August 24, 1907 



HORTICULTURE 



255 



NATIONAL HORTICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY OK FRANCE. 



There are probablj' many of the 

 readers of Horticulture to whom the 

 name of the above society is familiar. 

 As one of the great European horti- 

 cultural societies a few notes on its 

 position and work may be useful be- 

 cause there are many American visi- 

 tors to Paris who would do well to 

 include a visit to one of its shows if 

 they happened to be there during the 

 time one was being held. 



The society which has been Ivnown 

 under other names is now called I>a 

 Societe Nationale d'Horticulture de 

 France and was founded under the 

 third Empire or, to be exact, on the 

 11th of August, 1855. It holds, every 

 year, two great exhibitions, one in the 

 spring and the other in the fall. These, 

 since the Paris Universal Exposition 

 of 1900, have been held in the two 

 large greenhci-ses on the Coiirs la 

 Reine, near the Champs Elysees, which 

 formed the Palace of Horticulture dur- 

 ing that immense international gath- 

 ering. The society has also a hall of 

 its own in the rue de Grenelle where 

 smaller shows are held fortnightly and 

 are largely patronized by the Parisian 

 public. This building comprises var- 

 ious committee rooms and the large 

 hall is decorated with some vei-y fine 

 wall paintings executed by some of the 

 French artists most famous for their 

 skill in the delineation of flowers, 

 fruit and allied subjects. 



From a recent statistical report we 

 observe that there are nearly 4,000 

 members of different gradef. inclusive 

 of societies in afliliation. The annual 

 subscription of an ordinary member is 

 equal to $4, and for this sum there are 

 many privileges; entrance to the 

 shows, use of the library and a copy 

 of the monthly Journal. The Journal 

 is of great interest to anyone inter- 

 ested in the art of gardening and it is 

 issued in twelve monthly parts, form- 

 ing a volume of considerable size. Its 

 contents, of course, are as varied and 

 as instructive as our own R. H. S. 

 Journal. 



The library is of unusual extent and 

 rich in every department of botanical 

 and horticultural literature. It con- 

 tains about 15,000 volumes, in all lan- 

 guages and its monetary value would 

 be difficult of computation for many 

 rare French, Italian, Dutch and other 

 old garden books are in the collection 

 and in this nspect is a long way ahead 

 of the R. H. S. of England. A splen- 

 didly arrar ged catalogue is printed 

 and supplied to members by the eru- 

 dite Librarian, Monsieur Geo. Gibault, 

 who knows more about ancient litera- 

 ture of this class than probably any 

 man in Eurrpe. 



The work of the society is largely 

 rarriec! on by committees of which 

 there are twelve in active co-opera^ 

 tion. Briefly enumerated they are as 

 follows: Scientific Committee, Pomo- 

 logical Committee, Vegetable Commit- 

 tee, Floral Committee, Committee of 

 Arboriculture, Committee of Garden 

 Art, Horticultural Industries, and one 

 for Manures, also a Chi-ysanthemum 

 and a Rose Committee and finally one 

 for the examination of new fruits. 



Besides awarding mtdals to the var- 

 ious exhibitors at the shows, and 

 scholarships, the society rewards old 

 gardeners for long and faithful service 

 to their employers, as an instance of 



which at the last of such meetings a 

 gardener who had been in the same 

 place for 55 years was awarded a gold 

 medal and several others who had been 

 41 years, 31 years, 30 years and lesser 

 periods in different families received 

 similar recognition. 



C. HARMAN PAYNE. 

 lx>ndon, Eng. 



WHOLESOME CHESTNUTS. 



Now is the time to sow pansy seed 

 for the production of flowers for cut- 

 ting as well as for the production of 

 good plants for next spring sales. Al- 

 though we may be told that cheap seed 

 sometimes produces plants of better 

 quality than those produced from ex- 

 pensive seed it will be found the safer 

 policy to pay a good price for the seed 

 and to obtain from a source as near 

 reliable as its reputation may indi- 

 cate. There are several methods prac- 

 tised in sowing pansy seed. Some sow 

 in flats and then place the flats in 

 frames; others again sow the seed 

 right in the soil in frames. The latter 

 method is probably the better one es- 

 pecially if a very large number is to be 

 grown. After the seed is sown it will 

 be well to shade the grass temporarily, 

 leaving it only until the seed germ- 

 inates and the seedlings appear over 

 the surface of the soil. The young 

 seedlings should be transplanted be- 

 fore they begin to crowd one another. 

 A bench of pansies for winter cutting 

 will be found of great advantage. There 

 are a hundred and one uses to which 

 pansy flowers may be put by the retail 

 florist. 



Sometimes in the hurry to get re- 

 turns early, young rose plants are al- 

 lowed to develop blooms at a time 

 when the vitality required therefor 

 would have been better employed in 

 putting healthy and robust constitu- 

 tion into the plants enabling them the 

 better to give satisfactory and more 

 lasting account of themselves later on. 

 When disbudding is in process it will 

 be far better to err on the side of safe- 

 ty than to lay too early a foundation 

 for a crop. The soil in rose benches 

 should be kept stirred and loose on 

 the surface always. They will in that 

 condition take more water with greater 

 benefit resulting. This condition will 

 also prevent the soil ever becoming 

 sour on the surface. Roses or any- 

 thing else will not thrive when there 

 is a crust of sour soil on the surface 

 covering the roots. Now is the time 

 to be on the lookout for black spots on 

 American Beauty plants; every leaf 

 that shows the least sign of spot should 

 be instantly removed. 



A dry atmosphere is absolutely es- 

 sential for the preservation of ripe 

 grapes till needed for late use. In 

 dry weather plenty of air should be 

 given during the day and a little at 

 night, but when the weather is wet or 

 damp with little or no shine a little 

 fire heat along with a free circulation 

 of air will aid things considerably. 

 When the surface of everything in the 

 houses is made warmer than the out- 

 side air, evaporation will carry away 

 the moisture. Graperies in which the 

 fruit is now swelling should be kept 

 moist. The leaves of a healthy vine 

 carry off a great deal of moisture by 

 evaporation and they cannot be kept in 

 a healthy condition if this loss is not 

 replaced; the red spider will in very 

 little time make this plainly visible. 



When the crop of peaches and nec- 

 tarines has been gathered the trees 

 should be kept regularly syringed and 

 the border watered if it has been found 

 to have become too dry. Air should 

 be admitted freely in order to thor- 

 oughly ripen the wood. 



The walks, lawns, borders, beds and 

 shruDberies should continue to have 

 unremitting attention. More genuine 

 enjoyment is obtained from private 

 places during the months of August 

 and September than in any other 

 month or months of the year by a 

 great many people; it is therefore in- 

 cumbent oh the gardener to make 

 every possible effort to keep the place 

 in such condition that will afford the 

 greatest pleasure to those at whose ex- 

 pense it is kept up. Hedges should 

 be clipped neatly when the state of 

 growth requires it, evergreens that are 

 getting beyond the space allotted to 

 them should be pruned, and preferably 

 with a knife in order that the shorn ap- 

 pearance of shearing may be prevented. 

 Herbaceous plants in borders should be 

 kept neatly tied to inconspicuous 

 stakes and decayed stems of such 

 plants should be removed in order that 

 the border may always have a fresh 

 and neat appearance. All annuals 

 should be cleared away except such as 

 may be desired to produce seed. It 

 unsightly vacancies result from an ex- 

 tensive clearance of these things there 

 should be some material at hand to 

 fill up again with. 



Great attention must now be paid to 

 the sowing of certain crops for autumn, 

 winter and spring. In extremely dry 

 weather it is desirable to sow seeds 

 immediately after the soil is dug or 

 forked over. Seeds will vegetate with- 

 out moisture yet it is not well to 

 drench them with water and then al- 

 low them to be parched up by the rays 

 of the sun. 



Violets should now be in such a con- 

 dition as will enable them to make a 

 good growth. From this time forward 

 it will be ruinous to the plants to be 

 checked in the slightest degree. The 

 soil should be kept sweet and mellow 

 by frequent stirring. The plants will 

 now require that water be given them 

 in plenty and applied judiciously. Just 

 before watering when the soil appears 

 in such a condition to require water a 

 stirring of the soil will be of immense 

 benefit to the plants. Ventilation ia 

 very important in the growing of vio- 

 lets. It does not do to simply leave 

 the sashes off and let them have all 

 the air going at all times and in all 

 kinds of weather. In dry clear wea- 

 ther the sashes may be removed but 

 when the rain begins to descend it will 

 bo well to replace them in such a man- 

 ner that will prevent the rain getting 

 at the plants. 



PERSONAL. 



J. Edgar Stuart, of Stuart & Haugh, 

 Anderson. Ind.. was married July 28, to 

 Miss Louise Cloverdale of the same 

 town. 



Visitors in Boston: W. N. Rudd, 

 P. J, Foley, Mr. Orcutt, Ed. Winterson 

 and wife of Chicago; Samuel Parsons, 

 consulting landscape architect for New 

 York City. 



H. Frank Darrow sailed for New 

 York on August 15th, per S.S. Deutsch- 

 land, from Hamburg, after visiting 

 the various foreign firms for which he 

 is the American agent. 



