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HORTICULTURE 



April 29, 1911 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 



The meeting of this club at Horti- 

 cultural Hall on Tuesday evening. 

 April 25, was well attended. Various 

 reports in connection with the recent 

 National Flower Show were in order. 

 Thomas Pegler, chairman of the enter- 

 tainment committee, told of the work 

 they had done and was followed by 

 Peter Fisher, treasurer, who reported 

 all bills paid and a balance unex- 

 pended of $481.18. It was voted to add 

 to this the amount of a former similar 

 overlay, making $600, and deposit 

 same as a separate entertainment fund 

 for possible future needs. 



A letter from the secretary of the 

 New York Florists' Club extending 

 thanks for courtesies received by its 

 members visiting the Flower Show 

 was read. Secretary Craig announced 

 that Olmsted Bros, were in a position 

 to place four or five competent young 

 gardeners at San Diego, Cal. A knowl- 

 edge of tropical plants would be a 

 prerequisite. Eleven new members 

 ■were added to the roll. 



The exhibits of the evening were a 

 calla with double spathe from David 

 Weir; gladioli, Mrs. James Lancashire 

 and Dawn, from Peter Fisher; Choisya 

 temata, from Mrs. A. Hemenway; 

 Prunus Davidiana, from an unnamed 

 exhibitor; violets of fine quality, from 

 H. F. Woods, and a vase of Lilium can- 

 didum, from W. N. Craig. The latter 

 were superb, many of the spikes carry- 

 ing ten and eleven flowers and buds. 

 They were of the sturdy Northern 

 France type and the flowers broad pet- 

 alled and heavy. 



The special feature of the evening 

 was a brief paper on the Gladiolus, by 

 B. Hammond Tracy. Mr. Tracy urged 

 that this flower should be more large- 

 ly forced for the cut flower trade, for 

 which it is particularly valuable be- 

 cause of its wide range of clear colors 

 and its capacity for long keeping. He 

 alluded to its origin, the habitat of the 

 ■various original species, the character 

 of the hybrid forms, classification, etc., 

 and threw some light on the sources 

 and manner of the introduction of the 

 popular modern varieties. He recom- 

 mended deep plowing of the ground 

 and the planting of the corms five 

 or six inches deep, or even more in 

 sandy soil. Owing to the tact that 

 the large sized bulbs mature earliest, 

 he recommended the planting of 

 conns of various sizes to ensure suc- 

 cession of bloom. For fertilizer he ad- 

 ■vised the application of bone meal 

 and agricultural lime to the soil, with 

 stable manure — the latter only in the 

 fall, unless well rotted. He cuts his 

 spikes as soon as four or five flowers 

 have opened, this being better for the 

 corms and the flowers open perfectly 

 in water. As to hardiness the "bulb- 

 lets" are hardy but not the mature 

 corms. As to diseases, the most trou- 

 hlesome are dry rot and soft rot. The 

 old corms should not be forcibly re- 

 moved from the base of the new ones, 

 but allowed to dry up until they easily 

 drop off and the peeling of bulbs Is 

 also a fruitful source of rot, which is 

 induced by abrasions or bruises. 



In reply to a question he named 



America, Mrs. T. King, Brenchleyen- 

 sis. Dawn. Canary Bird or any other 

 good yellow and Augusta as his selec- 

 tion of the best six varieties. A dis- 

 cussion on the possibility of forcing 

 some scarlet variety for Christmas 

 brought out little of value, but it ap- 

 peared to be the consensus of opinion 

 that some plan for early maturing by 

 growing in pots or otherwise the pre- 

 vious year would be a prerequisite to 

 successful forcing in early winter. 



Mr. E. H. Wilson being called upon, 

 made a few brief remarks, voicing the 

 pleasure he felt at being again 

 amongst old friends after a year's 

 wandering. He said that the traveler 

 finds all sorts and conditions of peo- 

 ple, but in his case he felt he had 

 been extremely fortunate in coming in 

 contact with good people and in Bos- 

 ton, especially, he had found the great- 

 est crowd of large-hearted people he 

 had met anywhere in the world. 



BAR HARBOR HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



At the meeting of this society, 

 April 6th, Wm. T. Burton, gardener 

 for Mrs. John S. Kennedy, read a very 

 instructive paper on Civic Improve- 

 ment on the "Resident Home" gar- 

 dens, and a very general discussion 

 followed. Some weeks ago this so- 

 ciety appointed a committee of five 

 to offer prizes the coming summer 

 for the best kept resident home gar- 

 dens and lawns. On Thursday even- 

 ing, April 13th, Prof. E. F. Hitching, hor- 

 ticulturist at the University of Maine, 

 gave a very interesting lecture on 

 "The Apple and Apple Growing in 

 Maine," at the Horticultural Rooms, 

 under the auspices of this society. 

 There was a large attendance of the 

 public, who asked a great many ques- 

 tions, which goes to show the interest 

 there is arising in the State of Maine 

 for apple growing. The lecturer 

 stated that he had had communica- 

 tions from nearly every state in the 

 Union in reference to Maine's future 

 and the orchard outlook there. 



The Spring of 1911 will go on record 

 as being one of the coldest, if not the 

 coldest for a great many years. Lots 

 of frost in the ground and not a 

 vegetable or flower seed put in yet. 



NEW ORLEANS HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The regular meeting of the New Or- 

 leans Horticultural Society was held 

 Thursday, April 20, and was well at- 

 tended. John T. Reeks and Prank 

 Quinette was admitted to membership. 

 -A^ paper on "Store Management" was 

 read by P. A. Chopin. 



The Metairie Ridge Nursery Co. ex- 

 hibited a splendid lot of Golden Glow 

 chrysanthemums, the flowers of which 

 were perfect in every respect. 



At the next regular meeting of the 

 society a paper on "Landscape Gar- 

 dening" will be read by Max Schei- 

 nuck. 



Wm. B. Cleaves, well known as the 

 representative of Arthur T. Bodding- 

 ton, has taken up his permanent resi- 

 dence in New Orleans as an agricul- 

 tural engineer. 



YONKERS HORTICULTURAL SO- 

 CIETY. 



At a meeting on Friday, 21st inst., 

 H. Scott assumed his presidential 

 duties and received a hearty welcome. 

 Three new members were elected. 

 Discussion centered principally upon 

 the culture of vegetables, both early 

 and late. The society's regular social 

 session will be obsei'ved on Friday, 

 May 5th, and Messrs. Milliott, Coch- 

 rane and Blanche were appointed to 

 make arrangements for same. 



H. M. B. 



CLUB AND SOCIETY NOTES. 



The North Shore Horticultural So- 

 ciety met April 21, at Manchester, 

 Mass. Speaker, Joseph Tillson; sub- 

 ject, "Grape Culture Under Glass." 

 Mr. Tillson's paper was much appre- 

 ciated and a full discussion followed. 

 A committee was appointed to report 

 back on plans tor a picnic next sum- 

 mer to take the place of the annual 

 banquet. 



The fifth annual meeting of the 

 Playground Association of America 

 will be held at the New Willard Hotel, 

 Washington, D. C, on May 10 to 13, 

 1911. Practical questions confronting 

 those interested in playgrounds and 

 public recreation will be discussed by 

 experts. For program and additional 

 Information write to Secretary Play- 

 ground Association of America, 1 Mad- 

 ison Ave., New York City. 



The Albany, N. Y., Florists' Club 

 met on April 6. It was decided to 

 co-operate with the Albany Mother's 

 Club in the observance of Mother's 

 Day, Sunday, May 14, to donate white 

 carnations to the Club and to dis- 

 courage the practice of raising the 

 price of carnations for that occasion. 

 Louis Schaefer, who succeeds Patrick 

 Hyde as chairman of the entertain- 

 ment committee, announced a 

 "smoker" for the May meeting. 



SPRING LECTURE COURSE AT 

 N. Y. BOTANICAL GARDEN. 



Lectures will be delivered in the 

 lecture hall of the Museum Building 

 of the Garden, Bronx Park, on Satur- 

 day afternoons, at 4 o'clock, as fol- 

 lows: 



April 29— "The Preservation of Our Na- 

 tive I'lants," bv Dr. N. L. Brittou. 



May «— "Wh.-it Is Botauy?" by Dr. C. 

 Stuart Gager. 



.May 13 — "Transforming an Old Swamp," 

 bv George V. Nash. 



May 20— "The Keet-Buikling and Land- 

 Forming Seaweeds," by Dr. Marshall A. 

 Howe. 



May 27— "The Influence of Soil Aeldity 

 on Plant Distribution," by Frederick V. 

 Coville. 



June 3 — "How Plants Are Distributed," 

 by Prof. Carlton C. Curtis. 



,Iune 10 — "The Roval Gardens at Kew, 

 England." by Dr. William A. Mnrrill. 



.Tune 17 — "Colleeting in the High Moun- 

 tains of Colorado." by Freii. .1. s'eaver. 



.Tuno 24 — "Past Climatic Conditions In- 

 dicated liy Fossil I'lants." bv I'r. Arthur 

 Ilollicl;. 



The lectures will be illustrated by 

 lantern slides and otherwise. They 

 will close in time for auditors to take 

 the 5.35 train from the Botanical Gar- 

 den station, arriving at Grand Central 

 Station at 6.03 P. M. 



