July 6, 1918 



HORTICULTURE 



A Pull All Together 



The convention of the S. A. F. & 0. H. is rapidly 

 drawing near and it has been suggested to me that on 

 account of the troubled conditions as well as the in- 

 creased railroad rates, the attendance will be small 

 from the eastern states. This may be so — and yet in 

 view of the importance of the convention this year, I 

 shall regret it if we do not have a large attendance. 



Every florist who reads the trade papers must realize 

 the S. A. F. has had a very busy season in his interest. 

 Our Washington representative, Wm. F. Gude, in par- 

 ticular has had to spend practically all of his time be- 

 tween the coal question, the cutting off of imports and 

 other momentous questions. Under these circum- 

 stances it is not fair for Mr. Florist to stay at home and 

 let the "faithful few" bear the brunt of the battle all 

 of the time. 



It has been suggested that florists' and gardeners' 

 clubs combine their interests and send two or more del- 

 egates to the convention. This, I am not in favor of, 

 unless it is shown that failing this some particular sec- 

 tion will not be represented at all In an organization 

 such as ours, every member has an equal voice and vote 

 on the floor and should, if possible, go to the conven- 

 tion to exercise it, but let every section be represented 

 by delegates if no other way seems available. 



The S. A. F. has done and is doing a great work for 

 the florists in "Washington and through the publicity 

 campaign at this time, ^^liat other organization has 

 ever inaugurated a publicity campaign and gotten the 

 publicity we have received through the splendid work 

 of our committee for the small amount of money in- 

 vested? It behooves every florist in the country if he 

 has a spark of pride in his business and makeup to at 

 least become a member of the S. A. F., and yet strange 



to sa\', there are many men who are not on our mem- 

 bership roll. This should be remedied as soon as 

 possible. 



When our represeutatixe s]ieaks in Washington he 

 should know that the florists all over the country are 

 back of him and that he is speaking in their behalf. 

 Considering the membership fee is only $5.00 and the 

 annual dues $3.00, it is a disgrace to the profession 

 that w^e cannot treble our membership. With this 

 idea in mind of bringing home to the florists the ben- 

 efits of co-operation and the helpfulness of this organ- 

 ization to every individual florist I want to announce a 

 competition open to all members of the S. A. F. & 

 0. H., with the exception of the president, vice-presi- 

 dent, secretary and treasurer. To the member bringing 

 in the largest numljer of new members for the year 1918 

 up to midnight of August "-iOtli the evening of the first 

 day of the convention, I will give a $100 Liberty Bond 

 and to the member bringing in the next largest num- 

 ber of new members a $50.00 Liberty Bond. 



(;)ne man wrote me that he was glad to belong to Uie 

 S. A. F & 0. H., but always felt it was an exclu<ive 

 aifair and only open to a favored few. 



Once aiid for all, let everyone dispense with this idea 

 and give a long pull — a strong pull and a pull all to- 

 gether, so that our organization wiU have attained the 

 status to which its importance entitles it. 



Yours for an increased membership, 



President S. A. F. and 0. H. 



Peony Mary Woodbury Shaylor 



Editor Horticulture: 



I saw with pleasure the admirable likeness of Mr. 

 Shaylor in Horticulture for June 15th, and thought 

 your readers might like a photograph of one of his many 

 fine seedlings, which are destined to place America in 

 the front rank in the production of new peonies. The 

 plant photograplied for you was Mary Woodbury 

 Shaylor. I rank this with Lady Alexander Duff, to 

 which it is superior in one particular, the petals have 

 much greater firmness, allowing the flower to remain in 

 exhibition condition for a long time The leaves of this 

 plant are very large and striking. It is, however, not 

 so large or rapid growing a plant as Dnff. The central . 

 blossom in the photograph had been open for eleven 

 days when the picture was taken. During this period 

 there had been a violent norl beast wind and rain of 

 eighteen hours duration, three nights of frost, and one 



when the mercury fell to 22 degrees Fah. I had in- 

 tended to make the picture later in the day, but fearing 

 the flower w^ould wilt when the temperature rose I took 

 it at quarter past five Standard time, with the rising 

 sun touching it, but with the temperature too low for the 

 flower to have waked from its night's rest. This was 

 most unfortunate, as I used my last plate and later 

 when the side buds had opened and the central flower 

 fully expanded, the plant was the most lovely sight in 

 the garden. The plant was flowered under one of my 

 deep orange screens, and the result seems to show that 

 these screens are of use as a protection against slight 

 frosts as well as for keeping off the intense sunlight 

 and rain. 



Tamivorth, N. H. 



mlluvvv^N;^Uiu^ 



index: to voi-ljivie: xxvii 



Following precedent we shall send copies of the index to Vol. XXVII only to those 

 of our readers who make request for them. They are ready now and will be mailed 

 promptly to all who express a desire for same. 



