560 



HORTICULTURE. 



April 2», 1908 



horticulture: 



VOL. VII 



APRIL 25, 1908 



NO. ir 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 11 Hamilton Place, Boston, Mass. 



Telephone, Oxford 393 

 WM. J. STEWART, Editor and Manager 



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CONTENTS 



Page 

 FRONTISPIECE--EarIy White Sweet Pea "Watchung." 

 THE PRESENT IMPORTANCE OF HARDY PEREN- 

 NIALS— Richard Rothe — Illustrated 557 



NARCISSUS AND DAFFODILS — Kenneth Finlayson.. 559 



SOLUBLE FERTILIZERS— Dudley M. Pray 559 



OBITUARY — Edwin Hoyt — Franklin Pierce Davis — 

 Robert t. Price — Joseph Quinn — Martha Blakeston 



Earl — Mrs. Albert Dirwanger — Theodoa-e E. Horn 561 



INFERIOR DUTCH BULBS 561 



NP;WS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: 



European Society Doings 561 



Gardeners' and Florists' Club of Boston— Pennsyl- 

 vania Horticultural Society— New Orleans Horti- 

 cultural Society — Newport Horticultural Society — 

 Society of American Florists — Club and Society 



Notes ^^^ 



WINTER FLOWERING SWEET PEAS— Wm. Sim- 

 Illustrated ' 5G3 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE oC5 



SEED TRADE 506 



EASTER PLANT NOTES: 



Gleanings from Chicago Plant Growers — Easter 



Plant Trade in Philadelphia 5GS 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Chicago, Detroit, Worcester — New Retail Flower 



Stores 570 



EASTER FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Detroit, Indianapolis, Philadelphia 571 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, New York 573 



Washington 581 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Business Changes 5G1 



News Notes 561-504 



Personal 562 



Philadelphia Notes 564 



List of Patents 566 



Plant Imports 508 



Incorporated 57 1 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 580 



Fire Record 580 



The battle is over and it is our privi- 

 Easter, 1908 lege to reccJi'd that, from the accounts 



which have reached us, it appears to 

 have been practicall}' a "draw" between the forces of 

 stability and demoralization. Very dubious, indeed, 

 did the outlook seem for Easter, 1908. With the de- 

 pression and inactivity generally prevalent in all lines 

 of commercial enterprise and the curtailment of expen- 

 ditures by the class of people whose free spending has 

 been so strong a factor in the prosperity of the plant 

 and flower business, it was not easy to find arguments to 

 rebut the predictions of those who foretold disaster for 

 the Easter business. It was equally difficult to see good 



About 

 lap seam' 

 boilers 



iouudation for the confidence of those who looked for 

 a big, entlnisiastic rally of old-fashioned Easter flower 

 buying. On the whole, it would seem that we should 

 be very grateful that the temporary interruption of full 

 prosperity did not turn into a rout. It was a splendid 

 demonstration of the courage of the common people — 

 that great medium class to whom bonds and coupons 

 are almost unknown — that they came to the rescue of 

 tlie flower trade at a time when just this support was 

 sorely needed and although disappointment is inevitable 

 in some lines yet there is cause for congratulation that 

 the outcome was so much better than there was good 

 reason to expect it to be. 



Since the publication of the rules formu- 

 lated by the Massachusetts Board of 

 Boiler Kules wherein it appears that in all 

 boilers installed after May 1, 1908, "the 

 longitudinal joints of a boiler, the shell 

 or drum of which exceeds 36 inches in diameter, shall 

 be of butt and double strap construction," many florists 

 have been under the impression that no lap seam boiler 

 could be set, sold or made in Massachusetts after May 

 1 and have in some instances been worrying and hur- 

 rying to get boilers set before the day mentioned. A 

 careful reading of the Act of 1907 relative to the opera- 

 tion and inspection of steam boilers, under which the 

 state boiler committee works, convinces us, and our view 

 is endorsed by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection 

 and Insurance Co., that the rule in question applies 

 07ilij to such boilers as are not exempt under Chapter 

 465 of said Act. As a result of the agitation promoted 

 by HoKTicuLTUEE, aided and abetted by E. T. McGorum 

 and other members of the Gardeners' and Florists' Club 

 of Boston, at the time the Bill was under discussion by 

 the State Legislature last year "boilers used for horti- 

 cultural purposes exclusively" were exempted, in Section 

 1 of said Act, from inspection. Boilers exclusively for 

 greenhouse use may, therefore, be constructed with lap 

 or butt joints as may be preferred. 



William Sim's endorsement of A. 

 C. Zvolanek's claim to be the orig- 

 inal producer of this valuable class 

 of this popular flower, as ex- 

 pressed in his address before the Gardeners' and Flor- 

 ists' Club of Boston will carry gratification to many who 

 have followed the arguments which have been going on 

 from time to time as to where and how this winter- 

 blooming section originated. We do not feel competent 

 to have any decided views on this subject, our sympa- 

 thies, however, being strongly on Mr. Zvolanek's side 

 but Mr. Sim is in a position to speak with a conviction 

 born of experience in a line in which he has few rivals 

 and no equals in this country or possibly in the world. 

 Moreover, Mr. Sim is a gentleman of unassuming char- 

 acter who would not think of taking so decided a stand 

 in a matter of this kind without a full assurance that 

 he was right and could maintain his position if assailed 

 and his advocacy of Mr. Zvolanek's cause puts the lat- 

 ter gentleman in a place which, we think, will please all 

 fair-minded people. With Mr. Zvolanek as the introducer 

 and Mr. Sim as the great grower of these beautiful, free 

 blooming-varieties the sweet pea is certainly well en- 

 trenched for the future. Its position "next to the 

 violet" in popularity, as Mr. Sim modestly classifies it, 

 may yet give the violet trouble. It is essentially a 

 flower of the people with a fragrance equally pleasing 

 and more lasting than that of the violet and a range of 

 color excelled by no other flower. Evidently its career 

 as an all-the-year-round favorite has only just begun. 



The early flowering 

 sweet pea 



