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HORTICULTURE 



February 29, 1908 



ILLINOIS STATE FLORISTS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



The third annual convention of the 

 Illinois State Florists' Association was 

 held at Springfield on February 18 and 

 19 in the midst of the severest storm 

 of the season. President A. C. 

 Brown of the Springfield Florists' 

 Club opened the meeting and intro- 

 duced A. G. Murray, representing the 

 Mayor, to whom Phil. .T. Foley re- 

 sponded, reviewing the work already 

 accomplished and urging co-operation 

 to secure the opportunities that are 

 before them. The address of Presi- 

 dent Albert T. Hey was rich in sugges- 

 tions for broadening along present 

 lines, and systematizing their efforts. 

 As a committee on the National 

 Flower Show he appointed F. L. 

 Washburn, W. X. Rudd, W. L. Kroes- 

 chell; on State Fairs, J. F. Ammann, 

 Geo. Asmus, A. T. Pyfer. Officers 

 were elected as follows: A. T. Hey, 

 president; J. F. Ammann, secretary; 

 Geo. Asmus, vice-president; F. L. 

 Washburn, treasurer. E. G. Hill was 

 elected an honorary member. On 

 Tuesday evening a banquet was ten- 

 dered by the Springfield Florists' 

 Club at the St. Nicholas which was 

 enjoyed by about 125 guests. Hon. 

 Chas. E. Hay acted as toastmaster. 



The trade exhibit filled Arion Hall, 

 was well arranged and very compre- 

 hensive. 



NEW ORLEANS HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



A meeting of the above society was 

 held February 20. Owing to the ill- 

 ness of Secretary C. R. Panter, Paul 

 Abele acted as secretary. Plans for 

 the chrysanthemum exhibition were 

 assigned to a special meeting, to be 

 held on March 5. .1. A. Newsham 

 stated that he intends to leave for 

 Central America in a few days, and 

 he will pay special attention to 

 orchids. Richard Eichling. grower for 

 U. .T. Virgin, exhibited fine Roman 

 and Italian hyacinths, narcissi, lily of 

 the valley, and callas. J. A. Newsham 

 also showed extra large callas. Abele 

 Bros, showed sweet peas, grown in 

 the open. 



CHAS. R. PANTER. Secy. 



SOUTHAMPTON HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 

 A meeting of the society was held 

 on February 20, President Clark in 

 the chair. It was decided to hold a 

 show some time in August on the 

 grounds of the Art Gallery, as Mr. S. 

 L. Parrish has generously offered them 

 for this purpose and has donated a 

 tent for use. The subject of the 

 evening, "Planting of trees and 

 shrubs" was very ably handled by 

 treasurer J. King in an interesting 

 paper. Discussion on tree pruning fol- 

 lowed. At the meeting on March 5, 

 "Vegetables and how to grow them' 

 will be presented by J. Griffin. 



U. G. AGER, Sec'y. 



NEW YORK FLORISTS- CLUB. 



L. C. Corbett, horticulturist of ths 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, will read a paper 

 at the meeting of the New York 

 Florists' Club on March 9. subject, 

 "Preparation of Soil for Greenhouse 

 Purposes." 



NATIONAL FLOWER SHOW COM- 

 MITTEE. 

 Chairman W. F. Kasting has in- 

 structed me to call a meeting of the 

 National Flower Show Committee, to 

 be held in Chicago. March 26. at 2.30 

 P. M. The place of the meeting will 

 be announced later. This date is dur- 

 ing the meeting and exhibition of the 

 American Rose Society in Chicago. 

 Very important business will come be- 

 fore the committee, and each of the 

 chairmen of minor committees is ex- 

 pected to report. The presence of 

 every member is earnestly requested. 

 J. H. BURDETT. 



Secretary pro tem. 



TWIN CITIES FLORISTS' AND 

 GARDENERS' CLUB. 



This club met at the Park Green- 

 houses. Minneapolis. February 18. 

 with about seventy present. After in- 

 specting the greenhouses and stock, 

 a business meeting was held. The 

 committee appointed to prepare a 

 schedule of prices for bedding stock 

 reported a minimum price for the 

 various classes of plants, both -retail 

 and wholesale; with a few changes 

 this list was adopted. Plans for sum- 

 mer work and means for obtaining 

 better accommodation at the State 

 Fair were discussed, and a paper was 

 read by A. S. Swanson. 



CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES. 

 The last meeting of the Detroit 

 Florists' Club was called off owing to 

 a heavy blizzard. 



There will be a regular meeting of 

 the Florists' Club of Washington on 

 March ;;id. when the election of officers 

 will take place. 



Pres. Kenyon L. Butterfield. Am- 

 herst, will address the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society, Boston, March 

 7: subloft, "Agricultural Education in 

 the Public Schools." 



The Spokane Floral Association, 

 Spokane, Wash., at their meeting on 

 February 11 took steps for the forma- 

 tion of an aster association, the mem- 

 bership fees to be used for cash prizes 

 at the annual aster fair. 



At the Rose and Carnation night of 

 the Lenox Horticultural Society, 

 Lenox, Mass.. March 7. special pre- 

 miums will be awarded by the society, 

 and as carnations are grown quite ex- 

 tensively at Lenox competition for the 

 various honors will be keen. 



HORTICULTURE'S REPRESENTA- 

 TIVES. 



The following named gentlemen 

 represent this paper in their various 

 local districts, and are authorized to 

 accept subscriptions, advertisements 

 and news items: 

 BUFFALO. N. Y.— E. C. Brucker, 385-87 



Ellicott St. 

 CINCINNATI, OHIO— Frank W. Ball, 31 



East 3rd St. 

 DETROIT, MICH.— Frank Danzer, 1487 



I'ith St. 

 INDIANAPOLIS. IND.— George B. Wie- 



gand 1610'N. Illinois St. 

 NEWPORT, R. I.— David Mcintosh, Ledge 



Road. 

 MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.— C. N. Rued- 



linger, 2924 So. Aldrich Ave. 

 PHILADELPHIA. PA.— George C. Wat- 

 son. Dobson bidg., 9th and Market Sts. 

 PITTSBURG, PA.— James Hutchinson, 



corner Dunmoyle and S. Negley Aves. 

 TOLEDO. OHIO— J. L. Schiller, 929 Prouty 



Ave. 



COMMERCIAL CARNATIONS. 



By Wallace R. I'ierson, at Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Ciul) of Boston, Feb. ^r,, 1908. 



I do not have any intention in 

 writing this paper of giving history. 

 That branch may be useful but it has 

 been covered so many times that to 

 go back to Lizzie McGowan and Mrs. 

 Fisher is useless. We wish to con- 

 sider just what working materials we 

 have before us at the present time, 

 and to learn how to make the most 

 of what we have. 



The carnation after the advent of 

 Mrs. I^wson and the carnation before 

 that time are as different in all essen- 

 tial characteristics as the light of a 

 gray day in winter is to the brilliancy 

 of the ho\ises in full sunlight with the 

 glare from the February snow. Day- 

 break before Mrs. Lawson, as the sun 

 breaking through the fog. 



We have today a grand collection 

 of varieties and there are so many new 

 stars appearing and asking recogni- 

 tion that we are tempted to ask, where 

 will it stop. "Because of the success 

 of some new varieties, and because I 

 have a good seedling, am I not justi- 

 fied in putting it on the market?" 

 is the question we are so frequently 

 aslved. Let the owner of the seedling 

 think of tlie number of horses bred 

 from fast stock which are never en- 

 tered. They are tried out, and if they 

 haven't the ability to deliver the goods 

 they are never entered in the race. So 

 with the carnation seedling. Raise 

 them if fancy leads you to do so. Try 

 your hand at it, but know before they 

 are presented to the public what their 

 powers really are. 



I believe that the qualities which go 

 to produce a good seedling are. to a 

 large extent, due to the inherent good 

 qualities of the parents, but with the 

 seedling there is apt to be an increase 

 in vigor. The best articles and papers 

 on the subject of seedlings can only 

 be from those men who handle and 

 study them most, and although a hap- 

 hazard seedling may make good com- 

 mercially, the best variety is more apt 

 to be produced by one who under- 

 stands the varieties he works on, and 

 who makes liis crosses with certain 

 definite points in view. 



The dissemination of a seedling be- 

 ing decided upon, the future success 

 of it as a variety depends as much 

 on the manner of producing and send- 

 ing out the stock as on any inherent 

 good qualities it may have, granted, 

 of course, that it would never have 

 passed the seedling stage had it not 

 some of the inherent qualities which 

 go to make up a Commercial Carna- 

 tion. 



What then is a Commercial Carna- 

 tion? To be brief, it is one which the 

 grower can handle so that it is a pay- 

 ing proposition for bim. and this neces- 

 sitates its being one which the public 

 will buy with profit to the retailer. 

 This definition is broad and yet it cov- 

 ers. I believe, the entire situation. It 

 does not exclude the fa'ncy sorts, pro- 

 viding they can meet the terms, which 

 the public will buy and which is a 

 paying proposition to the grower. 



A very large bloom is not as a rule 

 obtainetl in the same quantity from the 

 same space as a smaller one. Here 

 then seems to be the size limit. Can 

 we secure enough more money for the 

 individual bloom to warrant the grow- 

 ing of only such varieties as produce 

 flowers larger than the ordinary? Per- 



