October 21, 1905 



HORTICULTURE 



POOR POLICY. 



Under the above caption The Boston 

 Herald has this to say: 



"Henry Pbipps, a wealthy resident 

 of Allegheny, Pa., gave to the city a 

 public playground valued at more than 

 a million dollars. He did not give the 

 city a deed of the property, but it was 

 well understood that it was to be used 

 for all time as a public playground. 

 But for some reason the city fathers 

 of Allegheny refuse to exempt the 

 property from taxation, and as a re- 

 sult the property is to be sold to sat- 

 isfy a claim of $2155. This money Mr. 

 Phipps declines to pay, and he feels 

 very bad over the action of the city 

 where he was born, because it has 

 treated his offer in such a manner. 

 He will, therefore, discontinue the 

 playground and put up warehouses on 

 the property. It seems to us that the 

 city fathers of Allegheny have a very 

 poor idea of the value to the commun- 

 ity of such public playgrounds as this 

 one offered by Mr. Phipps. They 

 might well afford to exempt such 

 property from taxation in view of the 

 great good which would come to the 

 people from its use. The public 

 health would be benefited to a degree 

 which few can appreciate. Public 

 playgrounds have come to be accepted 

 as an excellent method for keeping 

 young people interested in good ath- 

 letic sports and in keeping them out 

 of saloons or from indulging in mis- 

 chievous pranks which often lead to 

 something worse." 



In substance the above Is true; but 

 the value of the property is enormous- 

 ly overestimated. It is not worth any- 

 where near 10 per cent, of the value 

 stated. It is a tract of a square or so 

 in a poor part of the city, and had to 

 be filled up some feet to bring it above 

 river high water mark. When he fixed 

 it up for a public playgr.ound it is the 

 general opinion that Mr. Phipps should 

 have deeded it over to the city in per- 

 petuity as such. 



Allegheny is already lavishly sup- 

 plied with park grounds running 

 through its whole length. The people 

 of Pittsburg and Allegheny have at all 

 times shown an advanced appreciation 

 of their parks and probably know what 

 thev are about in this instance. 



SAVING THE WHITE MOUNTAIN 

 FORESTS. 



A petition signed by 1500 summer 

 guests in the White Mountains and 

 asking that a special session of the 

 State legislature be called to consider 

 "the best methods of preventing the 

 impending devastation of the forests 

 on the Presidential range," has been 

 sent to Governor John McLane. of New 

 Hampshire. The petition says, in part: 



"It seems to your petitioners that 

 this noble range should be kept as a 

 State park and a monument to New 

 Hampshire's foresight and liberality. 

 Aside from the importance of the for- 

 ests to the water supply of this and 

 other New England states, and. aside 

 from the pleasure which their beauty 

 gives to those who visit them, they are 

 important to the State itself in many 

 ways, among which not the least is 

 the annual revenue they bring its citi- 

 zens by attracting summer visitors. 

 This revenue is put in jeopardy by the 

 destruction of the forests — and that 

 without any adequate compensation 

 from the mere sale of lumber." 



DON'T, 



Don't shade cyclamens any longer. 



Don't let poinsettias get dry at the 

 roots. 



Don't give ardesias in fruit a tem- 

 perature above 60 degrees. 



Don't accept Lilium candidum bulbs 

 raised in Southern France. 



Don't have tender stock shipped by 

 freight any later this season. 



Don't plan to force tulips for Christ- 

 mas. It's like throwing money away. 



Don't stay from the meetings of the 

 gardeners' or florists' clubs and 

 societies. 



Don't depress the rose market by 

 sending in a lot of miserable culls at 

 this stage of the game. 



Don't neglect to fire a little in the 

 rose houses every night, leaving a lit- 

 tle air on to keep the temperature 

 down. 



Don't spoil the chances of the violet 

 season by bunching and shipping the 

 first little scrubs that come out on the 

 plants. 



Don't get discouraged if you fail to 

 win first prize at the exhibition, nor 

 raise a ruction because somebody 

 else got it. 



Don't let litter or sand covering re- 

 main after tops have started out on 

 the lily bulbs. You'll have bare stems 

 at the base if you do. 



Don't be in a hurry to begin cutting 

 from young roses. Give them — espe- 

 cially the American Beauty — a chance 

 to get up some size and strength. 



Don't fail to make provision for the 

 growing popularity of winter boxes of 

 greenery, such as small conifers, acu- 

 bas and ivies, for halls and sheltered 

 verandas. 



Don't overlook the value, as a home 

 adornment or as a business advertise- 

 ment on the grounds in front of oflSce 

 or greenhouse, of a generous planting 

 of spring-flowering bulbs. 



Don't buy cheap seeds. The after 

 cost is just as much as if the best had 

 been purchased. The difference in 

 market value of the product will quick- 

 ly offset the increased first cost. 



Don't altogether discard a new and 

 well recommended carnation on the 

 results of its first year's cultivation. 

 Overpropagation has given a black 

 eye to many a hopeful variety — like- 

 wise to its introducer. 



Don't keep on growing old, long- 

 superseded varieties of bedding and 

 greenhouse plants. The newer and 

 better things occupy no more room, 

 cost no more for care and bring more 

 money. Don't stagnate. 



Don't overlook the rapidly growing 

 demand tor small ferns. A home with- 

 out a jardiniere will be a novelty be- 

 fore long. At the low wholesale rates 

 quoted by Horticulture's advertisers 

 there's money in small ferns for the 

 retail dealer. 



Don't carry over and encumber 

 your houses with a lot of stock that 

 cannot turn you in a profit on the cost 

 of its winter's keep. If advertising 

 doesn't sell it out. pack the remainder 

 off to the auction room, take your 

 cash and fill your space with some- 

 thing remunerative. 



SAN FRANCISCO NOTES. 



Thomas H. Wright, a prominent re- 

 tail florist of Los Angeles, has this 

 month opened a wholesale flower mar- 

 ket. 



William McElroy, formerly in charge 

 of the orchid houses at the John H. 

 Sievers Co. nursery, has taken a sales- 

 man's place with the California florist, 

 Julius Eppstein. The Sievers orchid 

 houses are well worth seeing. These 

 plants vie with the Hannah Hobarts 

 in the attention of the nursery super- 

 intendent, Niels Peterson. 



Mrs. J. R. Martin, general director 

 of the expected great show to be given 

 next month by the California State 

 Floral and the Pacific Coast Horticul- 

 tural Societies, is a "hustler" in an 

 advertising way. She estimates that 

 the revenues from her souvenir will 

 pay expenses and leave several hun- 

 dred dollars in the coffers of each so- 

 ciety. 



Mr. Jaccard, of the firm of P. A. Jac- 

 card & Co., 1106 Sutter street, has sold 

 out his interest to his partner, Mr. J. 

 Gouvailhardon, who was the practical 

 florist of the firm. Mr. Gouvailhardon 

 entered the business thirteen years 

 ago with Serveon Bros., and until Jac- 

 card & Co. was established last year 

 he conducted for six years their 16th 

 street store. 



That advertising is a good thing I 

 submit as evidence the following: For 

 a number of weeks the John H. Sievers 

 Company have been advertising in 

 Horticulture the Hannah Hobart car- 

 nation, that orders for rooted cuttings 

 would be filled in rotation, beginning 

 January 1 next. This week I was 

 kindly accorded the privilege of look- 

 ing over their Hannah Hobart order 

 book, and found that the orders for 

 cuttings to date aggregated upward of 

 sixty thousand! 



October is dealing first-rate with lo- 

 cal florists and plantsnien. This sec- 

 ond week of the month the United 

 Daughters of the Confederacy have 

 been in session here and the daily 

 decorating of the assembly room and 

 the dozens of bouquets showered upon 

 the charming "Dixie" lassies, have 

 given business an unexpected boom. 

 One afternoon of the week at the 

 Presideo grounds, with impressive 

 ceremonies and the repetition of 

 "Dixie" over and over again by the 

 band loaned by Uncle Sam, they plant- 

 ed a tree from each of the ex-confed- 

 erate states. 



PERSONAL. 



Miss Alice M. Waltham, daughter of 

 Geo. C. Waltham of Dorchester, and 

 Edwin Wreghit, formerly of Dorches- 

 ter, were married at Montreal, Cana- 

 da. Sunday. Oct. 15. 



Among recent visitors to Philadel- 

 phia were the following: W. P. Gude, 

 Washington: Peter Demas of the 

 Pittsburg Floral Exchange; Chas. A. 

 Whittet, superintendent of parks, 

 Lowell, Mass.; Edward Earnshaw of 

 the Bonora Co., New York City; David 

 Geddis. Pittsburg; F. Lautenschlager, 

 Kroeschell Bros., Chicago. 



OBITUARY. 



Elmer H., son of C. E. Mansfield of 

 Fitchburg, Mass., died on October 9. 



