u;s 



H O RT I CU LT U RE 



February 8, VM)S 



AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 



What lES? "Hydrangea Arborescens 

 Alba Grandiflora" figured in Good & 

 Reese's catalogue with cordate foliage 

 and broad, flattened corymbs of 

 flower, while in Dingee & Conajd's 

 catalogue we find "Hydrangea Arbores- 

 cens Var. Sterilis" bearing oblong ovate 

 leaves and conical panicles of bloom! 

 Confusion again and no "Registrar" to 

 accuse! 



NATIONAL SOLDIERS' HOME, TOGUS. ME. 



That was a very nice compliment 

 v.'hich President Roosevelt paid the 

 Carnation Society on the occasion of 

 their visit to the White House when 

 he congratulated the members on hav- 

 ing brought their ladies. Each visitor 

 wore a carnation and the contrast be- 

 tween the appearance of this body and 

 that of another organization, which 

 at the time was standing in line, car- 

 nationless and ladyless, for a recep- 

 tion arranged to follow after the Car- 

 nation Society, was quite marked. 



.\u nnouyiuoiis eorresiMUitleut is one of 

 the most contciui)til>lG croutures wbicli the 

 world has ever produced. Outside of the 

 poisoner, lie adopts the most cowardly way 

 nf attacking people. 



He does not ffive auy one a fair chance 

 to defend liiniself. bin remains hidden in 

 the reeesst's of ol)scnrity t<» protect his 

 own reputation. Sucli a sncalv may even 

 call to see tlie person whom he has de- 

 famed, ap|>ear friendly and at the same 

 time stud.v ttie effect of his wickedness 

 upon Ids unsuspectin.i; victim. 



No matter luiw one may view the work 

 of an anonymoiis communicator he must 

 come to tlie conclusion that a devil seems 

 more like a saint than such a fellow, and 

 he can readily Imagine tliat old Ueelzebul) 

 would not alliw a nameless letter writer 

 to enter hell for fear of making the infer- 

 nal aliode worse. — N. \". B»-ening Telegram 

 l-'orrespondont. 



In the words of .lethro Bass: "Hain't 

 underdone it, and hain't overdone it a 

 mite^hev you? Callate you couldn't 

 hev beat that if you was to take a 

 week to it." 



.John Cook's red rose Cardinal is a 

 favorite with Poehlmann Bros., Chica- 

 go. Now that its merits have been dis- 

 covered by this wideawake firm, no 

 doubt this fine American rose will find 

 admirers a-plenty. Another of Mr. 

 Cook's roses, the pink Enchanter, is 

 held by Gude Bros, of Washington to 

 be in the very front row. 



.A.t present writing, the daily repor- 

 ters' pets, the suburbanite with the 

 dandelioo blossoms and the lady with 

 the pansy from the back yard, hate 

 subsided, and the outside thermometer 

 with frozen bulb looks wistfully 

 through the glass at his comfortable 

 brother inside the greenhouse. Even 

 in bleak Minneapolis, two weeks ago, 

 they were boasting of the tulips bloom- 

 ing amid summer zephyrs and "the 

 bees a-hununing soft and lazy, .Tanu- 

 ary are you crazy," etc. Better to 

 stick to the greenhouse man in the 

 long run, when it comes to getting 

 flowers in mid-winter, Mr. Reporter. 



Speaking of carnations, which do you 

 find is best appreciated by the aver- 

 age flower buyer with moderate purse 

 — a good bloom of an obscure or name- 

 less variety, or a poor bloom of the 

 most lauded pet of the exhibition, at 

 same price? 



Happening in the vicinity of Togus 

 the other day, I decided to call on my 

 friend Mr. A. W. Mcintosh, chief of 

 the Horticultural Department, and 

 also get a look at the holiday decora- 

 tions. These were more elaborate 

 than anything of the kind in the his- 

 tory of the home, and attracted crowds 

 of visitors. The Governor's quarters, 

 chapel, various mess rooms and hos- 

 pital all had their share of attention. 

 The chapel was simply but taste- 

 fully trimmed with evergreen wreath- 

 ing, holly and poinsettias, and with 

 handsome memorial wreaths in each 

 window. The hospital dining room 

 was more pretentiously dressed, and a 

 large Christmas bell hung in the cen- 

 tre of the hall imparted a seasonable 

 suggestion to the work. The "piece de 

 resistance, however, was the large mess 

 hall, in which 2500 men are fed three 

 times a day. Each of the 60 columns. 

 19 ft. in height, supporting the ceiling, 

 had been closely twined with roping, 

 and in addition a specimen spruce tree 

 six feet high and surmounted by an 

 American flag was attached to the front 

 of each of the ten columns on either 

 side of the main aisle. Christmas bells 

 were suspended at intervals above this 

 aisle, and, at the further end, the na- 

 tional colors were draped against the 

 wall, crowned with a 40-inch star illu- 

 minated by electricity. Directly in 

 front of the flag stood a magnificent 

 fir tree, twelve feet high, and covered 

 from top to bottom with red, white 

 and blue electric lights, and poinset- 

 tias. The ceiling was a perfect maze of 

 loops and festoons of evergreen, the 



walls scrolled with wild sinilax and 

 the doors and windows all beautifully 

 outlined. I noted that leucothoe 

 sprays were used largely in this part 

 of the work. The windows were fur- 

 ther dressed with wreaths of evergreen 

 and holly, and each of the forty large 

 dining tables was arranged with dra- 

 caenas and stevias, the latter being 

 the best specimens for the purpose the 

 writer has ever seen. All the decora- 

 tions were carefully planned by Mr. 

 Mcintosh weeks ahead, and every de- 

 tail carried out under his personal su- 

 pervision; over 3000 yards of roping 

 were used, all made by inmates of the 

 home and employed in the green 

 houses. 



A walk through the houses showed 

 everything up to date, and no waste 

 room. There is promise of abundant 

 bedding stock for 190S, except alter- 

 nanthera, which Mr. Mcintosh regards 

 as unsuited to present conditions at 

 Togus. Thousands of tulips, hyacinths 

 and other forcing stock are in their 

 various stages. A house of roses, sev- 

 enty days planted from 2-in. pots, look 

 like six months, a fine lot of tomatoes 

 were well along to maturity, and a 

 batch of string beans in 6-in. pots 

 looked good enough to eat. Should it 

 be acceptable to you, I may later on 

 give your readers some further items 

 regarding what has been accomplished 

 for the improvement of the grounds, 

 since Mr. Mcintosh took charge last 

 April, and also something of what Is 

 projected for the future development 

 of this beautiful government reserva- 

 tion. CAMPBELL WALKER. 



Kennebunk, Me. 



iThe above interesting letter should have 

 :ippeared at holiday time but was crowded 

 out for the time being. — Ed.) 



Mr. Ward's avowed present aim in 

 carnation improvement to purify and 



intensify color tones so that they may 

 be more brilliant, delicate or pleasing 

 to the eye, will be generally accepted 

 as the work on right lines. If it be 

 true as regards the carnation how 

 much more does it apply to the chry- 

 santhemum? Most critics will agree 



that size and form may safely be left 

 at their present stage for a time, while 

 the chrysanthemum experts devote 

 their energies and ingenuity to the 

 task of purifying and brightening 

 up the prevalent colors in the queen of 

 autumn. 



