June 8, 1907 



HORTICULTURE, 



751 



AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 



We learn from a press report that a 

 shipment of more than 1000 barrels of 

 fancy Australian eating apples has 

 reached New York, the voyage occu- 

 pying sixty (lays. Isn't it about time 

 for our apple growers to sit up and 

 begin to take notice? 



The Pittsburg Leader for May 19th 

 puts the credulity of its readers to a 

 severe test in a very romantic descrip- 

 tion of "The Resurrection Flower." 

 How is this for word painting'' 



The flower blooms but for a short time, 

 aad then its aspect, changes. Before an 

 hour has passed, we can see its life fad- 

 ing away. The pulsing light at its heart 

 grows fainter and fainter; slowly the pet- 

 als raise themselves, to drop wearily side 

 by side upon its bosom, and finally, its 

 beauty vanished, its strength exhausted. 

 It hangs heavy and brown upon its stem, 

 waiting for the touch that alone can 

 waken it again. 



Rather reminds one of the Mermets 

 some growers used to send to market 

 day before Christmas in the olden 

 time! 



We make bold to say that no pub- 

 lication on this continent, of whatever 

 character, is doing more earnest, pub- 

 lic-spirited, far-reaching work for the 

 people of today and the people of the 

 future than is Forestry and Irrigation. 

 This magazine is issued monthly by 

 the American Forestry Association, 

 Washington, D. C, at $2.00 a year, in- 

 cluding annual membership in the 

 Association. After reading its con- 

 vincing appeals on behalf of the trees 

 and our fast-disappearing forests and 

 noting the many striking illustrations 

 of forest scenery no one will regret 

 the trifling investment for one year's 

 dues or fail of heartiest sympathy 

 with the Association and its well-di- 

 rected work. We should like to see 

 every reader of HORTICULTURE a 

 member of the American Forestry As- 

 sociation. Apart from our ordinary 

 interests as citizens there is much that 

 we have in common. Horticulture and 

 forestry touch all along the line. 



SHRUB CHAT. 



Climbing roses flower more pro- 

 fusely If the stems are trained nearly 

 horizontally. A V-shaped incision in 

 the bark with a sharp knife just be- 

 low each bud when dormant will also 

 tend to increase the quantity of bloom. 



A group of Rhododendron Pink 

 Pearl, the subject of the beautiful col- 

 ored plate accompanying this issue, 

 received the high award of a silver-gilt 

 Flora Medal at the exhibition of the 

 Royal Horticultural Society in Lon- 

 don on May 14. 



Viburnum Carlesii, which flowered 

 for the first time at Kew last year, is 

 spoken of by a writer in the Garden- 

 ers' Chronicle as one of the most valu- 

 able of recently introduced shrubs. It 

 is a native of Oorea and quite distinct 

 in general appearance from any other 

 cultivated species; the flowers are 

 white on the inner surface and pink 

 on the outer, bearing a strong resem- 

 blance to some species of Rondeletia 

 and having a delicious perfume. 



UP-TO-DATE METHODS OF GROW- 

 ING THE DAHLIA. 



As a first essential for growing the 

 dahlia properly the ground should be 

 thoroughly cultivated to the depth of 

 eight to ten inches. If planted in 

 hills the tubers should be given a 

 depth of fully six inches; they should 

 be laid horizontally in the soil in 

 place of vertically so that the tuber 

 at the sprout should be' not less than 

 six inches below the surface. The new 

 tubers all form and make their growth 

 at the base of the crown of the old 

 tuber. If planted as advised there will 

 always be moisture enough in the soil 

 to keep the plant continually grow- 

 ing. After the tubers are placed it is 

 well to cover the sprout an inch or so 

 with soil before using any fertilizer or 

 dressing. It is not wise to use too 

 much stimulant at first. After the 

 plants get to the stage of throwing 

 out buds it is well then to make an- 

 other application, either in liquid or 

 raw state; this should be appled 

 around the plant on top of the soil 

 from six inches to two feet. One 

 great point to be considered before 

 the plant gets to its flowering state 

 is the cultivation of the soil. In order 

 to obtain the best results from the 

 dahlia, the soil should be kept 

 thoroughly cuUivated either with a 

 hand hoe or with a horse cultivator. 

 After your plants begin to show signs 

 of flowering it is not well to cultivate 

 them, as this is very apt to injure the 

 plant through the cutting oft of many 

 of the new tubers thus weakening the 

 growth, and in many cases causing 

 the plant to wilt in the hot sun, some- 

 thing from which it will take a long 

 time to recover. The dahlia will do 

 well on any kind of soil if properly 

 treated. If grown on heavy soil it is 

 well to use some ground bone meal 

 and nothing but staple fertilizers 

 should be used. On light sandy soil 

 it is well to use some stable dressing, 

 also ground bone meal can be used 

 with good effect, as this is the soil 

 that just suits the dahlia, but good 

 cultivation is the main point in get- 

 ting first-class results for there is no 

 jilant that is more responsive to cul- 

 tivation and good treatment than the 

 dahlia and if properly cultivated it 

 will produce more flowers than any 

 other plant in the garden. 



.1. K. ALEXANDER. 



East Bridgewater, Mass. 



You will find something worth 

 reading on every page of HORTI- 

 CULTURE. 



JUNE EXHIBITIONS AT BOSTON. 



The annual rhododendron exhibitiou 

 of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society will be held Saturday and Sun- 

 day, June 8 and 9, at Horticultural 

 Hall, Boston. 



The annual rose and peony show 

 will take place the following Friday 

 and Saturday, June 14 and 15, followed 

 on Saturday and Sunday, June 22 and 

 23, by the rose and strawberry exhibi- 

 tion. 



As the season is unusually backward 

 it is expected that these exhibitions 

 will overlap each other somewhat, and 

 classes not competed for on the dates 

 assigned will be continued over to the 

 following week, so that a series of 

 fine weekly exhibitions is assured for 

 the next three weeks. 



The admission is free to all. 



WM. P. RICH, Secretary. 



MUSINGS OF McGORUM. 



Decoration Day goes on record as 

 the best in history. The scarcity 

 of outside flowers brought about 

 by the late season accounted in a great 

 measure for the volume of business 

 done, and it brought to the surface the 

 fact that people are willing to pay for 

 good flowers at any time of the year 

 when they want them. In one of your 

 contemporaries I noticed that the Bos- 

 ton correspondent mentioned that car- 

 nations were being preserved, or, in 

 other words, "salted." Tuesday morn- 

 ing I noticed a certain shipment of 

 carnations that had just reached a 

 wholesaler; on being opened some 

 Lawsons on top were found in fairly 

 good shape, but the white ones under- 

 neath were in a dilapidated, weary 

 condition. The wholesaler passed 

 them aside and opened another lot 

 from a different party, which were in 

 good shape. The first mentioned lot 

 probably went to the fakir and, of 

 course, there would be a protest from 

 the consignor as to why he didn't get 

 the top price when carnations were 

 selling at a high figure. Such men 

 practicing this game ought to be keel- 

 hauled, branded and drummed out of 

 the business. It stops people from 

 buying very often when they other- 

 wise would. 



We have all been busy, and the rose 

 men will now be still busy as the 

 planting season is in full swing. Verily 

 a greenhouse man's life is strenuous, 

 but of course there are little pleasures 

 such as club outings, club banquets 

 and meetings that tend to help him 

 smooth over the rough places in this 

 stirring world. There was consider- 

 able excitement at the last club meet- 

 ing. On entering the hall I noticed a 

 group of men hastily putting on their 

 overcoats, ready to take to the tall 

 timber. I noted that the hall looked 

 somewhat different, the roof being 

 hung with calico, all plaited like 

 Scotch kilts, and the wall draped In 

 white. I thought some of the clans 

 had dyed their tartans, or some of the 

 Back Bay ladies had hired the hall as 

 a drying room for the washings to 

 keep them clear of the B. & A. R. R. 

 smoke. But Pres. Westwood, with his 

 usual tact, came forward and ex- 

 plained that the trustees were trying 

 experiments to get better acoustic re- 

 sults. Little, if any, difference could 

 be noticed, however. When at the 

 boiler hearing, some time ago, we 

 heard a boiler expert talking about the 

 pulsation of the engine wearing out 

 the boiler. There being many second- 

 hand boilers sold cheap, why couldn't 

 the trustees buy a quantity, cut them 

 open and make an arch over the hall? 

 The speaker's voice would reverberate 

 along the centre and drop echoes at 

 the end so that the deaf could hear. 



I see in your N. Y. contemporary of 

 recent date that our friend W. N. 

 Craig took the editor of that paper to 

 task in words something like this: 



"Come hither Aleck lad an' answer for't: 

 your blam'd for leeln'." 



Craig used bare knuckles and had 

 the worthy editor gasping for breath 

 in the first round. 



The saying that "it's an ill wind 

 that blows nobody good," seems to 

 hold good just now, for the cool 

 weather has helped to keep roses in 

 better condition than they would be 

 had we the usual weather at this time 

 of the year. R. T. McGORUM. 



