May 1, 1915 



HOETICULTURE 



587 



in all the wholesale markets, would have been pro- 

 nounced positively ruinous by the grower of similar 

 goods a dozen years ago. In the next decade changes 

 of equal import are to be expected and the man who 

 would undertake to hold out against this inevitable 

 movement would surely go broke just as would one who, 

 during the past season, would have refused to part with 

 his roses, violets or other production unless he got the 

 jirice that prevailed ten years ago. In the traffic in 

 perishable goods, the cost price of production of which 

 not being in evidence and the supply excessive, the 

 tirades against "cut prices" which are put forth at 

 such times are as illogical as they are useless. The 

 remedy against these depreciations is to be found, 

 if found at all, in an enlarged market and increased 

 •steady demand and any movement which tends to 

 that end should have a hearty and persistent support 

 from every man who has an interest in maintaining 

 values. 



Winter Damage to Rhododendrons 



Editor HOKTICULTUEE. 



Dear Sir: — In an editorial in your last week's issue 

 entitled "A very considerate winter" you state that 

 "rhododendrons have come through the winter in first- 

 class condition — flower buds are unscathed and a glor- 

 ious display of flowers is assured for early June." I 

 presume, since you do not remark to the contrary, that 

 this statement has reference to evergreen rhododendrons 

 on an estate (or estates) somewhere in the vicinity of 

 Boston, Mass. If this assumption is correct, permit 

 me. Sir, to say that the owner (or owners) should con- 

 sider himself (or themselves) fortunate. From what I 

 have seen and from the reports that have reached me, 

 this satisfactory state of affairs is very far from being 

 general in this neighborhood. In the Arnold Arboretum 

 this class of rhododendrons has suffered severely. Varie- 

 ties that have withstood the rigors of twenty and more 

 previous! winters have succumbed. At Lancaster, Mass., 

 Wellesley and other places, the same disastrous condi- 

 tions obtain. In the Arnold Arboretum, conifers of all 

 kinds have wintered well, but on neighboring estates the 

 death roll among Arbor-vitae and even the native White 

 Pine is very heavy. 



Since the winter has been an extraordinary mild one, 

 it cannot reasonably be claimed that low temperatui'e 

 has been the cause. The bright sunshine during the 

 closing days of February and through March combined 

 with the total absence of precipitation, must, I am con- 

 vinced, be held responsible. Kipling, in one of his 

 poems, warns the newly arrived soldier in tropics that: 



"The worst o' your foes is the sun over'ead: 

 You must wear your 'elmot for all that is said: 

 If 'e finds you uncovered 'e'll knock you down dead, 

 An' you'll die like a fool of a soldier." 



This applies forcibly to broad-leaved evergreens in 



New England. It is ihe sun overhead in March that 

 iaiocks them down dead ! The bright sunlight causes 

 rapid transpiration (i. e., loss of water from the leaves) 

 and the ground beinu' still frozen the roots are perforce 

 inactive and cannot make good this loss and the cells 

 of the leaves collapse. The effect is the same as if the 

 plants had been submitted to a fierce scorching blast. 



The race of hybrid rhododendrons at present available 

 cannot be relied upon to withstand tlie rigors and 

 vagaries of New England winters, and unless hybridists 

 can evolve tougher kinds there is a danger of these 

 rhododendrons, the noblest of all broad-leaved ever- 

 greens, falling into general disfavor as subjects for out- 

 door culture in New England. 



\rnolil Arhorctuiii , Jamaica Plain, Mass. 



Culture of Drug and Dye Plants 



Editor Horticulture. 



Dear Sir: — Tlie present practical exclusion from 

 American markets of drugs and dyes derived from 

 plants grown in central Europe, caused by war condi- 

 tions, is a difficult economic situation, and one that has 

 been much discussed. 



At a recent meeting of the Board of Managers of the 

 New York Botanical Garden, this important topic was 

 considered and the Scientific Directors of the Garden 

 were requested to prepare a report upon it, sucli report 

 to include an enumeration and account of the plants 

 yielding the drugs and dyes derived mainly from the 

 Old World, which would probably be susceptible of cul- 

 tivation on a commercial scale within the United States. 

 This report is being prepared and will be submitted at 

 a subsequent meeting, after which it may be given to 

 the public. It was suggested that in all schedules for 

 exliibits and prizes at agricultural and horticultural ex- 

 liibitions, shows and fairs, provision be made for entries 

 of drug and dye plants and their products, as a means 

 of stimulating interest in this topic, and disseminatLng 

 information and bringing it into general public notice. 

 It was also suggested that many persons owning country 

 estates would probably be willing to cultivate plots of 

 from one quarter of an acre upward, of drug or dye 

 plants, and report upon the results. This suggestion 

 has already been taken up by several persons. 



yt. A /.^. 



.^^l-U^ 



Director-in-Ohief. 



BOOM YOUR BUSINESS 



hy advertising your goods m the 



Horticiuilt 



Hire 



Publicity among the kind of readers reached 

 by this paper is THE SORT- OF PUBLI- 

 CITY THAT PAYS. 



