December 29, 1906 



H O KTI CULTU RE 



CALIFORNIA NOTES. 



A month before San Francisco's 

 epochal event of the year it was noted 

 In HORTICUTUKE that Professor 

 George Compere, a noted entomologist 

 of the State ITniversity, had gone 

 abroad in search of parasites of the 

 red and purple scales, to destroy which 

 by fumigation the citrus growers of 

 the state have been and now are 

 spending more than $250,00(1 annually 

 He returned this week on a .Japanese 

 liner, bringing with him a few thou- 

 sand tiny flies that he found in China 

 at the home of the red and purple 

 scales. These flies are internal para- 

 sites, and from them Compere e.xpects 

 to breed enough to rid the citrus belt 

 of the harmful scales. He also brought 

 with him a collection of ferocious 

 aphis-eating ladybugs for distribution 

 in California orchards. Compere left 

 New York March 1 of this vear and 

 visited France, Spain, Algiers, Italv 

 Australia, China. Ceylon, India and 

 Japan. 



Professor E. J. Wickson, dean of the 

 State College of Horticulture, also re- 

 turned this -week from a trip to Han- 

 ford, California, where he attended the 

 convention of the fruit growers of the 

 state, before whom he read a paper on 

 "The Horticultural Uses of the Uni- 

 versity Farm." His description of the 

 horticultural features that will be cre- 

 ated on the new university farm was 

 as follows: 



First— It will have standard or- 

 chards of all fruits and varieties, a 

 source of material for wise pomolog- 

 ical studies as well as court of last 

 resort for all questions of identifica- 

 tion and nomenclature; also be 

 a source of cuttings and scions neces- 

 sary to test these questions locally 

 whenever issues arise. 



Second — Aside from these standard 

 collections there will be commercial 

 orchards of variety to demonstrate the 

 best methods of handling in actual 

 practice the trees and fruits which 

 they bear. At times each year any one 

 interested can go to the farm to learn 

 pruning, spraying, fumigating, irriga- 

 tion and all other practical arts of cul- 

 ture, and other times when fruit pick- 

 ing, drying, etc.. will be demonstrated. 

 Third— There will be a full outfit of 

 buildings for the different methods of 

 fniit preservation and all operations 

 will be actually performed and taught. 

 Fourth — The growth of vegetables 

 will be undertaken on a commercial 

 basis, both under rainfall and irriga- 

 tion, and variety tests will also be 

 constantly in progress. Forcing opera- 

 tions will be provided for. 



Fifth— Methods of propagation of 

 trees and plants will be constantly 

 pursued for instructional purposes anil 

 as introductory to nursery practice 

 with all classes of growths— ornament- 

 als, fruit trees and forestry plantings. 

 Sixth— Plant protection, to be se- 

 cured by an understanding of the va- 

 rious injurious insects and plant 

 diseases and the best ways to cope 

 with them or to avoid them, will be 

 amply demonstrated and inculcated. 



Seventh — There will be constant re- 

 search and experiment work in po- 

 mology, plant breedin.g. protection 

 from pests and diseases, all of which 

 will constitute horticultural uses of 

 the farm and be effective not only in 

 advanced instruction, but in the pro- 

 motion of horticultural science. 



CRAFT AND CRAFTSMAN. 

 An addio.ss bpfnrc ilio CiiidoTier.s' and Kloi- 

 Ists Club or Uosion, l,y W. 11. Wjmail 

 Some men succeed in every business 

 and every legitimate avocation, while 

 some others do not succeed in those 

 same pursuits, under equally favorable 

 conditions. The difference therefore 

 between success and failure does not 

 necessarily lie in the craft but in the 

 craftsman himself. And it is equal- 

 ly true that no man. however success- 

 ful he may be. or may have been, in 

 one department of our manv sided 

 activities, will succeed equallv'well in 

 every other, or any other. 



It is, then, of the greatest impor- 

 tance, that every man selects for his 

 craft that which he likes, and likes be- 

 cause of his adaptability thereto, it is 

 my good fortune this evening to ad- 

 dress a company of gentlemen who 

 have chosen their craft and are in 

 the earnest pursuit of it. The produc- 

 tion of fruits, vegetables and flowers, 

 the decoration of the home, the lawn 

 and the landscape, is an avocation 

 worthy of the best there is in the best 

 of men. 



Your field is broad— so broad that 

 the man has not yet been born who 

 can say, with any approximation to 

 truthfulness, he has mastered it. This 

 fact alone makes your calling one of 

 peculiar interest to a thoughtful man. 

 Mother Earth is so full of mystery, 

 and delights so often in doing the un- 

 expected, that one is kept ever on the 

 alert. He knows that the unexpected 

 is sure to happen. Then again Nature 

 guards so jealously the citadel to her 

 secrets that only observing mortals 

 are allowed to profit from her. The 

 wisest of men succeed only by the 

 most careful observation and practical, 

 persistent application. Every plant 

 has its own peculiarities, — it will suc- 

 ceed in one soil and will not in an- 

 other. Nothing is more capricious than 

 a living plant, and the higher the order, 

 the more exacting its demands. Hence 

 the soil, the temperature and all the 

 conditions that have to do with the 

 plant, must be reckoned with before the 

 actual work of production has begun. 

 The man who does not carefully con- 

 sider this feature of his problem, 

 acts the part of the man who builds 

 his house upon the sand, without giv- 

 ing due regard to the foundation 

 thereof. Disastrous consequences are 

 sure to follow. 



The time was, when people in gen- 

 eral thought that the boy who was 

 stupid in his books, not capable of 

 making a lawyer, or a doctor, or a 

 minister would do to make a cultivator 

 of the soil. But the time has come 

 when men realize that it takes as good 

 brains to compel nature to give her 

 best, as to do anything else that is 

 worth the doing. It is one thing to 

 cultivate the soil, it is quite another 

 to compel nature to do her best. 

 How much of human history may 

 be connected with the product of 

 a single seed! The little acorn 

 that you thoughtlessly throw in- 

 to the soil may bring forth a plant 

 that shall gi-ow for a hundred years; 

 men may come for generations to it 

 for shelter and protection. It then 

 may have attained such proportions 

 that it will serve as a keel to a great 

 vessel that does business in all the 

 seas, among the nations. 



( To bo continued.) 



CHRISTMAS MARKET REPORTS. 



f' -^ntut'.tii irom page yjrj) 



Christmas business was 

 NEWPORT aheail of last year In 

 hulk and prices. There 

 were good plants offered for sale at a 

 price about twenty per cent higher 

 than was obtained last year, but. of 

 course, as the quality was much supe- 

 rior, the extra cost to purchasers was 

 more apparent than real. Nearly all the 

 choice Christmas plants came from 

 out-of-town growers and the fact that 

 a good demand existed for such stock 

 ought to convince local growers that 

 it they could be induced to grow the 

 like there would be a profit in the 

 business. Lorraine begonias had first 

 call and they were well worthy of it. 

 Begonia Turnford Hall appeared In 

 one or two small lots, but it was well 

 received, and there Is promise of a 

 good future for it; poinsettlas were 

 again favorites. Cyclamens were ex- 

 cellent and sold readily. Azaleas 

 showed up in good condition and were 

 cleared out early. Solanums were in 

 fair condition. Primulas were small but 

 sold fairly well. Ardisias were of l>etter 

 quality than I have seen in many 

 years. Carnations were in good sup- 

 ply. Roses were also good and sold 

 well. There w^ere some excellent Har- 

 risii lilies in; they sold at from $2.00 

 to $3.00 per dozen. 



Christmas trade 

 PHILADELPHIA in Philadelphia 



while good can- 

 not be said to have exceeded the nor- 

 mal. There was no glut and no special 

 scarcity in any line. Orders were 

 filled in nearly every instance more 

 or less satisfactorily. Night work 

 with the wholesale shipping houses on 

 Saturday. Sunday and .Monday was the 

 rule as usual and all are now glad thi' 

 rush is over. Orchids were perhaps 

 the scarcest article on the list. Among 

 the retail houses the briskest demand 

 was on decorated plants and "made- 

 up" baskets with ornamental designs 

 and fixing.s — the rustic and beribboned 

 predominating. In the latter it taxed 

 the resources of most of the dealers 

 to get help enough to do this making- 

 up. They simply had to stop it, and 

 put all hands on the general business. 

 Many novel and elegant basket designs 

 were in evidence. Cyclamens were not 

 as well flowered as usual. Azaleas 

 were fine, as were al.so poinsettlas and 

 dracaenas. We saw no really striking 

 novelty around in the plant line. Ber- 

 ried plants, such as aucubas. skini- 

 mias, hollies, etc., were plentiful and 

 in good demand. 



LOS ANGELES NEWS. 



It appears thai Los .Angeles is \i\M 

 coming to the front with her up-to 

 date flower shops and magnificent dis- 

 plays of chrysanthemums, carnations, 

 roses and other flowers to welcome 

 her winter visitors. 



Several changes and alterations are 

 being made towards its advancement; 

 A. F. Borden, who for several years 

 was manager for the Redondo Floral 

 Co.. has gone into business for him- 

 self and has opened up a first-class 

 floral store on West Third street. 



J. W. Wolfskin has just opened his 

 new store on West Fourth St.. which 

 old time florists say Is the finest this 

 side of Chicago. 



