344 



H R T I C U L T U 1! E 



April 12, 1919 



perhaps more prizes will be awarded, 

 graduating from the highest down to 

 the number to be later designated. 



The Championship Contest of three 

 games will be open to the ten or more 

 players scoring the highest points in 

 the individual sanies and the highest 

 man from each team entering the 

 Grand Contest. The Ex-Presidents' 

 Contest will be open to all ex-presi- 

 dents of the S. A. P. and suitable 

 prizes will be provided. 



Ladies' Bowling.— Three games will 

 be rolled by the ladies and at least 

 ten prizes awarded. 



The entire top floor of the Recrea- 

 tion Building has been engaged for the 

 exclusive use of the visiting and local 

 florists, and here all the games will 

 be rolled, including the ladies' contest. 

 There are twenty-eight alleys on the 

 floor and they are considered the fin- 

 est in the west, and being on the top 

 floor of a nine-story building, the max- 

 imum of comfort for the bowlers ami 

 ppectators will be enjoyed. 



According to the present plans, 

 Wednesday evening, August 20, will 

 be assigned to the contest. Captains 

 of organized teams please make en- 

 tries and report to 



Joseph Streit. Chairman, 

 1366 McClellan Avenue, 

 Detroit, Mich. 



"SHIPS' BALLAST NOT AN IMPOR- 

 TANT SOURCE OF INTRODUC- 

 ING PLANT ENEMIES"? 



Editor Horticulture: 



In its propaganda to offset the un- 

 expected opposition that has developed 

 against its import prohibition ruling, 

 the Federal Horticultural Board 

 through the Bureau of Information of 

 the Department of Agriculture is now 

 engaged in frequently issuing a "news 

 item" released to the press of the 

 country to create favorable public 

 sentiment in behalf of its act. 



One of these items, just released, 

 refers to "Ships' Ballast Not an Im- 

 portant Source of Introducing Plant 

 Enemies," in which it states that "it 

 is perfectly apparent that there is 

 very little danger from such material, 

 and it cannot be considered in the 

 same sense at all as the highly culti- 

 vated soil coming with plants growing 

 in greenhouses or in gardens or fields, 

 and should any insect life get into 

 such ballest material it would be acci- 

 dental and exceptional." 



Anyone at all familiar with the na- 

 ture of the ballast loaded from along 

 the banks of a tropical port, will real- 

 ize how much danger there is in such 

 ballast carrying insect pests, for in- 

 stead of being primeval soil, as 

 claimed, it is usually decidedly fertile 



and abounds in plant life. Many spe- 

 cies of insects are to be found on the 

 sides of a ship's hold after being load- 

 ed with such ballast. 



It is charged in the "news item" re- 

 ferred to, that if insect life gets into 

 ballast it is "accidental and excep- 

 tional." Is it not just this that the 

 Federal Board is trying to regulate — 

 to avoid the "accidental and excep- 

 tional" cases of insect infestation of 

 imported plants (there never have 

 been any deliberate cases) that may 

 pass unobserved through the employ- 

 ment of ignorant and irresponsible, so- 

 called inspectors of plants? 



Resorting to intelligence and not by 

 casting reflection on American genius 

 would solve the problem of proper pro- 

 tection against injurious insects and 

 diseases, just as do the protectorial 

 systems of other departments of the 

 government for the purposes for 

 which they are intended 



It might not be amiss to cite the 

 danger of foreign insects in the im- 

 portations of bananas, oranges, pine- 

 apples, and cocoanuts among the more 

 common of the tropical fruits. These 

 are often carried into the homes and 

 might readily spread to the garden. 

 To safeguard against this danger 

 would mean the inspection of practi- 

 cally every fruit that is imported. And 

 yet there is absolutely no caution 

 taken in this direction. 



To safeguard this country efficiently 

 against foreign insects would mean 

 the shutting off of all foreign com- 

 merce. Nothing else will do it, so 

 why discriminate against a particular 

 branch of an industry which if de- 

 stroyed, as it will be by the unwar- 

 ranted act at issue, will not alone 

 mean irreparable loss to many en- 

 gaged in it, but will deprive what con- 

 stitutes the very best of our citizen- 

 ship of the pleasure that is derived 

 from gardening. 



M. C. Ecu. 



blossoms of a deeper blue is L. nar- 

 bonense; and L. austriacum, rather 

 less tall and bushy, is also a good one. 

 — The Garden. 



THE BLUE LINUMS. 

 These pretty perennial flaxes are 

 fine subjects for the rock garden or 

 margins of borders, for they are sin- 

 gularly graceful, bloom very profusely 

 over a long period, and slugs and other 

 pests appear to leave them alone. 

 Also they seem indifferent as to soil, 

 provided it is well drained and the 

 situation open. The almost prostrate 

 L. alpinum is usually the first to blos- 

 som. This is quickly followed by L. 

 perenne, whose bright azure flowers 

 are so daintily poised at the tips of 

 the slender and elegant waving stems. 

 A more robust (2 feet) species with 



"SAY IT WITH FLOWERS." 



Say it with flowers, those emblems of 

 love 



Sent to us mortals by the Immortal 

 above, 



To show us a part of the beauty that 

 waits 



When St. Peter says Welcome and 

 opens the gates 



To that wonderful garden where blos- 

 soms unknown 



And those we love here together are 

 grown. 



Say it with flowers; your message of 

 joy, 



To welcome the birth of the girl or 

 the boy; 



The symbols of love that bring to the 

 child 



His very first glimpse of earth's bless- 

 ings compiled. 



And the mother who bore him will feel 

 with new power 



All the gladness of earth o'er the birth 

 of a flower. 



Say it with flowers — your message to 



her 

 Whose love more than riches and fame 



you prefer; 

 To her you hold dear in the realm of 



your heart 

 No lips such a message of love can 



impart 

 As flowers which reflect like the pure. 



flawless gem 

 The love which a whole world has for 



them. 



Say it w-ith flowers — your message of 

 cheer 



To those whose life is unhappy and 

 drear; 



To hearts sorely burdened what mes- 

 sage instills 



New strength for the journey, down 

 dales and up hills 



As the sight of the flowers that carpet 

 the land. 



True pictures of faith by the great 

 Master Hand. 



Say it with flowers — your message to 



quicken 

 The languid pulse with illness strick- 

 en, 

 For the Great Physician has stored in 



flowers 

 The healing balm of countless hours 

 Of golden sunshine, to shine again 

 By the bedside of loved ones suffering 

 pain. 



Say it with flowers — your message of 



sorrow. 

 For those who will nevermore know a 



tomorrow; 

 Whose today has dawned in that realm 



on high, 

 Prepared for their coming, beyond tho 



sky. 

 But your tribute of flowers, your last 



token of love 

 Will carry your message to that home 



up above. 



( Copyright, 1019, by Hugh Balfour 

 Barclay.) 



