L72 



HORTICULTURE 



August 23, 1919 



ers have faded, notice the stems before 

 you throw them on the humus pile 

 where they go to help other flowers to 

 bloom again next year, you will no 

 longer find the stiff, straight stems 

 which you had such difficulty in ar- 

 ranging gracefully in your bowl. No, 

 the stems are all twisted about like a 

 corkscrew, for the flowers have 

 adapted themselves to one another so 

 that they became a beautiful united 

 whole. 

 Hillcrest Farm. M. R. Case. 



NASSAU COUNTY, N. Y., HORTI- 

 CULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The annual basket picnic of this so- 

 ciety was held at Appleby's Grove on 

 Friday, August 6th. There was a large 

 attendance and competition in the 

 various sports was keen and exciting. 

 Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them- 

 selves and are already looking for- 

 ward to our next. Quite a number of 

 the old school surprised the younger 

 blood with the fleetness of foot but 

 had some satisfaction in knowing the 

 penalty was paid the following day. 

 The executive committee are to be 

 congratulated on the arrangements 

 made. The ice cream, soft drinks, 

 milk for the visiting generation, and 

 upon Mr. Twig's recommendation, a 

 limited quantity of 2.75 was in great 

 demand and met the various needs of 

 all. Among the many features of the 

 day the tug-of-war seemed to be the 

 leader. John W. Everitt and Sanitas 

 Disinfectant Wild chose the contest- 

 ing teams. There was keen friendly 

 rivalry with the heavies in great de- 

 mand. The result was a foregone con- 

 clusion when our worthy president 

 was found securely tied alongside of 

 Andy Wilson to Sanitas D. Wild's 

 end of the rope. John W. Everitt, as- 

 sisted by John F. Johnston and 

 Ernest Westlake, deserves great credit 

 for the able manner in which each 

 event was carried out. 



The monthly meeting was held on 

 Wednesday. August 13, President 

 Joseph Adler in the chair. Five peti- 

 tions for active membership were re- 

 ceived. For the monthly exhibits the 

 judges made the following awards: 12 

 gladioli. 1st Wm. Milstead; 12 mixed 

 Asters. 1st A. Fournier; 6 tomatoes, 

 1st Frank Petroccia; vase of King 

 Asters, awarded certificate of merit to 

 A. Fournier. 



Competition for the next monthly 



meeting, to be held on Wednesday, 



September 10, are: One outdoor melon, 



3 stlcks of celery and 12 best potatoes. 



Hakri Goodband, Cor. Sec. 



TULIPS FROM SEED. 

 Question — Will you kindly tell me in 

 Hoihk n.i riti:, how to grow tulip from 

 seed Subscriber 



Answer — Tulips are comparatively 

 easy to grow from seed. The seed re- 

 sembles that of the lily and it should 

 be treated similarly. Personally I pre- 

 fer to sow the seed in autumn under 

 conditions which will insure a con- 

 stant supply of moisture and at the 

 same time perfect drainage. In the 

 East, this had better be done in a cold 

 frame. On Puget Sound, it is perfectly 

 feasible to drill tulip and lily seed in 

 the open ground in autumn in well 

 tilled soil. But here the surface of the 

 soil does not dry out completely from 

 October to May. In the East, ordin- 

 arily provision must be made for in- 

 suring the soil from becoming dry. 

 However, I frequently have tulips 

 volunteer from seed in my garden in 

 the District of Columbia. 



We usually plant one-half to three- 

 quarters inch deep in drill six inches 

 apart. The bulblets may be lifted 

 after the foliage dies down as is 

 always advisable with old bulbs, but 

 this is tedious and the bulblets are 

 likely to be lost in large measure. It 

 is therefore often advisable to leave 

 them in the seed bed two years. If 

 this is done careful attention should 

 be given to supply fertilizer the 

 second year. This can be done with 

 bonemeal or well decomposed barn- 

 yard manure. Indeed a light feeding 

 after the foliage is well developed the 

 first season will be beneficial. After 

 the foliage dies the second year the 

 bulbs should be lifted and given more 

 space. Do not keep them out of the 

 ground too long. I prefer to dig rather 

 late, say late July and plant again im- 

 mediately. Lift and replant each year. 

 A covering which will prevent the 

 heaving action of frost would be ad- 

 visable for two or three years at least, 

 but with this the grower must exercise 

 great care and attention. Any straw 

 material should be completely re- 

 moved from the beds before growth 

 begins. It would probably be better 

 to use burlap which has been steri- 

 lized with formaldehyde and then 

 dried. 



The occasion for caution here is due 

 to the fact that ubiquitous organism. 

 botrytis. the cause of the fire disease 

 in tulips, develops naturally on 

 almost any decomposing organic ma- 

 terial, especially on straw. For this 

 reason clean culture is usually safer 

 with tulips. However, this is largely 

 a matter of location. I would not 

 hesitate to use a rough mulch on tulips 

 in the District of Columbia, but I 



should not think of using it under the 

 humid conditions of Puget Sound. 

 Many varieties of Darwins are par- 

 ticularly susceptible to this disease. 

 Very truly, 



David Griffiths. 

 Bellingham, Washington. 

 August 10, 1919. 



COMING MEETINGS AND EXHIBI- 

 TIONS. 



Cleveland, O. — National Association 

 of Gardeners, summer meeting, M. C. 

 Ebel, Sec, Aug. 26-28. 



New Haven, Ct. — American Associa- 

 tion of Park Superintendents, Jacob F. 

 Foster, Chicago, President, August 26- 



29. 



Cincinnati, O. — American Associa- 

 tion of Cemetery Superintendents, W. 

 B. Jones, secretary, Highwood, Pitts- 

 burgh, Pa. 



Detroit, Mich. — Vegetable Growers' 

 Ass'n of America, annual convention, 

 Detroit, Mich., Sept. 9 to 13. Sec'y, 

 Sam. W. Severance, Louisville, Ky. 



Hartford, Conn. — Conn. Hort. Socie- 

 ty Fall Flower Show, Sept. 9, 10 and 

 11. Sec'y, Alfred Dixon, Wethersfield, 

 Conn. 



New Haven, Conn. — New Haven 

 County Hort. Society, annual fall show, 

 Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. 



New York City. — The American In- 

 stitute and the American Dahlia So- 

 ciety, exhibition of dahlias in the En- 

 gineering Bldg., 25-33 West 39th St., 



Sept. 23 to 25. Sec'y, William A. 

 Eagleson, 322-24 West 23rd St. 



New York City. — The American In- 

 stitute and the Chrysanthemum So- 

 ciety of America, exhibition of chrys- 

 anthemums in the Engineering Bldg., 

 25-33 West 39th St., Nov. 5 to 7. Sec'y, 

 William A. Eagleson, 322-24 West 23rd 

 St. 



Providence, R. I. — Rhode Island 

 Hort. Society, flower show, Sept. 18 

 and 19; chrysanthemum show, Nov. 

 13 and 14. Sec'y, Ernest K. Thomas, 

 Kingston, R. I. 



San Francisco, Cal. — Dahlia Society 

 of California, fall show at the Palace 

 Hotel, Sept. 4, 5 and 6. 



Ardmore, Pa. — Exhibition of dahlias, 

 outdoor cut flowers and vegetables of 

 the Pennsylvania Horticultural Socie- 

 ty, Sept. 16-17. Sec'y, David Rust, 606 

 Finance Bldg., Philadelphia. 



Newport, R. I.— September exhibi- 

 tion of the Newport Horticultural So- 

 ciety. Convention Hall. Newport Beach, 

 Sept. 3-4. 



