40 



HORTICULTURE 



January 13, 1917 



be far more satisfactory, and we are sure that if tlic 

 grower liad botli roses and compared returns from the 

 marivet he would quickly see which rose to discard. A 

 trip through the wholesale market, and a few visits to 

 some of the leading retail stores will be of great help 

 to anyone wishing to get a line on any variety, if it is 

 to be grown for market. If it is to be grown for liome 

 use, then, of course, the variety that is best liked will 

 have to be grown. Kegarding Shawyer and Ophelia, 

 these varieties, like some others of the type, will always 

 do better in cooler weather. They may not grow so fast 

 or produce the quantity of buds, but the buds 

 will be much larger and finer in every way and 

 the same may be said of the foliage. The very 

 double varieties, such as Mock, Scott Key, etc., 

 etc., will do l)ettei- in warmer weather as thev \\ill 



not open sd well during the dark days of the winter. 

 Ophelia does not require more heat to make it grow 

 and the amount of heat given will have to depend on 

 what pur])ose the roses are to be used for. If for the 

 private tal)le where quality is always first, then it will 

 be necessary to keep them cool. If for the market 

 where only a good standard quality is necessary, then 

 they can be run warmer. Of cour.se, running the plants 

 cool will give you less flowers, aiul the plants will not 

 grow so fast as thev would if tiie plants were run 

 warmer. In growing the two \arieties in the same 

 liouse it will be best to plant the Shawyer to the front 

 and the Ophelia to the back benches. It would be bet- 

 ter, though, for the grower and for the roses, too, if they 

 were ))lanted se])arately, a houseful of each, it being 

 iiiiK'h eiisici' to liiimlle the plants in tliis way. 



THE BELGIAN SITUATION. 



The following extract from a circu- 

 lar letter from an importing liouse to 

 their American customers contains 

 much of general interest to the trade 

 as to the outlook in plant imports for 

 next season. 



"Though shipments from Belgium 

 were made every spring and fall since 

 the war began, the three circular let- 

 ters we sent you the past fall gave 

 you some idea of the difficulties, un- 

 certainties and expense we had to 

 contend with to get them. What the 

 conditions will be next spring and fall, 

 if the war continues, it is impossil)le 

 to foresee. 



"Up to now shipments were made 

 with the consent of both the British 

 and German authorities. We expect to 

 get these consents again for next sea- 

 son's shipments, and the canal boats 

 will likely also be permitted to con- 

 tinue to carry the shipments from 

 Ghent to Rotterdam. Any difficulties 

 that arise next season will likely come 

 after the shipments leave Ghent, and 

 of course no Belgian can learn any- 

 thing about conditions which prevail 

 in the world outside of Belgium. 



"Last fall most of the shipments 

 arrived in good condition ; some ship- 

 ments arrived late as a result of war 

 conditions and there was some loss on 

 them — mostly due to the congested 

 condition on our railroads, but what- 

 ever proiit was made (and the profit 

 was large in many instances) was 

 made by the purchasers. Our Belgian 

 firm can make no profit under present 

 conditions, nor can we — our extra ex- 

 penses in getting the shipments 

 through the lines and quickly forward- 

 ed from here puts the matter of profit 

 for us entirely out of the question. 



"In view of these facts we will book 

 orders next season for Belgian stock 

 from our regular customers only — 

 those who imported through us from 

 Belgium last season. We figure that 

 by cutting down business to about one- 

 third of normal, we can have ship- 

 ments made by fast passenger steam- 

 ers, and devote all our energy and 

 capacity to the service of those firms 

 who usually depend upon us for their 

 Belgian goods. 



"Prices are lower than before the 

 war began — except on some sizes of 

 Kentias, the stock will be equally as 

 good and packed as well as in normal 

 seasons, but so there will be no later 

 misunderstandings we will clearly de- 



fine the conditions of sale — as we can- 

 not issue a 1917 Belgian catalogue — 

 nothing printed, or anything written 

 in English can pass in or out of Bel- 

 gium. 



"All import orders are booked under 

 1916 catalogue conditions, the pur- 

 chaser accepting shipment at Ghent 

 nurseries and it travelling from there 

 at his risk and expense. As it may be 

 impossible to cancel an order once 

 placed, we require a deposit of 25 per 

 cent, with order to guarantee accept- 

 ance of shipment at destination. No 

 order will be reported to Belgium un- 

 til these conditions are accepted and 

 the deposit made. All shipments are 

 covered by both marine and war risk 

 insurance to New York, though it is 

 of course impossible to get any insur- 

 ance to cover risks of damage to 

 Ijerishables to destination. 



"This season we do not offer Belgian 

 grown Picus elastica — as we can offer 

 American grown to better advantage. 

 Nor do we offer Draeaenas — as we can 

 offer you Dracaena canes so you can 

 propagate your own plants. Nor are 

 we offering small Kentias or Cocos 

 Weddeliana — as we can offer you the 

 seeds so that you can grow your own. 



"We have outlined the situation 

 frankly to you; you know what risks 

 you take, what chances of large iiro- 

 fits are yours. We urge mailing orders 

 as soon as possible, as the mails take 

 much longer to get into Belgium than 

 the shipments to come out of there 

 under present conditions." 



McHi-Tciiisiix & Co. 



PERSONAL 



The park commission of Harttoi'd. 

 Conn., have selected Professor Henry 

 A. Perkins of Trinity College to fill 

 out the unexpired term of the late Ly- 

 man B. Brainerd. the member of the 

 board who died October 1. The term 

 ends May 1, 1919. 



W. C. Stone, assistant horticulturist 

 at the Experiment station. Burlington, 

 Vt., has gone to Geneva, N. Y., where 

 be will fill the same position .at the 

 New York state Experiment station. 

 Mr. Stone is the third man to go to 

 the New York station from that of 

 Vermont in recent years. He was 

 graduated from the university of Ver- 

 mont in 1912 and given the degree of 

 M. S. in 1914. John B. Norton. U. V. 

 M.. 1912. M. S. Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural college. 1914. succeeds Mr. 

 Stone. 



CONCERNING HOLLAND SHIP- 

 MENTS OF LILY OF THE 

 VALLEY. 



Horticulture, Boston. 



Gentlemen: — I am enclosing copy of 

 a letter received from the State De- 

 partment which explains itself. So 

 far as I was advised and from all in- 

 formation I have liad up until this 

 time, of these goods for which permits 

 were asked from the neutral countries 

 — lily of the valley pips, seeds, etc., 

 all were produced in the countries ask- 

 ing for the permits. From the en- 

 closed it would seem that I have been 

 misinformed. 



W. F. GUDE, 



Washington Representative 



of the S. A. F. 



December 22, 1916. 



Messrs. , 



New York City. 



Gentlemen: — With reference to pre- 

 vious correspondence in regard to your 

 desire to obtain 'a shipment of lily of 

 the valley pips from of Co- 

 penhagen, you are informed that the 

 Department has just received a cable- 

 gram from the American Minister at 

 Copenhagen stating that he is in- 

 formed that the crop of lily of the 

 \'alley pips in Denmark is this year 

 only one-fifth to one-tenth of the nor- 

 mal crop and that, therefore, to fill 

 existing orders, German pips will 

 have to be used. The Minister indi- 

 cates that this accounts for the atti- 

 tude of the British authorities and 



that are unwilling to make 



shipments unless positive assurances 

 of non-interference are given by the 

 British authorities. The Minister 



states that has 1,000,000 Danish 



grown and 5.000,000 German grown 

 pips. 



In view of this information the De- 

 partment is instructing the American 

 .Embassador at London by cablegram 

 to endeavor to obtain assurances of 

 non-interference with at least the 

 1,(100,000 pips which the Department 

 is informed are of Danish origin. 



.'\s soon as any information is re- 

 ceived from the Ambassador it will be 

 communicated to you. You will be in- 

 formed at a later date of the cost of 

 the Department's cal)legram and of 

 any reply thereto. 



I am. Gentlemen. 



Your obedient servant, 



For the Secretary of State: 



Ai.vEY A. Adee, 

 Second Assistant Secretary. 



