September 29, 1906 



of School Gardens," and supplying 

 facilities in connection with many- 

 schools for intelligent gardening in 

 struction. It was a great sishl to see, 

 last October, the children ar organized 

 garden work, under Miss Miller, the 

 curator, at one of the schools. The 

 home gardens there are even more 

 important, and they have simply re- 

 generated parts of that great city. In 

 1904 over 237.0U0 seed packets and 

 bulbs were disposed of, at one cent 

 each, by the Cleveland Homo Garden- 

 ing Association. Think what an ex- 

 tension of this over the country would 

 mean in its infleuence on the present 

 and future prosperity of your business, 

 independent entirely of its influence 

 on your taxes and the citizenship of 

 your home cities! 



A single Washington seedsman sold 

 125.000 one-cent packets last year. In 

 Boston and in Kansas City very large 

 quantities were also disposed of, and 

 there are those in this audience who 

 could add largely to the list, I know. 

 It may have been already noted that 

 there is no suggestion that seeds be 

 given away in this work with home, 

 school or children's gardens. The 

 earliest efforts in this line promptly 

 proved that that which costs nothing 

 is worth, in its ultimate effect, just 

 about aa much. Therefore, all proper- 

 ly organized movements now exact a 

 minimum charge of one cent per 

 packet, which is suiiicient, for the 

 standard seeds used, to make the han- 

 dling self-supporting. Investigation 

 also proves that only these efforts 

 have succeeded that are carefully or- 

 ganized, so that the initial work of 

 preparing the ground and sowing the 

 seed is followed up patiently and per- 

 sistently throughout the growing 

 season. 



I have thus hinted only, without giv- 

 ing details, at a possibility which con- 

 nects proper civic interest for seeds- 

 men with a great business propaganda. 

 If every member of the American 

 Seed Trade Association would under- 

 take to foster in his own community 

 this simple garden school idea, and 

 would give it half as much attention 

 as many of us devote to partisan poli- 

 tics, a distinct improvement would 

 rapidly proceed, and the extended use 

 of seeds would be greatly fostered. 

 Let no one think that this work will 

 interfere with retail sales to an appre- 

 ciable extent. The people who get 

 these penny packets of staple seeds 

 are not regular seed buyers, but they 

 tend to become such, with success. 



The American Civic Association has 

 a department of children's gardens, 

 presided over by a most capable ex- 

 pert. This department is ready to aid 

 those who want to undertake this good 

 work. I am not ashamed to hint that 

 every member of this great organiza- 

 tion of seedsmen could do nothing bet- 

 ter for his home community, his civic 

 conscience and his real business inter- 

 ests than to assume sustaining mem- 

 bership in the American Civic Asso- 

 ciation as a preliminary to beginning 

 organized and active garden school 

 work for 1907. 



HORTICULTURE 



345 



A FINE A-STER. 



W. R. Boody has leased a tract of 

 land in York, Me., to which he in- 

 tends to move his greenhouses now 

 located in Northwood. N. H. Mr. 

 Boody located in York last spring and 

 finds there opportunities for a grow- 

 ing business. 



The illustration herewith shows a 

 field of F. A. Conway & Co.'s improved 

 white aster which we have received 



from Indianapolis, where this flower 

 has made a good record this season as 

 a first-class fiorists' variety in every 

 respect. 



CONCERNING EXPRESS RATES. 



The reference in HORTICULTURE 

 and other horticultural papers con- 

 cerning the attitude of the express 

 companies in not showing any disposi- 

 tion to relieve the nursery and florist 

 trade and other shippers of the ap- 

 parently excessive and onerous ex- 

 press charges, especially for local 

 service, should attract wide attention, 

 and call for effective action by every 

 man having his own affairs as well as 

 the business of the country at heart. 



While competition is forcing plant- 

 ing material and its products to closer 

 prices, the express companies now in 

 a position of overbearing monopoly, 

 demand and collect these burdensome 

 and increased charges, with a result, 

 that while the prices of the nursery- 

 men and florists are being forced oown, 

 the stocks and securities of the ex- 

 press companies, based on the enor- 

 mously increased earnings, are by 

 leaps and bounds advancing. The 

 recent contest between the manage- 

 ment, and the minority stockholders 

 of the Wells Fargo Company, demand- 

 ing an increase in the dividend to 12 

 or 16 per cent, and bringing out in this 

 discussion, the fact as to the enor- 

 mous surplus of millions of dollars 

 already accumulated by the express 

 company over and above the S per cent, 

 dividends hertofore paid on a largely 

 inflated or watered capital, indicates 

 the need of action by the public to 

 protect itself from the excessive 

 charges noted 



The condition was perhaps well de- 

 scribed in a statement accredited to 

 Mr. John Wanamaker, based upon his 

 practical experience as Postmaster 

 General, viz: that "there are four 

 reasons why the demand of the people 

 for postal reform and a proper reduc- 

 tion in the parcel postal rates on third 

 and fourth class mail matter have not 

 been complied with. 



"The first reason is the Adams Ex- 

 press Company. 



"The second reason is the American 

 Express Company. 



"The third reason is the United States 

 Express Company, and the fourth 

 reason is the Wells Fargo Express 

 Company." This quotation may not 

 be exact, but it gives in substance the 

 view accredited to former Postmaster 

 General Wanamaker. 



In the present awakening for bet- 

 ter civic and legislative conditions, if 

 every nurseryman and florist would. 

 nn the assembling of Congress see or 

 write a forceful letter to his repre- 

 sentative in Congress, and to the 

 senator from his State, and this plan 

 should be generally followed, there 

 would soon be relief, notwithstanding 

 the opposition of the interested 

 corporations. 



NEWS NOTES. 



Meyers Bros., florists, were among 

 the losers in the recent collapse of the 

 McClain building, 11th av. and 14th 

 street, Martinsburg, Pa. 



R. N. Burt of the Goshen Floral Co., 

 Goshen, Ind., has purchased the stock 

 and greenhouse of A. J. Santschi. and 

 will move them to West Pike street. 



R. Engelman & Son, of Pittsfleld, 

 Mass., have purchased five acres of 

 land for planting purposes. They in- 

 tind to build several large greenhouses 

 in the spring and extend their whole- 

 sale business. 



The McRoberts greenhouses at Gov- 

 anstown have been leased by the man- 

 agers of The Fernery, Baltimore, Md. 



A. C. Jennings, formerly connected 

 with the T. Eaton Co.. has opened a 

 new flower store at 123 W. King St, 

 Toronto. Canada. 



