452 



H ORTICULTU RE 



October 3, 1908 



Seed Trade 



long disastrous in ught has .it 

 last ectively broken, and a 



prayer of thankfulness is rai i 

 throughout this broad land. While uot 

 the worsl in the history i f the coun 

 try, it takes rank among the worst 

 droughts of recent years. Millions of 

 dollars' worth < i timber has been de- 

 stroyed, both in this country and 

 i '.ii: tda, ai least as an indirei I result. 

 of the drought, villages and towns 

 have been laid in ashes, and many lives 

 have been lost. In addition, the loss 

 t( fanners has been Immense; in dam- 

 age to crops, and in the loss of pastur- 

 age alone, millions can be charged 

 against the drought For several 

 weeks farim ts have been compelled to 

 feed hay and grain to their stock be- 

 cause then was no grass, and at least 

 two months' pasturage has been lost. 

 There lias been a great shrinkage in 

 the volume of farm products such as 

 milk, eggs, butter, etc., and prices are 

 soaring near to the figures of mid- 

 winter. Let us hope that the outpour- 

 ing from Jupiter Pluvius will at once 

 I this unwolcome advance, and by 

 increasing production restore prices to 

 normal figures again. 



It is not too late for pasturage to 

 improve sufficiently to furnish feed for 

 some weeks yet, but it is of course too 

 late to benefit any but fall-sown crops. 

 ll will enable farmers to resume wort 

 which has for some time been sus- 

 pended as a result of the drought. The 

 ground hud become so hard as to len- 

 der it practically impossible to plow. 

 with the result that the sowing of win- 

 ter grain will be late. Many farmers 

 will not sow at all, the consequences 

 being more or less of a reduction In 

 acreage. 



A few preliminary estimates of de- 

 liveries of peas of the 190S crop have 

 sifted through, and they arc calculated 

 to cause sinking spells among canners 

 ana seedsmen, particularly the former. 

 The estimates range from 25 to 10 per 

 cent, and on such varieties cf cann 

 peas as Admirals, Horsfords, Advan- 

 cers and Surprise, figures have been as 

 low as 20 per cent. But this is not the 

 worst cf it. the shortages cannot be 

 made up. It will be impossible to buy 

 them, as they do not exist, and what 

 the canners are going to do for seed 

 is a yet unsolved problem. The writer, 

 with a pretty fair knowledge of 

 conditions, expresses it as his de- 

 liberate opinion that in the matter of 

 seed peas, the seedsmen and canners 

 are confronted with the worst situation 

 they have ever been called upon to 

 face, and the latter in particular. 



The canners sell most of their output 

 in advance, and sell the product of cer- 

 tain varieties of s'eed, and while the 

 tact is not generally appreciated by the 

 seedsmen, most varieties have a dis- 

 linct appearance in the can, and the 

 trained eye of the experienced canner 

 d goods buyer can detect this 

 at once, therefore the canner cannot 



substitute one variety for another 

 at the consent of the buyer. 



Most of the "Sweet" ocas are packed 

 1 1 < in the four trieti ibove, 



i > i epting the Ti lephone brand. Th ise 

 are a large ungraded pea but few ii 

 any canners use Telephone seed. This 

 iy has proved too shy a yielder 

 h be profitable either for the canner 

 0! farmer, and as a consequence other 

 varieties such as Prince of Wales, 

 Queen, Yorkshire Hero or Shropshire 

 are used. 



For their first early pea, practically 

 all canners prefer the Alaska, while 

 for their main pack of sweet wrinkled 

 sort.;, they are compelled to use one 

 or more of Admiral, Advancer, Hors- 

 foi d or Surprise. But a limited quan- 

 tity of the large jr Telephone brand 

 is used, and the only varieties that can 

 be used to produce the type of canned 

 peas and 'he sizes wanted by buyers, 

 are these four and considering the 

 short deliveries, and the practical im- 

 possibility of buying them anywhere 

 in quantities, the predicament of the 

 canners can he appreciated. Gems and 

 Notts Excelsior might in a great em- 

 ergency be used, but the vines are too 

 short, and they are too shy croppers 

 to be popular with either canner or 

 farmer. 



Frosts more or less severe have 

 speedily lollowed the rain, and any 

 corn, vine seeds, tomatoes or other 

 seed crops not fully matured are done 

 for, but the long dry warm spell has 

 left comparatively little for the frost, 

 and it is fortunate, as the shortage is 

 heavy enough as it is. 



Connecticut field pumpkins are said 

 to be abundant; conditions which have 

 been bad for most other crops seem 

 to have been just right for this one. 

 The denizens of the "pie belt" will be 

 dottlly grateful when Thanksgiving 

 arrives, and incidentally those outside 

 of this happy zone will try to be for 

 the same reason, but the article they 

 have is a base imitation, and few can 

 e\ er know what a real pumpkin pie is 

 until they have sampled the real- New 

 England article. 



C. W. Moore has purchased the in- 

 terest of his partner, and the firm of 

 Moore & Simon, of Philadelphia, will 

 hereafter be known as the Moore Seed 

 Co. 



The Henry Field Seed Co., Shenan- 

 doah, la., re-elected all officers and 

 declared a dividend of eight per cent, 

 at the recent annual meeting. 



The establishment of Oscar H. Hill 

 & Co., Bismarck, N D., has undergone 

 extensive improvements and additions 

 during the summer. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 

 Otto Katzenstein & Co., Atlanta. Ga. 

 —Trade Price List, 1908-1909; a good 

 commercial list of seeds of American 

 conifers, trees, shrubs and herbs; also 

 to hand catalogue in Spanish by same 

 firm. 



Goos & Koenemann, Nieder-Walluf. 

 Germany. — Illustrated Catalogue and 

 Price List for 1908-1909. This splen- 

 did catalogue is arranged in two parts, 

 the first for hardy herbaceous plants 

 and the other for fruit and ornamental 

 trees and .shrubs. Many promising 

 novelties are listed. 



Mignonette 



FARQUHAR'S 

 GIANT 



Oz., 75c; 1-4 oz., 25c 



R. & J- Farquhar & Go. 



6 & 7 South Market Street 



BOSTON, MASS. 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 

 Annual Report of the Park Board of 

 the City of Portland, Oregon, for the 

 year 1907. — A concise and interesting 

 report embellished with several strik- 

 ing halt-tone views. 



The Nineteenth Annual Report of 

 the Commissioners of Public Parks of 

 the City of New Haven, Conn., has 

 been received. The half-tones with 

 which it is lavishly embellished give 

 a better idea of the picturesque reser- 

 vations of which New Haven is justly 

 proud than any verbal description. 

 The area under charge of Superintend- 

 ent G. X. Amrhyn is about 1000 acres, 

 and the total cost to date is over $700,- 

 000. A list of 185 species of wild birds 

 found in the parks is included in the 

 report. 



The San Jose Scale and Methods of 

 Treatment, by A. E. Stene, is a joint 

 bulletin of the State Board of Agricul- 

 ture and Extension Department of the 

 R. I. College of Agriculture and Me- 

 chanic Arts. It is a valuable addition 

 to the literature concerning this pes"t 

 and the best methods of fighting it, 

 being very complete and copiously cov- 

 ering every point on which informa- 

 tion of a reliable character is needed. 

 It is embellished with thirty cuts il- 

 lustrative of the text and nineteen 

 plates. 



IN ORDERING GOODS PLEASE 

 MENTION HORTICULTURE. 



VEGETABLE PLANTS 

 Cabbage 



$i.oo per loco. 



I aIIiiaa Boston Market, 

 kCIIUIfC Tennis Ball and drand 

 Rapids, 25c. per 100, $1.00 per 1000. 



strong plants, at $1.25 

 per 1000. 



Wakefield and Suc- 

 cession, 25c. per 100, 



Parsley 



R. Vincent Jr. & Sons Co. 



WHITE MARSH, MD. 



