HORTICULTURE 



November 4, 1905 



NEWS OF THE CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



THE AGRICULTURAL FEDERA- 

 TION OF RHODE ISLAND. 



At the meeting in Kingston on Oct. 

 24, the aliove title was chosen by vote 

 for the new organization of horticul- 

 turists and agriculturists in the State 

 of Khocle Island. Hon. George N. Bliss, 

 the first delegate to the Federation 

 representing the Rhode Island Horti- 

 cultural Society, was elected permanent 

 chairman, and H. J. Wheeler, secretary. 

 The following letters were presented 

 by Judge Bliss and. Professor Wheeler, 

 respectively: 



Provideaie, K. I., Oct. lU, 1U05. 

 Hon. George N. Bliss. 



Dear Sir:— I am instructed to forw.ird to 

 you a copy of a vote adopted at ttie meet- 

 ing of the Hortieultural Society lield Octo- 

 ber ISth inst., as follows: 



Voted. "That Hon. George N. Bliss as 

 delegate of this Society to the Agricultural 

 Federation of Rhode Island be iustructed 

 to bring the Gypsy Moth matter before tlie 

 Federation and use his efforts to have that 

 bodv draft and secure the passage of an 

 pct'or acts looking to the control of the 

 Gvpsv Moth and other insect pests in 

 Rhode Island." 



Yours truly, 



C. W. SMITH, 



.Secretary. 



Boston, Mass., Oct. 18, 1905. 

 Dear Professor Wheeler, 



Referring to our recent conversation, 

 would sav that I should consider it a tre- 

 mendous calamity for your State to allow 

 the gvpsy moth to increase within its bor- 

 ders. " If asy one could see the conditions 

 here in many of the towns near Boston on 

 the north in June and July, he would ap- 

 preciate the importance of dealing promptly 

 with this plague and not allow it to in- 

 crease. As you very well Isnow, throughout 

 the infested district large numbers of fruit, 

 shade and forest trees have been liilled by 

 the moth, but this is only part of the story. 

 The caterpillar swaims invade houses, get 

 into pantries, closets and even beds, while 

 the walks and sidewalks are often made 

 slippery by their crushed bodies. In Maiden 

 and Medlord there has been a notable de- 

 preciation of real estate values in the cater- 

 pillar district and many houses have been 

 rendered uiisalalile except at a great loss. 

 Xo one will rent a place knowingly where 

 the catcrpillar.s are allowed to swarm. 



We have spent in this State over a mil- 

 lion anil a quarter of dollars in fighting the 

 mnth plague up to 1900 and have now taken 

 up the work again with an appropriation 

 of .f:iOO,000. This has been done freely by 

 our people as a last resort, after they found 

 themselves unable to cope with it. 



It stems to me, from some eleven years 

 acfiuaintance with the moth pest, that it 

 vould be most unbusinesslike for yonr 

 Stale to allow the insect to increase. I do 

 not kniiw now the exact iufestcd area in 



State for h-l|^ I 'I'l - ■'' '' -.:viag also 

 that, to the best of my jnilum.-iil , .$1 spent 

 now in suppressing the moth will he more 

 effective than $10 spent in five years from 



As the moth now oeeur.s in New Hamp- 

 shire, we have three Xc « Kiui.m.l >t:iii,- 

 infested by _it " ... 

 piesent 



Id lie a |..'.i|M I I I.. m;i-- 



the matter to the aliMjii".! .ii ... ^• " l.":-- 

 lang Congressmen, su tUal. .^.i-uM any 'I 

 fort be made to obtain assist anc-e, theiv 

 might be concerted action all along the 



Yours very truly. 



A. H. KIRKLAND, 



SeiKrintendent. 

 After a general discussion, the fol- 

 lowing motion was passed: "That the 

 Federation favors taking steps to con- 

 trol the gypsy moth and other insect 

 pests in Rhode Island by means of an 

 appropriation by the State." It was 

 also voted to ask the aid of the Na- 



tional Grange in securing national aid 

 in the control of the.se pests; to invite 

 the superintendent for suppressing the 

 gypsy and brown-tail moths in Massa- 

 chusetts, and the Boards of Agriculture 

 in the other New England States, to co- 

 operate in securing a conference of the 

 New England congressmen to consider 

 the desirability of securing national 

 aid; to enlist the services of the Vil- 

 lage Improvement Societies of the 

 State. The chairman and secretary 

 were instructed to prepare an Act pro- 

 viding for the control of the gypsy 

 moth and all other insect pests, and 

 for the appointment by the Governor 

 of a superintendent to take charge of 

 the work. 



It was also voted that the Federa- 

 tion request the congressmen to use 

 their eftorts to have basic slag meal, 

 now falsely classified as an iron ore, 

 and therefore subject to duty, placed 

 upon the free list when the tariff is 

 revised. 



In the discussion, of the Adams Bill, 

 it was noted that, notwithstanding the 

 very large increase in the appropria- 

 tions made to the Department of Agri- 

 culture, no increase has been made in 

 the appropriations for the experiment 

 stations since the passage of the ori- 

 ginal bill in 1887; also that the amount 

 expended under one of the bureaus of 

 the Department a year ago was greater 

 than the entire appropriation for all 

 the experiment stations in the United 

 States. Individual work and independ- 

 ent investigation in different sections, 

 even on the same problem, were com- 

 mended. It was finally voted that the 

 Rhode Island congressmen should be 

 asked to use their utmost efforts to 

 secure the passage of the Adams Bill. 

 It was also voted that the delegates to 

 the Federation and the Master of the 

 State Grange should endeavor to have 

 similar resolutions passed by their 

 respective organizations. 



The annual chrysanthemum exhibi- 

 tion of this society was held October 

 25 and 26 in the Town Hall, Lenox, 

 Mass. The competition was especial- 

 ly keen in carnations and vegetables. 

 The chief feature was the miscellane- 

 ous class in which the group dis- 

 played by Fred Heeremans, superin- 

 tendent of Elm Court estate, took 

 first prize, and that by E. Jenkins, 

 gardener to Giraud Foster, won sec- 

 ond. In 12 foliage plants the prizes 

 went to F. Heeremans, 1st; B. Jen- 

 kins, 2d; A. J. Loveless, 3d. In chrys- 

 anthemums Edwin Jenkins displayed 

 a maguiflcent vase of 36 blooms Wil- 

 liam Duckham, which was an easy 

 winner. H. P. Wookey, gardener to 

 S. W. Woodward, exhibited a fine lot 

 of Oncidium varicosum. Diplomas 

 were awarded to A. H. Wingett for 

 new cosmos Lady Lenox; A. J. Gutt- 

 man, New York, for carnation Victory; 

 D. Dunn for group of plants; E. J. 

 Norman tor display of vegetables. 

 The judges were Peter Duff, Orange, 

 N. J.; I. L. Powell, Millbrook, N. Y.; 

 James Wheeler, Brookline, Mass.; 

 Walter Shaw, Huntington, L. I. 



GEORGE FOULSHAM, Secy. 



MORRIS COUNTY GARDENERS' 

 AND FLORISTS' SOCIETY. 



The Flower Show is a thing of the 

 past, but it will live in the memory for 

 a long time as the most successful and 

 pleasant affair we have ever had. The 

 stage of the hall was decorated by A. 

 Herrington, with kentias graduated 

 from fifteen feet down, pot plants of 

 pink and white cosmos twelve feet tall, 

 bush chrysanthemums trained natural- 

 ly, and scores of foliage plants bor- 

 dered by Farleyense fern. W. Duck- 

 ham put up the central group, which 

 covered a space of one hundred square 

 feet. A magnificent Caryota urens. 

 fifteen feet tall, was in the centre, sur- 

 rounded by crotons and other highly 

 colored foliage plants, Clerodendron 

 fallax and other flowering plants. 

 These groups were not in competition; 

 simply a work of love. 



Madison is the acknowledged centre 

 of roses, and it begins to look as if the 

 chrysanthemum is getting close to 

 them. In the large class of thirty-six 

 flowers, W. Duckham won by small 

 margin o\er A. Herrington, and, by the 

 way, let me tell you that there is a 

 grand surprise in store for the grow- 

 ers. It is a seedling pink grown by 

 Duckham from plants furnished him 

 by Dailledouze Bros. In color, form 

 and substance, it is grand, and it is 

 not nearly finished yet. It was grown 

 under a number. On the first day of 

 the Show, it was named Paul V. Daille- 

 douze. You will hear of it next season. 

 Totty's Beatrice May, a white, is 

 superb. If these two do not make a 

 record next season I will be much dis- 

 appointed. 



The staging of single flowers with 

 short stems, in single vases, is quite a 

 relief, and adds to the attraction of a 

 show, as they can be examined so much 

 more closely. 



In the competing groups of chrysan- 

 themums and foliage plants, James 

 Eraser won first: J. Heeremans, sec- 

 ond: and R. Vince, third. Three fine 

 specimen chrysanthemum plants in 

 groups were put in by A. Herrington. 

 .\ single specimen was shown by Peter 

 Duff; all winners. A standard chrys- 

 anthemum six feet tall, variety, Mrs. 

 Coombs, was shown by A. Herrington. 

 The old-timers, Mrs. H. Robinson and 

 Merza, were in the front ranks as 

 winners. 



The Farquhar silver cup oifered for 

 two vases carnations, 25 blooms each, 

 two varieties, one to be white, was 

 won by W. Duckham, with Fiancee and 

 white Lawson, with R. Vince a close 

 second, with the same varieties. Pink 

 Lawson was in strong evidence in 

 other classes, but she was certainly 

 eclipsed by Fiancee at our show. 

 Guttman's Victory showed up in fine 

 form, as did Ward's Robert Craig. 

 Violets were not so plentiful; James 

 Fraser, Peter Duff and A. Laub & Sons 

 carried oft honors. 



In the vegetable classes, the Hender- 

 son special prize brought out five con- 

 testants; W. Duckham won. with J. 

 Heeremans a close second, and James 

 Fraser, third. Weeber and Don's 

 special prize was won by John Fraser; 

 H. S. Hand, second. Thorburn's prize 

 for Noroton Beauty potato was cap- 

 tured by W. Duckham. Fine displays 



