HORTICULTURi: 



November 25, 1905 



HORTICULTURi: 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL 

 DEVOTED TO THE 



FLORIST, PLANTSMAN, LANDSCAPE 



GARDENER AND KINDRED 



INTERESTS 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 



II HAMILTON PLACE, BOSTON. MASS. 



Telcphon«, Oxford 292. 



HfM. J. STEWART. Editor and Manager. 



Developments, even at this early date con- 



A great flfm our previously expressed opinion that 



■■°se as a commercial cut flower "Richmond rose 



will do to Liberty what Liberty did to 

 Meteor." From the standpoint of grower, shipper, 

 retailer and the public this is far and away the best 

 crimson rose ever introduced to the American trade. 

 Mr. Hill's claim that, taken the season through, Rich- 

 mond will produce ten to one of Liberty seems likely to 

 be verified in the coming 



We commend to the flower-show man- 

 Interesting the agers the plan adopted at the Chicago 

 retailers exhibition for enlisting the co-oper- 



ation of the store florists. It was 

 distinctly a success and appears to have been the most 

 effective method ever introduced to insure a fresh and 

 thoroughly attractive appearance in the exhibition hall 

 continuously up to the closing hour. In the light of the 

 large attendance of the people who are good flower 

 buyers no more tempting scheme for interesting and 

 stimulating rivalry among the local retail florists could 

 be evolved. 



It will be generally conceded that 



The flower- there was a period when floral designs, 



worker in the ag such, did not always present to the 



exhibition cultured eye that degree of artistic 



excellence and fitness needed to make 

 them desirable objects in the exhibition hall. But the 

 better material and more highly developed taste of the 

 florists of the present day make it possible for the 

 worker in flowers to place before an appreciative and 

 critical public studios in floral arrangement which none 

 may condemn and that can be relied upon to excite a 

 popular interest which will leave a substantial impress 

 on the gate receipts. We do not want to ever again see 

 the horse-shoe and gates-ajar type of floral architecture 

 set forth in our exhibitions but the adornment of the 

 dinner table, mirror, or mantel affords scope for the 

 acceptable demonstration of an art which is excelled by 

 none. Open the doors wide to those who practice it. 



With the ending of the exhibition 

 Plan now season comes the reckoning. Perfec- 

 for next year's fion we may not expect ever to attain 

 exhibition |jut advancement towards it is always 

 possible and much of the benefit we 

 might have acquired has been lost to us if our experi- 

 ences of this season have not indicated to us where and 

 how great improvement may be made for the next. It 

 is a gratifying fact that reports from most places where 

 a serious and well-matured effort has been made indicate 

 that popular favor has seconded professional interest in 

 a distinctly encouraging manner. Now, while the spirit 

 is active, is the time for beginning to build for next 

 year. Strengthen the weak spots in the prize list; 

 counsel together as to how arrangements may be bettered 

 and how finer displays and more of them may be assiired. 

 Last but not least everyone interested should be given 

 something to do, and the earlier the prospectus is pub- 

 lished tlie better can intending exhibitors plan and 

 prepare. 



One very common defect in our 

 The prize schedule, prize schedules is the cutting up 

 from a practical of the money into numerous 

 standpoint premiums for fragmentary ex- 



hibits in certain display classes 

 where small premiums count for but little as attractions. 

 The motive for this practice — the encouragement of the 

 small grower — is, of course, a laudable one and it would 

 be a great mistake and injustice to entirely ignore these 

 contributors but, in large public exhibitions where 

 financial burdens are assumed which must be met by 

 box-oflBce receipts, it is up to the managers to see that 

 every dollar is placed where it will do the most towards 

 a successful financial outcome. In the American 

 Beauty, carnation, and chrysanthemum show-bloom 

 classes it is the big vases of hundreds and fifties that 

 count and, where such are present, the sixes and twelves 

 cut no figure in the public eye. Some other quality 

 other than mere number — as for instance, arrangement 

 or novel adaptation — should be called for if these minor 

 classes are retained, so that as special features they may 

 earn their place and not stand as they otherwise do, 

 mere items in the expense account. 



Anything that Arthur Herrington has 

 The foliage Iq g^y on chrysanthemum topics is both 

 question interesting and instructive and his letter 



on page 552, although in the way of 

 a criticism of ourselves, is gladly welcomed. We are 

 still of the opinion, however, tliat the "old standard" 

 as to foliage, which in our judgment is Mrs. Jerome 

 Jones, has never been reached by any other variety 

 and in this we have in mind not only the arrangement 

 of the foliage but its quality of form, size, and texture. 

 Mr. Herrington has certainly listed the best of the 

 Australian varieties. Our criticism was not intended to 

 apply to every individual exhibit in every exhibition but 

 to call attention to the situation in a general way as 

 impressed upon us at Boston, New York and several 

 minor shows. That "a variety comes to the show with 

 big, coarse bare necks" is not always the fault of the 

 variety. Growers with the attainments of Mr. Herring- 

 ton and Mr. Duekham can be relied upon to bring out 

 all there is in a variety, whether it be in foliage, stem, 

 or finish in any particular. As to Mr. Herrington's 

 query as to why Mrs. Jerome Jones was not shown at 

 New York or Philadelphia we would suggest one reason 

 for its absence from these shows, which is that it blooms 

 too late. 



