674 



HORTICULTURE 



November 23. 1907 



ESTABLISHED 1 802 



ROMAN HYACINTHS ''^'^^'' 



PKK lOOO SEEDS 



Asparagus plunio us nanus seeds $2.25 



Asparagus plumosus robustus seeds 2.50 



BERMUDA EASTER LILIES 



Bulbs of all kinds, native and foreign. 



Send for our Trade Bulb List 



J.M.THORBURN & CO. 



33 Barclay St., through to 38 Park Place 



NEW YORK 



Everything of the Highest Qrade 



We have a surplus of 



Narcissus VON SION ^i, 



Write for Prices 



BRIDQEMAN'S SEED WAREHOUSE 



RICKARDS BROS., Props. 



37 East 19th S t., NEW YORK 



BULBS 



for immediate plant- 

 ing or forcing. 



Let us quote on what- 

 ever you need. 



H.E. FISKESEEDCO. 



12 A 13 Faneull Hall Square. 

 BOSTON, MASS. 



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 I GLADIOLI I 



B Cut spilces in any quantity from S 



S Selected Wliite and Light Shades; a 



S Selected Mixed Colors and Named S 



5 Varieties of Exceptional Beauty. g 



£ Write for Prices s 



I ARTHUR CO'WEE | 



S Qladiolus Specialist S 



i Meadowvale Farm, BERLIN, N.Y = 



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GLADIOLI 



Spotted Calla, Madeira Vine, 

 Cinnamon Vine, Oxalis ''"'"" ^'■■"•i«ies. 



Hyacinthus Candicans, 



Lilies in Variety, German Iris, 



Var. Day Lily, 



Delphinium Formosum 



Send for price list of Bulbs .-ind Hardy Plants 



E. 8. MILLER, - Wading RIv r, N. Y. 



BETWEEN YOU AND ME, What 

 do you think of the Buyers' Directory 

 and Ready Reference Guide of HORTI- 

 CULTURE? I always look it over be- 

 fore I do any buying 



Seed Trade 



It was told in last week's issue that 

 the fire at the government seed ware- 

 house at Washington had made a clean 

 sweep of everything in the building, 

 and particular attention was directed 

 to the item of sugar corn of which 

 about 2500 bushels were supposed to 

 have been destroyed. It develops, 

 however, that with the exception of 

 about twenty bushels all was saved, 

 but in a condition that augnrs ill for 

 its being available for seed. Much of 

 it is wet and instead of being spread 

 out, it is left in the bags with the ex- 

 pectation that it will dry in that way, 

 which of course shows what practical 

 seedsmen are our genial "Professors" 

 who run things at the government seed 

 shop. Much trouble has been en- 

 countered in securing a building fully 

 available in which to continue the in- 

 terrupted distribution when a fresh lot 

 of seeds are at hand, and as a ready- 

 made building could not be found to 

 satisfy all requirements a new tem- 

 porary frame structure is being erect- 

 ed, within the grounds of the depart- 

 ment, and to make room for which, a 

 fine old hedge was removed. It v/as 

 begun only last week, but an opti- 

 mistic "Professor" confidently expects 

 to begin putting the seed into packets 

 in the new building by Dec. 1st. Here 

 is another beautiful illustration of the 

 simple and childlike faith of our gov- 

 ernment seedsmen. Up to Saturday 

 of the ijast week no orders for any 

 considerable quantity of seeds had 

 been given, and while there seems to 

 be an honest effort to dispense with 

 as much unnecessary red tape as pos- 

 sible in this emergency, it will be the 

 middle of the present week before final 

 action will be taken on the various 

 bids and if the goods are rushed off 

 without an hour's needless delay after 

 the orders are received, it will be from 

 ten days to two weeks before they will 

 reach Washington. 



It is of course quite generally known 

 that Mr. B. F. Brown did not secure 

 the contract for putting up the seeds 

 for the coming distribution, and that 

 his machines are not in use by the 

 present contractor. A smaller ma- 

 chine which only fills the packet, but 

 does not paste the end, has been used. 

 Each of these machines is said to be 

 capable of filling 28,000 packets in S 

 hours, whiclr constitutes a day's work 

 in all departments under government 

 control and keeps five to six girls busy 

 pasting. Several of these machines 

 were destroyed and not enough are 

 available to make more than a respect- 

 able beginning. It will require time 

 to complete them, however, and it real- 

 ly looks as if it might be the middle 

 of December or first of .January before 

 everything will again be in full swing. 



Advices just to hand by mail from 

 California confirm reports of serious 

 damage to the lima bean crop. This 

 letter, which comes from Carpenteria, 

 says that rain commenced falling Oc- 

 tober 18th and up to Nov. 1st nearly 

 six. inches had fallen. The beans were 

 turned every day in the effort to keep 

 from spoiling, but in spite of this 

 were badly damaged, a good percent- 



age being swollen, and no inconsider- 

 able quantity having sprouted. Those 

 beans that liad been threshed were 

 sacked and piled up in the fields, and 

 of course were soaked. It is estimat- 

 ed that from 40 to 60 per cent, of the 

 crop was still in the field Nov. 1st, 

 either in sacks or not yet threshed. Of 

 course this means that lima beans will 

 now take their place in line with peas 

 and corn. Just what percentage will 

 be unmarketable, cannot now be stat- 

 ed, but that it will be corrsiderable is 

 certain, and it behooves every jobber 

 to go slow in selling lima beans until 

 his stock is actually in store, and has 

 been examined. Samples will no doubt 

 be unsatisfactory in many instances, 

 but seedsmen should be reasonable, 

 and understand that conditions are 

 such as to make it impossible to sup- 

 ply samples up to the usual standard. 



A letter from one of the largest 

 growers of sugar corn in the country, 

 under date of Nov. 5th. says that in 

 1904-5 when corn sold up to 115.00 per 

 bu., it was 60 per cent, drier on Nov. 

 1st than it was this year. Since Oct. 

 1st it had not dried out a particle, but 

 in effect had been in practical cold 

 storage. Here is the key to the real 

 situation, but no use repeating old 

 arguments which ought to be self-evi- 

 dent truths. 



There are rumors of some changes in ' 

 the firm of D. M. Ferry & Co., but I 

 these are likely to be more in matters 

 of detail than in business policy, as 

 for many years Mr. Perry has given | 

 very little attention to the seed bust- ' 

 ness, although no seedsman's name 

 was more widely known in this or • ] 

 any other country and few men were 

 better loved or fully trusted by their 

 business associates. His loss is most ' 

 sincerely mourned by those who knew 

 him best. 



The wholesale price list of grass 

 and clover seeds just issued by Henry 

 Nungesser & Co. New York, indi- 

 cates that all grass and clover seeds 

 are higher than usual this season and 

 really high gra,de qualities ou most 

 lines are scarce. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Archias Seed Store Corporation. Se- 

 dalia. Mo. — Garden, Farm and Poul- 

 try Annual. Cover, flowers and vege- 

 tables, in colors. 



M. G. Madson Seed Co., Manitowoc, 

 Wis. — General catalogue of vegetables, 

 fruits and flowers. Cover in colors, re- 

 producing a painting of child with 

 morning glories. 



ST. DAVIDS 



Late-Dug Harrisii 



Guaranteed pure bulbs. No long* 

 iflorum adulteration 



SIZE 5 to 7, 400 in a Case. $15 00 Case 



Wm. £lliott ^Sons 



201 Fulton Street 

 NEMT YORK 



