472 



HORTICULTURE 



October 9, 1915 



horticulture: 



VOL. XXII 



OCTOBER 9, 1915 



NO. IS 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 147 Summer Street, Boston, Mass. 



Telephone, Oxford 292. 

 WM. J. STEWART, Editor and Managrer. 



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CONTENTS P*e« 



COVER ILLUSTRATION— The Vincent Dahlia Show 

 NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— Migno- 

 nette — Double Tulips for Easter — Ericas — Lilium 

 longlflorum — Phlox — Temperature — John J. M. 



Farrell 469 



PERENNIAL DELPHINIUMS— .ffttfteri M. Canning.. 470 

 ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS— Asparagus and 

 Smilax — Mildew — Cover Crops — Arthur C. Ruzicka.. 471 



HARDY VINES— Illustrated 473 



ASPIDISTRA— a E. Wildon 473 



CLEVELAND FLOWER SHOW 474 



CHICAGO GRAND FLORAL FESTIVAL 474 



GRAND NATIONAL FALL FLOWER SHOW 474 



INTERNATIONAL FLOWER SHOW NEW YORK 474 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES— Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society — New Jersey Floricultural Society — Lan- 

 caster County Florists' Club Dahlia Show — Florists' 

 Club of Philadelphia— New York Florists' Club — Club 



and Society Notes 476 



SEED TRADE 478 



OP INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



New Flower Stores 480 



Flowers by Telegraph 481 



NEWS ITEMS FROM EVERYWHERE: 



Chicago, New York, Boston, Washington, San Fran- 

 cisco, Providence, R. 1 482 



Philadelphia, Pittsburgh 483 



OBITUARY— Matthew Macnair, Portrait 483 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Phil- 

 adelphia 485 



San Francisco, St. Louis, Washington 487 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Catalogues Received — Publication Received 478 



Fertile Holland 478 



University of Illinois 478 



News Notes 480-483-492 



Business Troubles 480 



Visitors' Register 481 



New Corporations 483 



During Recess 487 



Personal 487 



The Vincent Dahlia Show, Illustration 487 



A Modern Built Bulb House— Illustrated 492 



Massachusetts Agricultural College Notes 493 



Patents Granted 493 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 493 



Are the "good times" really here once 

 "Good Times" more? It seems almost t(X) good to 



be true. The improved tone of the 

 flower market reports from practically all sections is 

 very pleasing. The period of depression has been a 

 long one, particularly in the eastern part of the conn- 



try, and very dispiriting has been the tardy coming of 

 the longed-for revival. Just to what extent the dis- 

 appearance of the outdoor flowers and light cut of the 

 indoor product at the present moment is responsible for 

 the better conditions we can only conjecture but the 

 liopeful activity which seems to be developing in all the 

 commercial centres, in every line of trade, should and 

 probably will include all the hortictdtural industries 

 in its refreshing influence. Horticulture hopes to see 

 tlie flower people — growers and dealers, and those in all 

 related lines come now into the enjo3rment of a season 

 of uninterrupted prosperity. 



Flower growers for the wholesale markets 



Ways and ^ill now be considering the ways and 



methods means for disposing of their products to 



the best advantage during the coming 

 season. Each has the right to conduct his business in 

 such manner as pleases him best but we have always 

 regarded the custom of a certain class of growers of 

 shifting repeatedly during the season from one whole- 

 sale house to another for the purpose of playing the 

 wholesale men against one another in the hope of ex- 

 tracting from them larger returns, as an unfortunate 

 thing for the business, in which, however, not all the 

 wholesalei-s themselves are entirely blameless. Any 

 course which tends to stability and harmony now will 

 help all around, and all should work hand in hand to 

 place the business, as a whole, upon a more substantial 

 basis than ever before. A long step to that end would 

 be a closer personal relationship and acquaintance 

 between growers, wholesalers and retailers in the same 

 community. Their interests are closely interlocked and 

 wliat makes for real permanent welfare for one makes 

 for the prosperity of all. 



After attending a few of the dahlia exhibi- 



Dahlla tions this season one flnds it increasingly 



progress clifficult to distinguish between the various 



classes as hitherto defined. Even the ex- 

 |ieii iinds it next to impossible to draw the line between 

 '"decorative" and "peony flowered" as represented by 

 the new varieties constantly coming forward. We 

 understand tlie Dahlia Society proposes to tackle this 

 class jjroblem, among its other ambitious aims, and see 

 if something cannot be done to segregate the varieties 

 under such distinguishing characteristics that the 

 puzzling problems which judges and others have had 

 to contend with will be eliminated. Our present sys- 

 tem of classification is largely an inheritance from the 

 time when regularity of outline, arrangement of petals, 

 etc., was the supreme test by which a variety was ap- 

 proved or condemned — when a pointed petal was re- 

 garded as a fatal blemish and any suggestion of an 

 open centre was almost a crime. The formalists of a 

 generation or more ago would stand aghast could they 

 see what are now regarded as worthy of admiration 

 and honor among dahlias. "The world do move," and 

 insofar as this applies to the dahlia, we think it is 

 moving in the right direction. 



