302 



UOKTICULTUBE 



March 6, 1»1& 



horticulture: 



VOL XXI 



MARCH 6, 1915 



NO. 10 



VI III.ISIIKI) WKKKI.V HV 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street. Boston, Mass. 



TrlrplioDC. Oxford 'iO'i, 

 \VM. J. STEWABT, Editor nnti MiinuKrr. 



SrUSCKII'TION KATKS: 



Oar \rur. in ■<ltiinr«, $1.00: To ForelKH Countrlea, t-.OOj To 

 < anadu. (1.50. 



AUVKKTISING RATES: 



Prr Inrli. 3n iiii lu>« to puKr f I.OO 



DlnroantM fin ( ontmrtw for ron*>o<*utlve InNrrtlonii, ufl follows: 



Onr ntuntli (I ihnei*), f) per crnt.; (Iirre montlm (13 times), 10 

 prr rent.: i»l\ niuntli<« \'iG tlnirft), *0 prr cent.; one year (6'^ times), 

 SO per rent. 



VmKC an«l half poKC spiKC, special rates on application. 



Entered as st^nndclaiisi matter Decembers, 1S04, at tbe Post Office 

 ■t Boston. ' !<-r the Act of CoDgress of March 8, 1879. 



CONTENTS Page 



COVER I LLfSTK.A.T IONS — Forced Darwin Tulip 



William Copeland 

 NOTES ON CULTIRE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— .Mig- 

 nonette in Pots — Salvias — Seed Sowing — Starting 

 Begonia Tubers — Sweet Peas — Outside Work — John 



•/. il. Farrcll 301 



SOME BEAUTIFUL IRISES— Jl/onfo.we Free— Illus- 

 trated 303 



CULTURE OF H.\RDY SHRUBS- .Irfhur E. Thatcher 304 



DARWIN TULIPS FOR WINTER FORCING 304 



A BOSTON ORCHID GROWER— Illustrated 305 



SOME LONG ISLAND GROWERS 305 



H. SUZUKI— Portrait— .B. H. Wilson 306 



CLUBS .\ND SOCIETIES— .\merican Rose Society- 

 Chicago Florists' Club — Florists' and Gardeners' Club 

 of Rhode Island — New York Florists' Club — Inter- 

 national Flower Show — New Bedford Horticultural 



Society 306 



Florists' Club of Philadelphia — Ladies' Society of 



.\nierican Florists 315 



MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE — 



./. A. Tufts. Jr 308 



SEED TRADE)— New Method for Fumigating Imported 

 Seed — "Pork Bar'l" Congressmen — A Pleasant Recog- 

 nition — A New Seed House — Notes 310 



FLOWER .MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, New Bedford, New 



York 317 



Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington 319 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Butterflies for the Florist — Henry Penn 312 



New Flower Stores 312 



.NEWS ITEMS FROM EVERYWHERE: 



Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington 314 



Philadelphia, Providence, Cincinnati 315 



DURING RECESS— Westchester and Fairfield Horti- 

 cultural Society — New York Florists' Bowling Club 315 



OBITUARY— Charles E. Bessey— Arthur T. Vick 326 



MISSCELANEOUS: 



European Vicissitudes — How They Feel About It In 



Surrey— G. C. Watson 309 



News Notes 313 



Publications Received — Catalogues Received 324 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 326 



NVw Corporations ^'-6 



We have it from a number of seedsmen 

 Home that the call for kitchen garden seeds 



truck raising Jigs started in ah'eady on a scale which 

 would indicate an unprecedented plant- 

 ing of such material during the coming spring. Per- 

 haps this is the jiublic response to the increased cost of 



living and if litis In- so then the miuli bewailed "higli 

 cost of living" has iieeoiiiplisbitl some giMid and is in- 

 • li'ed a ble.-'siiig in disguise. .\ busy seiuson for the sei^ls- 

 iiieii means an industrious summer and more nitional 

 living for the siiburbiuiite and the inauguration of better 

 I'onditions all around. 



Our nationul Senate is not a very sensi- 

 Perverslty \\\■^. luxly, evidently, or it would worry a 

 or what? i,it. nbout the attitude of the public on its 

 refusal to strike out the apjiropriation of 

 .-<'.';i."),UU(i for free seeds, repudiated by l.lie .Xgriciillural 

 (Viinniittee and re|K'atedly ei>iideiiiiie<l and ridieule<l by 

 granges, soeieties and farmei's' pajiers all over the coun- 

 iiT. Tlu; respect whicli every patriotic citizen would nat- 

 urally feel for those who occupy high station in a "gov- 

 ernment of the people" gets an incurable jolt with such 

 evidence of tbe small "mesisure-up" of their chosen re- 

 liresentaiives. How true it is that 

 "Obstinacy's ne'er so stiff 

 As when 'tis in a wrong belief." 



At a recent gathering of gentlemen, 

 What next? most of whom are prominently identi- 

 fied with commercial floriculture, a 

 question was askcfl as to what flower stands most avail- 

 able and likely to be widely taken up for improvement 

 and exploitation as a cut flower specialty. The markets 

 in most cities are sup])lied this season with a larger 

 diversity of flowers, outside of the universal staples, 

 than has ever been tbe case before in this country, al- 

 most even' one of wliieb might hopefully be taken in 

 hand for special advancement. This fact will be ap- 

 parent to anyone visiting the wholesale markets on any 

 morning or taking the trouble to inspect the stock in 

 the show ca.ses of prominent retail florists. 



On tlie occasion above referred to one 

 Two [larly sugge.ste<l that tbe so-called English 



candidates priiiirose preeminently )>os,sesses the nec- 

 essary attributes to make it a ver)' desir- 

 able candidate for an increased popular interest, as well 

 as characteristics which suggest its probable responsive- 

 nes.s to any well directed effort to develop and improve 

 it upon standard points of excellence, such as size of 

 flower, length and strength of stem, variety and brilli- 

 ancy of color, fonii of truss, etc. This sounds promis- 

 ing for tbe primrose aiul wiiy is it not as amenable 

 to such a course of ad\ancenient as for instance the 

 sweet pea proved to be, especially considering that the 

 painstaking work which has been done on the primrose 

 in England and elsewhere in. Euro])e has been mostly in 

 the direction of ideals quite different from what an 

 American cut flower specialist would strive for. Un- 

 doubtedly the best sucx'css would be attained by breeding 

 with an original .species type. P. malacoides has prom- 

 ising attributes for future development. Another flower 

 favorably mentioned for a place of prominence in the 

 flower trade of the immediate future was tbe Buddleiain 

 its various species. This plant is but .slightly knowTi as 

 yet among.st the trade but already the richly perfumed 

 Buddleia asiatica has begun to get recogtiition as an ex- 

 ceedingly graceful and otherwise very attractive flower 

 and at the very first try the American hybrid, B. Far- 

 quharii comes to the front recognized bj- all who have 

 seen it — including the discoverer of B. a.siatica — as far 

 superior to the latter, which was one of its parents. As 

 it appears now, nolxxly can begin to predict what the 

 Buddleias may .shortly attain to, but that they are 

 destined to taie their place among the much used cut 

 flowers commercially seems now assured be)'ond a doubt 



