HORTICULTURE 



August 16, 1919 



RAMBLING OBSERVATIONS OF 

 A ROVING GARDENER 



Charles Dudley Warner, a sort of 

 modern Epicurus, once wrote that 

 woman always did from the first make 

 a muss in the garden. If Mr. Warner 

 had made any such statement at the 

 present time he would have brought 

 the house down around his ears, for 

 women are taking a most important 

 part in garden matters, and no one can 

 say that gardens are any poorer in 

 character as a result. Mr. Warner, 

 who was a Hartford man, would no 

 doubt have had Mrs. Mabel Osgood 

 Wright from Fairfield over in short 

 order to remonstrate with him. It 

 would have taken only a short time 

 for the former Mrs. Ely to appear on 

 the scene and perhaps Mrs. Wilder 

 would also have come along to help 

 administer, condign punishment to the 

 erring editor. It is even possible that 

 Mrs. Francis King would have taken 

 sufficient umbrage to have come on 

 from the middle west to assist in the 

 ceremony of ducking the good news- 

 paper man In the horse trough. 



Certain it is that the gardens of 

 America as well as those of England 

 owe a great deal to the work which is 

 being done by very competent success- 

 ful and enterprising women. If garden 

 making on the part of the amateur is 

 to be put on the high plane which it 

 deserves to occupy in this country, 

 that result will be brought about large- 

 ly through the efforts of women gar- 

 den lovers. 



clubs are often forming parties for 

 visiting various well planned gardens 

 where they can learn by actual ob- 

 servation. In one instance the mem- 

 bers have had the services of a com- 

 petent guide who has conducted them 

 through one of the best gardens in 

 southern New England at different 

 times in the summer, answering ques- 

 tions and giving a practical talk about 

 the various plants in flower at the 

 time. I found the members of another 

 garden club having photographs made 

 of the best examples on their own 

 places and these photographs being 

 prepared as lantern slides to be shown 

 by a lantern which the club has pur- 

 chased. 



It is pleasing to find that these gar- 

 dening women are not confining their 

 work wholly to the outdoors, either, 

 but are planning methods by which 

 instruction and help can be given to 

 the public at shows and exhibitions. 



One of the best indications of prog- 

 ress is shown by a constantly increas- 

 ing number of garden clubs made up 

 of women which are being organized. 

 I have had the pleasure the past few 

 months of speaking before some of 

 these clubs, and have been surprised, 

 not only at the keen interest shown 

 in gardens, but also in the wide knowl- 

 edge of plants, planting methods and 

 particularly in color arrangement 

 shown. If I have been able to impart 

 any knowledge, I certainly have gained 

 considerable at the same time. 



It seems that members of these 



The suggestion that demonstrations 

 be given at the shows under the di- 

 rection of some skilled grower is meet- 

 ing with much approval. It is already 

 hinted that there will be some unusual 

 developments at exhibitions to be held 

 within the next year. One of them 

 is likely to take the form of a demon- 

 stration to show how to use the com- 

 mon flowers to best advantage in table 

 decoration. It is not a new thing for 

 florists to decorate tables for prizes, 

 but the florists' method is almost cer- 

 tain to be quite different from that 

 which the average housewife would 

 adopt. Moreover, he is likely to use 

 a different class of flowers. And quite 

 possibly, too, the florist can learn 

 something from women who have ac- 

 quired skill and knowledge through ex- 

 periments and practice lasting over 

 many years. At any rate, something of 

 this kind should prove a tremendous- 

 ly attractive feature to the general 

 public, especially if the work of ar- 

 ranging the tables can be described 

 while it is being done and comments 

 made by those who are competent to 

 criticise or offer suggestions. 



years ago. It is interesting, therefore, 

 to note that some nurserymen and 

 dealers are getting away from the con- 

 ventional type of catalogue, and pre- 

 senting something entirely new. It 

 may be that this is the beginning of a 

 new era in catalogue making. Possi- 

 bly some of the experiments will not 

 work out as expected. It doesn't neces- 

 sarily follow that a thing is good be- 

 cause it is new. Still it is refreshing 

 to find dealers who are willing to 

 strike out in a new direction. 



These remarks are inspired by the 

 fact that I have just received a new 

 catalogue from Maurice Fuld. It isn't 

 a big catalogue or a pretentious one 

 by any means, but it certainly is differ- 

 ent from any other ever seen. More- 

 over, it is well printed and makes a 

 strong appeal to the eye, even though 

 it is minus all illustrations. Mr. Fuld 

 has arranged the pages by months, and 

 under each heading tells what should 

 be planted in August, and in Septem- 

 ber, afterwards in October, and so on 

 through the fall. In various other 

 ways he has made up a little book 

 which will appeal to the amateur, at 

 least as being of real help by grouping 

 plants and flowers in such a way that 

 his work of making a selection and 

 placing an order is reduced to a mini- 

 mum. 



Very likely plenty of criticism can 

 be made of Mr. Fuld's little catalogue, 

 but at any rate a new note has been 

 struck, and it is safe to say that a 

 decided change in the appearance of 

 the nurserymen and seedsmen's cata- 

 logues in general will be noted during 

 the next few years. It is bound to 

 come, and horticulture as a whole will 

 be better for the change. 



Considerable has been said in Hor- 

 ticulture during the past few months 

 about the catalogues of the nursery- 

 men and the statement has been made, 

 I think, that very few departures have 

 been made from methods in vogue 



TO PREVENT HOLLYHOCK RUST. 

 Editor of Horticulture, Boston, Mass. 



Dear Sir: While referring to some 

 back-numbers of Horticulture I noted 

 on Page 423 of the issue dated May 3, 

 1919, an inquiry by "Novice," as to 

 remedy for rust of Hollyhocks and 

 what you have to say in answer to the 

 inquiry. 



Another preventive (not a cure) 

 of the rust on hollyhocks and phlox is 

 as follows and I think will be found 

 quite effective. 



Obtain a saturated solution of per- 

 manganate of potash and make a spray 

 in the proportion of a large teaspoon 

 of this solution to one quart of water 



Apply to both sides of the leaves 

 with a fine mist once or twice a week 

 after the leaves appear until the end 

 of the season. 



Frank J. McGregor, 



Newburyport, Mass. 



