HORTICULTURE 



Vol. xxx 



JULY 26, 1919 



No. 4 



MORE ABOUT NOVELTIES AND NURSERYMEN 



MR. WILSON'S VIEWS. 



Dear Sir: Under the above caption 

 in Hound i.huk. July 12. ihere ap- 

 pears a letter from Mr. Wyman of the 

 Framingham Nurseries, and an ex- 

 tract from the Garden Magazine, 

 written by Mrs. Louise B. Wilder. 

 Now Mrs. Wilder's experience is ex- 

 actly similar to my own. In pre-war 

 times not a week passed but what I 

 had to refer applicants for hardy 

 woody plants to the nurserymen of 

 Europe or Japan. In 1915-1916. when 

 I contributed a series of articles to 

 the Garden Magazine, inquiries to 

 which no other answer could be given 

 were almost of daily occurrence. 

 Getting tired of answering such let- 

 ters I took occasion in the March num- 

 ber of 1916 to publish as a prefatory 

 note to an article on Japanese Cher- 

 ries and Asiatic Crabapples my meas- 

 ured opinion on the matter. What I 

 wrote then holds good today and I 

 reiterate it. 



"I wonder if you know how often 

 you mention a wonderful tree or vine 

 which NO catalogue that I have ever 

 seen (and I have dozens) ever men- 

 tions, and I want to ask do you write 

 expecting us to buy these things or 

 are you merely telling us of their 

 beauties"' Thus writes a correspond- 

 ent from Indiana, squarely putting a 

 question which very many others have 

 asked in less exact words since this 

 series of articles began last June. 

 This being the case it would seem that 

 the time had come for some definite 

 reply. 



Now, with very rare exceptions, the 

 plants mentioned in these articles 

 have been in commerce anywhere 

 from five to one hundred years. With 

 deliberate intent I have abstained 

 from detailing the beauties of plants 

 which are not purchasable. The fu- 

 ture can well be left to take care of 

 those. Certainly I write for the pur- 

 pose, and in the hope, of inducing 

 garden lovers to grow in their gardens 

 a greater variety of beautiful hardy 

 woody plants. Also, I have another 

 purpose which I will divulge in due 

 season. So much for that part of my 



correspondent's question which has 

 direct reference to myself. 



As to the other part: it is for those 

 who make a business of dealing in 

 this class of plants to give answer. 

 Yet, in fairness, it may be said that 

 we can scarcely expect the nursery- 

 men to exhibit all the push and enter- 

 prise necessary to give to American 

 gardens all the variety of good things 

 they should possess. Amateurs too 

 must do a share and this may in a 

 measure be accomplished by dunning 

 their favorite nurseryman for the par- 

 ticular plants desired. W T e are really 

 only at the beginning of things and 

 the amateur must take a lead and in- 

 sist on his dealer supplying the plants 

 he desires; not merely those which 

 the dealer may happen to have in 

 stock. Heretofore the position has 

 been that of the dealer as nurse, and 

 the amateur as child. But horticul- 

 ture in this country is fast emerging 

 from its swaddling clothes; indeed, it 

 may be said to be well into the adoles- 

 cent stage in many states of the 

 union. This means that the lover of 

 plants must, and will, have a larger 

 voice in the variety that shall be 

 grown in gardens. Increased knowl- 

 edge of, and love for, plants of every 

 kind is the leaven that will conduce 

 to the upbuilding of American gar- 

 dens. The solution of the present 

 problem will be found in both amateur 

 and dealer becoming more and more 

 progressive." 



As a nurseryman Mr. Wyman should 

 know more about the business mo- 

 rality of the nursery trade than an 

 outsider like myself but I am painful- 

 ly surprised to read his indictment. 

 Yet what he suggests may happen 

 does not appear to have hindered the 

 rose, gladiolus, peony and carnation 

 specialists from raising and distribut- 

 ing novelties in such quantities as to 

 make this country famous the world 

 over for these products. The patent 

 rights which he would have to protect 

 novelties have not been found neces- 

 sary in Europe nor elsewhere. Surely 

 Mr. Wyman does not claim that busi- 

 ness morality among the nurserymen 

 here is of a lower order than that of 

 other countries. 



In England, the greatest publicity 

 agent the nurserymen have is the 

 Royal Gardens, Kew. In this country 

 it is the Arnold Arboretum. In their 

 own spheres the collections of these 

 institutions are permanent and peren- 

 nial exhibitions of all that is best in 

 garden material. The garden-loving 

 public visit them and make notes of 

 what they like best and then turn to 

 the trade to supply their wants. Now 

 it goes without saying that such col- 

 lections as those at Kew and at the 

 Arnold Arboretum contain many 

 plants which no nurseryman can 

 profitably carry in stock, also novel- 

 ties which to date he has had no op- 

 portunity of acquiring. When these 

 are asked for by intended customers 

 there is no disgrace admitting that 

 they are not to be obtained. But 

 after eliminating these the truth re- 

 mains that in America the seeker 

 after a majority of the beautiful hardy 

 plants which year after year display 

 their garden value is doomed to dis- 

 appointment. It is the apathy, indif- 

 ference, and I am afraid, ignorance 

 of so many nurserymen that taxes the 

 patience of those desirous of seeing 

 American gardens stocked with all 

 that is really worth while. The gar- 

 den public were never so insistent for 

 the best of garden material. Surely 

 it is to the interests of the nursery- 

 men themselves that this growing 

 want be properly taken care of. More 

 of the energy and enthusiasm 

 which characterized the famous old 

 firms of Parsons, Ellwanger & Barry, 

 Hovey and others would not be amiss 

 todav. E. H. Wilson. 



AS MR. COE SEES IT. 

 Gentlemen — The writer reads with 

 very keen interest the article "Novel- 

 ties and Nurserymen" prefacing Horti- 

 ( ri n uk July 12th issue. In the long 

 run successful Nurserymen in common 

 with other business men probably do 

 reflect the law of supply and demand 

 as an intemediary. The business man 

 who takes the liberty to deviate from 

 this position may either suffer or pro- 

 fit or possibly both at the same time, 

 depending, of course, upon one's defini- 

 tion of the terms. At the present time 



