376 



H <:^Tt* 1 b u^Lt u itii 



Mafisii 23. 1907 ' 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 



Carnations furnished the theme for 

 consideration at the March meeting of 

 this club which took place on Tues- 

 day evening, ]9th inst. There were 

 on exhibition vases of superb flowers 

 among which the following may be 

 named as excellent. Scarlet seedling 

 405 from E. A. Wood; this fine variety 

 was described recently in these 

 columns. Evangeline, Beacon and 

 Alma Ward from Peter Fisher, After- 

 glow from Wm. Nicholson, White En- 

 chantress and Winsor from F. R. 

 Pierson Co.. vase of seedlings from 

 H. A. Stevens Co., Bay State from A. 

 Roper. This grand novelty attracted 

 much attention. In addition there 

 were Scarlet Conical radish and let- 

 tuce from W. W. Rawson & Co., the 

 lettuce having been grown under 

 electricity. A large collection of 

 Zvolanek's winter-flowering sweet 

 peas from William Sim. Vase of hand- 

 some annual larkspurs from W. N. 

 .Craig. Each exhibitor was called 

 \ipon to make remarks upon his 

 respective exhibit. Speaking of Win- 

 sor Mr. Pierson said that this variety 

 had proved distinctively a success as 

 a commercial variety and he was sure 

 it would give very general satisfac- 

 tion as a standard carnation for rough ^ 

 and ready culture. Buyers, he had 

 noticed, were getting discriminative 

 and looked for. good all around quali- 

 ties rather than just for size. He 

 spoke well of Melody as a market 

 grower. 



Mr. Fuld described briefly the 

 method of introducing electricity into 

 the lettuce beds at Rawson's; copper 

 plates 3 ft. by 18 in., buried in the 

 soil receive the current from feed 

 wires at each end of the bed and the 

 electricity passes from one to the 

 other through the entire length, the 

 result being an average gain of three 

 or four days in growth. D. Iliffe 

 showed a revolving plant stand which 

 he is placing on the market. 



F. E. Palmer led in the carnation 

 discussion. He proposed Field Culture 

 vs. Indoor Culture as the first topic. 

 He advocated the former because of 

 the abundant food, fresh air, etc., 

 available for the young plants. Peter 

 Fisher took a middle ground, that 

 circumstances and the man have 

 much to do with results in either case 

 and the only way to decide as to 

 merits is to test both methods. The 

 question of space is most important in 

 indoor culture, otherwise Indoor culture 

 would be more generally followed be- 

 cause of the precarious weather con- 

 ditions that field stock must often 

 face. Mr. Pierson held similar views 

 but mentioned the fact that roomy 

 houses, well -ventilated, are essential 

 for Indoor culture. Mr. Stevens 

 thought much depended upon the vari- 

 ety under culture. 



The Most Important Point at which 

 Breeders Should Aim was the next 

 topic. Mr. Sander's ideal was better 

 flower and shorter stem. Mr. Stewart, 

 appealed for fragrance and Mr. Craig 

 coincided. The Relative -Value of 

 High Grade Flowers was also dis- 



cussed; Mr. Palmer recommended that 

 breeders give more attention to com- 

 mercial qualities. Mr. Patten believed 

 that there would always be a call for 

 both high grade and low grade 

 blooms. This topic brought out con- 

 siderable discussion on the relative 

 value of awards as made by the 

 American Carnation Society upon the 

 basis of exhibition blooms. It was the 

 consensus of opinion that the plan of 

 placiHg stock of new varieties in vari- 

 ous localities for test should be more 

 generally followed and that first class 

 certificates should be given with great 

 caution and only after extended trial. 

 Mr. Pierson said that the main reason 

 new varieties sometimes fall down 

 after introduction is because they had 

 not been submitted to sufficiently 

 critical tests at the outset. Also that 

 introducers should proceed cautiously 

 in order to establish confidence in 

 whatever might be offered under their 

 name. 



Mr. Farquhar addressed the meeting 

 on the general summary enlarging up- 

 on the desirability of providing some 

 central and universally recognized 

 body to pass upon and give its stamp 

 of approval to meritorious products, 

 a body with which all local clubs and 

 societies should affiliate and expressed 

 bis opinion that events are so shaping 

 iheniselves that the Society of Ameri- 

 can Florists will ultimately assume a 

 broader field than heretofore and fur- 

 nish the desired central authority 

 whose seal of approval will carry to 

 jirestige the world over, any horti- 

 cultural product to which it is given. 

 President Win. .1. Stewart of the S. 

 A. F., being called upon expressed 

 similar views to those of Mr. Farqu- 

 har and emphasized as the need of the 

 hour a closer affiliation of all horticul- 

 tural organizations, using as an illus- 

 tration action taken by the S. A. F. 

 last week in appealing to the U. S. 

 Interstate Commerce Commission on 

 behalf of New Jersey growei-s suffer- 

 ing from oppressive express charges. 



Mr. Palmer announced the amend- 

 ment of the Boiler Inspection Bill mak- 

 ing its provisions acceptable to the 

 users of steam boilers for greenhouse 

 purposes and was accorded a rising 

 vote of thanks. Jackson Dawson was 

 recommended tor honorary member- 

 ship. The death of N. B. Glass was 

 announced. Secretary Craig recom- 

 mended an appropriation of $25.00 for 

 a special premium to be offered at the 

 fall exhibition of the Mass. Horticul- 

 tural Society. An invitation to visit 

 the plant houses of W. W. Edgar Co. 

 on March 23 was unanimously ac- 

 cepted. It was announced that the 

 April meeting would be ladies' night 

 and would include a banquet. 



NEWPORT HORTICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



Mr. S. G. Harris, Tarrytown, N. Y., 

 has donated a premium of $15 for the 

 best collection of roses at the June 

 exhit>ition. The society, in addition 

 to an unusually large number of pre- 

 miums for exhibits by gardeners and 

 others, has decided to provide in the 

 schedule liberal premiums for plants, 

 flowers and vegetables grown by 

 school children. Prizes will also be 

 awarded for the best school gardens, 

 the president of the society to be the 

 sole judge of the gardens. 



The society voted not to insert the 

 rule forbidding the use of supports 

 for plants in the arrangement of 

 groups, because the enforcement of 

 that rule last year brought in fewer 

 groups, and disappointing results in 

 those p-it up. D. M. 



WASHINGTON CLUB NOTES. 



The last regular monthly meeting 

 of the Florists' Club of Washington, 

 prior to the convention, was held 

 March 5. with good attendance. All 

 officers of preceding year were unani- 

 mously re-elected, as follows: Peter 

 Bisset, president; Z. D. Blackistone, 

 vice-president; Chas. McCauley, sec- 

 retary; W. H. Ernest, treasurer; 

 board of directors, Thos. Field, Jos. 

 Freeman, Jr., Jno. Robertson, W. S. 

 Clark and Chas. McCauley. 



ST. LOUIS FLORIST CLUB. 



The St. Louis Florist Club held its 

 regular monthly meeting on Thurs- 

 day afternoon of last week. The 

 meeting was very interesting, but the 

 attendance was small, only sixteen re- 

 sponding to the call. The Flower 

 Show committee reported that they 

 were unable to use the $10,000 guar- 

 antee fund, and it was voted to dis- 

 charge the committee, with thanks 

 for their great efforts in behalf of the 

 club. The club voted to loan the 

 Bnglemann Botanical Club their 

 tables and vases for their spring 

 flower show, to be held some time in 

 early spring. 



It was decided by a full vote that 

 the meeting on April 11th will be the 

 annual rose competition, open only 

 for local growers, and $50 in prizes 

 will be offered. The trustees will 

 have full charge of same and will re- 

 quest growers of new varieties to send 

 blooms for exhibition. 



Instructions were given to Chairman 

 Smith of the trustees to make prepar- 

 ations for some kind of entertainment 

 tor the members and their families in 

 order to celebrate the club's 20th an- 

 niversary. One hundred dollars was 

 placed at their disposal for expenses. 



THE FRENCH GARDENERS' SO- 

 CIETY OF LONDON. 



This useful and prosperous society 

 recently held its eighteenth annual 

 dinner at the Cafe Royal. A represen- 

 tative company sat down, under the 

 presidency of M. Lageat, Councillor .>f 

 the Exterior Commerce of France. 

 After dealing with the progress of the 

 society and eulogizing its usefulness 

 M. Lageat referred to France as the 

 .i^anlen of Europe and that horticulture 

 had always been patronized there and 

 encouragefi by the government. He 

 rpminiled his fellow countrymen of 

 fruit culture which was now being 

 carried on under more difficult cir- 

 cumstances owing largely to American 

 competition. This was especially no- 

 ticeable in apples which had not only 

 invaded the English market but also 

 the Paris market. He thought this 

 was a thing many French gardeners 

 should see to. 



