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HORTICULTURE 



January 15, 1910 



What "HORTICULTURE" Thinks of the New Rice Catalogue 



^ This beautiful album 11x14 inches, in covers of moss green with watered 

 silk effect and embellished with halftone illustrations on heavy coated 

 paper, is a credit to ilessrs. Rice & Co., and the industry which they so 

 worthily represent. '• Don't turn your back on a good thing " is the motto 

 on the introductory page. We should say that the florist who has not this 

 useful book on his desk is certainly turning his back on a good thing. The 

 illustrations are beautiful reproductions of beautiful handiwork, many of 

 them new and representing every item of value to the up-to-date florist, 

 from a complete wedding outfit of gates, kneeling stool, bell and vases, 

 down to a toothpick. The issuing of such an elaborate work is an evidence 

 of notable enterprise. The typographical make-up and finish are also of 

 a high order. 



S^' Free to all in the trade enclosing their business card. 



M. RICE & CO. 



LEADING 



FLORISTS' SUPPLY HOUSE 



Of America 



1220 RACE STREET 



Phila. 



PLANT COLLECTING IN CHINA. 



The lecture hall of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society was filled 

 with a splendid audience on Saturday, 

 January 8, drawn by the announce- 

 ment that Mr. B. H. Wilson, head of 

 the Arnold Arboretum botanical expe- 

 dition to Western China, would de- 

 liver a lecture on his experiences in 

 that vast, hitherto unexplored, country. 

 This was the opening lecture of the 

 regular winter course, and certainly 

 gave a brilliant start to the series. 

 Mr. Wilson's talk was illustrated by 

 upwards of sixty stereopticon slides, 

 many of them superb views of majes- 

 tic mountain scenery, others showing 

 some of our popular plants and trees 

 in their wild home. 



"Any garden, greenhouse or florists' 

 shop," the lecturer said, "will speedily 

 prove to those interested how deeply 

 Indebted we are to the different parts 

 of the world for the beautiful plants 

 and delicious fruits we have around 

 us and enjoy so much. It is true that 

 the bulk of our every-day flowers and 

 fruits are the result of the cultivator's 

 skill, but the raw material necessary 

 for him to work on had to be procured 

 first. To secure this the world has 

 been ransacked to such an extent that 

 few countries remain unexplored. The 

 subject of plant collecting in the heart 

 of China is a subject vast and inex- 



haustible, but well worthy of your at- 

 tention." 



Mr. Wilson said that during the ten 

 years he had travelled in China he had 

 collected some sixty thousand speci- 

 mens, comprising about fifty-five hun- 

 dred species, and sent home seeds of 

 over fifteen hundred different plants. 

 In concluding his talk he said: 



"Though much work has been done, 

 it must not for one moment be sup- 

 posed that the Chinese flora is in any 

 sense exhausted. Large tracts of 

 country and even whole provinces have 

 never had a plant collected in them. 

 When it is remembered that in China 

 every glen and mountain range pos- 

 sesses plants peculiar to it, it will at 

 once be understood that the work is 

 far from being completed. My last ex- 

 pedition recently concluded was pro- 

 moted by Professor Sargent in the in- 

 terest of the Arnold Arboretum. As a 

 result of this expedition seedlings of 

 nearly nine hundred different plants 

 are at this present moment growing 

 in the nurseries of that institution. 

 Seeds and plants have been distributed 

 in a most liberal way to ardent culti- 

 vators in this country and in Europe 

 in order that in so far as possible 

 nothing may be lost. The hardiness 

 of those new introductions is the cru- 

 cial thing. This must of necessity be 

 a matter for experiment. All that can 

 be said at present is that in England 

 these new Chinese plants have proved 

 much hardier than was expected and 

 are giving every satisfaction. Since de- 

 ciduous trees and shrubs from China 

 and Japan thrive generally better here 

 than in England there is reasonable 



hope that the majority of these new 

 introductions, when established, will 

 prove hardy around Boston. Should 

 only a moderate percentage prove 

 hardy they cannot fail to have great 

 influence on our gardens in the near 

 future. 



"A writer in the recent Kew Bul- 

 letin declared the present to be the 

 Chinese era in horticultural history. 

 This is a strong term, but those in- 

 terested will speedily learn that it Is 

 the simple truth. Plant collecting has 

 its peculiar difficulties and disappoint- 

 ments. Nature herself, the birds of the 

 air and the animals of the field, often 

 seemingly combine to prevent the col- 

 lecting of the seeds of this or that 

 plant. But no collector, be he ever so 

 energetic, can accomplish much unless 

 ably supported by the men at home 

 who handle the seeds and cultivate 

 the plants. Delays in sowing the seeds, 

 too much or insulBcient water, and a 

 hundred and one other things may 

 ruin the work of the collector in the 

 field. For my own part I have been 

 very fortunate in this respect. In 

 England my seeds were handled by the 

 foremost propagators in that country; 

 in America by Jackson Dawson and 

 others. I take this opportunity of 

 placing on record my whole-hearted ap- 

 preciation of the care and attention 

 these competent and skillful growers 

 have bestowed on the seeds and plants 

 I have been privileged to introduce." 



A number of herbarium specimens 

 of new rhododendrons, clematises and 

 other handsome flowering plants col- 

 Uected by Mr. Wilson were on exhibi- 

 tion and were inspected with much in- 

 terest by the audience after the close 

 of the lecture. 



