HORTICULTURE 



Vol. XXX 



OCTOBER 18, 1919 



No. 16 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



It seems to me that there has been a 

 decided scarcity of dahlias in use in 

 the retail stores in Boston this year. 

 Other years, if I am not mistaken, 

 they showed up quite prominently in 

 the market, but you could go through 

 either of the markets this season and 

 hardly see a dahlia. I know that in 

 Philadelphia and in New York, they 

 have been used in quantities. A lot of 

 window decorations have been staged 

 of this flower and talking with a 

 traveler coming through from Phila- 

 delphia and New York, I learned that 

 the florists in those cities have been 

 using quantities for funeral purposes. 

 I wonder what is driving them out of 

 the Boston market? There certainly 

 are plenty growing around Boston in 

 as great variety as anywhere. 



In looking through the houses of the 

 smaller grower who has chrysanthe- 

 mums for his own use in particular, 

 you will always find Golden Glow as 

 the first yellow. It is an overworked 

 variety, but there is nothing to take 

 its place for very early and up to the 

 first of October. There seems to be 

 also a general agreement regarding 

 the first two white varieties, Early 

 Frost, followed by Oconto, and Oconto 

 gives a great range of possibility if 

 the grower wants to produce some 

 fancy blooms. This variety is very 

 appreciative of good treatment. Good 

 stock planted early and fed properly 

 will throw blooms the equal of any of 

 the sorts during any part of the sea- 

 son. It seems to me that we could very 

 well take care of an extra early pink. 

 Up to the time that Unaka comes 

 along, there is nothing to depend upon 

 and the best that can be said for 

 Unaka is not over-complimentary. 



I wonder if enough of the growers 

 appreciate the real worth of that 

 dandy early pompon, Nlza? It is one 

 of the first to appear and not hard to 

 grow. It appeared on the Boston mar- 

 ket as early as October 6th. 



I am glad to show a good picture of 

 the new fern Nephrolepis Macawii 

 which was originated by Duncan 

 Macaw, and which is arousing much 

 interest. As is well known it is a 



sport of Scottii, but it grows faster 

 than Scotii and is superior in several 

 ways. One salesman tells me that he 

 carried a plant in his machine for a 

 week or more, throwing it about and 

 giving it the hardest kind of usage. 

 Yet at the end of the trip it seemed 

 in almost as good condition as at the 

 start and actually making new growth. 

 Such a fern is certainly a plant for 

 the millions. 



Colored flowers have been used so 

 long for funeral work in the United 

 States that it seems strange to find a 

 discussion of such a question in other 

 places. Up in Canada, however, the 

 matter seems to be still unsettled. 

 This fact is illustrated by the follow- 

 ing from the Canadian Florist: 



"Should colored flowers be used for 

 funeral designs, or only the white 

 ones? There is still a large school of 

 florists who consider it improper to 

 make designs with anything but white 

 flowers, but these seem to be on the 

 decrease. While the demand for 

 white flowers still continues among 

 many native-born Canadians, yet 

 among the foreign sections there 

 seems a craving for colored stock. 

 Bright colors are natural to many 

 European nationalities, and as the 

 foreign element in Canada increases 



so will the demand for colored flowers. 



"In Paris, there is a great color re- 

 vival affecting all trades and destroy- 

 ing some deep-rooted conventions. 

 Even the Parisian funeral has under- 

 gone a change. In the place of 

 wreaths of white flowers every tint is 

 now to be seen. At a recent funeral 

 where there was a great profusion of 

 beautiful flowers, only crimson and 

 deep pink roses were used, and at an- 

 other all the wreaths were of blue 

 hydrangeas and pink carnations. 



"Some of our Canadian florists are 

 advocating strongly the use of colored 

 flowers. The Dale Estate of Bramp- 

 ton Is an example, as they have used 

 colored flowers in most of their de- 

 signs sent out for funeral purposes 

 during the last ten years." 



BOSTON. 



Wallace Pierson, of Cromwell, Conn.,- 

 and Roman Irwin, of New York, 

 stopped in Boston this week on their 

 way home from Northern New York, 

 where they went for a gunning and 

 fishing trip. They had one salmon 

 which excited the interest, if not the 

 cupidity, of those who saw it. 



Prof. J. G. Jack, of the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, is to lecture before the 

 Gardeners' and Florists' Club next 

 Tuesday evening. 



C. T. Beasley & Co., of East Milton, 

 the largest greenhouse pansy growers 

 in New England, have flowers already 

 blooming freely. 



Tin- New Fern Neplirolepis M»ca« ii 



