1882 J 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



31 



holds his tongue, and endeavors to profit by his 

 discoveries.' This reasoning seems cogent. What 

 says the Gardener's Monthly about it?" 



[For first-class work, on large or small places, 

 there is no work like Scott's. Every one inter- 

 ested in genuine horticultural taste should have 

 this work in his library. For smaller efforts, 

 such for instance as the making of a farm neat 

 and cheerful in its surroundings, the work of 

 Elliott, published by Dewey, of Rochester, gives 

 valuable assistance. 



2. There are either horticultural or pomologi- 

 cal societies in all the States named. The officers 

 are usually changed about this time every year ; 

 but if you will write to Mr. John Reading, Salt 

 Lake City, Utah; Mr. Charles H. Shinn, Niles, 

 California, and J. K. Hudson, Topeka, Kansas, 

 they will no doubt with pleasure give the names 

 of those in office. 



3. Report is correct ; but why should water be 

 allowed to "stand?" It seems to us no more 

 difl&cult to under drain land that is to be irrigated 

 than land which is watered by the rain. The 

 writer of this paragraph has had three separate 

 occasions of being personally well acquainted 



with the soil about Boulder city, and is quite 

 sure there is no more reason why as good fruit 

 cannot be grown there as in any part of the 

 United States. Indeed he looks on irrigation as 

 a better agent, in successful agricultural or hor- 

 ticultural operations, than the agency of nature 

 in her fickle rule of rain, and has seen nothing 

 to take back since he announced these views in 

 an address in Greely, in 1871. 



4. Your friend is perfectly right, if all the 

 knowledge he expects to gain is only such as 

 inventors can patent, or such as any man may- 

 be largely interested in keeping to himself. We 

 quite agree that no man should be expected to 

 be so generous as to give away the results of 

 long and costly experiments. 



We do not pretend to give, for two dollars a 

 year, this costly and valuable information. But 

 though our readers may not get a thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of information for two dollars, it is 

 generally believed that they do get two dollars 

 worth ; and we have little doubt, if the esteemed 

 friend did not want quite so much for the money, 

 he would find two dollars spent on the Garde 

 ner's Monthly worth at least that sum.] 



Horticultural Societies. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



HORTICULTURAL EXHIBITIONS. 



BY WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, PHILADELPHIA. 



On page 320 of the Gardener's Monthly, for 

 October, you ask why do not exhibitors exhibit, 

 and say that those engaged in getting up exhibi- 

 tions have generally to get on their knees and 

 beg of exhibitors to send something to the fair, 

 etc. Now, I had an idea that editors were well 

 posted persons on all subjects, and that the editor 

 of the Gardener's Monthly was the best in- 

 formed man among them all. But I regret to 

 see that I have been mistaken. 



Why exhibitors do not exhibit is simply be- 

 cause the premiums are not enough to cover 

 the expenses. Allow me to give yourself and 

 readers some incidents of personal experience. 

 In September, 1876, at the Pennsylvania Horti- 



cultural Society's autumnal fair, I exhibited one 

 hundred varieties of succulents, consisting of 

 Echeverias, Sempervivums and Cotyledons — 

 many of them were new plants shown for the 

 first time, and were growing in four, sjx and 

 eight-inch pots. The cost of getting them to and 

 from the hall, cleaning the pots and labeling 

 the plants, was as follows : 



Two men one day each (at $1.50 per day), 

 $3.00; one load furniture car to hall, $1.00 ; one 

 load furniture car from hall, $1.00; one hundred 

 large labels for plants, $1.00 ; one man one-half 

 day returning with plants, etc.,75 cents ; making a 

 total expense of $6.75. This exhibit covered about 

 one hundred and fifty square feet of table room, 

 and, although it was the centre of attraction, the 

 committee for awarding prizes gave a special 

 premium of only $2.00. You will readily srn 

 that I was likely to be $4.75 out of pocket. Eii 

 be it said, to the credit of the secretary of ti.o 



