916 



HORTICULTURE 



December 25, 1909 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



CONNECTICUT HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The annual meeting of this Society 

 was held at the County Building, 

 Hartford, on the 10th instant; and the 

 following officers were elected, to 

 serve for the ensuing year: Presi- 

 dent, John F. Huss, Hartford; first 

 vice-president, Thomas W. Pagan, 

 New Britain; second vice-president, J. 

 Vidbourne, Hartford; third vice-presi- 

 dent, C. O. Purinton, Hartford; sec- 

 retary, George W. Smith, Melrose; 

 treasurer, W. W. Hunt, Hartford; 

 librarian, William T. Hall, Hartford; 

 botanist and professor of vegetable 

 physiology, George W. Smith; pomo- 

 logist, C. H. Sierman, Hartford; 

 executive committee, J. M. Adams, J. 

 A. Weber, C. A. Helfricht, Francis 

 RouUer, of Hartford; W. H. Shum- 

 way, of Berlin. 



It is expected that vice-presidents 

 for the several counties other than 

 Hartford county will be elected at 

 the next meeting. 



The treasurer's report showed the 

 Society to be in a flourishing financial 

 condition; and the secretary reported 

 that the present membership, 14S, is 

 the ;iir:;est that the organization has 

 ever had, to his knowledge. Presi- 

 dent Huss, in a comprehensive writ- 

 ten statement, reviewed the principal 

 events in our history, and the salient 

 features o£ our work, during the year 

 past, and urged all to labor for 

 greater triumphs in the year just 

 about to commence. 



A leading feature of the meetirg 

 was the exhibition, by J. A. Weber, 

 gardener for Walter L. Goodwin, of a 

 half cozen beautiful and thrifty Poin- 

 settias in pots, bearing gorgeous red 

 bracts. Mr. Weber was awarded a 

 certificate of merit. 



A short discussion ensued concern- 

 ing methods of extermination of the 

 white fly. It was hoped that the new 

 insectcide, Aphine, would prove effec- 

 tive in this direction. 



At a previous meeting, the secre- 

 tary was appointed a committee to 

 draft resolutions in favor of the parcel 

 post, and to present them for con- 

 sideration by the Society. In pur- 

 suance of this request, the resolutions 

 of approval were unanimously adopted, 

 ■with a vote that a copy thereof be 

 sent to the president of the United 

 States, to the postmaster general, to 

 each Connecticut congressman, and to 

 each of the Hartford daily news- 

 papers. 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



OF LONDON. 



Some Orchid Awards. 



At the Dec. 7th meeting of the Royal 

 Horticultural Society, a first-class cer- 

 tificate was awarded for Cypripedium 

 Alcibiades Illustris (C. M. de Kurt x 

 C. Leeanum giganteum) a glorious 

 flower. Award of merit for Cypriped- 

 ium Lion (C. Boadicea x C. Sallieri 

 Hyeanuni.) Both the above named 

 were shown by F. Sander & Son. 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' 

 CLUB OF BOSTON. 



The last monthly meeting was held 

 on December 21, and as there was a 

 considerable amount of business no 

 special lecture was provided, but Prof. 

 White of the Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural College at Amherst gave a short 

 address on the objects of the college 

 and explained the different subjects 

 which the students are expected to un- 

 dertake. His remarks were very prac- 

 tical and received abundant applause. 

 Several new members were elected. 

 The election of officers was the prin- 

 cipal business and after a ballot had 

 been taken the result was as follows: 

 President, .John W. Duncan; vice-presi- 

 dent, Peter M. Miller; secretary, W. N. 

 Craig; treasurer, Edward Hatch. Of 

 the several nominations for the execu- 

 tive committee the following were 

 chosen: Messrs. W. E. Fischer, J. P. 

 .\. Guerineau, Thos. Pegler and H. E 

 Fiske. 



Some very interesting exhibits were 

 before the members and specially note- 



J. W. UUN'CAN 



worthy was a collection of Zonale Pel- 

 argoniums from Secretary Craig. The 

 best varieties were Richmond Beauty, 

 Emile Zola, .1. R. Barrie, Mrs. Brown 

 Potter, Florence Leeds, Jacquerie — a. 

 very fine crimson; Lucania — an ex- 

 tremely good salmon pink, and Max- 

 ine Koralevski — a beautiful salmon 

 rose. The twenty-four bunches all 

 showed evidence of high culture. P. 

 W. Fletcher exhibited Lopezia miniata 

 — a pretty greenhouse plant with coral- 

 red flowers. A variety of well-grown 

 calanthes came from Duncan Pinlay- 

 son. Roses In variety came from Eber 

 Holmes, Montrose, and a splendid vase 

 of carnation May Day from Peter 

 Fisher. President Downs announced 

 that the annual banquet will be held 

 on January 27. 



It was urged that more members 

 take advantage of the Landscape class 

 and, if necessary, a sum of $50 will be 

 devoted to It. 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF 

 NEW YORK. 



The regular monthly meeting of the 

 society was held at the American Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, on Wednes- 

 day, December 8th, 1909, at 4 p. m. 

 The lecture announced for the day was 

 delivered by Mr. William Solotaroft: 

 "Shade Trees in Cities." Mr. Solota- 

 roff is connected with the Shade Tree 

 Commission of East Orange, N. J., and 

 is well qualified to speak upon this 

 subject, as the following abstract of 

 his lecture will make evident: 



The speaker opened his remarks by 

 saying that upon the arrival here of 

 the first settlers in this country, the 

 first idea had been to procure a shelter 

 and obtain ground for the raising of 

 crops. These being the main and es- 

 sential things, the preservation of 

 trees, in the laying out of their vil- 

 lages and towns, had not been consid- 

 ered of importance. This habit, thus 

 engendered, had grown with the peo- 

 ple, and it was only comparatively re- 

 cently that the necessity of trees in 

 cities has been appreciated. For the 

 city is not only a place of commerce, 

 but it is largely made up of homes, 

 and anything which adds to its beauty, 

 which trees certainly do, increases the 

 value of its property. The tree, there- 

 fore, as an essential thing in the city 

 is being recognized, and it is also be- 

 coming evident that the trees in a city 

 must not be left to the care of the in- 

 dividual, but must be pladed under the 

 charge of the city itself. If left to the 

 individual there will be many kinds of 

 trees on the same street, a condition 

 usually to be avoided; they will be 

 planted in different ways and at un- • 

 equal distances; the pruning will not 

 be properly done, nor the trees syste- 

 matically treated for insect and fungus 

 pests. To insure uniformity in the 

 planting of trees and their proper 

 maintenance after planting, it is neces- 

 sary to place the whole matter under 

 oflScial control. In cities where this 

 has been done for many years, nota- 

 bly, for example, in Washington, D. C, 

 the results are most satisfactory. To 

 insure this uniform result the street 

 must be treated as a unit; that is, only 

 one species of tree must be employed, 

 and the pruning must be done with a 

 definite aim in view; to provide shade 

 without obstructing the sidewalks or 

 roadways, interfering with the view, or 

 preventing the free circulation of the 

 air. 



It was the state of New Jersey 

 which first recognized the necessity of 

 vesting this power in a central body, 

 and in 1893 that state enacted a law, 

 a local option law, for the planting 

 and care of shade trees. Passaic was 

 the first city to adopt this law. New- 

 ark followed, and the third city to 

 make it active was East Orange. 

 There are now 22 cities in New Jersey 

 which have shade tree commissions. 

 So successful have these commissions 

 been that other states and cities have 

 followed the example thus set them, 

 the state of Pennsylvania exacting a 

 similar law in 1907. 



The lecturer then exhibited a series 

 of lantern slides, showing streets in 

 various cities, planted as they should 

 and should not be. The illustrations 

 were certainly convincing. A number 



