416 



HORTICULTURE 



October 20, 1906 



HORTICULTURE 



AN ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL 



DEVOTED TO THE 



FLORIST, PLANTSMAN, LANDSCAPE 



GARDENER AND KINDRED 



INTERESTS 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 



n HAMILTON PLACE. BOSTON. MASS. 



T«lephon«, Oxford 292 



WM. J, STEWART, Editor and .^anager 



]t is a satiafaction to soe ail over 

 Befriending this country a growing regard for 

 the shade trees flic street trees and a respect for 

 such local ordinances and laws as 

 have been pa.ssed for their protection. It is to be hoped 

 that stringent legislation may be favored everywhere and 

 that the reckless destruction of these health-giving beau- 

 tifiers of our roadways by railroad, gas and other cor- 

 porations and unfeeling local authorities may now 

 cease. Eternal vigilance is the price of street trees as 

 we have good reason to know from past experience. 

 Public opinion is now headed in the right direction and 

 the courts have shown in nearly every case brought be- 

 fore them that they are the friends of the trees. 



It seems almost incredible that so small a 

 Societies percentage of those depending upon one 

 should be ,„• another branch of horticulture are dis- 

 upheld posed to alligu themselves with the various 

 local, state and national societies, organ- 

 ized and conducted for their direct benefit. In none of 

 these bodies is the cost of membership large enough to 

 impose any serious privation on the most imiiecunious 

 member. That through the weighty influence of united 

 strength much benefit has come to those in whose inter- 

 ests they have been created is apparent to every one. 

 Why not, then, do the manly act and lend a hand for 

 the common good? No self-respecting individual can 

 be satisfied to be forever receiving and never giving. 

 The shabbiest man of all is the one who "don't see that 

 the society (or club) is any use" to him. xVrgument 

 with such is simply wasted effort for his is a case of 

 voluntary blindness, a usually incurable malady. 



It has been our privilege to show, 

 A rapidly develop- jn recent issues of this journal, 

 ing industry illustrations of floral establish- 



ments — wholesale and retail — in 

 size, furnishings, and equipment, far beyond anything 

 hitherto attempted and fully abreast of the most pre- 

 tentious models of long-founded industries. None of 

 the instances tliat come to our mind can be classed in 

 the line of speculative venture or haphazard ostenta- 

 tion, but are based on careful consideration of the pos- 

 sibilities of a rapidly growing business and an intelli- 

 gent foresight as to its future importance, as estimated 



in the light of pest experience. The enterprise dis- 

 played and the faith in the stability of commercial 

 tloriculturo as demonstrated in a growing establishment 

 such as the Waban Eose Conservatories, a wholesale 

 mart such as Welch Bros., or a retail store such as 

 Breitmeyer's, should be a matter of general congratula- 

 tion and pride. Every florist, however obscure be may 

 be today, may liold his head a little higher and push 

 out his chest a trifle farther in the consciousness that 

 lie is in a business which can boast such evidences of 

 growing commercial greatness. 



A recent writer in Hokticulture 

 Again the alluded to the apparent revival of 

 chrysanthemum jmlilic interest in the chrysanthe- 

 mum and the consequently improved 

 prospects for tiiis old favorite as an exhibition feature 

 and a commercial flower. We have, however, never yet 

 in this country attained to anything in commercial 

 chrysanthemum culture to compare with the extent of 

 tliis industry in England as touched upon in our letter 

 from ilr. C. Harraan Payne which appears in this 

 issue. Further, our growers are much more conserv- 

 ative in taking up new varieties. A new claimant must 

 go through quite an ordeal here and must show forth 

 its virtues in unmistakable measure before the average 

 grower will yield. This caution has considerable foun- 

 dation in past experience and, while its observance 

 leaves little of the zest of chance and novelty, yet it is 

 a safe ijrojwsition that one good chrysanthemum 

 which shows distinct advancement, added to the Ust 

 each year, will afford more real satisfaction than a 

 hundred meretricious novelties with ambitious titles but 

 glaring defects. 'J'hat there is room for good additions 

 to the early flowering section is well shown by the con- 

 dition of our cut-flower markets generally during the 

 past two weeks. The dearth of good material to fill in 

 the gap between the last cut of asters and the first cut 

 of chrysanthemums has been felt with more than usual 

 severity this season. It may not be so pronounced 

 another year for it is in part a question of weather and. 

 for some reason, the early chrysanthemums seem to 

 have loitered on the way this year but that the market 

 is in a very receptive mood for sterling additions to the 

 early flowering classes for )ilant as well as cut flower 

 consumption is quite ovideiil. 



Arboretum Notes 



One of the most distinct novelties at the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum is Ailantus Vilmorineana. From a 2-incb plant 

 last spring it has now grown to a height of 5 feet. The 

 leaves are 4 to .5 feet long and produce a fine tropical 

 effect. Its hardiness has not yet been determined, how- 

 ever. Mr. Dawson has a number of young cedars of 

 Lebanon raised from seed gathered in the highest and 

 coldest altitudes at which this tree can be found and is 

 in hopes of securing in this way forms that will be 

 reliably liardy as far north as Boston. 



The true Catalpa Bungei as seen at the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum is a very different tree from the one seen in the 

 gardens and usually sold at nurseries under that name. 

 The latter is only a dwarf form of C. Kaempferi. 



Tamarix Paliasii var. Moladvica is a great advance 

 over the older, well-known tamarix of the gardens. The 

 flowers are finer but its best quality is that it is a 

 continuous bloomer up to the end of the season. This 

 should make it verv valuable to the commercial florist. 



