April 27, 1918 



H K T 1 C U L T U K E 



411 



Efficiency. 

 We must count tlie cost and stop all 

 the leaks possible in our business and 

 then to use the slogan "we must speed 

 up" endeavoring to produce the maxi- 

 mum of results with the minimum of 

 effort. The Department of Agricul- 

 ture informs us that the average 

 wheat yield is fifteen bushels per acre, 

 whereas the maximum is one hundred 

 and seventeen. While the growing of 

 wheat may not be a subject with which 

 we have to deal it simply shows that 

 with some the methods are not as 

 efficient as they should be and the 

 question which comes to each one of 

 us is are we measuring up to the 

 maximum yield of our efforts. In the 

 matter of propagation we should be 

 cautious and not over produce, neither 

 should we propagate stock at a lower 

 figure than we can afford to sell it. 



Transportation. 



One of the great helps at the present 

 time has been the motor truck with 

 which personally I have been able to 

 do a very large proportion of my busi- 

 ness, making prompt deliveries. Re- 

 garding freight and express much has 

 been accomplished recently. Embar- 

 goes have been lifted on seeds and on 

 nursery stock and embargoes against 

 nursery stock cannot be placed by an 

 Individual railroad without the con- 

 sent of the director general. The ex- 

 press companies place plants and 

 seeds under three hundred pounds 

 weight as perishable and are excluded 

 from embargoes. 



Publicity. 

 The Florists' National Publicity 

 Campaign and the Nurserymen's Fund 

 for Market Development have placed 

 the advertising problem on a new and 

 enlarged basis and the indications are 

 that it will develop a greater market 

 on a grander scale under a more effi- 

 cient management than ever before. 

 The planting of trees and shrubs and 

 the growing of flowers can no longer 

 be considered a non-essential, but are 

 necessary to our full development. 



Standardization. 

 The subject of a more uniform grad- 

 ing of nursery plants, whereby a 

 standard method can be adopted, so 

 that a purchaser may have some as- 

 surance of the character of the stock 

 he is purchasing by the catalogue 

 description, together with standard 

 names as used by the landscape archi- 

 tects, nurserymen, florists, seedsmen, 

 foresters, botanists, druggists, has 

 been the subject assigned to a commit- 

 tee from the American Association of 

 Nurserymen and The Ornamental 

 Growers' Association, who are busily 

 engaged in preparing a standard code 

 that will be of immense value to all 

 the allied trades and will place the 

 horticultural industry upon better 

 business-like methods. 



Evergreens. 

 The winter effect on evergreens con- 

 tinues to be a perennial question for 

 discussion due to a variety of causes, 

 principally, from lack of moisture the 

 preceding season, followed with the 

 same condition after a severe winter. 

 Under these circumstances there will 

 always be some losses. Could we have 

 a moist summer and a mild winter we 

 could anticipate more satisfactory re- 

 sults. The watering of evergreens and 



ERICA MELANTHERA 



Tbe Popular Christmas Heather in 4 i- 



evergreen shrubs when it is dry in the 

 fall is of great value. Then in the spring 

 the chief point with evergreen shrubs 

 is to allow the frost to come out of the 

 ground before the tops are uncovered, 

 where it is possible to do so. Much 

 trouble could be avoided if a more 

 careful study was made in planting 

 such stock, endeavoring to conform to 

 their natural requirements. 

 Legislation. 



Several bills have been presented 

 before the Legislature which if passed 

 would have very serious results in the 

 horticultural business. The Weeks bill 

 calling for the exclusion of all foreign 

 plants beginning July 1st on the plea 

 of reducing insect pests was so radi- 

 cal that it has been referred to the 

 Federal Horticultural Board and will 

 probably be modified, as it can well 

 be without any injurious results. A 

 bill to eradicate all forms of Berberis 

 vulgaris (thunbergii not included) on 

 account of the black-stem wheat rust 

 has shared the same fate as the pre- 

 ceding bill. Tlie destruction of all 

 currants and gooseberries to prevent 

 the spread of the pine blister rust and 

 lastly a bill presented for the exclud- 

 ing of any plant that might act as a 

 carrier of disease to be left to the 

 discretion of the head inspector. This 

 bill will be modified whereby every 

 person interested will receive a letter 

 announcing a hearing two weeks in 

 advance. Legislation has its value, 

 but our law makers must mingle rea- 

 son with common sense in the enact- 

 ment of their laws. 



Roses. 



Roses for garden use are today one 

 of the most popular plants grown and 

 in view of the conditions on the other 

 side it is important that we make 

 preparations to grow them here. For 

 their propagation Japanese multiflora 

 has been the most highly recommend- 

 ed as the one best adapted for our con- 

 ditions. 



Vegetables. 



It has become our patriotic duty to 

 grow as many vegetables and vege- 

 table plants for others as possible. In 

 this connection I think the war gar- 



i h lots. Photo by A. L. Miller. 



den.s have done much towards popular- 

 izing horticulture as well as conserv- 

 ing time. It will be a great factor in 

 increasing the interest in both the 

 cultivation of flowers and vegetables 

 for what vegetable garden is complete 

 without a few flowers. The seedsmen 

 have had an enormous business, which 

 proves that great quantities will be 

 planted and let us hope an equally 

 great amount harvested. 



It is fair to state that we are living 

 in an age of horticulture that we hope 

 will prove to be as great in the annals 

 of history as the ages of literature, 

 music, and poetry have been in the 

 past. With the great progress in the 

 commercial world, horticulture should 

 receive a tremendous impetus. The 

 horticultural exhibitions of today are 

 an index of the rapid strides, which 

 we as a nation are making. It is in- 

 teresting to note that in spite of all 

 of their suffering, the French, while 

 they are yet In the midst of their 

 agony, are still holding their wonder- 

 ful rose show each year at La Baga- 

 telle and the French women, even the 

 poorest, cherish their little window- 

 boxes and flower borders more than 

 ever. 



Our calling as gardeners is a divine- 

 ly appointed one, being the duty as- 

 signed the first man created, and, in 

 this noble calling, .our efforts are to 

 make the world a more beautiful one 

 in which to live. We are not all mil- 

 lionaires, but we are able to bequeath 

 a greater legacy to the world and to 

 those who come after us than can be 

 measured in dollars and cents. The 

 result of the war should inspire us to 

 fight our battles manfully, for if his- 

 tory repeats itself, after the war our 

 industry will rise to higher levels than 

 ever before. 



Rochester, N. Y.— The Park Depart- 

 ment is seriously disturbed by the 

 menace of the Flm-leaf beetle which 

 for a year or two past has become ob- 

 vious in Pittsford and East Rochester 

 and last year crept into the city. 

 Lantern traps to be hung in the trees 

 at night will be used to catch large 

 quantities of night flying moths. 



