•.?76 



HORTICULTURE 



September 8, 1917 



horticulture: 



VOL XXVI 



SEPTEMBER 8, 1917 



Na 10 



I-t'ni.I8IIRD WKEKLT BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 



Trlrl»ln>ll<«, H<*<wh '^W! 

 MM. J. STEWAKT, Editor and Uanairr 



Kiilaivd u MCODd-clau matter December 8, 1804. at tbe Poit Otic* 

 at Boatoo, Uaaa., onder tbe Act of Congreaa of Uarcb 3, 187B. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



COVER 1LA.USTRATI0N— A. E. Kunderd. President- 

 elect, American Gladiolus Society 



HOSE GROWING IXDER GLASS— The First Cool 

 Nights— A Hint to small Private Growers— Water- 

 ing — Blackspot — Cover Crops — Asparagus and Smi- 

 lax— .1 rthur C. Ruzicka 275 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS: 277 



Report of Judges on Convention Garden — College 

 Florist Section — President Wilson's Reply to the 

 S. A. F. Telegram— Mothers' Day Committee — The 

 Publicity Campaign — Report of National Flower 

 Show Committee 



DURING RECESS— Sewickley Horticultural Society- 

 New Yorlv vs. Philadelphia 280 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Society of Iowa Florists- 

 Rochester, N. v.. Flower Show — Meetings Next 

 W'eek — Coming Exhibitions — Manchester's New Hor- 

 ticultural Building 281 



LOCAL AND GENERAL NEAVS: 



Boston. New York, Washington, Philadelphia, Cin- 

 cinnati, St. Louis, Chicago 282-283 



SEED TRADE— Seed Corn Selection Now— Large 

 Potato Crop in New Brunswick — Notes 284 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



New Flower Stores 286 



Flowers by Telegraph 287 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Chicago, Cincinnatu New York, Philadel- 

 phia, Rochester 289 



St. Louis, Washington 291 



OBITUARY— John Garvey— Alfred G. Gulley— Miss 

 Adelaide Kresken 293 



FIRE PREVENTION 294 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



A House of Cyclamen — Illustrated 279 



New York Dahlia Show 280 



Lectures at Bronx Park 280 



Catalogues Received 284 



Visitors' Register 291 



New Corporations — Business Troubles 293 



News Notes 286-293-294 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 294 



Iiil'ornuttioii regarding tlie Dutch bulb 

 One .situation, as gleaned from various 



bulb ship .sources, is somewhat contradictory but 

 sure one fact .seems authentically established, 



which is that the Holland America 

 Line steamer Waaldyk is now well on the way across 

 from Rotterdam to New York loaded with bulbs ex- 

 clusively. This we have on authority which can not 

 li€ questioned and it is good news as far as it goes. 

 We hope to be able to discuss the situation more ex- 

 plicitly in our issue of next week. 



It is claimed that experimental work 

 "Fumigating jn orchid fumigation recently carried on 

 orchids" i,y entomologists of the United States 

 Department of Agriculture has demon- 

 strated that orchids can be safely fumigated with 1 



ounce of sodium cyunid in a 20-iDch vacuum at an ex- 

 posure of 40 ininiitc's without injury, provided the 

 plants are rea.«onalily healthy. Witii healthy [>lantH, in 

 fact, as strong a dose as 4 ounces of i-yanid lias been 

 used under the same conditions without killing the 

 plants. A montii after treatment at this latter 

 strength tlie plants so treated were making new growth. 

 The term "orchids" seems too vague and general for 

 use in a statement so important as that al)ove referred 

 to. The resistant qualities against exposure to strong 

 gases must certainly vary greatly with different geneni. 



We hope to see tiie campaign for national 



The exploitjition of the florist's wares and his 



publicity Inisincss, which was so auspiciously 



movement launched at the New York convention. 



carried forward without any slacking or 

 diminution of the zeal and enthusiasm which were h> 

 copiously injected into the initial proceedings. Only 

 by keeping up the full tension uninterruptedly can 

 such an ambitious project be successfully carried out 

 and as with all sueii undertakings the hardest part re- 

 mains yet to be done. Why not make this all-impor- 

 tant movement the uniform subject for special con- 

 sideration and discussion in all the floral club and 

 society meetings for October? Applauded on all sides 

 as one of the biggest and best pieces of work the S. A. 

 F. had ever plaimed, the enterpri.«e certainly merits 

 and, to attain its full possibilities, must have, the back- 

 ing and whole-hearted co-operation of all allied inter- 

 ests in every section of the country. Stupendous are 

 its possibilities but its actual achievement and fniition 

 will be measured finally by the sustained grasp and 

 continuity of effort yet to be developed and not by the 

 spectacular outburst of enthusiasm at the start, inspir- 

 ing as it was and stirred with the ardor which makes 

 for success if not allowed to pine away. 



Our friends, the dahlia growers, will 



The now be coming into the limelight, for 



dahlia season a period brief at best but dependent 



very much upon the leniency ex- 

 tended by the weather man to this sumptuous but de- 

 fenceless garden denizen. If only it were possible to 

 imbue the dahlia with some degree of frost-resistant 

 qualities or otherwise lengthen its flowering season, its 

 l)restige as a dependable siibjeet for the cut flower mar- 

 ket would lie greatly strengthened. The dahlia is un- 

 fortunate, furtiier, in the careless manner in which it 

 is packed for market by many growers — just thrown 

 into crates, or even barrels, as if on the presumption 

 that it was not worth the e.xercise of any care. There 

 are some growers who do devote the utmost attention 

 and skill to the cutting, handling and packing of dah- 

 lia blooms, so that a box of their product is a 

 thing of beauty when opened at its destination 

 and these men get good money for their cut. 

 A few years ago an exhibitor at a winter show in 

 Boston exhibited neat little cactus dahlias nicely 

 bloomed from cuttings in 3-inch pots. We wonder why 

 more of this is not done. In the present quandary as 

 to the possible .supply of winter flowering plants the 

 ilahlia is well suited for a tryout. Its qualities of color, 

 form and variety certainly entitle it to .something bet- 

 ter in the way of opportunity than has been accorded it 

 thus far. 



