714 



HORTICULTURE 



May 29, 1915 



horticulture: 



VOU XXI 



MAY 29. 191S 



NO. 22 



rillllSIIKI) WKEKI.Y IIV 



HORTICULTUR.E PUBLISHINO CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 



Tdrplionr, Oxford ^9'^. 

 \VM. J. STKWAKT. Edilur anil Manailrr. 



Sl'BSCRirTION BATES: 



Ob* \r4kr. In ■tltniirr. »1.00; To Torclltn (ounlrlr». »'.'.0O; To 

 I'aiiuila. $1.50. 



ADVERTISING RATES: 



r«r Inch. 30 inrliMi to pncr $1.00 



l>l»roant* »n ( untriM-ln* fur roniirrntUr InKertloOM, kh folluwi: 



Onr month i« llniw). S per crnt.; tllrt* montbs (13 tlmm), 10 

 per rrnt . kIi nionlliti (2« tlnirn). iO p»r crnt.; on* } r»r (S2 tlmr*). 

 $0 per rrnt. 



r*CP anil hair pace aputr, aprclal rkle* on applirutlon. 



EuirrvU u9 MM uua-i lass matter December 8. 1904. at tbe Post Office 

 ■t Boston, Uasa., under tbe Act of Congress of Marcb 3, 1878. 



CONTENTS Page 



COVER ILLUSTUATION— Clethra barbinervis 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— Ani- 

 aoMlises — Cymbidiuius, Illustrated — Planting Dahl- 

 ias — Outdoor Sweet Peas — Violets — John J. M. Far- 

 rcll "13 



CLETHRA BARBINERVIS— A'. H. Wilsoji 715 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE— IV. H. Adsett 715 



CYPRIPEDIUM .MAUDIAE 715 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Lancaster County Florists' 

 Club — Texas State Florists' Association — St. Louis 



Meetings in June 716 



American Rose Society — Club and Society Notes — 

 Coming Events 717 



NURSERY INTERESTS .MENACED 719 



OBITUARY— A. S. Myers — John Krumholz — Mrs. 

 James Conlon — J. F. Zinimerman — Joseph Puring- 

 ton — E. T. Cook — Mrs. Edward J. Welch 720 



SEED TRADE — American Seed Trade Association — 

 Burpee's New Pet — Chicago Notes — Notes 722 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Priie Cutting 724 



Flowers by Telegraph — New Flower Stores 725 



NEWS ITE.MS FROM EVERYWHERE: 



Boston, — Washington, D. C. — Lancaster, Mass. — 



Chicago 726 



San Francisco — Philadelphia 727 



FLOWER .MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston. Bufralo, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York 72!) 



Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Washington. . 731 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Residence of R. Vincent. Jr. — Illustrated 717 



News Notes 717-722 



A Visit to the Arnold Arboretum 720 



Friends of the Trade 720 



New Corporations 720 



Publications Received 721 



Catalogues Received 722 



Visitors' Register 731 



Radium as a Fertilizer : 736 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 736 



Con^idt•rable comment has been 

 Advertising heard and read from time to time 

 and advertising of late on the changing attitude of 

 the retail florists in regard to adver- 

 tising in the local papers and the occasional evidences 

 of enterprise displayed in this direction have been 



wanuly ii|>|iioved und hopefully welcomed by those 

 who, for ii'n.>:ons .selfisli or unselfish, wish to see flori- 

 culuiri' in-ofipfr. l.oiiking over the iidvertisenienls of 

 the Hiislnii tlorii-ts in this wwk's |)n|iers, of which Uicrc 

 are several <>f generous size, liowever. one would be 

 rntlier pu/zled to lind where any advantage to Hori- 

 eiiltui'e is likely l<> accrue, for the greater jtart of the 

 Sluice i.s devoleil In the exploiting of dried and artifical 

 flowers and folinge for Memorial Day. Wliile we may 

 be disjiosed to deplore this state of ufTairs for many 

 reasons, yet we must admit that the retail dealer knows 

 in what direction his largest profit lies and will, in all 

 cases, naturally devote his energies to that field, which 

 moves us to reiterate what we have repeatedly urged, 

 from other view points — to wit, that the flower pro- 

 ducers mu.'-t sooner or later come to realize that they 

 must find other means for securing constructive puh- 

 licitv and creating larger demand for their floral prod- 

 uct than will e\cr lie acijuired through the advertising 

 investments of the retail trade. 



''Colonial nosegays," "old fashioned bou- 

 Nothing to (|uets" — these are names we have seen 

 commend it upplicxl to certain nondescript, crazy- 



(juilt constructions of decapitated flowers 

 which certain of our florists, aided and abetted some- 

 times by occasional trade journal writers and the cor- 

 respondents of daily newspapers who are always eager 

 for something sensational, have been trying to press 

 upon the ])ublic and commend as revivals of an old- 

 time fashiiin and true examples of the standards of 

 ta>te and ingenuity of the florists of half a century ago. 

 The scanty supply of florists' flowers fifty years ago 

 forced the floral artist of that period to practice little 

 economies and expedients to make the most of the 

 meagre stock at his command — things which no true 

 artist then or now would ever do except under com- 

 pulsion of rigorous necessity. In these days of un- 

 limited variety and superabundance these practices are 

 no longer excu.sal)le but — as mutilations of the high- 

 class products of modern horticultural skill — would at 

 best be no credit to the taste or judgment of the work- 

 man Avho indulged in them. Any self-res[)ecting florist 

 should be ashamed to attach his name to such distor- 

 tions as we have seen repeatedly in show windows and 

 exhibitions. 



But there is another angle from which we 

 A lost art inay look at the so-called copies of old- 

 time floral ingenuity above referred to. 

 We would respectfully suggest that the mere cutting of 

 flowers to pieces and crudely crowding the wired frag- 

 ments into a paper bouquet holder may fall far short 

 of being a creditable imitation of the work of the 

 really meritorious bouquet maker of by-gone days, which 

 was accepted and admired by people of refinement. 

 Thus far, indeed, we must say that none of the ex- 

 amples of this new fad which have come to our notice 

 since it was sprung upon the public — some of them, 

 too, bearing the names of florists more than locally 

 knomi — have in any instance truthfully represented 

 the standard of taste of "our grandmothers' times" or 

 correctly exemplified the floral decorative art of the 

 old-time formal bouquet makers who catered to any 

 critical or discriminating trade. The experts in the 

 construction of these complex mosaics had many crude 

 imitators in their day. but few rivals, and when they 

 went out their art with all its studied primness and 

 patient elaboration went with them. Don't waste your 

 time tr\'ing to revive it. "It can't be done." 



