large majority. Mr. Hallock then pro- 

 ceeded to read his paper on hardy 

 bulbs and tuberous rooted perennials, 

 which was deferred from Wednesday. 



An interesting discussion followed af- 

 ter which superintendent Rust pre- 

 sented his report on the trade exhibi- 

 tion which was accepted. Mr. Hal- 

 lock then presented his paper on 

 "Horticulture in the Public Schools." 

 Horticulture in the Public Schools. 

 By referring to last year's report of 

 this Committee it may be seen that the 

 School Garden movement is already 

 an active factor. Most wonderful re- 

 sults have been accomplished by in- 

 dividual effort. Whole communities 

 have been benefited under the direc- 

 tion of individuals and also of associa- 

 tions. Good examples of these two 

 methods are what Mr. John H. Patter- 

 son has done in Dayton, Ohio, and the 

 Home Gardening Association in Cleve- 

 land, etc. 



The School Garden has passed its 

 experimental stage. Its success and 

 good results are assured. But. as 

 stated in the committee's report of 

 last year, there is "lack of concerted 

 action" in the present methods of 

 work, "no two schools or organizations 

 conducting their garden-work on the 

 same lines." 



It is proved beyond doubt, by the 

 success of these different movements, 

 that the teaching of horticulture in 

 the schools is of more importance 

 than any one realized; and the suc- 

 cessful outcome that has been at- 

 tained, all by different methods, shows 

 that elementary teaching of horticul- 

 ture according to one method could 

 be spread indefinitely throughout the 

 country. Variations and broadening 

 could be indulged in. but all should 

 follow the lines laid down. It seems 

 as though there had been enough 

 proof offered and its vital importance 

 acknowledged by every one. 



There is a tendency, we find, to con- 

 fine the school gardens to our cities 

 and large towns, where they have 

 been established by civic associations 

 and philanthropic workers, or to make 

 them a part of some normal school 

 system. The desire of this Committee 

 is to reach the rural common schools, 

 and to give the children of every rural 

 district in the land some simple les- 

 sons in practical gardening adapted to 

 thieir surroundings and their needs. 

 The time has now arrived for doing, 

 and many plans have suggested them- 

 selves to your Committee. To get a 

 hearing before educational societies, 

 or the local and state boards of educa- 

 tion, is a difficult matter. A commit- 

 tee going before a state organization 

 would be picked to pieces, criticisms 

 made, difficulties piled up. a plea that 

 the course is full, and a hundred other 

 objections. We therefore believe and 

 rcommend that this subject of teach- 

 ing horticulture in all the rural schools 

 (and other schools wherever possible) 

 be made an act of legislation, manda- 

 tory on the State Board of Education 

 to embody it in the public school 

 course; and that the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists formulate a working plan 

 to this effect, and prepare the matter 

 for the 1st, 2d and 3d years, due con- 

 sideration and consultation to be had 

 with the State Board of Education, 

 and limitation of time to be devoted 

 to this subject fixed on — of not less 

 than one hour per week in school, and 

 not less than two hours out of school, 

 except during the three winter 

 months. 



