266 



HORTICULTURE 



September 14, 1918 



horticulturb: 



VOL. XXVIII 



SEPTEMBER 14, 1918 



NO. 11 



PUBLISHED WEEKLiT BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston. Mass. 



WM. J. STEWART, Editor and Manager 

 Telephone, Beach 292 



Entered as second-class matter December 8, 1904, at the Post Office 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



CONTENT® 



Page 



COVER ILLUSTRATION — Rhododendrons by Water 

 Side 



ACONITUMS OR MONKSHOODS— .4rt7!i(/- E. Thatcher 



IMPORTANT TO ALL FLORISTS THROUGHOUT 

 THE UNITED STATES— Wm. F. Glide 265 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS— National Pub- 

 licity Campaign — General Committee on Cost of Pro- 

 duction 267 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— New York Florists' Club — 

 Cleveland Florists' Club— Chicago Florists' Club — 



Gardeners' Convention Postponed 268 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society 279 



THE WHOLESALE HOUSE OF THE FUTURE—/. E. 

 Follworth 269 



OBITUARY — William F. Dreer. portrait — Matthew 

 Todd — Robert Ferguson — -Mrs. Edward Leonard 271 



SEED TRADE — Seedsmen — What Do You Think of 

 This. George C. Watson — Vegetable Seed Crop Con- 

 dition—Dutch Bulbs— Dutch Bulb Shipments 272-273 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Flowers by Telegraph — New Flower Stores 274-275 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Rochester 277 

 St. Louis, Washington 279 



LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS: 



Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Boston, St. Louis, 

 Washington 280-281 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Minnesota State Fair 273 



Catalogues Received — Publications Received 273 



News Notes : 275 



Floral Display at Rochester War Exposition 279 



Visitors' Register 279 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 281 



We call especial attention of our 



To reform florist readers to the paper iiy 



flower marketing ,T. E. Pollworth of Chicago 01! 



the marketing of cut flowers, vi'ijieli 

 we jirint in full. Wc nmsicler it a most valuable con- 

 tribution on this ve.xed >ubject. ^Ir. Follworth has 

 banilled it with clear insiglit and sincerity and evidently 

 has given nuicii thouglit to the situation. The prob- 

 lems presented are. however, an old, old story, partic- 

 ularly to the older markets in the east — Xew Yorlr, 

 Boston, Philadelphia — and scores of the intelligent, 

 thinking men in the trade, growers and wholesalers es- 

 pecially, have spent many thoughtful hours vainly 

 seeking a solution that would suit the majority and do 

 justice to all. Mr. Pollworth strikes the keynote of 

 reform when he advocates harmony and a mutual under- 

 standing among and between all departments of the 

 industry as the first step towards bettered conditions, 

 niat such a co-operative spirit has not existed to any 

 great extent in the past is well-known. The blame is 

 laid variously .of cour.se. But to one uii|)rcjudiccd 



either way, it is often a case of "the pot calling the 

 kettle l)lack" or as Shakespeare puts it — "Use every 

 man after his desert and who shall escape a whipping." 

 Let us hope, now that our hustling, earnest Chicago 

 friends have seriously tackled the matter, that they may 

 find a way out and in due time set the |)ace for a well- 

 balanced and well-established system of flower market- 

 ing, in which all departments of the industry may enjoy 

 full scope for enterprise and a fair return for intelli- 

 gent and efficient service. 



The August bulletin of 

 Commissions and presents 'fjie Garden Club of Amer- 

 to gardeners now a ioa, Xo. XXVI, COUtains a 



thing of the report of the Committee 



past on Trade Relations in re- 



lation to eliminating graft; 

 bribes and commissions to gardeners. The report states 

 with respect to a questionnaire sent to leading nursery- 

 men and .seedsmen that in answer to the question: "Do 

 you give commissions, gratuities or presents at Christ- 

 mas or other times to professional gardeners?" thirty- 

 si-\ answers had been received. Twenty-three firms re- 

 plied briefly in the negative, while three gave less jjosi- 

 tive answers. Replies from ten other nurserpnen who 

 have gone into the question more in detail and heartily 

 condemn the practice of paying commissions are given 

 in full in the report. They show that this form of cor- 

 ruption injures the dealer, the employer and the em- 

 ]>loyees and that where it has become prevalent both in 

 this country and in England it has been forbidden by 

 law. Attention is called to the report of the Federal 

 Trade Commission urging the passage of a law to pre- 

 vent briberies in trade. The Federal Trade Commission 

 in urging on Congress on May 16th the enactment of "a 

 sufficient law striking at the unjustifiable and vicious 

 l)ractices of commercial bribery," held that every person 

 liaitici|iating in any such tran.saction should be reached 

 liy a criminal statute. The report also states that 



"Fourteen states have statutes striking at the practice." 

 "The commission feels that the stamping out of bribery 

 is one necessary step to the preservation of free, open, and 

 fair competition, and to that end respectfully urges that 

 such legislation should prohibit not only the giving and 

 offering, but the acceptance and solicitation of any gift or 

 other consideration by an employee as an inducement or re- 

 ward for doing any act in relation to his employer's affairs 

 or business, or for showing or forl)earing to show favor 

 or disfavor to any person in relation to his principal's or 

 employer's affairs or business. 



"In order to prevent a resort to a common method of 

 corruption, it is recommended that the law should also 

 prohibit the giving of any such gifts or other considera- 

 tion to members of the agent's or employee's family, or to 

 any other person for his use or benefit, direct or indirect." 



HoRTicuLTUKE has always held that the professional 

 gardener is worthy of his hire, that his calling which is 

 a highly specialized one. has only in a few instances 

 received proper recognition in this country. Xow. his 

 .services are beginning to be appreciated at their true 

 value and he should receive adequate compensation for 

 such service from his employer directly. He should not 

 be placed on the level of the hotel waiter who acce]3ts a 

 wage of perhaps a dollar a day and is obliged to look, to 

 those he waits upon for enough more to enable hin. to 

 exist. Horticulture believes that nearly all the bet- 

 ter class of gardeners would positively refuse to accept 

 a straight commission on purcha.se-; for their employe'?, 

 although many have not regarded presents as equnlly 

 compromising. This new movement doing awiiy with 

 both cannot fail in the long run to l>onefit the gardener 

 as well as liis cnqdoyer.' 



