41-' 



110 iniC ULTURE 



April 27, 1918 



horticulture: 



VOL XXV II 



APRIL 27. 1918 



NO. 17 



I'l lll.l->IIKI> UKKKI.Y IIV 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 



All\ KKTI.SIMi KATKS: 



Or Incli. SO Inrlir* tu piiK<^ 91*U 



Discount on <'ontrac(« for rtinnrcntlie IniierttonB, ■■ follows: 



Ottr nttinth <4 ttiitrat. 5 per cent.; thri^r mtinthn <IJ timrs). 10 

 per r«'nt : nix months (?G tlmrtt). *^0 per crnt.; our ynir <6'^ times). 

 M prr cfnt. 



l*Ar» And Imlf pitrr s|t»r^. not coDsecutlve. r«tes on application. 



M list liir I ION KATES: 



Oar Ymr, In adviini'r, $I.(MI; To Forelicn Countries, (2.00; To 



(iiniuln, j^i.nn. 



WM. J. STEWART. Eflllor and Manaser 

 Telephone, B««eh X9t 



Kntered as second-clnsi matter December 8. 1904. at the I'oat Office 

 tt BostcD. Mass.. under the Act of Coogreas of Marcb 3. 187U. 



CONTENTS 



Page 

 COVER ILLUSTRATION'— A Remarkable Orchid Hybrid 

 VEGETABLE CULTURE— Tobacco Powder— Starting 



Vegetable Plants in Pots — John Johnson 409 



ORCHIDS AT TRENTO.V, N. J. —Walter Gott 409 



HORTICULTURAL PROBLEMS OF TODAY— £. W. 



Breed 410 



THE PUBLICITY CAMPAIGN 413 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Practical Garden Instruc- 

 tion — A Remarkable Sweet Pea Exhibit — Interna- 

 tional Flower Show — The Gardeners' Boston Confer- 

 ence — Meetings Next Week — Lancaster County 

 Florists' Association 414-415 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Encouraging the Florist 413 



"Say it With Flowers" — Henry Penn 418 



New Flower Stores 419 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Chicago. Cincinnati, New York, Philadelphia 421 

 Pittsburgh, Rochester, St. Louis, Washington 423 



OBITUARY— James B. Henry- Mrs. J. F. Sullivan- 

 Mrs. Johu Poehlmann 423 



LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS: 



Chicago. Washington, Boston, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, 

 Philadelphia 424-426 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Erica melanthera — Illustrated 411 



Personal • 413 



Brooklyn Botanic Garden 414 



Iris pallida Dalmatica — Illustrated 415 



A Remarkable Orchid Hybrid 415 



Publications Received 416-426 



The Toll of War— Patents Granted 416 



Visitors' Register — Business Troubles 423 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 426 



The 



The recent meeting of gardeners at 



Boston and the proposal to continue the 



gardener's series throughout the season and espe- 



place eially the high aspirations which were 



given utterance on this occasion tends to 



open up a very ho|)eful outlook for tlie advancement of 



the well-eijuipped practitioner in gardening art to a 



recognition long merited but very tardily accorded. It 



is very evident that the profession of gardening in 



America has now entered upon its progressive stage 



which is "a consuniation devoutly to be wished," and 



the signs of the times must be full of encouragement 



and cheer for those who have longed for and worked 



patiently and faithfully to hasten the day. 



The Mayflower, or Trailing Arbii 

 Protect Jug (Epig»a rcpens) has been 



the mayflower (ielected by Vote of tlie school cliil- 



dren of Mas.sachusett8 and the 

 ilioice legally endorged by the legislature as the state 

 llowur. 'i'his sweetest of all our native early spring 

 IpIos.soius was once very abundant in sections from which 

 it has now entirely vanished, its beauty of flower and 

 delicious fragrance having proved its undoing. Now 

 that it has been elevated to the dignity of state 

 emblem, it is feared that the destruction by 

 thouglitles,s or ignorant gatherers will be greatly in- 

 creasc'd and the work of final extinction hastened. We 

 believe that the time is not far distant when some 

 measure of protection by law will have to be extended 

 to the Mayflower, such as forbidding its being gathered 

 tor the ])urpose of sale, and the sooner this is done the 

 better, otherwise it will not be long before its existence 

 other than as an emblem will come to an end in Massa- 

 chusetts. 



The 



It is very pleasing to have the as- 

 surance of the Department of Agri- 

 barberry's fate (uilture that the campaign for the 

 extermination of the barberry be- 

 cause of its essential part in disseminating the danger- 

 ous wheat rust applies only to the common Berberis 

 vulgaris and does not affect the Japanese Berberis Thun- 

 bergii which has proven so superior as a reliable hedge 

 plant in a large section of this country. It had been 

 feared by many that the order to uproot the barberries 

 (^overcd the genus generally. The common wild species, 

 which, however, is not a native but presumably was in- 

 troduced by the early settlers, is a very beautiful object 

 whether in flower or bending gracefully under its rich 

 burden of coral berries and the fruit has, moreover, a 

 considerable food value. As its only offending is its 

 unfortunate relation to the wheat crop we hope it may 

 be spared from destruction in those sections where 

 wheat is not grown. It would be sadly missed by the 

 country people throughout New England who prize the 

 liarl)('rrv fruit highly as a preserve. 



Complaint is common on all sides of 



The tim scarcity of labor in the various 



labor problem liorticultural and allied industries. 



One of our best advertisers in the 

 plant trade writes, "We are very short on the most ordi- 

 nary labor, as you can realize. So is everyone else, and 

 it will take some manipulation to keep up with the 

 orders that come along in the natural course at this 

 season, so we are compelled to drop out from all trade 

 advertising for the present. While we have plenty of 

 material, to continue at the present moment would be 

 simply bunting trouble." In many establishments 

 where flowers are grown for cutting it has been found 

 necessary to employ female help for weeding, picking, 

 grading and bunching flowers and so well adapted for 

 such work have the women proven to be in places where 

 hitherto men only have been employed, that the custom 

 will probably become permanent. One very disturbing 

 result of the labor situation and the unprecedenterl 

 wages now being paid in the shipyards and munition 

 factories, is the independent attitude of the workers, 

 many of whom apparently look upon time as being "the 

 interval between pay days," as Life puts it and but 

 little else. Until the end of the world-war the nursery 

 and floral industries will have a rather difficult road to 

 travel and the labor problem will not be the least of 

 tbeir perplexities. "After that the Deluge"? 



