HORTICULTURE 



September 2, 1905 



DOINGS IN NEWPORT. 



Last week was a notable one for 

 nearly all the florists doing business 

 here. The Pembroke Jones ball not 

 only eclipsed every affair of this sea- 

 son in every particular, but it is ques- 

 tionable if even in the past it was 

 equalled in so far as the decorations 

 were concerned. Leikens had the 

 work in hand. The ball room, an im- 

 mense temporary structure erected for 

 the occasion, was made to resemble a 

 huge grape arbor with bay trees dot- 

 ted along the sides, and a large foun- 

 tain at one end with lotus in it. The 

 supper room was decorated in pink 

 and green exclusively. From the lofty 

 ceiling were strung myriads of pink 

 hydrangeas cut into small pieces and 

 connected with the ceiling with fine 

 wire the color of the flowers. The un- 

 equal lengths of the strings gave a 

 graceful effect that enhanced the inde- 

 scribable beauty of the whole. The 

 side walls were artistically festooned 

 with choice green, tied at the end of 

 every three feet with large bows of 

 pink" ribbon. The tables were deco- 

 rated with pink hollyhocks, asparagus 

 plumosas and Sprengeri. Ten thou- 

 sand hydrangeas and eight thousand 

 hollyhocks were used in this decora- 

 tion. The residence was done with a 

 profusion of Beauties and other 

 flowers. 



On the same evening Mrs. Herman 

 OelrichS and Mrs. Stuyvesant Fish 

 gave large dinner parties. In the 

 decoration of Mrs. Oelrichs' house up- 

 wards of ten thousand sprays of lily 

 of the valley were used. Wadley 

 Smythe did the work there, and Hodg- 

 son had Mrs. Fish's. This shows that 

 the plums were pretty evenly distrib- 

 uted last week, though, of course. Lei- 

 kens had the mammoth plum, but be- 

 fore gaining possession of it he had 

 the mammoth task to perform. 



NEWS NOTES. 



The Japan Daily Herald of August 5 

 devotes one full page to an interesting 

 illustrated article on the business of 

 the Yokohama Nursery Co., repre- 

 sented in this country by Suzuki & 

 lida of New York and their ever genial 

 manager, Charles Loechner. The ex- 

 port of lily bulbs by this house 

 amounted to about four million last 

 year. Of fern balls from one hundred 

 to one hundred and fifty thousand go 

 abroad each year. Of iris roots the 

 export is about one hundred thousand. 

 Sago palms, azaleas, paeonies and 

 dwarf trees and horticultural curios 

 are also large items. 



A very fine floral display was seen 

 at Hamilton County Fair at Oakley, 

 Cincinnati. 0., on Wednesday, Aug. 

 16. Several of our local florists com- 

 peted for prizes. Edith F. Kyrk was 

 awarded first prize on roses, carna- 

 tions and gladioli, and second on ulies 

 and asters. Henry Schwartz was first 

 on lodge emblem and floral design, 

 and second on original design and 

 general display of plants. George 

 Allen won first prize on original de- 

 sign, plant display, lilies, asters, lily 

 of the valley, and second on lodge 

 emblem, floral design, roses and gladi- 

 oli. George Magrie was second on 

 carnations and lily of the valley, and 

 third on lodge emblem. 



WASHINGTON NOTES. 



AVith the convention over, our at- 

 tention is again turned to matters of 

 business. The trade last week was 

 probably the worst of the season, but 

 from now on we anticipate a gradual 

 improvement. Stock is quite plentiful 

 and of fairly good quality. 



George Field, better known for his 

 orchids, is cutting some fine Kaiserin 

 and Tom Field. The latter is a seed- 

 ling of the La France variety, but is 

 much stronger and of a deeper shade 

 of pink. It has proved an exceptionally 

 good rose for summer use, and in this 

 respect fills a long felt want. I am 

 surprised that it has not been taken 

 up more universally by commercial 

 florists. It is the only pink rose lo- 

 cally that has been good enough to 

 retail at $2 per dozen this summer. 



The Florists' Club met Saturday 

 night, August 26, and after paying all 

 bills found still a goodly nest egg left 

 in the treasury, whereupon an ad- 

 journed to J. R. Freeman's store to 

 finish up a few things not taken up 

 before and a light lunch which he had 

 prepared. Mr. Charles L. Seybold. of 

 the Baltimore Gardeners' Club, was 

 present by invitation to receive the 

 beautiful diamond medal for the high- 

 est score in the individual bowling 

 contest. The presentation was made 

 by Mr. E. C. Snyder on behalf of the 

 Washington Florists' Club and the 

 donors, the Brunswick-Balke-Collen- 

 der Co.. in an exceptionally witty 

 speech in which he good naturedly re- 

 ferred to Mr. Seybold as the champion 

 knocker of the S. A. F. The company 

 disbanded in an orderly manner after 

 numerous toasts and general good fel- 

 lowship and the rendering of several 

 stanzas of the familiar ballad, "Good 

 Night, Beloved, Good Night." 



A FERTILIZER QUESTION. 



Editor Horticulture: — Please tell 

 me in your next issue if possible how 

 strong and how often per gallon can 

 these two fertilizers be used, nitrate, 

 of soda and muriate of potash, for 

 greenhouse plants such as carnations 

 and chrysanthemums.— Subscriber. 



Nitrate of soda can be used safely, 

 one ounce to a gallon of water; muri- 

 ate of potash, one ounce to three gal- 

 lons of water, every ten or twelve days 

 according to growth of plants. On 

 roses, early in the season would ad- 

 vise giving it somewhat weaker; later 

 in the spring can stand full amount 

 or more. 



A sprinkling of nitrate of soda at 

 the rate of one pint "crushed fine" to 

 100 square feet of bench, answers 

 very well. When carnations need 

 feeding, it can be used to good ad- 

 vantage in the same proportion. It is 

 a good food for the plants but les- 

 sens the keeping qualities of the flow- 

 ers, but it can be used between crops. 

 B. S. MYERS. 



OUR FRONTISPIECE. 



Our frontispiece this week tells its 

 own story. All we can add is that 

 the variety of sweet peas shown is 

 Earliest of All and that they are 

 growing in the garden of J. V. Kellen, 

 at Cohasset, Mass. Who can beat 

 them? 



SET A GOOD EXAMPLE. 



Mr Vaughan in his address at the 

 Convention has given us a good sub- 

 ject for consideration, one worthy of 

 the attention of every florist. Hia 

 quotations from so many prominent 

 men lead us to consider it more seri- 

 ously. The letter from Mr. J. H. Mc- 

 Farland is not in any respect over- 

 drawn; I am sorry to say in many 

 cases it is far too real. Any one with 

 an observing eye must have noticed 

 the conditions surrounding many 

 florists' places where great changes 

 could be made at a very small cost, 

 which would lift the owner, his em- 

 ployes and those about him to a 

 higher plane, and give an artistic ef- 

 fect to the general surroundings. We 

 have in this town and in many ad- 

 joining. Village Improvement Socie- 

 ties composed of people banded to- 

 gether with the object of making their 

 home and town beautiful. Their la- 

 bor and advice is freely given, and 

 since they formed the society here, 

 something over one year ago. there has 

 been a wonderful change; rubbish 

 heaps and barren places are giving 

 way to lawns dotted with flower beds 

 and shrubbery; fences in front of 

 dwellings are being obliterated. A new 

 and happier era is pervading the town 

 and everywhere one goes flower beds- 

 meet the eye, which tells plainly that 

 the owner has got a taste and concep- 

 tion of things beautiful. Home life is 

 thus made happier and a love of na- 

 ture is born in the children which will 

 strengthen as they grow older. Why 

 is it. then, Mr. Editor, that the florists 

 are so lax in the care of the outside of 

 their places? It is not because they 

 have not time; every one of us has 

 time to do something that will be a 

 credit to ourselves and have a soften- 

 ing and educating effect on the public 

 at large. The big fellows are just as- 

 lax in the efforts as the little ones, 

 whether they be carnation, rose, vio- 

 let, or any other grower. A house- 

 keeper is usually known by the way 

 her kitchen is kept, and the outside of 

 many floral establishments very often 

 indicate how the inside may be found. 

 The wide-awake merchant advertises 

 what he has and then shows it off to 

 the best advantage, having clean sur- 

 roundings, and doing everything possi- 

 ble that will elevate and strengthen 

 his trade. It will not be out of place to 

 give this little story. An old Scottish 

 gentleman was dying. Having called 

 his son to his bedside he whispered to 

 him thus: "John, I am going to the 

 home of my fathers, and before I draw 

 my last breath I want you to listen to 

 what I say. When you hae nathing to 

 dae, plant a tree. It'll be growin' 

 while y're sleepin'." A great many 

 of us might take a lesson from the old 

 man's simple words, and while we can- 

 not all plant trees, as our holdings are 

 not often so extensive as to permit, 

 still we all have room enough to plant 

 shrubs or flowers and try to do our 

 share towards making the world so 

 beautiful. ROB'T T. McGORUM. 



Bridgeport. Conn., is suffering from 

 an invasion of tussock moths which, 

 unless destroyed by wholesale in the- 

 meantime, will work great havoc 

 among the trees next spring. 



