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H R T I C U L T U H E 



Januury IG. 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



VOL XXI J\NUAKT 16. 1915 NO. 3 



11 III l-llfe.ll \« I- h.Kl.t IM 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 11 Hamilton Place, Boston, Mass. 



Irlrpliuiir. Olturd tVt. 

 WM. J. HTKWAKT. Ktlllur sod Maaasar. 



—mill ■■ an-oDO-i-Uu ui«Iler Uevooiber 8, IIHM, at 111* foit OOc* 

 at BuatOB, Maaa., uodcr tht Act of Congraaa of March S, UflV. 



CONTENTS Pai^ 



COVKK ILLISTUATIDN .Maliis ulplnji urundllloni 

 supiTba 



NOTKS ON CULTURE OF FLOUISTS' STOCK— Bulb- 

 ous Stock— B<MldliiK Plants— Forcing Lilacs— Seeds 

 to Sow— Sowlnc Smllax— Stock Plants of Polnscltlas 

 —^ohn J. M. fiirnll f'9 



KOSK GKOWI.NG INDKIl UL.\SS— Greonlly— Use of 

 Tobacco Stems In .Mulching— Syringing Potted Cut- 

 linKs— Roses and Carnations In Same House — 

 Arthur C. liuzUkii 70 



AR.MUS— «i(ftnrd Itothr 71 



A.MKRICAN CAR.N'ATION SOCIETY— The Buffalo 

 Convention — Carnations Registered "1 



CLUBS AND SOCIKTIES— Massachusetts Horticul- 

 tural Society. J. K. M. L. Farquhar. portrait — Chry- 

 santhemum Society of America — Rochester Florists' 

 Association, Chas. H. Vick, portrait— National Asso- 

 ciation of Gardeners "S 



New York Florists' Clnb. Harry A. Bunyard, portrait 74 

 North Shore Horticultural Society — Ladies' Society 

 of American Florists— Florists' Club of Washington 75 

 American Rose Society — American Sweet Pea So- 

 ciety — New York International Show — Southampton 



Horticultural Society 77 



Westchester and Fairfield Horticultural Society — 



Chicago Florists' Club 87 



Horticultural Society of New York — Coming Events 94 



SEED TRADE— Timely Advice— An Unconstitutional 

 Seed Law. Curtis .Yi/c Smith 78 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Window Publicity 80 



Flowers bv Telegraph — New Flower Stores 81 



NEWS ITE.MS FROM EVERYWHERE: 

 Chicago— California— Boston— Pittsburgh 82-83 



FLOWER .MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago. New York, Philadelphia, 



San Francisco 85 



St. Louis. Washington 87 



OBITUARY — Charles -McTaggart — Louis S. Williams, 

 Jr 94 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Catalogues Received 78-92 



News Notes 83 



During Recess — Visitors' Register 83 



Publications Received 92 



Greenhouses Buildinj; of Contemplated 94 



PiTsiiriHl — HiisiriHs? Troiibleu 94 



Wliili- It- IS lUKHiotiiiiKiblv true that 

 Don't horticultural supplies, including even 



procrastinate flower seeds from Germany, have heen 

 comintr through to tiiiR countr}' in a 

 much l)ftt«r manner and (|uantity than imjiorters ex- 

 pected aftc^r the outbreak of tlie European war, yet 

 everyone in the seed trade is fully aware of tlic pre- 

 carious outlook for the flower seed supply especially on 

 late or increased orders. In a recent issue we made 

 note of the waminfr issued by W. Atlce Bur[)ee & Co. to 

 their customers and in this issue apjiears a similar 

 admonition sent out by E. & .T. Farquhar & Co. Those 

 of our readers who are taking their time about making 

 up their spring seed orders should take heed and attend 

 to it promptly for it is "a condition and ik)I n ibfon-" 

 which confronts us. 



The Soils and Crops iJejianmcnt of 



Supplanting the Agiic-ultural Experiment Station 



the seedsman? of Lafayette. Ind., is sending out a 



newspaper btilletin on the 'TBetter 



Distribution of lligli Grade Seal to the Pnmiers." 

 The j)ur|K>se of this bulletin is stated to be to i)ut tlie 

 man wli ' ' I purer BlraiuR of si-cd in totich 



with lb 1- it a businesj! to pr<Mlure such 



anil to a.-<k ull laiiiiciB \s1m> have distinct strains of such 

 .•ii-ed."* to list ^anu• witii the Deparliiu-nl together with 

 <|uantity and prici-s. After examination for germina- 

 tion und for purity the results will be used "in making 

 rwcMiimendations to the prospective buyers." In other 

 words this Jleparlment ju'oposes to usurp the field of the 

 regular fvii] business of tiieir Statx' and undertake to 

 do what the .'^ced trade is constitiitiil to do as a legiti- 

 mate commercial enterprise. It woidd be int^'resling to 

 know whether the Indiana Experiment Station has thus 

 far commiiJiieate<l with the seedsmen of their State to 

 first ascertain whether the seed dealers were maJ<ing 

 proper effort to secure for distribution to the farmers 

 the be.*t and iMire.*;! strains of seed or are prejiared to 

 purclia><' and distribute in the c*)urs<_' of their business 

 such higli class material as the Department nuiy be aide 

 to olTer them, liefore involving a State institution in 

 suib .111 ■iitcrprise as tlii^^ iii'iul:ir wmilil vim'im fi> iiuli- 

 cai. 



In further cuusidcralioii of the 



Effect of foregoing, we would respectfully 



environment suggest that it is not at all certain 



upon seed quality that the station officials in Indiana 



or any other State are any Ix-tter 

 qualified or even as well able to pass upon seed qualities 

 !us are the men whose lives have been devoteil to the 

 development of the American seed industry. Well in- 

 foiTiied seed.smen tell us that the only quality whicli 

 scH?ds can acquire tlirougli differences of f<jil or clinuite 

 is that of carliiiess or lateness. While cro])s are abso- 

 lutely dependent upon quality of soil, .supply of mois- 

 ture, and heat, it has yet to be shown that selection 

 will have any effect u]xm the adaptation of see<ls to soils 

 not suited to tliem, although this Imlletin, in asserting 

 that seed "from a different latitude and a different .>*oil 

 will often produce a low yield or else ])ossibly a large 

 yield, quite piMir in (|uality,'' plainly a.S'ierts othenvise. 

 As. to selection for teni])erature it ha,< long since been 

 demonstrated that tem[x>i-ature ha.s a strong influence 

 on seeds. The Iceland jwppy and the buttercup, for 

 example, in arctic regions produce seeds having a much 

 stronger covering than those that have lieen growni in the 

 temperate zone. F>iittercup seeds gathere<l in Iceland 

 take nearly two years to gei-minate whereas those har- 

 vested in temjxjrate climates may lie germinated in five 

 iir six months. A remarkable instance of the ada])tation 

 of Iceland seeds to this climate is that germination may 

 be interru])ted by cold, or even severe cold, and ttie 

 young plant has the quality of resuming its development 

 when it has thawed out again, a quality which seeds 

 .«o\ni here and then subjected to similar Iceland c-ondi- 

 tions would not possess. Many of the .'Jeedsmen, desir- 

 ing early corn, have it grown in northern Xew Hamp- 

 shire or Maine. The .same course is followed for early 

 cosmos which, to perpetuate its earliiiess, must be grown 

 in northern latitude.?, the earliness being due to those 

 laws of Xature which enable plant.s to adajit themselves 

 to more or less adverse conditions in order to assure re- 

 production. As to their having any al)ility to overcome 

 unfavorable chemical or mechanical c-onditions of soil, 

 however, so as to affect the character of the seed pro- 

 duced, with all due respect to our friends in Lafayette 

 we must say that we know of no evidence to support 

 such a claim and have yet to hear of any instance where 

 ' any local factor other than temperature and moisture 

 has had any aitpreeiable influence on seed character. 



