HORTICULTURE 



December 30, 1905 



HORTICULTURE 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FLORIST, PLANTSMAN, LANDSCAPE 



GARDENER AND KINDRED 



INTERESTS 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 



II HAMILTON PLACE. BOSTON, MASS. 



VIM. J. STEWART. Editor and Manager. 



HoETiCDLTUKE extends best wishes for a 

 The Happy New Year and hopes that prosperity 

 key to may continue with all who have enjoyed it 

 success during the old year, that it may come in 

 full measure to those whom it has hitherto 

 neglected, and that, when the story of 1906 shall have 

 been written, it will tell of a year of unprecedented 

 development in the science and practice of horticulture 

 in each and every department. When horticulture 

 flourishes it stands as the effect and the cause of pros- 

 perous, comfortable, and happy existence for the people 

 of every class. It is a good sign of a community 

 when it has the time and the disposition to give to 

 flowers, fruit and garden and when it has come to 

 regard these things as among the necessities of a con- 

 tented and well ordered home. Upon the strengthening 

 of this sentiment depends the measure of advancement 

 and good fortune that may come to the florist, the seeds- 

 man or nurseryman. 



We do not believe that our es- 

 teemed New York contemporary 

 would willingly be accessory to 

 the incitement of any sentiments 

 derogatory to Boston's good 

 name and fame and fully appreciate its frankness in 

 acknowledging that its recent editorial purporting to 

 give the views of "the Boston people" was based upon 

 nothing more serious than the affirmations found in the 

 correspondence of a contemporary. The thing now 

 dwindles down to this: that "the Boston people" in 

 question comprised the correspondent of a western 

 paper and his vague "number of prominent Boston 

 horticulturists" together with our contemporary's own 

 correspondent and his "several prominent members." 

 We do not hesitate to say that the S. A. F. or any other 

 body visiting Boston with good intent will receive all 

 due courtesy and, further, that when such organiza- 

 tion has any proposition to make or plans to discuss, 

 the Boston organizations and the Boston people, includ- 

 ing "prominent horticulturists," on being apprised 

 thereof through the proper channels, will be found 



The 



attitude of 



the "Boston people" 



ready to respond and we think we are very safe in 

 promising that the response will be of a very different 

 character from that which our contemporary was led 

 to believe. 



Our reading columns this week impart 



H^lp some useful information relative to the 



one another g^gat holiday plant and flower trade. 



The summing up of it all is that the 

 business done was unprecedented as to volume. A 

 better gauge of the general prosperity which our people 

 are enjoying, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, it would 

 be hard to find. While congratulating ourselves on the 

 splendid support accorded to our industries by the pub- 

 lic it is in order to consider how this may be continued 

 and strengthened and how the service rendered may be 

 improved. A step in the right direction is the article 

 contributed for this issue' on the proper care of that 

 prime Christmas favorite — the poinsettia — in cut state. 

 No doubt the advice therein given wdll be welcomed by 

 many of our readers who have been embarrassed and 

 disconcerted by the apparent untrustworthiness of the 

 poinsettia at a critical time. These practical contri- 

 butions are at all times welcome and we hope our 

 readers will make free use of our columns to impart and 

 receive helpful suggestions on these lines. 



One of our correspondents, in 

 The describing Christmas conditions 



highest bidder writes that "if roses and carna- 



vei'sus tions could liave been sold to the 



the steady customer highest bidder they would have 

 brought unheard-of prices." 

 This touches upon a well-worn issue between wholesale 

 and retail dealers and growers. "Why not sell to the 

 highest bidder?" is the query, difficult to satisfactorily 

 answer, which the grower is liable to put to the com- 

 mission dealer entrusted with the sale of his product. 

 It should be kept in mind that the dependence of the 

 retail dealer upon the grower in times of famine is no 

 more marked than tlie dependence of the grower upon 

 the retailer during those extended periods of stagnation 

 when too much material is produced for the home 

 market and an outlet must be found for the surplus. 

 Is it too much to say on behalf of the buyer who makes 

 an effort to help unload the burden at such times that he 

 is entitled to some consideration when conditions are 

 reversed and the patron becomes the suppliant? The 

 transient buyer who shows up at holiday time with a 

 call for tlic cream of the stock and is never again heard 

 from until another holiday comes around should pay 

 prices accordingly and, furthermore, should not com- 

 plain if his orders are laid on the table until the cus- 

 tomer who stood in the breacli when a customer was 

 sorely needed is accommodated and at prices not 

 necessarily those of the highest bidder. This is not 

 philanthropy but a plain business procedure which may 

 safely be left to the experienced judgment of the whole- 

 saler, for ho is in the best position to decide as to what 

 course is most conducive to his own and his growers' 

 future welfare. 



