J 02 



HOBTICULTUKE 



July 25, 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



VOL. XX JUL Y 25, 1914 NO. 4 



rrui.isiiEr) weekly hy 



HORTICUTUR-E PUBLISHING CO. 



11 Hamilton Place, Boston, Mass. 



Telephone. Oxford 292. 

 WM . .1. STFWABT. Editor and Manager. 



Entered as second-class matter December 8, 1901, at the Post Office 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



CONTENTS Page 



COVER ILLUSTRATION— Roses at Roger Williams 

 Park, Providence, R. I 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— Care 

 of Carnations — Lilies — Freesia Bulbs — Pansies — Poin- 

 settias — Sowin? Coreopsis — John J. M. Farrell 101 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS— Weeds— Lawns 

 Around Greenhouses — Signs — Syringing — The Pots — 

 Arthur C. Ruzirka 103 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS— Program of the 

 Thirtieth Annual Meeting and Exhibition 104-105 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE— W. H. Adsrtt 107 



THE GARDNERS' PROGRESS— il/. C. Ebel 110 



CRATAEGUS PYRACANTHA— Httfteji M. Canning... Ill 



OBITUARY — Isaac Boyd — William Meier— Andrew 

 Harth— Mrs. Prank Beu 112 



THE GINGER JAR— Georgr C. Watson 114 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Business Pointers — Steamer Departures 116 



Flowers by Telegraph — New Flower Stores 117 



Store Lighting 118 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo. Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, 

 Philadelphia. St. Louis, Washington 121-123 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Nassau County (N. Y.) 

 Horticultural Society — American Gladiolus Society.. 123 



DURING RECESS— Lancaster County Florists' Club 123 



MISCELLANEOUS— An Old Well Head— Illustrated .. . 105 



Bora.x as a Larvacide 106 



Agricultural Department Work 106 



House and Field of New Carnation Alice — Illustration 106 



Newport Show 107 



Hartford Park Gardens — Illustrated 107 



Evolution of a Florist Establishment — Illustrated... 108 

 Massachusetts Agricultural College — News Notes.... 108 



Robert Craig and P. Welch— Illustrated 108 



Catalogue Received 108 



Philadelphia Notes 108 



Ability, the Just Test in Gardening — David S. Miller. 110 



A Lily Feast 110 



A Big Peony Deal Ill 



Leaf Spot on Nasturtiums 112 



Roses in Roger Williams Park 113 



New Incorporations 114 



Business Troubles 116 



Gladiolus Rochester White — Visitors' Register 118 



Washington Notes, W. A. Taylor, Portrait 118 



Visitors' Register 118 



Personal 123 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 130 



Old Bones as Fertilizer 130 



We understand that already two candi- 



The dates are to be entered in the race for 



presidency the office of president of the Society of 



American Florists by their friends. There 

 may be others also, but the two gentlemen prominently 

 mentioned now are both well worthy of the honor, hav- 

 ing been earnest, self-sacrificing workers in the Society 

 and in all movements for the advancement of floricul- 

 ture. So, it is gratifying to know that whoever may 

 win out, the Society will in either event have a good and 

 efficient chief officer. Wliile rivalries which invite per- 

 sonalities and caustic discussion are always to be de- 

 plored, yet from the standpoint of the Society's mem- 

 bership roll and for other obvious reasons a contest for 

 offices carried on without aspersion or heated conten- 

 tion is healthy and far preferable to "cut-and-dried" or 

 prearranged nnanimous elections. The Boston Conven- 

 tion will l)e a lively affair, and, we sincerely hope, a 

 good-natured one. 



Mr. Ebel, in his remarks in this week's 

 About iss'ie on the gardener's progress, mildly 



anonymous chides the assistant gardeners for con- 

 writers caling their identity behind a nom de 

 plume in their communications to HoR- 

 TicuLTUKE. It is generally known, we think, that Hor- 

 ticulture does not believe in anonymous signatures and 

 is quite in accord with the views of the late Peter Hen- 

 derson who said that if a man wrote anything worth 

 printing he should not be ashamed to sign his own name 

 to it. But, there are obvious reasons which may at 

 tunes .justify one employed as an assistant in any pro- 

 fession in withholding his identity when discussing mat- 

 ters which might be construed as affecting his relations 

 with his superior in position, and so long as the views 

 expressed are respectful and devoid of personal detrac- 

 tion we have thought best to make allowances in this 

 particular instance, considering the circumstances. 



The Southern Merchant, one of the 



Education brightest of our exchange publications, 

 lacking says, "The more you know about how and 

 where goods are made the better you can 

 sell them and, what is sometimes just as important, the 

 better you can buy them." The writer probably did not 

 have the flower business in mind when he wrote, but his 

 remark is quite applicable to that industry. We often 

 think how little concern there is, nowadays, among the 

 people who buy flowers for retailing, as to how the goods 

 are produced and where. There was a time when most 

 city florists were more or less experienced plantsmen 

 and flower growers but anyone visiting the city flower 

 markets now, during the busy hours, would have some 

 difficulty in finding one experienced grower among the 

 throngs of buyers and, in fact, would not be much more 

 successful in a similar quest among the salesmen. The 

 material is handled simply as so much merchandise • 

 without regard to its origin or its position in the world 

 of flowers. Perhaps it is unavoidable that the florist 

 trade should take this course but we cannot resist the 

 conviction that it would be a decided advantage to any 

 salesman in a flower store if he knew more than is com- 

 monly the case "about how and where the goods are 

 made." 



The retail florist, from the very nature of 

 Simply jijs; |)usiness, is brought into a very close 



"traders" personal relationship with his customers, 

 much more so than is the case with most 

 ,^ tradesmen. It is greatly to his interest to promote and 

 develop this friendly affinity — in fact, in suburban com- 

 munities especially it is one of the strongest factors in 

 working up a dejiendable and profitable business sup- 

 port. Here is 'where a well-grounded knowledge of 

 plant lore and the ability to properly answer the myriad 

 questions that are sure to be asked and give advice on 

 cultural points based on practical experience coimts for 

 much. The public generally expect the florist to know 

 about these things and a confession of ignorance or a 

 misleading or evasive answer on his part will do him 

 incalculable harm in the estimation of a cultured cus- 

 tomer. As we have taken occasion to say many times 

 heretofore, one of the most effective appeals a florist 

 can make to the community in which his lot is cast is 

 to encourage and support enthusia-stically every move- 

 ment for local improvement, proclaiming by advice and 

 example the gosju'l of beauty as exemplified in homes 

 adorned inside and out with plants and flowers and a 

 town similarly beautified in its .streets and public places. 

 Florists of the (lass who are simply traders and who 

 aspire to no accomplishment save that of profitable btiy- 

 ing and selling may perhaps attain that ambition but 

 they are not 1 likely to ever get any further. 



