November 12, 19] 



HORTICULTURE 



667 



PRACTICAL INFORMATION FOR 

 PRACTICAL FLORISTS. 



The short course In floriculture at 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College 

 this year promises to be one of the 

 most successful ever given. The regis- 

 trations for the course are coming In 

 rapidly and a good attendance is an- 

 ticipated. 



The department of floriculture is en- 

 deavoring to make its work valuable, 

 not alone to the students taking the 

 regular four years' course, but to the 

 practical florists as well. The short 

 course of twelve weeks during January, 

 February and March is intended to 

 reach just these people. Tuition is 

 free and the only expenses are for 

 board, text-books and the traveling ex- 

 penses incidental to observation visits 

 to florists' establishments in the state. 



A large number of florists should 

 avail themselves of this opportunity to 

 get a large amount of valuable infor- 

 mation at a slight expenditure of time 

 and money. The course has been given 

 for the past two years and thirty men 

 and women from various parts of the 

 United States have taken It. Most of 

 these now have excellent positions and 

 all are of the opinion that they bene- 

 fited vastly from the course. Its value 

 lies in the fact that all branches of 

 floriculture are taught by specialists. 

 One of the most successful florists in 

 Connecticut who is a graduate of the 

 four years' course at the college re- 

 cently said that the course he found 

 most helpful was that given In plant 

 pathology. Ho had found It especially 

 valuable in combating plant diseases. 

 The course given by the florlcultural 

 department will cover as thoroughly as 

 time will permit, those aspects of the 

 work of special interest to the growers. 

 Some of the topics to be considered are 

 greenhouse construction, greenhouse 

 details, such as ventilators, gutters, 

 benches, etc., greenhouse furnishings 

 and equipment, heating, florists' crops 

 and florists' trade. 



In addition to these lectures given 

 by Professor White, other courses will 

 be given in entomology by Dr. Fernald 

 and his assistants; plant diseases by 

 Dr. Stone; soil fertility by Prof. Hurd; 

 fruit growing by Professor Sears. 

 Other courses along similar lines of 

 agricultural and horticultural subjects 

 may be taken as time will permit. 



The lectures will be given In the 

 morning and the afternoon will be 

 spent In practical work In the green- 

 houses, which are splendidly equipped 

 for the work. A working suit will be 

 necessary for this work. Saturdays 

 will be devofed as usual to visits to 

 greenhouses for observations regarding 

 methods. Among the ranges to be 

 visited are H. W. Field's, Northamp- 

 ton; Montgomery Bros.' rose establish- 

 ment, Hadley; the conservatories at 

 Smith College and Mt. Holyoke Col- 

 lege; A. N. Pierson, Inc., Cromwell, 

 Conn.; Joseph Beach & Son. South 

 Hadley; G. N. Sinclair, Holyoke; Peter 

 Fisher, Ellis; Waban Rose Conserva- 

 tories, Natick; William Sim. Cllfton- 

 dale; Thomas Roland, Nahant; and 

 others. 



One of the most valuable features of 

 the course has been the talks given by 

 practical men, not connected with the 

 college. This year a week will b<' de- 

 voted to greenhouse construction and 

 aside from the regular lectures of the 

 department, talks will be given that 



week by R. O. King of the King Con- 

 struction Co., North Tonawanda, a rep- 

 resentative of Lord & Burnham Co., 

 Irvington, N. Y., and a representative 

 from Hitchings & Company of New 

 York. 



A second week greenhouse heating 

 will be considered. F. J. Elder, heat- 

 mg expert of Lord & Burnham Com- 

 pany, will speak on this subject. Other 

 talks during the course will be given 

 by the following named men on the 

 following subjects: W. H. Elliott. 

 Brighton, Mass., Rose Culture; Eber 

 Holmes, Montrose, Mass., Rose Cul- 

 ture; M. A. Patten, Tewksbury, Mass., 

 Carnations; C. W. Ward, Queens, Long 

 Island, Carnations; C. H. Totty, Madi- 

 son, N. J., Chrysanthemums; W. N. 

 Craig, North Easton, Mass., Orchids; 

 E. J. Canning, Northampton. Mass., 

 Some Hardy Herbaceous Perennials the 

 Florist Should Grow; J. Otto Thilow, 

 Philadelphia, Pa., Subject to be an- 

 nounced; Edward MacMulkin. The Re- 

 tail Flower Trade. 



Men and women from any state In 

 the Union are eligible for this course. 

 Additional Information may be had 

 from Professor W. D. Hurd, Director 

 of the Short Course or from E. A. 

 White, Professor of Floriculture, 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College, 

 Amherst, Mass. 



NEWS NOTES. 



Jamaica Plain, Mass. — Alex. McKay 

 succeeds W. A. Riggs as gardener at 

 the Clark estate. 



Shenandoah, Pa., — The contract for 

 the building of the greenhouses at 

 the City Park, to cost $960, has been 

 awarded. 



Cincinnati, Ohio. — John Walt will 

 dispose of his greenhouses and resi- 

 dence but will continue to run his 

 Eastern avenue store. 



Auburndale, Mass. — Wm. A. Riggs, 

 formerly head gardener for B. A. 

 Clark. Jamaica Plain, has purchased 

 the John Forbes estate consisting of 

 two acres of land and 20.000 feet of 

 glass. He Intends to go into the com- 

 mercial field growing pot plants for 

 the market. 



Richmond, Ind. - On Wednesday. 

 Nov. 2, the oflScers and members of 

 the Indiana State Florists' Association 

 to the number of twenty-five, visited 

 the greenhouses of the E. G. Hill Co. 

 and other local establishments. They 

 were hospitably entertained by Mr. 

 Hill. Many interesting novelties were 

 Inspected and admired. 



Patterson, N. J.— At the park green- 

 houses there is at present a superb 

 display of chrysanthemums, which 

 Superintendent McCulIum regards as 

 the best he has ever presented for 

 the pleasure of the public. The at- 

 tendance Is very large each day and 

 much Interest is manifested, especial- 

 ly in the newer varieties, practically 

 all of which are included in the col- 

 lection. 



New Orleans.— J. A. Newsham, of 

 orchid fame, has the finest collection 

 of these plant aristocrats ever 

 brought to.gether In New Orleans. 

 These are his hobby and he makes it 

 pay. 



The Metalrle Ridge Nursery Co. 

 is demonstrating the fact that good 

 roses can be grown In New Orleans; 

 good houses and skillful management 

 are showing results. 



CATTLEYA BULBS ROTTING. 



.Mr. Pauls has said truly in the last 

 issue of HORTICULTURE that the 

 cause of the above trouble must be 

 sought at the roots, and it may be 

 said also that it is generally due to 

 too much moisture during the dull 

 autumn days. The average cultivator 

 does not realize that with the shorten- 

 ing of the light there is less need of 

 watering, many roots especially those 

 of the preceding year are lost, and 

 even if the plant does flower it is a 

 very sick specimen afterwards. The 

 fact that C. lablata produces a double 

 sheath Is no argument In favor of ex- 

 cess of moisture supplied from the out- 

 side being the cause — it being a very 

 necessary protection to the huge 

 spikes of flower this cattleya often pro- 

 duces, and even then the stems on 

 emerging bend downwards .by their 

 own weight and that of the flowers. 

 A point to be made plain in regard to 

 C. lablata Is this, that after flowering 

 these sheaths must be cut away clean, 

 so that no water can lodge at that 

 point and cause decay. Very many 

 fine bulbs have been lost because of 

 neglect of this simple precaution. In 

 the opinion of the writer C. lablata is 

 a hard cattleya to keep in good health 

 for a long time. We have all seen hun- 

 dreds of specimens in rugged health 

 and vigor when newly established, and 

 have watched them under our own 

 care dwindle and become weak, in 

 time too poor to occupy space under 

 glass. A plant of the first importa- 

 tions offered In New York would In- 

 deed be a curiosity if located, at least 

 to the writer who had lots of them. It 

 is feared that many give too severe 

 a "rest" to this species for the reason 

 that it is considered over and done 

 with for about five months after the 

 flowers are past, while this is just the 

 time a little stimulus is necessary — 

 stimulus not stimulant — in order to 

 help the plant recover from the great 

 effort. Do not hang the plants up and 

 forget them in making room for others 

 to bloom later. The golden rule to be 

 observed In the culture of Cattleyas is. 

 "Never at rest,"' always getting ready 

 for some stage of growth preparatory 

 to flowering or recuperating there- 

 from. Those who In the past have 

 proved the value of feeding stimulant 

 proper, do not stop applying it after 

 bloom is past: it Is even more neces- 

 sary then. 



E. O. ORPET. 



PERSONAL. 



Rudolph Roehrs. of Rutherford, N. 

 J., has returned on S. S. Noordam. 

 from his sojourn among the European 

 nu'sprymen. 



R. Vincent, Jr., of White Marsh, Md., 

 has received a letter from J. S. Brun- 

 ton. editor of the Horticultural Trade 

 .Tournal, Burnley, England, in which 

 Mr. Brunton states that he expects to 

 visit the National Flower Show at 

 Boston, next March, accompanied by 

 quite a party of British horticulturists. 



Visitors in New York: Mr. and Mrs. 

 Carl Beers, Bangor, Me. Mrs. Beers 

 sails for Europe on Saturday, Nov. 12, 

 to collect a large legacy left to her 

 by a relative. 



Boston visitors: G. E. Baldwin, 

 Mamaroneck, N. Y.; S. H. Chamber- 

 Iain, New Bedford, Mass. 



