February 15, 1919 



1 1 B T1CUL T UliE 



155 



HOME PRODUCTION POSSIBLE. 



Mr. Editor, 



Dear Sir— I have just finished read- 

 ing your article in Feb. 1st Horticui.- 

 ,,,(,', under the heading "What quar- 

 antine NO. 37 means to nurserymen." 

 The answer is plain. If they grow 

 what they formerly imported, they will 

 have to raise it. Why shouldn't they? 

 Even they will admit they should. The 

 question is, when to begin. 1£ they 

 ever do, they must start sometime. 

 Why not now? 



The war, evidently, has taught them 

 little. It did not even force them to 

 help themselves, as it has in so many 

 other industries. They have simply 

 •hung on." waiting to resume the im- 

 portation of stock from abroad, as 

 soon as the war was over. 



The shortage of dyes during the war 

 forced American enterprise, helped by 

 science, into the manufacture of dyes. 

 The thing would never have been done 

 otherwise. The Germans said, what 

 growers of nursery stock on the oth- 

 er side say, "It can't be done." It can 

 be done. But for the war, we should 

 still be importing German dyes, and 

 probably never should have manufac- 

 tured them ourselves. 



We are told by resident and import- 

 ed propagandists, "We can't." They 

 tell us we can't raise bay trees; that 

 is the "big stick." It will take too 

 long. It will not take us any longer 

 than the Belgians and Hollanders, 

 maybe not so long. They are in the 

 business, and can produce many things 

 more cheaply than we, but they had 

 to begin. 



The opposition exaggerate when 

 they say, we must call E. H. Wilson 

 back, as we shall be shut out of 

 China and Japan. Wilson's things, as 

 they well know, come mostly from 

 seeds, and these willnot be shut out; 

 or any new or desirable thing from 

 any part of the world, to be used for 

 propagation. 



Once on a time, we imported all our 

 citrus fruits— what foreign grapes 

 we used and figs and prunes; now we 

 raise our own. We have developed 

 distinctly American types of apples 

 and peaches. In this wide country, 

 there is nothing done in Europe we 

 can't do here, and some things they 

 cannot do, or only to a limited extent 

 in comparison. No one will deny that. 

 We have only to begin. That it is 

 cheaper to buy abroad than raise our 

 material here is no excuse. To con- 

 tinue to do so, means stagnation, and 

 building, and maintaining foreign in- 

 dustries with American money. 



If it costs more in labor, the Ameri- 

 can people will pay the difference. In 

 the very next article in the issue of 



Feb. 1st you say "florists have been 

 obliged to ask more for their products 

 but this has not been seriously re- 

 sented by the public," and more fol- 

 lows in a like vein. Whether they 

 have resented or not, they always have 

 had to pay what it costs to raise, or 

 manufacture, an article, sufficient, so 

 that those employed could have a liv- 

 ing wage. It is patriotic. Business 

 and patriotism should not be separat- 

 ed. 



In the seed business, we are rapidly 

 becoming independent of foreign coun- 

 tries, and to this industry the wai 

 has given a big impetus. We are 

 ahead in many lines of floriculture, 

 and much of this advance has been 

 made within the life time of many of 

 us. The editor can remember when 

 Joe Tailby and Zirngiebel imported 

 their carnations from Euiope. "Grace 

 Wilder" carnation was probably the 

 first American variety to gain public 

 favor, and long after it had "passed" 

 to give way to better American varie- 

 ties Tailby imported English varieties, 

 as he said, to improve the blood. I 

 only mention this to show how strong 

 the tendency is to reaction. Progress 

 should be the order of the day. 



Zirngiebel imported his pansies from 

 France at first, but later raised his 

 own; and while we may still find 

 French names in our seed lists, there 

 is no doubt the bulk of our pansy seed 

 is raised here. 



We still import roses, but we also 

 raise them, and export them as well, 

 so that the business is, at least, recip- 

 rocal. These do not complete the list 

 by any means. All we have to do is 

 to begin, and now is the time. 



T. D. Hatfield. 



Obituary 



Mike Chronis. 

 Mike Chronis, a retail florist of 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., died on Jan. 28th, aged 

 about 60 years. 



Mrs. Elizabeth Fenrich. 

 Mrs. Elizabeth Fenrich, mother of 

 Jos. S. Fenrich, New York wholesale 

 florist, died at New Haven, Ct., last 

 week after a long illness. She is sur- 

 vived by two sons, one daughter, a 

 brother and a sister. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Mrs. Alexander Mackenzie Who Died 

 December 19, 1918 

 Thou art gone, fond wife and mother, 



How sad, and cheerless life seems now ; 

 The sunshine, of our homes departed, 



Our hearts, with grief and sorrow bow. 

 Life is but the spirit's keeper, 



At nature's call, it must succumb; 

 Death transplants the human flower, 



To bloom eternal in God's home. 



The world has fought its last great battle, 



And right has won, as God did plan; 

 Millions gave their lives for freedom. 



That the world might be Bafe for man. 

 And thou did live to see the victory, 



Thine own did help to win the day; 

 Mingling now, with heroes plenty, 



Thy Soul, to God, has winged its way. 



In life you loved to Btudy nature. 



Learned to sense the wondrous powers ; 

 And although now beyond the ether, 



God speaks to us through his flowers. 

 Flowers thev bring us hallowed memories, 



To them our minds and hearts respond ; 

 They are thoughts that oft connect us. 



With our friends who have passed be- 

 yond. 

 Yes! We'll tend thy favorite plants. 



And watch with care their flowers appear, 

 In spring when nature's songs abound, 



Through all the seasons of the year. 

 And through the lonely years to come, 



With us thy memory shall remain; 

 Until at last. God calls us home. 



Where all his own. shall meet again. 

 David S. Millek. 



January 24. 1819. 



Joseph L. Ball 

 Joseph L. Ball, a florist of St. Cath- 

 erines, Ont., died in Wellands Hospital 

 on Jan. 11th, of pneumonia. He was a 

 well-known florist of St. Catherines 

 and much sympathy is felt in the mat- 

 ter as he had lost his infant son from 

 the same disease only three weeks 

 previous. 



Milton Alexander. 

 Milton Alexander, traveling sales- 

 man tor a New York firm, died on Jan. 

 30th from pneumonia contracted on a 

 western trip. Mr. Alexander was a 

 cheery and popular young man, and 

 leaves many sorrowing friends. His 

 wife and one child survive him. 



Wm. Meggatt. 



Full of years with a well rounded 

 life of usefulness, companionableness 

 and a cheery personality, there passed 

 into rest on February 8, William Meg- 

 gatt at his home in Wethersfield, 

 Conn, at the age of 84 years. 



Mr. Meggatt was one of the organ- 

 izers of the American Seed Trade 

 Association and served as president of 

 that organization in 1881. 



John P. Shaffer. 

 John P. Shaffer, father of George C. 

 Shaffer, florist, of Washington, D. C, 

 died late last month after more than 

 a year of sickness. Mr. Shaffer was 

 seventy years of age. He is survived 

 also by Arthur Shaffer, a son, who is 

 employed at the store of his brother, 

 and three daughters. The deceased 

 was laid at rest in Congressional cem- 

 etery, following most impressive serv- 

 ices at his late residence. The funeral 

 was attended by a large delegation of 

 florists. 



Fairport, N. Y.— Fire on the morn- 

 ing of Feb. 2d destroyed a couple of 

 the Hart greenhouses, just beyond the 

 village line in South Main street. They 

 were located on the former Salter 

 property. 



