HORTICULTURE 



July 5, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



Established by William J. Stewart In 1004 



VOL. XXX 



JULY 5, 1919 



NO. 1 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 

 Telephone 1 <>rt Hill 3«"J4 



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Entered as second-class matter December 8, 19(M, at the Post Offlee 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1879. 



It is a point worth bearing in mind that 

 Fal1 nearly all the most important varieties of 

 lawn grasses for lawns, golf courses and park seed- 

 seeding inn- are in short supply. Thai means that 

 gardeners and other buyers will need to place 

 their orders early if they arc to do any seeding the coming 

 fall. In recent years an increasing number of experts has 

 come to realize the advantages of fall sowing. August 

 and September are often among the best months of the 

 year for lawn making, and as this kind of work was 

 largely neglected during the war, it is probable that it 

 will be taken up with renewed vigor this season. 



It is worthy of note that the conventions so 



Outlook far held this season have shown that all the 



f° r horticultural interests of the country are 



flowers coming back strong, now that the war is 



over. The demand for flowers seems to have 

 been increased rather than diminished by war-time con- 

 ditions. This has surprised some people, but the truth 

 is that flowers proved to be one of the best antidotes, of 

 the war horror. Flowers brought dying soldiers back to 

 life. They soothed the sufferings of the wounded and 

 assuaged the grief of those in distress. Soldiers abroad 

 learned the love of flowers which characterize the people 

 of Europe. When they came hack they cave more at- 

 tention to the flowers of the homeland than ever before. 

 All this has been reflected in the prosperity of flower 

 growers and retail dealers. The demand for nursery 

 stock has proved far greater than expected. It has been 

 difficult, for some time to I'm plants of garden roses, ex- 

 cept in a few varieties. Many plantsmen have sold di- 

 rect to the public instead of to the trade. There has 

 been a tremendous call for gladioli and dahlias. Flower 

 boxes are coming back into favor and even the big stores 

 and business bouses are resuming the custom. The one 

 thing that is calling considerable agitation is the prac- 

 tice of department stores in selling cheap plants. This 

 is a matter which will have to be taken up very seriously. 



Fallacious Reasoning 



"FOR A GREAT AMERICAN HnliTK TI,TURE" 



"A More Beautiful and a More Fruitful America Diet 

 ■J ust Ahead 'I'h i 1 I'ublic Looks to the Nurserymen 

 of This Country to Produce It — Interest in 

 American Propagation Already Awaken- 

 ing - Federal Aid Is Assured— Steam 

 On — "Tuo Bells" — Throttlt 

 Open — For America First!" 

 , The above is tin bombastic heading of a four page 

 pamphlet which last week came into my hands as doubt- 

 less it did to those of many others. The pamphlet I find 

 is largely made up of "extracts" from recent issues of the 

 American Nurseryman, Rochester, X. Y.. which extracts 

 with rare exceptions laud Quarantine Xo. 37. Glancing 

 through it casually one gathers that this much discussed 

 measure is the very thing the nurserymen of America 

 have been praying for —that it will boom their business 

 by excluding foreign competition — that it will keep out 

 all plant pests and "should have been done before." 

 Many of the "extracts" are signed but the most careful 

 scrutiny fails to reveal the names of many of the leading 

 nurserymen of the country. Maybe this is an oversight 

 on the part of the compilers of the pamphlet ! Substitu- 

 tion is the nostrum mostly recommended. It is to lie 

 "up to salesmanship of the trade ro see that a demand 

 is created for the changed product." The tastes and 

 desires of the purchaser are not brought into considera- 

 tion. If he can't find what lie wants lie i- to lie cajoled 

 into buying something else. His money is to lie secure, 1 

 come what may. 



One man thinks that geraniums may take the place 

 of azaleas; that pansies may take the place of bulbous 

 stock. Evidently so long as the sales are good nothing 

 else matters. A Minnesota firm thinks that thousands 

 of lilacs will he handled by the American nurserymen. 

 They admit having a good stock of French lilacs on hand 

 — "some three or four thousand in fact, and in our re- 

 tail trade these will last us quite a while, possibly, we 

 think, until some modification of Quarantine Xo. '■',' 

 has been made so that we will be able to import them 

 again from France. If not we will begin to propagate 

 them — budding the different varieties." Obviously they 

 are either optimistic of an early modification of Quar- 

 antine Xo. 37 or their sale of lilacs is not a brisk one. 

 After a careful reading and digestion of its statements 

 I do not find this pamphlet convincing. Quite the con- 

 trary. I find its reasoning fallacious, selfish in spirit 

 and quite opposed to the views of the many nurserymen 

 I have talked with since my return to this county from 

 the Orient some three months ago. If those responsible 

 for this pamphlet imagine that they are going to stock 

 American gardens with such material as that commonly 

 seen in so many American nurseries they are much mis- 

 taken. Garden art in America is advancing and calls 

 for the best of everything the world possesses and it will 

 be satisfied with nothing less. Xeither this pamphleteer, 

 nor the Federal Horticultural Board, nor the American 

 Nurseryman and its proteges are going to dictate what 

 shall and what shall not be grown in American gardens. 

 The common sense, knowledge and tastes of the pro- 

 prietors of these gardens are going to settle this ques- 

 tion. As Quarantine Xo. :;: now stands it is both 

 invidious and ridiculous. All who have the real in- 

 terest of American horticulture at heart should not rest 

 until it is repealed and its place taken by a fair and con- 

 structive measure which will safeguard all interests. 



F. H. WILSON. 



