670 



HOKTICULTUBE 



April 22, IIIK 



SEED TRADE 



One Week's Imports. 

 Imports al tlii' port i)f New York, 

 of tuTticultiiral inutoriul. for the week 

 ending April 7, were recorded as fol- 

 lows: 



Bulbs— France. $80; Netherlands. 

 $21,228; Enghuid. $1,731; Scotland. 

 $95; Bermuda. $2; Japan. $1,705. 



Plants, etc.— Belgium. $2,378; Den- 

 mark. $30; France. $9. -167; Nether- 

 lands. $!i2.30ii; England. $3,256; Scot- 

 land. $16; Ireland. $6; Guate. $65; 

 Japan. $2,472. 



Ited clover seed— France, $191,740- 

 Italy, $21,227. 



Clover seed— Canada. $4,197. 



Grass seed — Denmark. $1,970; 

 Prance. $377; England. $2,579; Scot- 

 land, $392; Ireland, $12. 



All other seeds— France, $9,606; 

 Malta, $1,476; Netherlands, $2,231: 

 England, $32,074; China, $7,183; Brit- 

 ish East Indies, $6,672; Japan, $1S: 

 Morocco, $2,099. 



Fertilizers— England, $8,709. 



Notes. 



The schedule of the Sweet Pea Ex- 

 hibition to be held under the auspices 

 of the American Sweet Pea Society In 

 the concert room of the Palace Hotel, 

 San Francisco, on June 9 and 10, has 

 been distributed and copies may be 

 obtained from Frank G. Cuthbertson, 

 secretarj', 749 Front street, San Fran- 

 cisco. Exhibitions are to be held this 

 year at Bar Harbor, Me.. San Fran- 

 cisco. New York and Philadelphia. 



Pittsburgh seedsmen say they are 

 satisfied with this season's business. 

 Last year's exceptional prosperity is 

 credited to the "hard times" then pre- 

 vailing, many mechanics and laboring 

 men being out of work and taking to 

 home gardening for their table sup- 

 plying. This year sees entirely differ- 

 ent trade conditions, when it is almost 

 impossible to get men for outside 

 work, owing to the tempting superior 

 pay of mill work. 



At the monthly session of the Horti- 

 cultural Society of Western Pennsyl- 

 .vania. in Pittsburgh, cultural certifi- 

 jfcates were awarded as follows: Mi- 

 Ifhael Curren, Sewickley Heights, for 

 •carnations; Walter James, gard. for 

 jSS'. Henry R. Hilliard, cinerarias. Da- 

 ■*id Fraser showed hyacinths and 

 Thomas E. Tyler new narcissi. An- 

 thony Aloysius Leach also showed 

 narcissi. The program for the next 

 session will include a paper on "Vege- 

 tables—What to Grow and How to 

 Grow Them," by Michael Curren. 

 "Hardy Perennials and How They 

 Should Be Grown," by James Murphy. 

 Mr. Thompson of the farm for the 

 Woods Run Settlement, will tell what 

 has been accomplished there. 



MJilliam H. Dildine, speaking before 

 the Rochester Florists' Society on 

 April 10, said that the seed business 

 had been badly upset by the war and 

 that seedsmen in New York State are 

 as hard hit by the war as those of 

 Bhigland. "If the war should end to- 

 day," said Mr. Dildine. "it would take 

 ten years to get back to the normal 

 state so that, in ordering seeds from 

 Germany, we should be able to rely up- 

 on the seeds sent to us. This is true 

 of other countries as well as of Ger- 

 many. After the war the market will 



be glutted with some things, but 1 

 cannot see that prices, on the average, 

 will be inucli lower. In general, I do 

 not think there will be u shortage of 

 seeds, except in a few varieties, which 

 is common even in normal times, but 

 there will be a greatly unsettled condi- 

 tion of the market." 



A Letter From Any Congressman. 



(l''roiii 'I'lif Nt'w Y"rk Kviuliii; Sun.i 

 Dear Sir: I uiii having forward<'<l to 

 .voii a package of Jlowcr sik'Us which arc 

 furiilshiMl liy the Kciiartiiieiit of Agrkiil- 

 lur<>. .shoiilil It ho liiipo.^slhlf for yoii to 

 use them please hand them to some Delgh- 

 lior Willi may desire them. 



The .Vcrliiilture Department pulillshes 

 a uumhir of very Interesting bulletins 

 upon a k-reat variety of sulijects. Some 

 of the more Important are hidkateil In the 

 list on the other side of this letter, and 

 many of them undoulitedly contain Infor- 

 miitlon useful to you. 



Write and let ine know what hulletlns 

 you desire, and please send me your cor- 

 rect address. Assuring yon that It Is ol- 

 wny.s an honor to serve and a pleasure to 

 hear from you, I am, 



Very sincerely yours. 



Suggested Form Letter for Reply. 



.New York City, March 31, I'.tlO. 

 Dear Sir: I cannot remeniher whether 

 I voted for you or not. but I am dellchted 

 and flattered liy the receipt of the flower 

 seeds. So tiinch so. indeed, that I prom- 

 ise to vote for you liereafter whenever I 

 think alinui it. And this. I take it. Is the 

 efTicI which yiui counted upon producing 

 with the flower seeds. 



I do not at the moment recall where you 

 stand with regard to the Issue of adequate 

 preparaticiii for n.itional defence. You 

 liave never written me your views about 

 that, or asked for mine. But. after all. 

 it Is a trivial thing as compared with the 

 flower seeds. .My interests. like your own, 

 are almost exclusively aesthetic. 



Wliat are your ideas cuncernlng the 

 proper in.inner in whiili to create an 

 American merchant marine? Or have you 

 any? Of your own, I mean. No matter. 

 I ask in a spirit purely academic. I am 

 more Interested in flower seeds. 



Do yon helieve that we shnuld continue 

 to iTi.'iinlnin a nninher of isolated, useless 

 and expensive army posts, merely for po- 

 litii-.il and pork liarrel purposes? What 

 is yonr record In this matter? Perhaps 

 vciii have gone a long way, personally. In 

 your elTnrts to reform this condition. Par- 

 don me if I have not taken the trouble to 

 learn wtiere you stand on this. Just as you 

 have not taken the trouhle to infcirin me. 

 My serious thoughts on government are 

 cl.aimed by flower seeds; it Is sweet for 

 Congressman and constituent to exchanee 

 Iiretly floral tokens; I feel it so. Let us 

 not descend to the sordid In our corre- 

 spondence. Send me a buttercup full of 

 dew. 



Are you a Democrat? I suppose I should 

 know without asking. Itut you have only 

 lironglit yourself dlrectlv to my notice in 

 a horticultural way. and I forget the less 

 significant things ahont you. I wonder 

 how you divined my passion for flowers? 

 If yon are a Democrat, are yon more in- 

 fluenced In your legislative attitude by 

 that raging militarist, that Caesar, Presi- 

 dent Wilson, or that imperial-minded Pom- 

 pey. W. .T. Ttryan. who has hut to stamp 

 his foot in the day of trouble to hrlnc a 

 million men to arms between dawn and 

 dusk? If it is more politic to avoid choos- 

 ing hctween these two. do not reply. I 

 would forget If you toid me. My great 

 concern Is with the eglantine, the dog- 

 tooth violet, the daffodils that come (as I 

 am poetically Informed) before the swal- 

 low dares. 



To what extent are yon Influenced hv 

 the pro-Oerman propaganda In your dis- 

 trict? If you feel any hesitancy about 

 answering in words send me a hyacinth 

 and I will understand. 



What Is yonr opinion of .Tosephus Dan- 

 iels, and what he is doing for our well- 

 known navy? Would you be one of fen 

 million sicners to a petition urging his 

 reslenatlon? Reflect profoundly before 

 yon answer. And If reflection brines no 

 answer, some day yon and I will pluck a 

 daisy, and as we pull the petals one by 

 one we will murmur: "I love .Tosephns! 

 I love him not!" etc. And If we find we 

 love him we will go and stick musk-roses 

 In his long sleek ears. 



Do yon know what our Mexlc.nn tn^'Hcv 

 Is. and how long it has been th.-it. and 



why; and Oo you approve of 117 Ilun 

 PreKldenl Wilson conferred with yon 

 lately about It? If so -I trust 1 am not 

 Imllscreet— did you tell him what yoo 

 ri'ally thought? Or only what yon 

 thoiigiit he would want you to think thai 

 wec'k.' I have no genuine curiosity abool 

 this. I want a magnolia from the Capitol 

 grouiuls. 



Do you believe the railroad mileage ul 

 lowance for Congressmen Is sufllclent? 

 <ir shiiuld a gasolene allowance be added 

 now that the price of gasolene has risen? 

 Send nn' a .lohnny-Jump-up and I will 

 know what you mean. 



Please continue not to bother me with 

 your thoughts on the proper way to raliw 

 revenue, and the proper deserving Demo 

 crats upon whom to spend It. I would 

 pretend a perfunctory interest for the 

 sake of politeness. If you conflded your 

 views on these things to me. Hut all the 

 time my heart would he in the botaulcal 

 gardens. 



Assuring you that I appreciate yonr as 

 suranee that It Is always an honor to serve 

 and a pleasure to hear from me, 1 thank 

 you for the Intuition which Informed voo 

 of my well nigh uncontrollable fondness' for 

 flowers. Sir, a primrose by the Potomac's 

 brim has always been something more 

 than a yellow primrose to nie. It Is the 

 greater part of what I get out of being 

 one of your constituents. Won't you have 

 General Goethals let the canal slide for a 

 while, and go down Into South Ameririi 

 and get me some orchids? 



Very sincerely yours, 



Don Mabquib. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



Ernest G. Benson, Seattle, Wash.— 

 Benson's Dahlias for 1916. 



Anchor Post Iron Works, New 

 York.— Illustrated Descriptive List of 

 Iron Fences for every purpose. 



Rynveld Bros., Lisse, Holland.— 

 Wholesale Catalogue of Darwin. May- 

 Flowering, Breeder and Rembrandt 

 Tulips. 



Alonzo J. Bryan, Washington, N. J.— 

 Wholesale Price List of Flowering, 

 Decorative and Vegetable Plants for 

 Spring Planting. Worth perusing. 



Mount Desert Nurseries. Bar Harbor. 

 Me.— Select List of Plants for Spring 

 Planting. This includes tender as well 

 as hardy material and is an excellent 

 list of staple goods. 



Peter Henderson & Co.. New York. 

 —Everything for the Lawn. A lovely 

 lawn and garden border scene In 

 natural colors makes a very effective 

 title page for this useful and timely 

 publication. Everything in the way of 

 material and implements for lawns, 

 golf courses and bowling greens Is 

 listed and illustrated in detail. 



IVIIOI-«EL-l_.'S 



Seasonable Seeds, Bulbs, 

 Plants and Supplies 



Send for Wholesale Catalogue 



HENRY F. MICHELL CO, 



S8 MARKET .ST. 



PI-llLAOf:i.'»Hl\ 



BURNETT BROTHERS 



IiBV«rt«rs and Orawara af 



SEEDS, BULBS, PLANTS, &c 



98 Chambers Street New York 



JAMES VICK'S SONS 



Seedsmen, Nurserymen, 

 Florists 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



