July 8, 1905 



horticulture: 



35 



HORTICULTURAL SOCIETIES 



The progress of horticulliur in ih. I'nitcd 

 States during the last twenu \c ,11 ha, luen 

 phenomenal and a great (kal mI iIi.m |iiiil;hss 

 can be traced to the age in y xi hi.riic iiltural 

 societies. Therefore, it may not lie out of 

 place at the present time, when these so- 

 cieties situated in all parts of the country are 

 claiming an unusual amount i>f allintion, to 

 throw a little more light on .h 11 ;ii. . Iiave 

 done in case the dazzling > ^ i tin- 



horticultural world now ma. :!:: ! :'... ,1 1(111 

 of some to the source of niuili ..1 i!a-, bught- 

 ness. 



In the trade, of course, the Society of 

 American Florists is the name to conjure 

 with, and those engaged in the trade owe a 

 debt of lasting gratitude to those who first 

 formed that organization. This society has 

 been the means of elevating the business in 

 which its many members are engaged, until 

 to-day it is carried on according to the highest 

 standards of commercial enterprises, com- 

 prising in its entirety many of the most ener- 

 getic and .successful men in the country, not 

 a few of whom affirm that much of their 

 success was due to the mutual advantages 

 of membership in the Society of .American 

 Florists. 



Although perhaps from a commercial 

 point of view the societies ini hiding in their 

 membership only iIium 1 iit;.ii;cil in the trade 



formance of the L'nalri of ilio },Hnanli( 



work that has Ix-in i:i|.h~la J ni\rrihi' 



le.ss societies com I i i^i ih. 1;.. ! y.,\\ ..1 



gardeners and cmpl ' ' . ' ho.. 



contributed in a I . . ' ' : ■ - 



that brought horliiuliuic i. . u. [.o . m 1.1 in I 

 ing, and one in particular the .Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society — has from the 

 first been a potent influence for the advance- 

 ment of gardening and gardeners, and we are 

 safe in saying that hundreds of similar socie- 

 ties that iiave sprung up and since flourished, 

 owe their existence to the name and achieve- 

 ments of the Massachusetts Society, having 

 from the beginning on its roll of member- 

 ship men and women of wealth and culture, 

 who saw no better way of spending a large 

 portion of their income than by encouraging 

 the growing of flowers and plants and sur- 

 rounding themselves with the beauties of 

 nature developed by the hands of skilful 

 men well paid by those employing them. 



Those pioneers of horticulture in Massa- 

 chusetts happily did not rest contented with 

 all they could' do in their own day, but 

 many of them made generous provision 

 whereby the good work they inaugurated 

 still goes on, together with the reminder that 

 although gone, they are still back of it. 

 This was made possible by many legacies 

 left to this society from which prizes are 

 given yearly and oftener, for objects nearest 

 to the minds of those noble persons who 

 made this old New England Society known 

 throughout the world. 



The value of many species of plants was 

 brought to light and thence into general 

 cultivation through their cxhibiuon at so- 

 ciety shows. Many a gardener has been 

 spurred on to the attainment of excellence 

 in plant culture through the friendly rivalry 

 and not solely for the sake of exhibition 

 awards. Many more gardeners arc in- 

 debted to intercourse with their fellows, in 

 meetings of societies and otherwise, for much 

 of the knowledge they po,ssess. Apart from 

 what horticultural societies have done for 

 gardeners directly, they have accomplished 

 a great deal more in another vi'ay; they have 

 widened the horticultural sphere, extended 

 the knowledge of gardening to multitudes 

 of people w-ho before had only a vague idea 

 of what the term meant, associating it only 

 with the possession of millions of money; 

 and right here comes to ^iew thi- benefit of 

 such societies to the trade through the foster- 



ing of tlie love of plants and flowers among 

 the public. Better a hundred persons buy 

 a plant even at a somewhat reduced price, 

 than only one at a fancy price; that is how 

 the progressive men in the trade arc begin- 

 ning to look at the matter now. 



Besides an increased fondness for ])lants 

 engendered by the influence of horticultural 

 societies in cities and rural communities, 

 such societies had not a little to do with the 

 marked tendency of late years for people of 

 moderate means to spend much time and 

 some money in laying out and keeping in 

 order the grounds around their dweUings, 

 and many just as their business prospered 

 extended their interest in things horticul- 

 tural until before long they employed regular 

 gardeners. When a new variety of plant is 

 introduced it is invariably exhibited before 

 some society, there to be seen by the garden- 

 ers and others. Those not fortunate enough 

 to be members, or who are not present (which 

 amounts to much the same thing; there is 

 not much good in one's membership if it 

 only consists of pen scratches on the roll), 

 are late in knowing of this variety and behind 

 the times unless they gain a knowledge of it 

 through the medium of gardening Uterature, 

 which comes next to the horticultural socie- 

 ties in the promotion of gardening and florists' 

 interests and as aids to success. 



David McIntosh. 



TREE PROTECTION IN CLEVELAND 



I'liii II ■< i i-'ot. 11-. battle this season with 

 ''I I ii I II I last years played havoc 

 I' I .Hos have been made 



\j} iliL utj, loio.U;. department. The fight 

 will be prosecuted in all parts of the city 

 during the summer by the five tree wardens 

 who will work under the supervision of City 

 Forester Horvath. At present the wardens 

 are engaged in the work of trimming and cut- 

 ting out dead timber from the trees. Dead 

 and dying trees are also being removed from 

 the city's streets. But the question of pre- 

 venting the spread of in.sects and deadly 

 diseases is one more momentous than any- 

 thing else just now. The trees of the city 

 have suffered for years, and without a .sys- 

 tematic inspection and treatment it has been 

 impossible to rid them of the pests that have 

 sapped their strength for so long a time. 



Thousands and thousands of the city's 

 trees are infested with San Jose scale, the 

 louse, the cotton-wood worm, and many 

 other insects and diseases. If the city is to 

 preserve its trees and secure results here, 

 such as are eventually desired, it is of the 

 utmost importance that a fight is begun at 

 all pests. 



IN CONFIDENCE 



Dont' forget that red carnations are scarce 

 at Christmas and white ones not called for. 

 Take time by the forelock. 



Put Flamingo on li.st for quality and 

 Harry Fenn for a seller. The latter variety 

 is a great keeper and popular with the store- 

 men for that reason. 



Don't forget that the season for planting 

 Harrisii lilies for Christmas flowering is now 

 almost on, and that many more than were 

 suppHed could have been sold last Christinas. 

 New-crop bulbs should be on the market 

 last week of July. 



Sow pansy seeds now. Don't fool with 

 seed at 75 cents an ounce. Five dollars an 

 ounce is about right for really good quality — 

 size, color, form, and substance. The French 

 Bugnot strain is good. So is the Cassier. 

 Odier, and Trimardeau. But see that these 

 are extra selected and from a reliable source. 

 Zirngiebel's giant market and giant fancy 

 are expensive but extra fine. 



PLYMOUTH, MASS., 



AS SEEN THROUGH A GARDENER'S EYES 



In this old Pilgrim town, gardening in the 

 yards of the houses seems to be a long way 

 behind the times; one reason is the soil is 

 |)oor, mostly gravel and sand. We do not 

 see the nice well-kept lawns and grass plots 

 that are the ])ridc of some other towns, nor 



trc'cs about fifteen feet tall and their pendant 

 golden yellow trusses looked fine among the 

 green foliage. I noticed some double sc arlet 

 and white hawthorns in some of the older 

 gardens and yards ; there are also some 

 box bushes which formerly formed the walk 

 edgings, but are now grown out of all shape 

 and would be better dug up. I learn that 

 until the recent severe winters the boxwood 

 stood the cold without being hurt. 



We have two florists here, both named 

 Lanman. One is baggage man on the Bos- 

 ton train. His wife looks after the two small 

 greenhouses as to airing and waiting on 

 customers wliile he is away. He also does 

 cjuite a Mayflower business. He says that 

 from early in April to midle of May hed 

 look to Boston 4,000 bunches and got .sale 

 for all. He has carried on this business for 

 .il>out lifteen years and has a regular staff of 

 pii kiTs who bring in flowers ready bunched. 



The land all around this town is very 

 uneven — hills and hollows. A few miles 

 cast are hills covered with oaks and some 

 hickory and cedars, with a jungle of under- 

 growth in many places of wild briars and lots 

 of wild roses. The soil is stitT clay with a 

 hard-pan bottom, with great boulders all 

 through and all sizes of smaller stones. 



Jordan's is the crack place near here, but 

 I have not seen it yet. Then we have every- 

 thing here connected with the Pilgrims, but 

 that is another story, and those who would 

 like to see the rock where they landed and 

 their other landmarks can come and explore 

 for themselves. 



W. Sw.\N'. 



PERSONAL 



Ralph Ward will now manage the business 

 of his father, George M. Ward, at Beverly 

 Cove, Mass. 



Knuth Carison of Hartford, Conn., has 

 taken charge of the Morris Floral Co. green- 

 houses, Morris, III. 



Mr. and Mrs. McHutchison sailed on 

 .S. 5. Bremen on July 6, for a visit to 

 Europe — a business trip and deferred 

 wedding journey combined. 



Cari B.--.-i-^ h.o ol.l hi. .:-, , nh.nises and 

 business ai I; hl" "I 1 i"l 1'. Lane, 



irst 



Mi.ss' Lizzie Mills has shaken olT for a 

 time the duties and responsibilities of 

 Suzuki & lida's New York ofTice, and sailed 

 on June 22 pn the Deutschland for a two 

 months' pleasure trip in Euroi)e. 



Arnold Ringier, representative of W. W. 

 B.irnard & Co., Chicago, arrived a few days 

 .ago on 5. .?. Bcrnuulian from the Ber- 

 muda Islands. He reports a scarcity in 

 true Harrisii, but that the common so-called 

 Harrisii stock is plentiful. 



On Monday afternoon, July 3, (Jeorge E. 

 Schuiz and Miss .\nna B. Sheedy were 

 married at Louisville, Ky. They we're both 

 connected with Schulz's store, Mr. Schuiz 

 being a son of Jacob Schuiz. They went 

 from here to Cincinnati. Miss Sheedy was 

 .1 verv fine arti.st and her departute will be 

 greatly felt. 



