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HOETICULTUKE 



March 17, 1917 



GARDENERS' AND FLORISTS' CLUB 

 OF BOSTON. 



The meeting of this club on Tuesday 

 evening, March 13, was made mtmo- 

 rable for all who were present by a 

 scholarly address on "Looking Back- 

 ward and Looking Forward," by Leon- 

 ard Barron, editor of the Garden Mag- 

 azine, Garden City, N. Y. Mr. Barron 

 was at his best and his lecture as well 

 as his remarks in the discussion which 

 ■ followed, furnished a rare treat for his 

 audience. 



Looking backward, Mr. Barren re- 

 ferred to Boston as having dominated 

 the development of gardening in Amer- 

 ica as we know it today, and said it 

 was fair to assume that development 

 will still continue along parallel lines. 

 Speaking of the literature of gardening 

 in the period from 1799 to 1914, he 

 showed by chart how gardening had 

 flourished in times of peace and pros- 

 perity and had invariably lagged in 

 periods of turmoil and distress, and 

 further that of the established horti- 

 cultural literature of today fully one- 

 half had come into existence since 

 1890. During this time the nursery- 

 man, florist and gardener had succes- 

 sively dominated the gardening writ- 

 ings, and now there is evidence that 

 we are on the verge of a new era when 

 people in other walks than the horti- 

 cultural industries will take prece- 

 dence. He laid much stress on the 

 rapidly growing interest of the ama- 

 teur consumer, who is bound to be- 

 come a bigger factor than ever before. 

 He predicted that foreign plants 

 would soon exercise a greatly enlarged 

 influence on our park and garden 

 plantings, also that the present mar- 

 ket interest in alpine material may be 

 expected to show an immediate and 

 unprecedented advance. Professional 

 florists and gardeners should keep 

 their eye on the great activity and en- 

 ormous influence being exerted by the 

 amateur garden clubs which are being 

 rapidly multiplied all over the country, 

 and not be content to drift along and 

 have but a minor part in the coming 

 development of a typical American 

 style of gardening of which we get 

 only a glimmering as yet. 



Flower shows and present methods 

 of exploiting them also came in for 

 comment and suggestion. Mr. Barron 

 thought that the tendency had been to 

 make them merely competitive, to the 

 disadvantage of their educational feat- 

 ures, and called attention to the great 

 Temple Shows in London which are 

 conducted without a prize list. He be- 

 lieved that young students now being 

 trained at the agricultural colleges 

 would soon wield a strong influence in 

 commercial horticulture, especially in 

 the realm of foresight and insight and 

 experimentation with scientific exact- 

 ness. 



Discussion following Mr. Barron's 

 address was lively and aggressive, and 

 at times exceedingly witty and enter- 

 taining. The war-horses of debate and 

 repartee, of which this chib has a 

 notable contingent, found Mr. Barron 

 a well-qualified and quick-witted match 

 and there was a half-hour of rare fun 

 for the audience. The consensus of 

 opinion, however, was that the gar- 

 deners and florists have plenty to do 

 in the future it they are to hold their 

 own in progressive horticulture in com- 



THE BEST OF EVERYTHING 

 FOR EASTER 



Lilies, Azaleas, Ramblers, 

 Hybrid Roses, Genistas, 

 Lilacs, Spiraeas pink and 

 white, Bulbs Stock in Pots 

 and Pans 



The Same Old Well-Known Waverley Quality 



W. W. EDGAR CO. 



WAVERLEY, MASS. 



parison with the people of the garden 

 clubs, also that the condition of the 

 farming lands all over the country is 

 far from creditable to the American 

 people. 



The reports of James Donald and 

 Robert Cameron on the visit to the 

 Davey Institute at Kent, Ohio, from 

 which they had just returned, were 

 full of interest and entertainment, and 

 much discussion, both serious and hu- 

 morous, ensued so that it was well on 

 to eleven P. M. before the listeners be- 

 gan to thin out. Both gentlemen were 

 most enthusiastic as to what they had 

 seen and the lavish hospitality they 

 had enjoyed. They could hardlv find 

 words to fully express their admira- 

 tion of the wonderful system and or- 

 ganization in force at this unique in- 

 stitution. The thoroughness of the 

 training given the young men im- 

 pressed them strongly. They were 

 fully convinced that the Davey organi- 

 zation is doing a work that measures 

 up to the highest efficiency and is ac- 

 complishing much to restore tree sur- 

 gery to its proper place. The remark- 

 able ability for organization and sys- 

 tem shown by M. L. Davey, son of the 

 founder, and present chief executive, 

 impressed the speakers very forcibly, 

 and if, perchance, they were at all 

 skeptical when they started regarding 

 the work of the Davey Institute, they 

 both certainly came home most effec- 

 tively reformed and cured. 



The only exhibit was a group of 

 Lachenalia tricolor in pans, unusually 

 well bloomed, by Charles Cooper of 

 Brookline. 



FLORISTS' CLUB OF WASHINGTON 



All of the 1916 officers of The Flor- 

 ists' Club of Washington, D. C, were 

 re-elected at the meeting of the club 

 held Tuesday evening, March 13. This 

 meeting had been postponed from the 

 previous week because of the inaugural 

 activities. The hold-over officers are 

 R. Lloyd Jenkins, president; Adolph 

 Gude, vice-president; Clarence L. Linz, 

 secretary, and William F. Gude, treas- 

 urer. The directors were also all re- 

 elected. 



There was a display of Marie Le- 

 graye lilacs by I. Wessel Staalman, 

 grown by Jlr. Staalman at Oakton, Va. 

 It was declared by those present to be 

 as fine as has ever been produced In 

 the United States and equal to the 

 foreign-grown stock. They are well 

 branched, spikes twelve inches long 

 and are very floriferous. 



NEW YORK FEDERATION 



There will be a meeting of the New 

 York Federation of Horticultural So- 

 cieties and Floral Clubs in the Secre- 

 tary's oflice at the New York Flower 

 Show, in Grand Central Palace, at 4 

 P. M., Monday, March 19th. The vari- 

 ous affiliated societies are requested to 

 appoint delegates to attend this meet- 

 ing, for important matters concerning 

 legislation regarding a Horticultural 

 Building at the State Fair Grounds in 

 Syracuse, are to be considered. 



E. A. White, Secy. 



