618 



HORTICULTURE 



May 11, 19C7 



horticulturb: 



TOL. V 



MAY 11, 190r 



NO. 19 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 11 Hamilton Place, Boston. Mass. 



Telephone, Oxford 292 

 WM. J. STEWART, Editor and Manager 



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COPYRIQHT, 1907, BY HORTICULTURB PUB. CO. 



Kaiered as second-class matter December 8, 1904, at the Post Office at Boston, Mass. 

 under the Act of Coagress of March 3, 1879. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



FRONTISPIECE— Spanish Iris in Aquatic Gardening 



ALPINE FLOWERS IN A COLD GREENHOUSE— H. 

 H. Thomas— Illustrated 617 



THE S. A. F. VS. THE U. S. EXPRESS COMPANY 



The Grievance — The Hearing — The Decision 619 



ROSES— Andrew Kennedy 620 



THE IRIS— J. Woodward Manning 621 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



Florists' Club of Washington 620 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society — Tarrytown 

 Horticultural Society— New York Florists' Club — 



North Shore Horticultural Society 622 



Society of American Florists, Plant Registration, 

 Ladies Auxiliary— Florist Club of Philadelphia — 

 New Jersey Floricultural Society — Detroit Florist 

 Club— New London Horticultural Society — Club and 

 Society Notes 623 



A PLEA FOR THE PICTURESQUE IN LANDSCAPE 

 GARDENING — B. K. Howard— Illustrated 621 



SEED TRADE 626 



THE EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION OF A 

 MODERN HORTICULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT— J. 

 Otto Thilow 628 



CUT FLOWER MARKET REPORTS 



Boston, Buffalo, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, 



New York, Philadelphia 633 



Twin Cities, Washington 641 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Obituary 620 



Business Changes 621 



News Notes 627-631 



List of Patents 640 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 642 



Incorporated 642 



The Society of American Florists 



The S. A. F. and Ornamental Hortictilturists 



comes out v^-ins its case and the United 



into the lime light States Express Company mn.st 



reduce to a reasonable rate the 



unjust, e.iicessive, and extortionate charges on cut 



flower shipments which it has been demanding for the 



past year. All the country knows it now; the news of 



the florists' victory has been carried by the daily papers 



to every community in the land, and the florist and his 



business at once attain a prestige and importance in 



the eyes of the ptiblic and the business interests of the 



country never before accorded them. Horticulture 



extends sincere congratulations. 



" 'Twas a famous victory" and it 



Sowing the wind invests the year 1907 in the liistory 



and reaping the of the S. A. F. with an enduring 



whirlwind distinction. It was a triumph, not 



of money or strength of numbers 



but of simple justice and was won because the only 



object sought was "a square deal." Many observant 



men think they see in this ruling by the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission the beginning of troublous times for 

 the express companies. Possibly. But in so far as the 

 intent of the complainants in this S. A. F. case goes no 

 such purpose was in view, for, in the main, the express 

 companies of the country have not been inconsiderate or 

 unfair in their dealings with the florist trade. Doubt- 

 less by this time Mr. Piatt sees a new light and would, 

 if it were possible, recall the curt rejoinders given and 

 arrogant manner assumed by his office toward those 

 who, in the interests of jtistice, appealed repeatedly, 

 but in vain, for consideration at his hands before ask- 

 ing for intervention. If other troubles for the trans- 

 portation companies follow in the wake of this case the 

 responsibility for "stirring up the hornets' nest" rests 

 on the shoulders of the president of the United States 

 Express Company. 



That oft-repeated, flippant query. 



Your duty "What's the good of the charter?" 



to your national Wonder if we shall ever be compelled 



society to listen to it again. That famous 



product of eleven years' zealous, per- 

 sistent eifort seems to have furnished its own answer 

 in a very practical manner in this struggle against a 

 powerful corporation. How deplorable it seems that all 

 those for whose benefit the S. A. F. exists, on whose pro- 

 fession the national charter confers so much dignit}', 

 are not lined up to uphold as one m'an an institution 

 which has, under so meagre a support as it receives, 

 been able to accomplish so much of practical good. It 

 was brought out at the hearing before the Interstate 

 Commerce Commission that the annual receipts of the 

 United States Express Company for transportation of 

 flowers from the "Chatham district" of New Jersey to 

 New York City amounted to $30,000 under the old 

 schedule before the rates were doubled up. It would 

 appear from this that the direct saving to the flower 

 growing industry of this one district by the ruling of 

 the Commission must reach thousands of dollars an- • 

 nually while the indirect advantage and moral efliect is Jj 

 very far-reaching and cannot be easily computed. In 1 

 urging every reader of these lines who is not already 

 affiliated with the Society of American Florists and 

 Ornamental Horticulturists to at once assume member- 

 ship we feel that Horticulture but voices what should 

 be looked upon as a privilege and a duty by those to 

 whom the appeal is made. The S. A. F. should not be 

 placed in tlie position of a suppliant. 



Society of American Florists and 

 Ornamental Horticulturists. 



Incorporated by Special Act of Congress. Charter 



signed by Wm. McKinley, President, March 4, 1901. 



PRESIDENT, 



WM. J. STEWART, 11 Hamilton PI., Boston, MasB. 



VICE-PRESIDENT, 



JOHN WESTCOTT, Ridge and Lehigh Aves., Philadelphia, 



Pa. 

 SECRETARY, 

 P. J. HAUSWIRTH, Auditorium Annex, Chicago, 111. 



TREASURER, 

 H. P. BEATTY, Farmers' Bank Bldg., Pittsburg, Pa. 



I 



Life Membership, $30.00. Annual Membership, 

 $5.00 first year; $3.00 annually thereafter. 



Next Convention will be held at Philadelphia, Pa., 

 August 20 to 24, 1907. 



