530 



HORTICULTURE 



November 30, 191S 



horticulturb: 



VOL. xxvm 



NOVEMBER 30, 1918 



NO. 22 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 1^7 Svunmer Street, Boston, Ma»». 



WM. J. STEWART, Editor and Msnacer 

 Telephone. Beach 292 



■ntered ai MCond-clasB matter December 8, 1904, at the Post Office 

 at Boaton, Maes., under the Act of ConeresB of March 3, 1879. 



CONTENTS Page 



THE OUTLOOK FX)R GREENHOUSE BUILDING AND 

 HEATING — Philip J. Foley . . . ; 529 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS— National Pub- 

 licity Campaign — Department of Plant Registration . . 531 



OLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Lancaster County Florists' 

 Association — Nassau County Horticultural Society — 

 New England Gardeners' Conference — American Rose 



Society — Club and Society Notes 532-534 



Chrysanthemum Exhibit at P*ittsburgh Florists' Club 543 



LOCAL AND GENERAL NEIWS: 



Philadelphia, Rochester, Chicago. Boston, New York, 

 St. Louis 536-537 



SEED TRADE— Corn-Borer Now Limited to Two Small 

 Sections — Wholesale Seedsmen's Lieague 537 



OBITUARY— William King Murray— Mrs. George Volke 

 — Alfred A. Marshall — Mrs. Pierre Milliot — Raymond 

 C. Thoirs 537 



OP INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Flowers by Telegraph — A New Retailers' Association 



— New Flower Stores 538-539 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland 541 



New York, Philadelphia. Rochester, St. Louis 543 



BETTERING THE FLOWER TRADE— O^fo AmUnfi . . 544 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Barberry Thunbergii Impurity 529 



Lime Now on Free List 529 



Bituminous Storage Limit Off 529 



Let's Keep Our Heads 531 



Wm. P. Stark Joins Cottage Gardens Nurseries 531 



Personal 531 



Petsai (Chinese Cabbage) — Illustrated 534 



Business Troubles 537 



Visitors' Register 543 



Improved Fuel Situation 547 



Oreenhouses Building or Contemplated 547 



We see no striking evidence thus far that 

 Enterprise any general provision has been made by 

 checked the trade to provide substitute material to 

 fill the place left vacant by the discontin- 

 uance of European plant shipments. Long ago tlie 

 ■warning was sounded in the trade papers and attention 

 called to the unprecedented opportunity in prospect, 

 which if promptly and intelligently acted upon, would 

 make a place for things not hitherto exploited and ex- 

 clusively products of home industry. Other than the 

 usual supply of old favorites, however, there appears as 

 yet nothing out of the common, although it is quite 

 possible something may come to the surface later. The 

 coal restrictions have undoubtedly acted as a deterrent 

 to all such enterprise this year. 



"The Observant Citizen," a stafl' 

 Asters and lorre.spondent of the Boston Post, is 

 "China Asters" ivspoiisiblc for the following, pub- 

 lished on November 23 : 

 "Today is the centennial of the birth of James Vick, 

 whose name is still familiar to flower growers all over the 

 United States, largely from what he did in developing the 

 humble wild aster of the fields into a blossom that rivals 

 the chrysanthemum." 



T(i those who arc cdinrrsaiil with l)ntmi\- nr tlic (iriaiii 



of our garden flowers this will be "some news." The 

 author has evidently confused the hardy perennial wild 

 aster of our fields "srith the annual "China aster,"' Cal- 

 listephus chinensis, which the Vick family has done 

 much to develop to the high standard which it has now 

 readied as a florists' flower. In connection %rith the 

 foregoing it is an interesting fact that our native asters 

 are much more highly appreciated in England, where 

 they are popularly known as "Michaelmas daisies,'" than 

 they are here. British growers have produced many 

 handsome hybrids in this genus. 



Four years ago last spring, a few days 

 Belgium's before the invasion and spoliation of Bel- 

 day giuni, we received from Brussels the pros- 

 pectus of a propased new periodical entitled 

 Le Xouveau Jardin Pittorosque^, with a commimicatiou 

 from I'Association Nationale, stating that it was the 

 intention to publish the journal as an Association bul- 

 letin. The sample title page accompanying, was an 

 artistic production and an excellent forecast of the 

 high character of the periodical. The awful calamity 

 whicli suddenly fell upon Belgium evidently put an end 

 to all the plans so auspiciously laid, for from that day to 

 the ])resent time no word has ever come to tell their 

 fate. But, during the bitter years which have inter- 

 vened our thoughts and our sympathies have often wan- 

 dered to Brussels, hoping for the day to oome when, per- 

 haps, Le Nouveau Jardin Pittoresque might blossom 

 foi th mimolested and fulfil its mission in the develop- 

 ment of the most precious of the arts of peace in its 

 pillaged home. That Belgium may be soon enabled to 

 re-establish her well-won horticultural rank and pros- 

 perity is Horticulture's sincere wish in this day of 

 jubilation. 



Before tiiis copy of Horticulture can reach 

 Looking its readers the initial establi.shed koliday of 

 ahead the winter season will have passed into his- 

 tory and we shall " be able perhaps to size 

 II |i in Some degree what measure of support the public 

 is dLt^posed to extend to the florist and its bent in re- 

 spect to the general use of flowers during the comiaig 

 months. People are primarily looking for a speedy 

 decline in the cost of living, which has reached such bur- 

 densome proportions, and it is possible that the tendency 

 toward a freer indulgence in flowers may be somewhat 

 deterred while the process of reducing the weekly outgo 

 for other necessities goes on. But the florists' record 

 throughout these trying times has bean 100 per cent 

 good and he can challenge comparison for patriotism 

 and benevolence with any other industry relatively able 

 and the flower people have certainly loet nothing in ]>ul)- 

 lic regard by their deportment as a class all through the 

 war period. Flowers and plants are among the few 

 conmiodities which have not been enhanc-ed in value by 

 the war conditions, although the cost of carrying 

 on a florists' business has increased "l)y leaps 

 and bounds.'" Coal and fertilizers for the grower 

 and the entire list of requisites for the modern retail 

 flower store — not to speak of clerk hire and labor of 

 every description — have added enormously to tlie florists" 

 expense account, wliile the selling value of the product 

 has stood still, except in isolated and temjwrary times of 

 extreme scarcity. So the margin of profit has l)eeii at 

 the vanishing ])oint. The best the florist can hope for 

 under present and ]>resumptive conditions is to find a 

 steady market for all he produces, obviating the losses of 

 former years in oversu])ply aiid waste, and that is no 

 small matter. 



