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HORTICULTURE 



849 



A PROTEST. 



We iPiiiu from tin Worcester daily 

 jiapers that it is the purpose of Iho 

 directors of the Art Museum in thai; 

 city to demolish the conservatories on 

 the estate of their henefactor, the late 

 Stephen Salisbury. Considering that 

 the Museum realizes annually the in- 

 come from a legacy of $4,000,000, it dots 

 not appear that the contemplated aboli- 

 tion of these greenhouses and their 

 contenls is called for on grounds of 

 economy, and we heai'tily ccncur in the 

 sentiments expressed by remonstrants 

 against the decision of the Museum 

 directors, and especially against the 

 dismissal of that fine old gardener 

 .John Coulson. whose charge these 

 conservatories have been for so many 

 years, Mr. Coulson is a gardener of 

 the highest type, a botanist of no 

 small attainments, and he and the 

 greenhouses under his supervision are 

 well v.orth to Worcester's citizens all 

 they cost. We believe that if the cir- 

 cumstances could be brought home 

 to the leading horticultural spirits in 

 the land a vigorous appeal would be 

 forthcoming tor the preservation of 

 this old landmark so closely identified 

 with the memory of the man who did 

 so much for his city. 



CROCUSES IN THE GRASS. 



Our cover illustration from a photo- 

 graph by W. H. Waite, of Grey.stone, 

 Yonkers, \. Y., shows one of the most 

 beautiful scenes that the eye can rest 

 upon. After the dreary aspects of the 

 winter season, one of the first flowers 

 of spring is the crocus, and one may 

 well wonder how it is that a flower of 

 so delicate a texture and such purity 

 of color can make itself at home 

 amidst sleet and cold and the rem- 

 nants of the winter's snowdrifts. It is 

 not in the windov/ box or the garden 

 border that the crocus is seen at its 

 best, but as shown in the pictiu'e, when 

 allowed to run riot, as it were in colo- 

 nies, with colors massed, in the grass, 

 provided only that it is not disturbed 

 by the spring lawn mower and no cut- 

 ting is done until the crocus foliage 

 has turned yellow. For best effect 

 crocus bulbs should be planted early — 

 say, September or October at the latest, 

 Many defer crocus planting until No- 

 vember or December, which is a mis- 

 take, for majiy of the bulbs are then 

 liable to winter-kill. Early planted 

 bulbs will make long roots and get 

 ready for a good start at the proper 

 time, and these are rarely injured by 

 freezing or tha-ning. Medium sized 

 bull>s are the best and less liable to 

 injury at any time than those that are 

 extremely large. They should be 

 planted fully three inches below the 

 surface. Some of the most satisfactory 

 varieties are Golden Yellow, Mam- 

 moth White syn. Mont Blanc, Sir 

 Walter Scott, striped. Purpurea Granrii- 

 florK. and Baron Bruno purple. If 

 planted and treated as above advised, 

 once planted they will continue to 

 bloom and increase indefinitely year 

 after vear. Every florist should induce 

 his customers to buy and plant them 

 by the thousand and tens of thousands. 



THE EXPRESS MONOPOLY. 



Express rates are being looked into 

 with much care by the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission. Their findings so 

 far afford some hope that lower rates 

 may be ordered, although such results 

 are not Ikely for a long time, perhaps 

 for years, during which time the ex- 

 press monopoly will, no doubt, "make 

 hay while the sun shines," and con- 

 tinue to extort enormous profits from 

 the public. 



The commission lays down the view 

 that the company should be satisfied 

 to earn 10 per cent, on the money in- 

 vested after paying salaries and ex- 

 penses, and that any profit over such 

 an amount would be reason for order- 

 ing a reduction in rates. The com- 

 panies cannot claim to have very great 

 sums invested in the business. A large 

 part of the dividends they pay is paid 

 upon grossly watered stock. They al- 

 lowed their profits to heap up, gave 

 them to their stockholders as bonds or 

 stocks, and paid interest on these 

 bonds or stocks which did not cost the 

 owners a cent. The express companies 

 own very title pi-operty used in the 

 business. The railroads provide the 

 cars and charge the express companies 

 about half their income for carrying 

 the goods. The exi)ress companies own 

 almost nothing except olfice furniture 

 and wagons for delivering goods in tho 

 larger cities. They are middlemen of 

 the most objectionable kind coming be- 

 tween the railroad and the shipper in 

 this way. 



There is no reason why the railroads 

 could not tarry and deliver the class of 

 goods handled by the express com- 

 panies, and they could do it at title 

 more than half the cost of the present 

 system. The Interstate Commerce 

 Commission ought to be able to sepa- 

 rate the real capital from the capital 

 based on nothing but profits and then 

 adjust the rates to the actual situation. 

 If the companies cannot be abolished 

 and the business turned over to the 

 railioads a fair adjustment of rates will 

 be the next best offer of lelief to the 

 jjublic. — American Cultivator. 



FREIGHT RATES ON JAPAN 

 BULBS. 



Since our report of last week was 

 published the Great Northern R. R. in- 

 forms us that the Interstate Commerce 

 Commission have arranged that the 

 present freight rate on goods from 

 .Tapan to United States will be contin- 

 ued for a period of three months, from 

 June 30th, which will be until October 

 1st, aiter which date a separate rate 

 on the Pacific steamers will be 

 charged, and then the through rate 

 from the coast will be applied. The 

 Interstate Commerce Commission have 

 not yet dece'rmined the new through 

 rates, but there is little doubt that 

 they will be high enough to raise the 

 cost of Japanese bulbs considerably. 



A SPRIG FROM THE SPICE BUSH. 



The following is the published re- 

 port of a recent interview with Mr. 

 Frank H. Traendly, New York: 



'•The ideas expressed before the 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia are not 

 new. and to my knowledge have been 

 agitated for many years; in fact, as 

 far back as f can remember the ques- 

 tion has been brought up evei-y little 

 while by some one. This m.atttr has 

 been threshed out so often that I feel 

 that anything I might say would be of 

 little consequence. Philadelphia, as 

 usual, seems to have woke up long 

 after ail other cities. It is a condition 

 that we all have to buck against and 

 do the best we can." 



The phiase I wish to comment on is. 

 "fhilailelphia, as usual, seoiis to have 

 woke up Ions: after all other cities." 

 Now where did Mr. Traendly get that 

 idea? I challenge him to show that 

 New York or any other city has had 

 more discussions during the past 

 tv. enty years on the wholesaling of 

 flowers than Philadelphia. "Woke up," 

 forsooth; why Philadelphia was awake 

 and working not only in that line but 

 in nearly every other long before New 

 York got the sand rubbed out of its 

 eves. If Mr. Traendly will take the 

 trouble to look back, through die files 

 of the trade papers he will find that 

 Philadelphia has led. and is leading, 

 in the furnishing of papers worth 

 printing right along. This is a matter 

 of common knowledge and comment 

 these many years. A cheap whack at 

 Philadelphia by a certain class of New 

 Yorkers has long been considered the 

 acme of wit in that burg; but coming 

 from a man who has been honored 

 with the highest office in the gift of 

 the whole country — and that too in 

 the city of Philadelphia — the country 

 at large is apt to consider it undigni- 

 fied, and Philadelphia, in particular, to 

 a man resents it with indigna- 

 tion! When any of the cheap Bowery 

 sports indulges in his natural assinin- 

 ity in this connection the best thing is 

 to look the other way and pretend not 

 to hear; but it is a different thing en- 

 tirely in the case of our national presi- 

 dent. His attitude should be that of 

 aldiborantiphoscophornio. He should 

 wall: along; — 



"His cogitative faculties immersed 

 In coiigilMindity of cogitation." 



\Vhile the rest of us: — 



"l^et silence close our folding doors of 



speech 

 Till .npt attention tell our hearts tbe pur- 



poit 

 Of this profound profundity of thought." 



A pound of silence is worth a peck 

 of trouble. 



GEORGE C. WATSON. 

 Philadelphia, June 23. 1908. 



Edw. Amerpohl, the introducer of 

 -Yephrolepis Amerpohli, has another 

 new sort which gives promise of being 

 superior to otheis of this type, and 

 which will, if its good qualities con- 

 tinue, be introduced as soon as suffi- 

 cient stock can be worked up. 



THE PARIS SALON. 



The annual exhibition of the Society 

 of French artists known as "Le Salon" 

 this year is of interest to horticultur- 

 ists who may be visiting the French 

 capital for a short time. We noted 

 during our stay there a few days ago 

 between 90 and 100 paintings of fruit 

 and flowers of various kinds. We 

 may possibly refer to the most inter- 

 esting of them in a subsequent issue 

 of HORTICULTURE. C. H. P. 



