46 



beginning tbe work at Wyomissing, 

 following it up at the Cottage Gardens 

 Co. where the meeting was held and 

 finally at Ithaca. The immediate re- 

 sults of this course are shown in the 

 large number of varieties added to our 

 list in the new bulletin. 



This year the same plan has been 

 followed. In addition to the work this 

 season at the nurseries mentioned in 

 my address, the committee has since 

 visited the collection of Mr. Shaylor 

 here in Boston and it is the intention, 

 if possible, to visit other collections 

 in the vicinity of Boston before leav- 

 ing for Ithaca, where the work will 

 be continued until the close of the 

 season there. 



It is expected by the close of the 

 season there that practically every- 

 thing will be done in the old plot that 

 it will be possible to do. There are 

 still hundreds of names existing in 

 the plot which it will never be pos- 

 sible to trace to any distinct origin, 

 but the vast number of names origi- 

 nally existing there have been reduced 

 to a very large degree by the great 

 number of synonyms found, all of 

 which have been noted. As examples 

 of this I might mention Edulis Su- 

 perba, Dr. Bretonneau, Queen Victoria 

 and others which have been duplicated 

 under 25 or 30 dilTerent names each, to 

 say nothing of the host of red varie- 

 ties, most of them of inferior quality, 

 which are to be found. It would seem 

 as if everyone who has a red of any 

 kind calls "it Delachei or Francois Orte- 

 gat or Louis Von Houtte, so that 

 strange as it may seem, these, our 

 most common varieties, have been the 

 hardest to determine which is the true 

 variety. And of the many Delachei 

 it is a question if any of us are posi- 

 tivelv sure just which one is the true 

 variety, unless it is the variety sent 

 us by Dessert. 



There is a common pink peony which 

 among its many other names passes 

 for Edouard Andre, but the true Ed- 

 ouard Andre is different in every way, 

 being an immense very double flower 

 very late. 



These are merely examples of some 

 of the difficulties that the committee 

 has had to contend with. Of the va- 

 rieties left in the original plot, it is 

 doubtful it there will be many remain- 

 ing which will be worth giving any 

 further consideration. Doubtless the 

 larger part of these have been unnamed 

 seedlings sold in mixtures to which 

 names have been given in order to dis- 

 tinguish them where they have been 

 grown in nurseries. 



It is not expected that no mistakes 

 have been made, but the committee 

 have had unusual facilities in making 

 a wide range of comparison in every 

 rase and we have every reason to be- 

 lieve ihat in most instances we have 

 reached conclusions and that the er- 

 rors which exist will be detected and 

 con ecteS before the final publication is 

 completed. The decision of the com- 

 mittee may not in every way agree 

 with individual opinion, but it will at 

 least establish a basis upon which the 

 work for the future may be done, and 

 if it is adopted as a standard even- 

 tually it fulfills the object sought. 



I wish to reiterate the splendid serv- 

 ices Mr. Batchelor has rendered the 

 Society in carrying out this work. I 

 also wish to make mention of the for- 

 tunate selection of Mr. Jos. Dauphin 

 who by his remarkable memory and 

 ability to retain his impression of dis- 



H ORT I CULTURE 



tinctions in color and form of flowers 

 and the long years of study he has 

 given to this subject has been able to 

 render us invaluable services. 



The peony plot at Cornell now com- 

 prises a number of acres, a large addi- 

 tion having been made for the new 

 planting last fall which will eventually 

 be the permanent planting belonging 

 to the University in accordance with 

 the original agreement. The second 

 planting donated for the purpose of 

 selecting the "best hundred" varieties 

 will be in prime condition and will 

 doubtless be of great assistance. 



B. H. FARR. 



July 9, 1910 



ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 OF LONDON. 

 The hall was, on June 7, inconven- 

 iently filled with exhibits. Iris, pyre- 

 thrums, peonies, roses, pelargoniums of 

 the spotted, decorative, regal, and show 

 sections perpetual carnations and bor- 

 der varieties, gerberas— the type 

 Jamesoni and hybrids or seedling 

 forms of that Species— streptocarpus, 

 cannas and aquilegias, formed the 

 bulk of the plants shown. An interest- 

 ing exhibit of stove herbaceous plants 

 rarely seen in cultivation, though once 

 common, came from L. R. Russell. 

 Richmond, Surrey. Yellow-flowered 

 shrubby calceolarias came from J. 

 Veitch & Sons, and also from R. Veitch 

 & Son, of Exeter. Their names are 

 Clibranii, Golden Glory and Buttercup. 

 They bear a close resemblance to each 

 other, and should prove useful in the 

 greenhouse for early flowering and for 

 flower garden purposes. Orchids were 

 present in fair numbers, but these 

 plants are distinctly getting scarcer, 

 the glut of the season being at an end 

 for the present. In Sander & Sons' 

 exhibit Laelio-cattleya Wellesleyana, a 

 flower having pale lemon yellow sepals 

 and petals, and a lip and tube of lurid 

 purple, was unique. The firm was 

 awarded a first class certificate for 

 Odontioda St. Fuscien var. Imperator, 

 which is the result of crossing Coch- 

 lioda Noetzliana and Odontoglossum 

 Adriauae. The flower is mainly scar- 

 let, intersected with irregular lines of 

 white. ^he inflorescence measured 

 about one foot in length, and the in- 

 dividual blooms two inches in breadth. 

 Stuart Low & Co. made an interest- 

 ing exhibit, among which was Laelio- 

 cattleya G. S. Balls, an orange colored 

 flower, with, the merest edging of red 

 on the lip, and a well flowered plant of 

 the Javan species, Bulbophyllum Lobbi. 

 which possesses single flowers on radi- 

 cal scapes coming from the base of the 

 pseudo-bulbs. 



There were many other exhibitors 

 of small lots of orchid who were 

 awarded medals. Messrs. Charlesworth 

 & Co. were awarded the silver gilt 

 Fl'-ra medal. 



J. Veitch & Sons showed cannas in 

 bloom, the best for color and size of 

 spike and general effectiveness being 

 Dr. Buddingen, with a short, stout 

 spike of scarlet flowers; Baron de 

 Reicher, lemon and orange; James 

 Wigan, reddish orange; Vander Schoot, 

 yellow, spotted with crimson, and 

 Duke of York, soft crimson, having a 

 thin line of yellow at the edge of the 

 petals. This firm showed their Achi- 

 menes-flowered streptocarpus in a va- 

 riety of colors, and Pelargonium White 

 Queen, the blooms circular shape, and 

 displaved 6 to S inches above the 

 leaves" FREDERICK MOORE. 



THE ORCHID AS A COMMERCIAL 

 PROPOSITION. 



Alphonse Pericat, before the Florists' Clnb 



of Philadelphia, June 7th, 1910. 

 Mr. President and Gentlemen: 



Your committee have gotten me here 

 tonight to talk orchids, very much 

 against my own inclinations. In the 

 flrst place, it is a very difficult subject, 

 and in the second place I hardly know 

 what to say. Of course, I have been 

 in orchids all my life, both in the ama- 

 teur and commercial lines; but the 

 field is so large that it is difficult to 

 choose any phase of it that would be 

 interesting to you. I think the best 

 I can do under the circumstances, is 

 to indicate a few of the species and va- 

 rieties that have so far proved them- 

 selves commercially possible. There 

 is no doubt but what the orchid has 

 come rapidly to the front commercial- 

 ly in the past ten years, and it may be 

 confidently looked forward to as a con- 

 stantly increasing factor in the flower 

 markets of America. 



The first of the family important 

 commercially is of course the Cattleya. 

 This species and its many varieties is 

 so showy and of such varied colors, 

 and can be had by successive plantings 

 through so long a season, that it is 

 small wonder that it takes premier po- 

 sition. The best of them all is, of 

 course, Trianae, because it is not only 

 a lovely flower, but also because it 

 blooms at a season when cut flowers 

 are most in demand. Next to that 

 comes Labiata, which flowers in the 

 fall when roses and carnations are 

 scarce and variety is needed to supple- 

 ment the chrysanthemums and other 

 fall flowers. The other members of 

 the same family that are of importance 

 are Schroederae and Mossiae, as these 

 come in succession and flower at a 

 time when the others cannot be had. 

 Gigas and Gaskelliana are of course 

 the important ones for summer flower- 

 ing. 



Next to the Cattleya the important 

 orchid commercially is the Cypripe- 

 dium. Insigne flowers more freely than 

 any other and is most easily grown. 

 Leeanum and Spicerianuni rank next. 

 The Cypripedium can be grown and 

 sold for less than other orchids, hence 

 it is one of the most important, al- 

 though not the showiest. 



On account of the demand for white 

 orchids in the fall, the Dendrobium 

 formosum occupies a very important 

 place. The plants go back after two 

 or three years and it is necessary to 

 renew stock. D. Phalaenopsis is fine 

 for sprays. 



Oncidiums are of great merit in 

 many ways, the several varieties 

 flowering in succession from Septem- 

 ber to February. They are much liked 

 for decorations on account of their 

 spray formation and beautiful colors. 

 Some are easily managed, some not. 

 Splendidum is one of the best growers. 

 It is a fine flower and likely to be more 

 grown in the future. Varicosum Rog- 

 ersi is a favorite on account of its fine 

 spray, which is easily adapted to many 

 decorative purposes. The plants run 

 out quickly, however, very much the 

 same as D. formosum. 



These species and varieties men- 

 tioned are practically all that are 

 much grown today: but there are a 

 number of others that will be on the 

 market soon, as the demand is con- 

 stantly extending. Phalaenopsis ama- 



