172 



HORTICULTUEE 



February 5, 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



VOL. XXJIi FEBRUARY S. 1916 NO. 6 



II UI.I-lli:|l WEKKI.Y HV 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 



l^'IrpliMiir, O&rtiril -iifi. 

 \%tt. J. .STKM.XKT, Killlor sn<l Mitnacrr. 



Kntored a» second oIiish iiiiiltiT Ucccmlxr 8, 19H, nt tbo I'OBt Ofllc* 

 at F<««ton, MiiHB.. iinilpr llio Act of ronKrPRB of Mareli 3, 18TO. 



CONTENTS Page 



CUVKIt ILLISTUATIO.N- Sudani spectubile. 



NOTKS ON fL'LTlUK OF FLOKISTS' STOCK— Car- 

 nations — FoliiiKB Plains — Cattleyas — Lily of the 

 Valley — Tuberous Begonias — Watering — John J. M. 

 f'arrcU 171 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS— Ventilation— Dis- 

 budding — Watering Youiik Stock — Scraping Around 

 Young Plants— A rf /I itr V. Iluzicka 173 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Connecticut Horticultural 

 Society — Meetings Next Week — Coming Exhibitions — 

 St. Louis Florist Club — American Sweet Pea Society 174 



AMERICAN CARNATION SOCIETY— The Awards- 

 Auto Ride and Banquet 175 



DURING RECESS— Morris County Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Society — Nassau County Horticultural So- 

 ciety, Illustration — Southampton Horticultural 

 Society — Westchester and Fairfield Horticultural 

 Society — Boston Florists' Bowling Club 176 



SEDUM SPECTABILE— ftichard Rothc 177 



SEED trade:— Contract Awards— One Week's Im- 

 ports — Notes 178 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



New York Retail Florists' Smoker 180 



Flowers by Telegrai)h 180 



New Flower Stores 192 



NEWS ITEMS FROM EVERYWHERE: 



Washington, Chicago, Boston 182 



New York 18;i 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York 185 



Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis 187 



Washington 193 



OBITUARY— Mrs. Julia -i. Shea— Thomas Clark, por- 

 trait — William H. Fersiison — Mrs. Alexander Wald- 

 liart 192 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Mould in Stored Boxwoods 177 



New Corporation 177 



An Old Campaigner, E. Gurney Hill, portrait 183 



Visitors' Register 183 



Personal 192 



Massachusetts Agricultural College Notes 193 



Publications Received — Catalogue Received 193 



Greenhouses Building nr Contemplated 194 



Announcement is made in our news 

 Important columTis tliis week of the fact that the 

 decision on Court of Customs Appeals in Washing- 

 tulip tariff ton renflered a decision on the 27th of 

 January that tulips should have been 

 assessed at fifty cents a thousand instead of one dollar 

 a thousand, since the revision of the tariff, thereby 

 obliging the Government to make a refund to all im- 

 porters of fifty cents a thousand on tulips for the last 

 several years since the tariff has been in effect. Of 

 course, the Government has thirty days in which to ask 

 for a re-hearing before the rebate will be effective. We 

 doul)t very much, however, that this will be done. 



Press despatches from St. Louis at the time 



A bad of the session of the American Carnation So- 



habit eiety in that city told the world that over 



150,000 carnation blooms were staged in the 



exhibition there. T^t the standard of prices prevailing 



in nil iiiarkets ut that time for carnations this would 

 imply a sairiliir u( not far from $10,000 in cusli value 

 (if lliiwcr.s c.xhibiloil. Preposterous exaggerations by 

 iu«.>|iMpcr reprcscntaiives, u.s we have often renuirke<l. 

 in many ways work a great injury (o the llower business. 

 'I'bo |(iililic are ever eager to gra.-ji at wbateviT is sen- 

 sational and tlirough the distorted and over colored stuff 

 which is so frequently dealt out to gratify litis craving 

 they get wrong conceptions of an imliistiy wliicli per- 

 haps more thati any other, would atlniii it.s greatest 

 iiscfidness and liigliesl prosperity tbioiigli the disseinina- 

 tion of accurate knowledge and iniilieiitii' inroiination 

 regarding it among all the people, olil and young. 



The gieat function of (lower shows ami 

 "Tell the horticultural displays of any description is 

 truth" iir should be education. The more instruc- 

 tion given the public regarding horticiiltui" 

 ;inil liurtieultural products the deeper and stronger will 

 he the appreciation for and desire to possess the.se pro- 

 iliielions — the olfspring of the glorious alliance of na- 

 ture and man working together to beautify the world. 

 .Much can be accomplished to this end through the iiie- 

 diiiin of the (lower .=liows, but let all mysticism, boast- 

 ing and e.vaggcration be rigidly excluded from jjuhlicity 

 work and ])ress reports. The best means for assuring 

 this is a thoroughly efficient information bureau on 

 the spot and, for an exhibition of any great importance, 

 this is really one of the most essential departments, 

 and one which has thus far received but little attention 

 from flower show managers. The lack of even rudi- 

 inental knowledge concerning plants and flowers on 

 the part of the public is deplorable and on the part of 

 the florist is a reproach for which there is no excuse. 

 Misinfonnatiou, either ignorantly or intentionally given 

 out, makes the situation worse and worse and this 

 abuse should Ite vigorously assailed liy all those who 

 have anylhing to do with horticultural publicity work. 



Tiie Massachusetts Agricultural Experi- 



An acute meiit station at Amherst has recently is- 



emergency ^ued several valuable bulletins on what is 



general looked upon as the most momen- 

 tous subject connected with horticultural industry at the 

 ])ieseiit time — tlie fertilizer question. Bulletin No. 4 of 

 the ''Control Series" gives a detailed rejiort of the fer- 

 tilizer inspection in the State of Jlassachusetts for 1915. 

 1 1 states minutely the trade values of fertilizer ingredi- 

 ents, with pound cost of each element of plant food fur- 

 nished and a general summary shows the quality of in- 

 gredients in each manufacturer's |iroduct. The embargo 

 ])laeed u])on potash by the German government and the 

 almost )irohibitive price on nitrate of .soda due to the 

 enormous demand for this cliemical for the manufac- 

 ture of explosives has created an unprecedented situa- 

 tion and many products formerly in obscurity have now 

 been brought into prominence. Serious attention is 

 called in this bulletin to the unwisdom of purchasing 

 low grade mixed fertilizers compounded from materials 

 containing a very small amount of the needed plant 

 food in comparison to their cost. We strongly advi.se 

 our readers to procure copies of this 100 page publica- 

 tion in which thpy will find a vast amount of informa- 

 tion of great value to them in the present emergency. 

 Every measure for lessening the need for fertilizers, 

 such as the selection of soil, the conservation and utiliza- 

 tion of all home resources and ])ersistpnt tillage, should 

 be followed ti]) in order to promote and maintain fer- 

 tility. 



