December 15, 1906 



HORTICULTURE. 



667 



AFTER ADJOURNMENT. 

 Didn't get round to fixing up an 

 adv. for the special number of HORTI- 

 CULTURE? Too busy? B'orgot it till 

 too late? Well, that's unfortunate, 

 but— there is yet time and next week 

 is your best chance because there is 

 always new business for the adver- 

 tiser who is first on the spot. Think 

 it over and you'll conclude we're 

 right. 



We read in our English exchanges 

 of a new invention called a "Tilting 

 Plant Holder," described as an iron 

 ring to hold a flowerpot, springing 

 from a curved arm on a firm support, 

 the holder is adjustable to any desired 

 height or curve, and intended to aid 

 in the satisfactory arrangement of 

 pot-plants at exhibitions or in c-on- 

 servatories by enabling them to be 

 fixed in almost any required position. 

 A contrivance similar to this has been 

 on sale by our florists' supply dealers 

 for "lo, these many years." 



If we may believe the newspaper 

 accounts, the Agricultural Department 

 at Washington has been deeply en- 

 grossed in the weighty responsibilities 

 of selecting appropriate names for the 

 various seedling chrysanthemums 

 which it has been permitting the pub- 

 lic to look at. Among the many more 

 or less appropriate titles suggested by 

 the friends of the puzzled Department 

 were "Tammany" for a white bloom 

 of great purity and "William Ran- 

 dolph Hearst" for a small yeilow 

 variety shaped much like a lemon. 

 It is too bad to pile this great burden 

 on top of all the free seed trouble but 

 we are glad to see that the Depart- 

 ment is doing its best to conscien- 

 tiously discharge the great duty which 

 has devolved upon it. 



Oceans of comment on the Niagara 

 question have flooded us the past week. 

 One of the most temperate and 

 thoughtful reviews of Secretary Taft's 

 attitude appears in the Philadelphia 

 Record of November 28th and sizes 

 the matter up so judiciously that we 

 reprint it below. In passing it is grat- 

 ifying to record our high appreciation 

 of the dignified attitude of J. Horace 

 McFarland under the trying ordeal of 

 the secretary's contempt. 



POPULAR SENTIMEN-r AND NIAGARA 

 FALLS. 



Secretary Taft's admittedly Impatitoi 

 interruption of the argument of the presi- 

 dent of the American civic Association 

 against the diversion of any additonal 

 volume of water by tl'.e power companies 

 from Niagara Falls is an indication that 

 "hysterics" are not pe<ull;ir to sentimen- 

 talists, Init that hard-liradrcl department 

 chiefs may sometimes be afflicted In like 

 manner. 



The representative of the Engineer 

 Corps of the army. who. under the In- 

 struction of the War Uepartraent. inter- 

 rogated the power companies as to the 

 quantity of water that would have to be 

 withdrawn from the river above the Falls 

 In order to assure the companies an ade- 

 quate return on their Investment Is not 

 to be criticized for performin>^ his duty. 

 President McFarland had no occasion for 

 "feeling a little bit nervous" because the 

 department had gone so deeply into the 

 economic side of the question; that side 

 as well as the sentimental aspect is to 

 be considered. But when Secretary Taft 

 remarked that "he could not see what 

 popular sentiment had to do with the con- 

 struction of an act of Congress." was he 

 not himself just a little bit hysterical? 



"The act was passed in d'*fercnce to a 

 strong popular sentiment. Its prime pur- 

 pose Is the preservation of the s'renic beau- 

 ties of the Falls: and that purpose Is sev- 

 eral times expressed therein. It empowers 



the Secretary of War to Issue revocable 

 permits for the diversion of a quantltv of 

 water not to exceed 15.CO0 cubic feet" per 

 seeond: but the privileges of the power 

 companies are to be strictly subordinated 

 to the main object of the law. The diver- 

 sion must not be greater that the quan- 

 tity stated, nor may the Secritarv grant 

 permits up to the limit If the beauty of 

 the Falls as a spectacle should be Im- 

 paired thereby. If only 10,000 or 8000 or 

 6000 cubic feet per second can be diverted 

 without marring the scenic eCEeet, per- 

 mits to withdraw larger quantities mav 

 not he granted. If this should involve an 

 invasion of rights already acquired or the 

 disturbance of "vested Interests" It Is 

 more than probable that public opinion 

 would favor the most liberal compensation 

 of the parties dispossessed rather than per- 

 mit any diminution of the spectacular 

 grandeur of Niagara. So much has senti- 

 ment to do with the construction of the 

 act. 



TRADE VS. CIVIC IMPROVEMENT 

 SOCIETY. 



Editor of HORTICULTURE: 



Dear Sir:— I beg to differ with .\lr. 

 Watson on the subject of Trade vs. 

 Civic Improvement Societies. In your 

 issue of December 1st he says the 

 trade of florists' clubs can do little to 

 help along the taste for ornamental 

 gardening, but as individuals they 

 should become members of the local 

 civic improvement society. This ;s 

 good advice and should be followed by 

 everyone interested in more beautiful 

 gardens for the people. But do not 

 stop here. The members of the 

 florists' clubs are generally well 

 qualified, some more so than members 

 of the civic improvement societies, to 

 impart knowledge on the subject of 

 ornamental gardening, and I feel sure 

 ( from the experience of the local club 

 here) if the florists' clubs of the vari- 

 ous cities will inaugurate a series of 

 free illustrated lectures on the sub- 

 ject, the lecturer being a man well 

 linown as an autliority on the sub- 

 ject, (and what florist club has not 

 one or more such men amongst its 

 members?) they will have a large and 

 interested attendance. Most town and 

 city governments will gladly provide 

 suitable halls free of cost for such a 

 purpose. Another line of action for 

 the florists' clubs to enhance love for 

 gardening, is to offer medals for plants 

 or flowers raised by the school chil- 

 dren. This is where the foundation 

 should be laid; start with the child 

 and you have learned the man. The 

 results will not be apparent at first, 

 but they are sure to come in time, by 

 a greater love for plants, flowers, and 

 more lieatUiful home surroundings. 



In the spring of this year the 

 Florists' Club of Washington, D. C, 

 offered through the Board of Educa- 

 tion a gold and a silver medal for the 

 best garden surrounding the schools 

 of the District of Columbia, the gar- 

 dens to be cared for by the school 

 children under instruction from the 

 teachers. This created great rivalry 

 amongst the schools and the children 

 with very gratifying results to the 

 florists' club, and no doubt of lasting 

 benefit to the children, for they have 

 learned to plant the seeds and care 

 for the plants until they reached 

 maturity. 



Another line that is very much 

 neglected by florists and gardeners of 

 America in preparing schedules for 

 flower shows, is, that the true ama- 



teurs, or what is termed in Great 

 Britain, cottagers, are entirely left out. 

 I am sure it would prove of lasting 

 benefit to the florists as well as the 

 (ountry at large if we could get the 

 amateur more interested in the grow- 

 ing of flowers and plants; offer prizes 

 for ferns, geraniums, rubber-plants, 

 palms and such plants that have been 

 growing in the homes of the people 

 for a stated period, advertising the 

 same freely in the daily papers; very 

 soon more interest would be taken in 

 flowers and plants, and from house 

 plants and flowers it is an easy step 

 to more beautiful gardens. It is time 

 for our florists' clubs to take a broader 

 view of this subject, and to launch 

 out from the narrow confines of trade 

 bands into the broader and more use- 

 ful lines of the horticultural societies. 

 If the constitution will not permit of 

 this widening, the sooner it is re- 

 vised the better, so as to admit to 

 membership all interested in growing 

 plants, be he fiorist, gardener, or 

 amateur; the better it will be for the 

 club and the city where it is located. 

 PETER BISSET. 



NEWPORT NOTES. 



Mr. Wm. B. Leeds has purchased 

 Rough Point, the Newport estate of 

 Fred W. Vanderbilt. This is one of 

 the most desirable places in Newport. 

 The work of laying out and planting 

 the grounds was originally done under 

 the supervision of the late Frederick 

 Law Olmsted; since then Robert Hun- 

 nick, who assumed the position of gar- 

 dener there .'•hortly after its purchase 

 by Mr. Vanderbilt, has accomplished a 

 great deal. 



O. H. P. Belmont is having plans 

 prepared for extensive alterations and 

 improvements to his residence and 

 grounds, which include the construc- 

 tion of an Italian garden and a new 

 entrance ro:'d from Bellevue avenue. 

 Frederick W. Kelsey of New York 

 has been commissioned to plant a great 

 number of willows on exposed places 

 on the estate. 



In the municipal election recently 

 held in Newport tliere were numerous 

 aspirants for office among the frater- 

 nity; on the whole they fared fairly 

 weil. Among those elected from dif- 

 ferent wards were Thomas and Joseph 

 Gibson from the second, Patrick F. 

 Reynolds from the fourth. James J. 

 Sullivan and Dennis Leary from the 

 solid fifth. Mr. Sullivan is gardener for 

 Mrs. Ogden Goelet whose son, Robert 

 Goelet, run on the municipal associa- 

 tion ticket for representative in the 

 fourth ward. He did not get elected. 

 Comment unnecessary. 



Many readers of HORTICULTURE 

 are exceedingly anxious for the ap- 

 pearance of the next issue to see what 

 Robert McGorum will have to say In 

 response to the outburst of George C. 

 Watson. The common impression is 

 that Mr. McGorum will have something 

 very interesting to say to his friend 

 Mr. Watson. 



Any doubt which may have been en- 

 tertained as to the carrying qualities 

 of .Vdiantum pedatum will be set at 

 rest by the fact that a package of plants 

 of this useful fern which A. Mittlng 

 is advertising in HORTICULTURE ar- 

 rived at Dreer's, Philadelphia, in good 

 condition, after the trip across the con- 

 tinent from Santa Cruz, California. 



