April 27, 1907 



HORTICULTURE. 



559 



tion, Oct. 23 and 24 The schedules are 

 out for the same and can be had upon 

 application to the secretary. 



STATE FLORISTS' ASSOCIATION 

 OF INDIANA. 



The annual spring exhibit of this 

 society was held at the State House, 

 Indianapolis,' on April 11, with a large 

 attendance and a good representation 

 from the growers of the immediate lo- 

 cality in the exhibition hall. Certifi- 

 cates of merit were awarded for car- 

 nations to R. Witterstaetter for After- 

 glow, 91 points; B. K. & B. Floral Co., 

 for Purity, 86 points, and Bertermann 

 Bros. Co., for Seedling 340, 75 points. 

 Other awards were as follows, first and 

 second respectively: 



Two pans tulips, M. Nelson, second. 

 Two spiraeas, M. Nelson, first. Display 

 24 square feet, J. Grande, first. Twelve 

 white roses. The B. G. Hill Company, 

 with Frau Karl Druschki; Smith & 

 Young Company, second. Twelve pink 

 roses. Smith & ifoung Company, P. O. 

 Tauer, Lebanon, Ind. Twelve red 

 roses, B. K. & B. Floral Company, 

 Richmond; Smith & Young Company. 

 Twenty-five white carnations, B. K. & 

 B. Floral Company, Baur & Smith. 

 Twenty-five pink carnations, Chicago 

 Carnation Co., with Aristocrat; Ber- 

 termann Bros. Co., with Mrs. Lawson. 

 Twenty-five light pink carnations, 

 Stuart & Haugh, Anderson, with En- 

 chantress. Twenty-five red carnations, 

 J. D. Thompson Carnation Co., with 

 Robert Craig. Twenty-five carnations, 

 any other color, Bertermann Bros. Co., 

 with Harlowarden; B. K. & B. Floral 

 Company, with Ruby. One hundred 

 double violets, J. Grande. Six plants, 

 lilies, M. Nelson, second. Twenty -.five 

 daffodils, J. Grande. M. Nelson. One 

 hundred sweet peas, Baur & Smith. 



NEW LONDON HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



At the meeting on April 15 the cer- 

 tificate of incorporation was presented 

 for signatures and fifteen names were 

 affixed. After the certificate has been 

 properly indorsed by the Secretary of 

 State a meeting will be held for the 

 adoption of a constitution and by-laws 

 and election of officers. The speaker 

 of the evening was Herman Grove of 

 New Haven, whose talks upon vege- 

 tables and roses were practical and in- 

 teresting. 



CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES. 



The Nassau County Horticultural 

 Society at their meeting at Glen Cove. 

 L. I., in April decided to hold the fall 

 exhibition on three days instead of 

 two, November 6, 7, 8. 



The premium list for the June ex- 

 hibition of the Newport Horticultural 

 Society has been received. The show 

 will be held on June 26 and 27 at 

 Masonic Hall. The schedule is liberal, 

 comprising 51 classes for plants, flow- 

 ers, fruits and vegetables. 



TO OUR CANADIAN READERS. 



The new Canadian postal schedule 

 subjects us to a rate of four cents a 

 pound in place of one cent a pound, 

 as heretofore, on all copies mailed to 

 Canada. In consequence we are 

 obliged to advance our Canadian sub- 

 scription price to $1.50. All subscrip- 

 tions now on our books will be carried 

 at old rates, however, until comple- 

 tion. 



THE CARE OF STEAM BOILERS. 



In the rush of spring work the boil- 

 ers are very often neglected. Other 

 things demand immediate attention, 

 and with the thought that the season 

 for firing is almost ended the boilers 

 are left to some more suitable time. 

 Preparations for shutting down the 

 boilers ought to begin at once, for 

 cleaning the interior of them will be 

 easier later on if the work of getting 

 them in shape is started now. With 

 the fires banked through the day there 

 is greater danger of the boiler wearing 

 out than if it was being run. Pitting 

 is the most dangerous thing we have 

 to guard against. Some waters have 

 a tendency to increase that form of 

 weakness more than others, and if 

 precavtions are not taken, pitting will 

 be found to have increased more in an 

 idle boiler than in one in use, and 

 steel boilers are more to be feared 

 than iron, as the steel seems to pit 

 very easy. Soda ash, I find, is the 

 best preventive, both for pitting and 

 scale. From five to ten pounds (ac- 

 cording to size) put in a boiler now 

 will save much trouble and expense 

 later on; besides keeping the boiler 

 clean, it will also keep the heating 

 pipes from rusting inside. 



I suppose every one has had trouble 

 with the nut of the handhole plate in 

 the back of the boiler. Sometimes it 

 is very troublesome getting the nut off 

 the thread, the heat in the combustion 

 chamber being so great that the thread 

 on the sitem is burned, and getting the 

 nut on and off is no easy matter. A 

 cloth soaked in kerosene put over it 

 assists very much, but often there has 

 to be a new stem put in the plate. 

 There are two ways I know of which 

 overcome this difficulty. One is getting 

 a cast iron nut which can be broken 

 and the plate then taken off, but I find 

 the best way is, when putting the plate 

 on in the fall, to get some asbestos, 

 wet it with water, beginning at the 

 boiler and working out to the point 

 of the stem, covering up everything; 

 it will be found that this has kept the 

 thread and nut away from the direct 

 action of the flame, and with the ap- 

 plication of some kerosene the nut will 

 come off and the threads will be found 

 uninjured. This is inexpensive and 

 practical. I put in applications of soda 

 ash every three or four weeks during 

 the firing season, about two or three 

 pounds at one time, and run off about 

 one gauge of water once a week, doing 

 this while there is no steam on. 



In laying a boiler off for the season 

 I find the best way is to cool the boil- 

 er, and when thoroughly cold run off 

 the water, open handholes and man- 

 hole, and with a hose wash every part 

 of the inside, using all the pressure 

 possible. When all cleaned out, force 

 the hose down the blow-off pipe and 

 wash that out thoroughly, for should 

 there be any scale it may be caught 

 in the seat of the blow-off' valve and 

 cause trouble. Begin under the boiler, 

 take out every particle possible of soot 

 and ashes, sweep the inside walls down 

 with a broom and up along the sides 

 of the shell where it cannot be reached 

 by hand, brush out the tubes, then be- 

 gin with a hard scrubbing brush, 

 scrub the shell and heads (dry), going 

 over with a cloth, wiping off any dust 

 that may be left; then thoroughly 

 sweeping everything back to the com- 

 bustion chamber floor, where it may 

 be easllv taken out; close the damper 



in the chimney, open the front clean- 

 ing-out door, and your boiler is ready 

 to lie safely idle all summer. I know 

 from experience that the above work 

 is far from being clean, but the re- 

 sults are satisfactory afterwards, and 

 a bath will wash off anything that 

 may have stuck to you while the work 

 was being done. R. T. McGORUM. 



HIMALAYAN RHODODENRONS. 

 Editor of HORTICULTURE: 



I deem It proper to call your atten- 

 tion to an evident misprint in your is- 

 sue of April 13 in connction with the 

 parentage of Rhododendron Mary Weld 

 which reads "Princess May Fitzwil- 

 liam." Also to a misconception of my 

 own given on the spur of the moment 

 wheji asked to name its parentage, 

 which I gave as Princess Mary Fitz- 

 william which should be Lady Mary 

 Fitzwilllam and Rhododendron Veitchi 

 laevigatum variously termed Veitchi 

 or Veitchianum. Under the former 

 term a fine photographic picture of 

 this parent is given in the English 

 Garden, Vol. XXX, page 237, 1886. 



According to some authorities laevi- 

 gatum as applied in this instance indi- 

 cates the varietal distinction of hav- 

 ing the petal edges of the corolla 

 smooth instead of being frilled or un- 

 dulated. Notwithstanding that, I got 

 this varietal rhododendron from 

 Messrs. Veitch, if my memory serves 

 me right, under the above name, but 

 according to definition as above stated 

 I must have had the plain Veitchi, for 

 the petal edges are decidedly wavy or 

 frilled. I want to emphasize this, as 

 it is in this particular that the new- 

 comer is chiefly distinguished from its 

 seed-bearing parent. Lady Mary Fitz- 

 william, the flowers of Rhododendron 

 Mary Weld showing plainly the crum- 

 pled edges of the pollen parent's petal- 

 lage with their more waxy texture, 

 and a decidedly larger and deeper yel- 

 low suffusion in the throat of the in- 

 dividual flower, devoid also apparently 

 of any taint or suspicion of pink that 

 generally is observed in the petallage 

 of the seed-bearing parent. 



In other respects the foliage and 

 habit seem to be identical with that 

 of the mother parent, but age may 

 change this somewhat, as Rhododen- 

 dron Veitchi is much more robust and 

 arboreal in stature and habit than the 

 other. 



The delightful fragrance character- 

 istic of the Himalayan section of rho- 

 dodendrons under consideration is very 

 marked; the foliage is very distinct 

 too from the so-called Javanicum sec- 

 tion, the former being characterized 

 by a leathery rugose Indian azalea 

 leafage including the pronounced frag- 

 rance alluded to, arising largely from 

 the blood of Rhododendron Edge- 

 worthii, the latter being a half parent 

 of an earlier beautiful hybrid. Princess 

 Alice. The Javanicum section as a 

 rule has smooth leaves somewhat re- 

 sembling the common hardy rhododen- 

 dron, but of course smaller. 



Amongst the newer and older hy- 

 l)iids arc to be found some of the finer 

 ^ems of the floral kingdom. 



KENNETH FINLAYSON. 



Take out the geraniums and salvias 

 from my advertisement. Through this 

 advertisement in HORTICULTURE I 

 have disposed of my surplus stock of 

 both. R. L. GOINSALVOS, Waltham. 

 Mass. 



