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HORTICULTURE 



June 14, 1919 



Philadelphia Visitors:— E. Gurney 

 Hill, Richmond, Indiana; Rev. E. M. 

 Mills, Syracuse, N. Y.; J. Horace Mc- 

 Farland, Harrisburg, Pa.; Benjamin 

 Hammond, Beacon, N. Y.; E. Allan 

 Pierce, Waltham, Mass.; Robert Pyle, 

 West Grove, Pa.; Dr. W. A. Moore, 

 Seattle, Washington. 



HOLYOKE & NORTHAMPTON 



FLORISTS' & GARDENERS' 



CLUB. 



A meeting of this club was held June 

 3d with George Strugnell, head garden- 

 er at "Bonny Briar," Holyoke, Mass., 

 the president, Harold Keyes, presiding. 

 The members voted to omit the July 

 and August meetings. The results of 

 many years of skilful and hard work 

 at "Bonny Briar," by Mr. Strugnell 

 were enjoyed immensely by members 

 present. 



LANCASTER COUNTY FLORISTS- 

 ASSOCIATION. 



Lancaster, Pa., via trolley and ma- 

 chine a trip was made to the B. F. 

 Barr farm for an inspection of his 

 peonie fields, those fields that should 

 have been in full bloom for Decoration 

 Day but were just in their prime June 

 5th about 7 p. m. 



One plot of about five acres con- 

 tained the regular assortment of some 

 fifty odd varieties, ranging in price 

 from ten cents to ten dollars for single 

 eye division. To attempt to describe 

 them would be to issue a catalogue 

 with adjectives and exclamation points 

 the main feature of the catalogue. 



Mr. Barr kindly told us to help our- 

 selves to cut blooms and every one of 

 the twenty present availed themselves 

 of the offer. 



On the southern slope of a hill about 

 an acre was planted for cut flower pur- 

 poses only, these furnished about fifty 

 blooms for Decoration Day and thou- 

 sands for the week following, but 

 better luck next year. Right in the 

 same line of vision with this field are 

 several acres of Blue Spruce and it 

 certainly makes a beautiful spot on 

 the landscape, in fact thousands of the 

 various varieties of evergreens make 

 this one of the show spots of this 

 section. 



After an inspection of the formal 

 garden which always has some new at- 

 tractions in it the meeting was held 

 on the porch with T. J. Nolan and 

 Dennis Connor as visitors. 



After the usual routine of business 

 the Picnic was taken up and the com- 

 mittee instructed to make final ar- 

 rangements for a picnic at Wild Cat 

 with a chicken and waffle dinner. 



A committee consisting of three 

 from this Club and three from the 



Ladies' Auxiliary were appointed to ar- 

 range for a second picnic to be held at 

 Rocky Springs for the children, this 

 one to follow the other within a month. 



After the regular business Mr. P. K. 

 Murphy, who has just returned from 

 overseas where he served two years 

 with the Ambulance Co. 111th and 

 saw some of the hardest work of the 

 war gave us a very interesting talk on 

 his experiences with some new views 

 of the situation and also gave his ex- 

 periences with the French flower shops, 

 a talk well worth hearing and one long 

 to be remembered. 



Mr. John Schmuckli another re- 

 turned employee of Mr. Barrs reached 

 Lancaster 3 p. m., June 5th, and came 

 right out to see the florists, saying he 

 was mighty glad to get back to where 

 there were real houses and where he 

 could understand what the people said 

 to him. He was connected with the 

 304th Engineers and told us of his 

 many experiences in a talk following 

 Mr. Murphy and told them so graphi- 

 cally that the meeting did not adjourn, 

 it simply dissolved after he was 

 through, and like one of Mr. Schmuck 

 li's experiences the Secretary found 

 himself among the trees on the Barr 

 lawn with all the machines gone and 

 a half hour's wait for the 11 o'clock 

 car. 



The amalgamation of the Ladies' 

 Auxiliary and the Club was discussed 

 and will probably be effected by the 

 time the regular fall business meetings 

 start into work. 



Albert M. Herr. 



OBITUARY. 



Joseph C. Forbes 

 Joseph C. Forbes, known throughout 

 New England as a horticulturist, died 

 at New Bedford on Saturday at the 

 age of fifty-three. He had been seri- 

 ously ill for some time. He owed his 

 reputation largely to a variety of 

 dahlia known as the Ruth Forbes, 

 which had won prizes in New England 

 and New York flower shows. 



BOSTON. 

 While the flower market has reacted 

 a little, it is still very weak, but the 

 trend is upward again and the grow- 

 ers are beginning to take courage. At 

 the same time much stock is being 

 wasted and a considerable amount is 

 being given away. The few Pennsyl- 

 vania peonies now coming in are in 

 pretty poor condition. The weather 

 has put them out of commission. The 

 quality of the native offerings is very 

 much higher. Roses are selling the 

 best. The call for carnation is light, 

 although the stock is in excellent con- 



dition. There is more offered than 

 the market can absorb. The one 

 flower which is in demand but difficult 

 to get is valley. Much more than is 

 offered would be snapped up if it could 

 be had. Doubtless this is due to the 

 June weddings, of which there are a 

 greater number this season. 



John Farquhar, Patrick Welch and 

 Allan Peirce attended the rose test ex- 

 hibition at Washington and greatly 

 enjoyed it. 



The Boston Horticultural Club is 

 planning a trip to Farquhar"s nurs- 

 eries on the Cape in the near future. 



NEW YORK. 



Many of the boys who have been 

 overseas are now back. Among them 

 is James Murray, who has taken his 

 old position with the Kerwan Com- 

 pany. Julius Mason was wounded and 

 is now in a French Hospital. John 

 Cowper is also still across the water. 

 George A. Crawbuck has been dis- 

 charged from the navy after two years' 

 service. 



The Aphrodite Company has taken 

 the store formerly operated by Malan- 

 dre Bros, at Broadway and 103d street. 



ORCHID COLLECTION SOLD. 

 One of the Biggest Transactions of 

 the Kind Ever Made. 

 The celebrated Orchid collection 

 owned by the late Charles G. Roebling, 

 Trenton, N. J., has been sold intact to 

 a private person prominently known 

 in Philadelphia society. This sale of 

 Orchids, which probably is the largest 

 transaction of its kind that has ever 

 been made in this or perhaps any 

 other country was executed by A, M. 

 Van Den. Hoch. The well known Phil- 

 adelphia district manager of the noted 

 firm, W. H. Moon Co., Nurserymen. 

 Morrisville, Pa. Van refuses even to 

 give a remote inkling as to the price 

 paid, but sort of smiles when the sum 

 of $30,000 is mentioned for he modestly 

 does not claim to have any knowledge 

 whatever of these aristocrats of the 

 florist business. The famous collection 

 consists of over 600 species and varie- 

 ties with several thousand flowered 

 and unflowered home raised seedlings, 

 which no doubt will be seen in coming 

 floral exhibitions in the future. 



AN EARLY SPIREA. 

 Spirea Miyabei, a Chinese shrub, al- 

 though less beautiful than S. Veitchii 

 and S. Henryi, which are the hand- 

 somest of the new Chinese plants in 

 this genus, flowers earlier than they 

 do and is distinct in its flat or slightly 

 convex clusters of white flowers which 

 are terminal on erect, leafy, lateral 

 branchlets three or four inches long, 

 and quite cover the plants. 



