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HORTICULTURE 



March 12, 1910 



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SOCIETY NEWS FROM ABROAD. 



Royal Horticultural Society. 



The annual report has just been is- 

 sued by which it appears that the total 

 number of members to the end of 1909 

 was 11,030, truly an enormous number 

 for any horticultural society. The va- 

 cant V. M. H. medals were offered to 

 Messrs. W. Botting Hemsley, J. H. 

 Goodacre and A. MacKellar. It is an- 

 nounced that the Society has in con- 

 templation the holding of a great In- 

 ternational Horticultural Show on simi- 

 lar lines to that of 1S66. This will 

 probably take place in 1911 or 1912. 

 Negotiations are pending with the 

 Findley Library trustees, with the ob- 

 ject of uniting the library more closely 

 with the R. H. S. Last year the So- 

 <:iety sent deputations to the Berlin, 

 Birmingham, Gloucester and Cardiff 

 shows and this year a deputation will 

 be sent to the International Bulb Show 

 at Haarlem. 



A party of 90 German horticulturists, 

 who came to visit English gardens, 

 were entertained by the R. H. S. to 

 luncheon on the occasion of the Hol- 

 land House Show and expressed them- 

 selves pleased with their reception and 

 also the magnificence of the show. 



Portraits of Baron Schroder, Sir 

 Thos. Hanbury and Mr. Harry have 

 been or are to be shortly presented 

 to the Society. The book of arrange- 

 ments for 1910 gives very full details 

 ■of the work to be done during the 

 present year. 



in Horticulture" contains short bio- 

 graphical notices of about 3')0 eminent 

 English horticulturists, who they are, 

 and what they have done. There is no 

 other English garden annual that sup- 

 l:lies these details, and u^ a work of 

 reference in this respect, the book 

 should be of great value. 



French National Chrysanthemum So- 

 ciety. 



This society now numbers 7S4 mem- 

 bers, of which 61 are affiliated socie- 

 ties. The 15th Congress will be held 

 in Paris next November, under the 

 auspices of the National Horticultural 

 Society of France. Tne January num- 

 ber of Le Chrysantheme, the society's 

 official organ, contains an excellent 

 photogravure of the members of the 

 Marseilles Conference, several literary 

 articles on matters referring to the 

 chrysanthemum and a continuation of 

 the report of the Marseilles Confer- 

 ence. 



National Dahlia Society. 



This society, with which is now in- 

 corporated the London Dahlia Union, 

 held its first conference on March 1st 

 at Carr's Restaurant, Strand, London. 

 The following papers were read: Dah- 

 lias for Garden Decoration, by George 

 Gordon; Growing Dahlias for Exhibi- 

 tion, by J. Stredwick; Methods of Ex- 

 hibiting Dahlias, by J. B. Riding. 



L'Association Francaise des Amateurs 

 et Jardiniers Chrysanthemistes. 



This is a flourishing chrysanthemum 

 society, whose headquarters are at 

 Paris and in a way a rival to the older 

 established Societe Francaise des 

 Chrysanthemistes of Lyons. The mem- 

 bership is now over SOO. Its official 

 publication, "La Revue Chrysanthe- 

 miste," is published regularly every 

 month and, like the other society, it 

 holds an annual conference. 



We have just received a copy of the 

 society's new publication, "Grammaire 

 Chrysanthemiste," a cultural manual, 

 well printed and liberally illustrated, 

 of about 140 pages. A pretty little 

 badge for the use of members has 

 been struck, repi-esenting a flower of 

 the chrysanthemum. It is supplied in 

 silver gilt to members only. 



National Sweet Pea Society, England. 



The schedule of prizes for 1910 is 

 just to hand. We see that the tenth 

 exhibition will be held in the Royal 

 Horticultural Hall, Westminster, on 

 the 12th and 13th of July next. There 

 will be no provincial show of the so- 

 ciety this year. Among the prizes are 

 the Sutton Cup, the Henry Eckford 

 Memorial Cup, the Provincial Chal- 

 lenge Cup, the W. Atlee Burpee Chal- 

 lenge Trophy, the Horace Wright Chal- 

 lenge Trophy, the Walter Voss Chal- 

 .enge Cup. 



Garden Life Year Book and Who's 

 Who in Horticulture. 



The issue for 1910 of this new an- 

 nual, which only came out last year, 

 is a great improvement on its prede- 

 cessor. Apart from the ordinary mat- 

 ter the section i:ntitled "Who'jJ W'ao 



Brussels International Exhibition. 



In connection with the Brussels In- 

 ternational Exhibition of 1910 an In- 

 ternational Horticultural Congress will 

 be held. It will take place from April 

 30 to May 3, and the program has re- 

 cently been circulated. 



All persons interested iu horticul- 

 ture are invited to take part and so- 

 cieties can also he represented. Par- 

 ticulars may be obtained of M. Ed. 

 Rodigas, 229 rue de la Consolation, 

 Brussels. 



The subjects for discussion are di- 

 vided into seven sections with a com- 

 mittee to preside over each. They are 

 as follows: Floriculture, Fruit Tree 

 Culture, Market Garden Cultiu'e, Sci- 

 ence and Popularization of Horticul- 

 ture, Horticultural Economy, Horticul- 

 tural Construction and Engineering, 

 Special Appliances, such as Electricity, 

 etc. 



ENGLISH COMMENT ON SOME OF 

 THE NEWER CARNATIONS. 



We clip from the Horticultural Trade 

 Journal of London the following notes 

 on the behavior of some of the recent 

 introductions in carnations under Eng- 

 lish conditions: 



Ap[ile BlnssoDi is a delicate piuk, shad- 

 ing olf to white at the outer petals of the 

 liower. When the Uowers are good it is a 

 beautiful faucy variety, hut these too often 

 ronie to a poor white. The variety is too 

 uiKertain to be of any commerLial use. 



Alvina. A deep cerise, similar iu color 

 to Aristocrat. The tlowers are not large, 

 hut of retined appearance. The one re- 

 deeming feature of this variety is its ex- 

 cellent hahit of growth, whicli is very 

 quick and free. It may prove a good mar- 

 ket variety. 



Black Chief. A dark crimson with the 

 old clove scent. It has a wonderfully free 

 habit of growth, and makes an exception- 

 ally large plant. With some growers It 

 has bceu a little slow in coming into 

 bloom, but there is no doubt about its total 

 crop of tlowers exeeediug all other crim- 

 sons. 



Hay State. A white pencilled carmine, 

 in the way of M. A. Patten. It carried 

 all liefore it in America last season owiug 

 to its large massive dowers, but over here 

 the flowers are small, and growth, whilst 

 l)eiug exceptionally strong, is very slow. 

 No doubt it will show up better In the 

 spring. 



Fortune. A yellow variety with a trace 

 of buff in Us color; the flowers are not 

 large, but the planr grows well and is very 

 free. A great advance in this class of 

 color. 



Lady Dainty. Purely a fancy Carnatloa. 

 White, overlaid with pale purple. Short 

 compact habit of growth, and flowers with 

 the strongest perfume. 



Lucille. Yet another faucy Carnation In 

 the way of the old Prosperity class. The 

 flowers are large, and rich in color. Its 

 habit of growth is rather inclined to be 

 weak, but the stem is wiry. This may 

 prove a commendable variety. 



May-Day is the one variety which has 

 been talked about. The flowers are not 

 large, but of shapely build, with almost 

 smooth edged petals. The habit of growth 

 is wonderfully free, producing a phenome- 

 nal crop of bloom. There is some doubt 

 as to its lasting qualities. 



Mr. Chas. Knopf. A seedling from En- 

 chantress, and is similar to its parent In 

 all details, except that the color is a few 

 shades deeper, and the calyx decidedly 

 stronger. This variety may prove of great 

 merit. 



Mrs. J. C. Vaughau. A white variety, 

 which was largely advertised in America. 

 As yet it has failed to make good over 

 here, being slow iu coming into , bloom. 

 The flowers are exceptionally large, but 

 the petals lack tissue. 



O. P. Bassett. The scarlet variety of 

 American origin. One which has had a 

 -record sale iu the States. The color is 

 very bright, flowers large with fringed 

 petals. Planted out on benches it is a 

 little slow, but in pots it gives great prom- 

 ise, a variety all should grow. 



IMnk Delight. A salmon pink. Iu growth 

 and build of flower it is very similar to 

 White Perfection. It will not prove a 

 great producer, but the flower is of high 

 quality. 



Rival. One of the art shades which 

 promise to be so popular. It might almost 

 be described as a bright salmon red. The 

 flowers are large with big guard petals, 

 sound calyx, and an exceptionally free 

 habit of growth. 



Ruby. This variety has not lived up to 

 its naino over here, and is disappointing. 

 It is not ruby in color but crimson maroon 

 in the way of Ilan-y Fenu. Indeed, it re- 

 minds one of that variety. The color Is 

 a fleeted a little by dull weather, also It 

 splits a little. 



Rose Dore. This has been well shown 

 by its raiser and will live up to the high 

 standard set. It is de.scribed as a salmon 

 rosp, quite a new shade of color, but sure 

 of n large siile. The habit is pi-etty strong 

 with a good calyx and flowers large. 



Royal Purple. Yet another new break In 

 the Perpetual Flowering Carnation. Quite 

 a rich purple shade which shows up well 

 by artificial light, and will be a most pop- 

 ular novelty Of good size, with one of 

 the freest habits of growth. 



Waiioka. A crimson seedling from Amer- 

 ica. The name is Indian, and means "one 

 of a kind" and. In the case of this variety, 

 it Is something to be thankful for. 



W. H. Taft. A very indifferent red va- 

 riety, rough in appearance and weak in 

 stem. A great pity it was given so good 

 a name. 



