386 



HORTICULTURE 



September 21, 1907 



Seed Trade 



The Planters' Seed Company, of 

 Springfield, Mo., are erecting a large 

 warehouse. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



As regards the quality ol' Dutch 

 liulljs this season, the tulips and nar- 

 cissi are the best. Hyacinths and cro- 

 cuses art not more than ot average 

 Quality. 



From Connecticut again comes con- 

 firming reports that the late varieties 

 of sweet corn are turning out very 

 poorly. The continued dry weather 

 has just about ruined all semblance ot" 

 a crop. Sweet corn will be valuable 

 property this year. 



Corrections of last weelv's seed trade 

 notes are in order, as follows: Refer- 

 ring to estimates of deliveries, read 

 percentage of Pride of the Market 10 

 to 20 per cent, instead of 1 to 20 per 

 cent., and for Sultana Excelsior read 

 Sutton's Excelsior. 



On Wednesday. September 18, the 

 first anniversary of the opening of the 

 II. E. Fiske Seed Co.'s establishment 

 at 12 and Ti'i Faneuil Hall Square was 

 celebrated in due form. This company 

 has "made good, " :ind in the short 

 space of one year placed itself in a 

 recognized iiosition of permanence and 

 prominence aracng the best seed houses 

 of the Hub. 



The receipts of Dutch bulbs during 

 the past week have been very heavy, 

 and now what certainly bids fair to 

 be a great season for hardy bulbs be- 

 ing well underway it may be an op- 

 portune time to urge all consumers of 

 this class of stock to at once place 

 their orders, if they have not already 

 done so, as from the experiences of 

 the past two seasons the late buyers 

 will not fare very well. 



Wax beans, especially "Black Wax," 

 also "Burpee's" and "Giant Stringless" 

 green pods f.re reported as a very poor 

 crop in the west. Our advices also 

 tend to show that the rlwaif varieties 

 cf wrinkled peas will fall below the 

 averages given in the interview with 

 a leading gi'ower in our issue of 14th 

 Inst. 



There is a report (we do not know 

 how well-founded) that there is a 

 failure of some small seed crops," over 

 the Pond," notably salsify. 



Main shipments of Dutch bulb stock 

 reached Philadelphia on the 16th inst. 

 The season is late on account of the 

 cold, damp weather on the other sid:. 

 Hyacinths and narcissi opened up 

 sweaty and had to be spread out. Tu- 

 lips were in better shape. Outside of 

 condition, quality and size are distinct- 

 ly ahead of last year. This covers all 

 subjects. May-flowering tulips are in 

 larger supply, and judging from ad- 

 vance sales the overturn in these will 

 be phenomenal this year. Named Dar- 

 wins even are now on the list and go 

 readily even at the high prices asked. 



Arreriean Varieties of Garden Beans. 

 The U. S. Department ot Agricul- 

 ture has never issued a more useful 

 and practical bulletin than that which 

 has ju:t appeared under the above 

 title by W. W. Tracv, .Ir., Bulletin, No. 

 109. 



■\\ hen we consider that there are 

 over four hundred assumed vai ieties of 

 garden Beans now grown and culti- 

 vated in this country, the value of 

 Mr. Tracy's work in classifying and 

 reducing them to one hundred and 

 eighty-five distinct sorts will be appre- 

 ciated. Not only has this been done 

 most systematically, but the merits 

 and demerits of each kind plainly 

 stated and the synonymous names of 

 each distinct variety given. The pub- 

 lication of synonyms with the names 

 of their Introdtieers cannot fail to have 

 a restraining influence on those given 

 to the practice of re-naming varieties 

 for purposes of deception or gain. We 

 would remark that the sin of re-chris- 

 tening cannot always be charged to 

 the Seedsmen; we can recall several 

 instances where cultivators have con- 

 cealed the names of vegetables and 

 fruits in order to prevent their com- 

 jictitors in market or in exhibition ob- 

 taining stock of a sort, which they 

 had hoped to monopolize. The de- 

 scriptions are comprehensive, accurate 

 and impartial. The author makes com- 

 parison of each sort with others simi- 

 lar to it, and wherever possible gives 

 its history. The latter part of the 

 book is devoted to half-tone illustra- 

 tions of seeds, pods and leaves; al- 

 togther, the bulletin is a trustworthy 

 handbooiv on garden Beans, which will 

 be fully appreciated by both grower 

 and Seedsman. If anything could be 

 added in a future edition, we would 

 suggest that the Department when 

 another trial is made, obtain through 

 its correspondents a collection of the 

 leading European kinds to be teste I 

 in comparison with our own. There 

 are not a few varieties like the Fla- 

 geolet Blanc, Haricot Riz, etc., that so 

 far as we know have never been fairly 

 tried in this country. 



We most heartily commend the woi k 

 of Bulletin No. 109 and we hope that 

 work on this line will be continued by 

 the Department. 



Bulletin No. 1 of the Bureau of Hor- 

 ticultural Inspection, Department of 

 .Agriculture of the State of New York, 

 has been received. It has been pre- 

 pared by (leorge G. Atwood and is de- 

 voted to information for orchardist>; 

 and fruit growers relating to certain 

 dangerously injurious insects and 

 diseases, among which are the various 

 scales, borers, root worms, aphis, galls, 

 bli.alits and vots. The book contains 

 4S full page plates illustrative of these 

 subjects and the methods followed for 

 their extermination. Every owner of 

 trees should have this volume where 

 he can put his hand on it at a mo- 

 ment's notice. Charles A. Whiting, 

 Commissioner of Agriculture, Albany. 

 N. Y., is the office address. 



BEDDING PLANTS: THEIR USE 

 AND ABUSE. 



[A p:i|icr )c:id hofnri' ilii' !<'.iiK'ty Mf Ijwa 

 Fli:i^l>. -iiiijust -'S. I'JiiT. iiy J. T. Li. 



Fulii^el". Dt'S Muiiit;?.; 

 I shall only speak of summer bed- 

 ding and carpet bedding, since they are 

 the two most in use in this section of 

 the country. 



Fiist, summer bedding, where we U'je 

 cannas, geraniums, coleus, verbenas, 

 ageratum, salvia, vincas, alyssum, 

 Ijetunias, heliotrope, grasses, altern- 

 antheras. artemisia, begonias, dahlias, 

 etc. 1 should plant but one variety of 

 geranium in a bed, bordering the 

 plants with some of the low-growing 

 plants, as artemisia or Madame 

 Saleioi geranium. Again, never use 

 btit one colo! of cannas in a bed and 

 tnese should be bordeied with some 

 tall growing plant, as grass or salvia. 

 As lor coleus, they may be planted 

 two, three or four varieties in a bed, 

 provided each variety is placed in Its 

 own division. Coleus should be 

 planted where they may be exposed to 

 the full sunshine as the colors are 

 nmch enhanced thereby. 



For dahlias. I prefer mixed colors in 

 the same bed, ff>r the dahlia and 

 chrysanthemum Slow'ers blend well 

 even when the several shades are used 

 together. Stake dahlia plants up. and 

 do not permit many side shoots to 

 grow as this is a detriment to bloom. 



Artemisia is considered one of the 

 best plants, used either as a border for 

 geraniums or in carpet bedding. As 

 to begonias, the only fibrous-rooted 

 varieties largely used for bedding are 

 those of the sempertlorens type, of 

 which Erfordii and Vernon are the 

 best. Verbenas should be grown by 

 themselves because they demand much 

 room on account of their trailin.g 

 habit. Piopagation by cutting must 

 be relied on if we would keep the 

 choicest varieties true to type. 



In the matter of carpet bedding, 1 

 am well aware there is a strong feel- 

 ing against it by the landscape man; 

 yet, in spite ot all his objections, the 

 public are lovers of it, provided of 

 course, it Is well done. That it may 

 be seen to tlie best advantage, it 

 should be placed in sunken areas, as 

 we find it in .Vliichell Park, Milwaukee; 

 V/ashington Paik, Cliicago; and Fair- 

 mount Park, Philadelphia. 



Plants best adapted for use in car- 

 pet bedding are coleus, alternanthera, 

 stevia variegata, aitomisia, echeveria, 

 santolina and sedum. All these, ex- 

 cept echeveria. will stand pinching 

 which keoi)s them at a desired height. 

 \\'hen carpet beds are well done, they 

 are very attractive, and since they re- 

 f;ulre technical skill and time they 

 certainly deserve appreciation. 



I now turn to the last, and to me 

 the most )mi)ortant part of my paper 

 — the abuse of bedding plants. This 

 may be done, first by placing two or 

 more colors of geraniums in a bed, as 

 led and pink, bordering it with a 

 coleus, which is allowed to grow taller 

 than the geraniums. Or, it may be a 

 bed of cannas of two, three or four 

 varieties, bordered with geraniums 

 and possibly ageratum for an outer 

 border. Again, it may be a large, solid 

 bed of salvia, without any border at all 

 to break the monotony. Still again, 

 it may be a bed of six or eight colors 

 of coieus mixed like "Grandmother's- 

 crazy patch quilt." 



