586 



HORTICULTURE 



May 1, 1915 



HORTICULTURE 



VOL XXI 



MAY 1. 1915 



NO. 16 



rillMSIIKI) WKKKI.Y IIY 



HORTICULTURE PUBUISHINC. CO. 

 147 Svimmer Street, Boston, Mass. 



Trlrl>liuD<>, Olford ZB:. 

 UM. J. hTK>VAKT, Editor and UnmLgeT. 



8liB8CiUrTION RATB8I 



(inr \fakr. In adtanrr, (1.00: Tu Forelsn Coualrlro, $:.0U: To 



( unuitii, (I.M. 



ADVKItTISINO KATES: 



I'rr inch. 'SO tDchfwi to itnK** $1.00 



Illsroanlft un l'ontr»<-lii tor ronarrutUr iDoertloQi, a* follona: 



Onr moatli *4 tlmcw), & ppr crot. ; tllrv« montlu <I3 tlnien). 10 

 prr rrnt.; six nionttia (SO times), 20 per cent.; one y(«r (&2 tlmeo), 

 SO p«*r rrnt 



Vir ' ," :.iije space, speclnl rnir* on npi>"'"«tl<>n 



1 iS« matter Dcceuiin-r s. K"'l, ^.i i:.'- I'.'-i loii. ,■ 



at Uuitvu, Mass.. under the Act of Conjiri v-h ,.r M:ircli 3, 187S. 



CONTENTS Page 



COVER ILLUSTRATION A House of Mignonette for 

 Cutting 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— Adl- 

 antums — Begonia Gloire de Lorraine and Ciniinnatl 

 — Carnations — Firus olastlca — Increasing Fern Stock 

 — Overhauling Poinsettias— ^oAn J. M. Farrell 585 



WINTER DAMAGE TO RHODODENDRONS— B. H. 

 Wilson 587 



THE CULTURE OF DRUG AND DYE PLANTS— Dr. 

 A'. L. Britlon 587 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Society of American Flor- 

 ists' Convention — Horticulturists Visit Arnold Arbo- 

 retum — Proposed Dahlia Society — Connecticut Horti- 

 cultural Society — Club and Society Notes — Coming 

 Events 588 



NOTED AT DREER'S 589 



EFFECTS OF THE WINTER IN THE ARBORETUM 589 



NEWS ITEMS FROM EVERYWHERE: 



Chicago 590 



Boston, Washington 598 



Philadelphia, San Francisco 599 



New York 603 



Notes 608 



THE SEED INDUSTRY— ir. F. Thirkildson 592 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



"Undesirables" in the Retail Florist Business — F. T. 



D. Pochelon — New Flower Stores 596 



Flowers by Telegraph — Mothers' Day, poetry 597 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, 



Pittsburgh 601 



Philadelphia, San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington.. 603 



THE GYPSY MOTH CAMPAIGN 608 



OBITUARY— Herman Harl>in— Mrs. Geo. E. Libby— 

 Woodward Burger— Otis L. Kent 610 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



■ Model of a Suburban Estate — Illustrated 589 



New Wholesale House In Boston — Patrick Welch, 



portrait 590 



Personal 590 



New York vs. Tuxedo Bowlers 590 



Visitors' Register 608 



New Corporations 608 



Business Troubles 609 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 610 



Patrnt? Granted fiin 



Many are the my.steries of the flower 



Hard to trade and tlie popular floral fancy. Just 



understand why Cattleya Schrcedei-ae is perpetually in 



disgrace with the buyers is something past 



finding out but the fact is there. Of most delicate tint 



and te.xture and plca,-5ing perfume this pretty flower 



merits a much higher place in the appreciation of the 



flower buyer than is accorded it in any of the markets 



where it is a daily commodity during the flowering 



The rhodo- 

 dendron question 



Bcn.son. AnoUier ondiid which seems to have all the de- 

 6iral)K' features for popular favor and for prefennent 

 by tlio artii^tic llower worker is our old friend Deiidro- 

 liiuni Wardiiinuni but it invariably falls short in esti- 

 mation of the buyer and stands around on tlie tables 

 of iJic wholesale dealer unsought and unappreciated 

 while other inferior things are snapped up with avidity. 

 Why this is so we are at a loss to explain. Can some- 

 body etilighten us? 



The comments in this issue by 

 !■;. II. Wilson on our notes of last 

 week concerning Uie effect of the 

 past season upon the rhododendrons 

 is an interesting contribution to a subject which thus 

 far seems to be little understood — the old question of the 

 why and wherefore of the varying behaviour of plants 

 in difTerent localities and of the same plants in 

 different j[ears, about which everybody would be 

 l»lcascd to learn more. The rhododendrons upon 

 which was based our favorable report of their con- 

 dition at the present time, are located a few miles 

 out on the north side of Boston while those of which 

 Mr. W'ilson writes so disconsolately are about the same 

 distance away on the south side. It is possible that 

 another year the spring verdict as between these two 

 plantations may be completely reversed and the advant- 

 age lie wholly with those which have fared so badly this 

 year. Who can say? The explanation of tlie case under 

 consideration as given in the Arnold Arboretimi notes 

 which also appear in this issue seems to lack plausibility, 

 for the Arboretum rhododendrons are planted at the base 

 of a high hill with a never-failing brook rimning in 

 close proximity, while the plants that have gone through 

 satisfactorily, less tlian a dozen miles away, are on high 

 and very dry ground and in what is considered a very 

 unfavorable exposure. We are very sorry to find so well 

 informed and usually optimistic an authority as Mr. 

 Wilson expressing convictions so discouraging in tone 

 as he here declares concerning the noblest of all our 

 garden shrubs. Before definitely crossing them off 

 the list of desirables, effort should be made to ascertain 

 more certainly the immediate causes that underlie their 

 failure or their success under varying conditions from 

 year to year. Thus far most of the conclusions appear to 

 be based upon suppositions and probabilities that seem 

 to fit the partic\ilar occasion. 



Changes in values as represented by 

 selling prices are as old as trading. 

 Aside from combinations to maintain 

 specified rates or reckless selling with- 

 out regard to cost or loss, changes in market values are, 

 as a rule, directly due to the relative conditions of supply 

 and demand. When supply falls short of the demand — 

 a condition fonnerly frequent but now very rare in the 

 flower trade — then values soar. Wlien supply exceeds 

 the demand — be it at ordinary times or at the biggest 

 floral holiday in the year — values go down, irresistible 

 and uncontrollably. In the first-named instance the 

 buyer is sure to register a prompt protest. In the latter, 

 the producer is the remonstrant. Each condition has 

 its good side and in each somebody benefits. Unfortu- 

 nately for the flower producer a fixed estimate of cost 

 of any particular item is practically out of the question 

 and consequently a standard of value based simply on 

 custom heretofore, carries little weight. The maximum 

 price of certain flowers, for example, at the present time 



What are 

 "cut prices?" 



