July 12, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



31 



THE WORTH OF THE SHOWS. 



Ten years ago when I started Hill- 

 crest Farm I was given a bit of advice 

 by one of our leading florists which I 

 did not follow — to put my farm into 

 the hands of some competent gardener 

 for five years and after myself spend- 

 ing that time in sauntering abroad to 

 return to find my gardens made. That 

 advice was not and will not be fol- 

 lowed at Hillcrest. For I want the 

 fun of reading the catalogues in win- 

 ter, of watching the buds start out on 

 the new shrubs in the spring, and of 

 attending the flower shows in the 

 summer, where I learn who is grow- 

 ing better strawberries than we are at 

 Hillcrest, who has their roses fresher 

 for the exhibition or perhaps there is 

 some perennial or fruit which we have 

 not yet grown at Hillcrest. 



From Stillman in Westerly, Rhode 

 Island, we have grown some beautiful 

 cactus dahlias, but last summer in 

 Horticultural Hall we saw the Lily 

 Grand grown by Thomas Murphy of 

 Peabody which excelled in size and 

 beauty any white one in our garden. 

 So, of course, we wanted it and are 

 eagerly waiting for it to blossom. It 

 was at the Horticultural Show that I 

 learned there was a perennial aster 

 which blossoms in June. It is now 

 growing in my garden. Mr. Wilson 

 has wandered through Korea and 

 Japan for the beauty of my garden. 

 Some of his plants have come to me 

 through Mr. Farquhar's catalogue, oth- 

 ers through the kindness of Professor 

 Sargent and Mr. Vandervort of the Ar- 

 nold Arboretum. The first time I met 

 Mr. Wilson I almost overwhelmed 

 him by my enthusiasm for it was 

 through his wanderings that the beau- 

 tiful Montana Rubens clematis had 

 blossomed so wonderfully in my gar- 

 den that spring. 



We cannot all go to Korea, and the 

 memory I brought back from Japan 

 was of fences hung with golden rice 

 zigzagging over the fields, of dramatic 

 scenes in which the actors were made 

 of living chrysanthemum plants, of 

 pine trees drooping their dark green 

 boughs over the gray walls around 

 the Mikado's palace in Tokyo — a wall 

 which suggested our own fruit wall in 

 front of tall white pines at Hillcrest. 

 We cannot all wander through China 

 and Japan, but if the public wants 

 to know about flowers, wants to grow 

 the old ones and the new in their gar- 

 dens by frequenting the horticultural 



shows they will find not only the flow- 

 ers but the men who know how to 

 grow them. 



At half past eight on the days of the 

 shows I start for the farm where my 

 car is filled with the flowers, fruits 

 and vegetables we are to show that 

 day. Then Mr. Mezit, who has charge 

 of growing our vegetables and fruit 

 trees, or Mr. Allen, who is starting 

 what is going to be one of the best 

 preserves of wild flowers in New Eng- 

 land, goes with me to Boston, where 

 we have a busy time at Horticultural 

 Hall till twelve o'clock, when all must 

 he labelled and in order for the show. 

 There I learn whether I made a mis- 

 take in keeping control of my farm if 

 I want it to grow all that can be grown 

 in vegetables, fruit, berries and flowers 

 in New England. Also I learn what 

 is being done on other farms and gar- 

 dens. 



The Horticultural Society is one of 

 the oldest institutions in Boston. For 

 generations my family has been in- 

 terested in it. It is my duty as well 

 as my privilege to give it my support. 

 We are all proud of its records. Yet 

 these last few years for various rea- 

 sons, its exhibitions have not been as 

 good as formerly. For these last five 

 years I have seldom missed an exhi- 

 bition. I have watched the people at 

 those shows, people coming from hot 

 crowded homes where they struggled 

 to keep a geranium alive, children 

 bringing younger children with them 

 for they had found a sunny place on a 

 roof where they were growing a few 

 vegetables and flowers. These memo- 

 ries are of days before this world's 

 war was fought in Flanders and in 

 France, not only that those countries 

 might be free from the oppression of 

 Germany, but that a greater democ- 

 racy might prevail throughout the 

 world. We are going through the hard 

 days of reconstruction, days difficult 

 for both labor and for capital, days in 

 which there has been such a demand 

 for the raising of food that there has 

 never been a greater opportunity for 

 our horticultural societies to show 

 what they can do. Yes, it is harder 

 to have the land well filled today 

 when we have to pay over three dol- 

 lars a day for our labor, than it was 

 when we could get good help for a 

 dollar and a quarter a day, but let us 

 give the men who raise their own flow- 

 ers and vegetables an opportunity to 

 help us. They have worked hard to 



improve their strawberries, to bring 

 their roses to perfection. Let us open 

 the doors of Horticultural Hall to them 

 every Saturday through the summer 

 that they may bring their choicest 

 blossoms to us that we may show them 

 our best fruit and flowers in the feel- 

 ing of mutual co-operation, in the 

 spirit of democracy for which our 

 young men have laid down their lives 

 for. 



"The holy supper is kept indeed; 

 In what we share with another's need, 

 Not what we give, but what we share, 

 For the gift without the giver is bare; 

 Who gives himself with his alms feeds 



three. 

 Himself, his hungering neighbor and 



me." 



M. R. Case. 

 Hillcrest Farm, July 2, 1919. 



WHEN TO SOW GRASS SEED TO 

 INSURE A GOOD TURF. 



Beyond a doubt, as has been proven, 

 late August, all of September, and 

 early October, are the best months (in 

 the latitude of Philadelphia, at least) 

 for the sowing of grass seeds, for any 

 purpose whatsoever. Particularly Is 

 this true in the formation of putting 

 greens and fairways. 



The idea that the spring months 

 only are suitable is rapidly being 

 supeseded by the newer practice, 

 which is, and has been, working out 

 very well. 



Probably the chief good reasons, if 

 there are no others, for late summer 

 and autumn sowing, are the facts that 

 the nights are cooler — and there is a 

 certain amount of natural moisture 

 furnished by heavy dews if there are 

 no rains. Further, the growth of 

 weeds and other undesirable plants is 

 practically over at that season, which 

 is an important factor in the elimina- 

 tion of a poor turf. Again, the spring 

 months are busy times for all other 

 kinds of work, and it is not always 

 possible to devote the care to prepar- 

 ing the ground for putting down a per- 

 manent grass, which is available later 

 on. 



Most of the large undertakings now 

 for grass seed sowing are done at the 

 time recommended above. It is fre- 

 quently thought that the approaching 

 winter has a serious effect upon the 

 young grass, but as a matter of fact, 

 this is not generally so. The more 

 snow we have, the better. 



Grass established in the late sum- 



