August 10, 1912 



HORTICULTUEE 



177 



BRASSO-CATTLEYA MOSSIAE DIGBYANA, WESTONBIRT VARIETY. 



Exiiiliiteil ill Sir (Jenrge Holfcpid's f;i' up at the Interuational Exhibition; H. G. Alexauiler, Garileiiei'. Tliis is the finest eolored variety 

 of B.-C. Mossiae-Digbyaua ever seen. Tlie plant carried seven splices and fourteen flowers. 



TOMATO LISTER'S PROLIFIC. 



Editor HORTICULTURE: 



In notes from Bar Harbor in your 

 last issue Mr. Edward Kirk is quoted 

 in criticism of Lister's Prolific tomato. 

 As tlie exliibitor of this variety which 

 was awarded a first class certificate 

 (not a silver medal as given in your 

 notes) I would like to state that I 

 have grown about every forcing tomato 

 introduced for a good many years and 

 Lister's Prolific stands at the head of 

 the procession, not excepting Comet, 

 which is its closest rival. When I read 

 that it is simply a question of produc- 

 tiveness "that certain other varieties 

 will give three times the quantity of 

 fruit" and that it is "too long jointed." 

 I am driven to the conclusion that 

 what Mr. Kirk has been growing is 

 not Lister's Prolific at all. Unless he 

 had seed in the introducer's packets he 

 would not have a true strain at all. 



I have grown Sutton's Winter 

 Beauty and Hubert's Marvel in years 

 gene by but they are not in produc- 

 tiveness, smoothness of fruit, or what 

 is of greatest importance of all, qual- 

 ity, in the same class as Lister's Pro- 

 lific, and I can name a dozen private 

 estates which can give like testimony. 

 Commercial growers who want the best 

 market sort procurable are buying this 

 variety heavily at present; one special- 

 ist will grow nothing else the coming 

 season. 



Not only is this tomato good under 

 glass but as an early outdoor sort it 

 is first in the field. We picked well 

 ripened fruit here July 12. some ten 

 days ahead of Chalk's Early .Jewel, and 

 ripe tomatoes at $3 to $5 per bushel 

 surely pay better than midseason ones 

 at 50c. 



I will be glad to send some genuine 

 Lister's Prolific seed to my friend, Mr. 

 Kirk, to sow next season. 1 know he 



can grow melons which have both size 

 and quality, and I feel sure that a 

 year hence he will agree with me 

 that the tomato in question — which by 

 the way is of Scotch origin, having 

 been raised by Alexander Lister & 

 Sons, of Rothesay, the well-known 

 rose and pansy specialists —is the best 

 of its kind in commerce 



W. N. CRAIG. 

 North Easton. Mass. 



PRIMULA PULVERULENTA MRS. R. 

 V. BERKELEY. 



The new primrose which is the sub- 

 ject of our cover illustration this week 

 was exhibited in good form and in 

 quantity in the display of new Chi- 

 nese plants at the International Horti- 

 cultural Exhibition in London by 

 James Veitch & Sons. This plant, 

 which is a white sport from the origi- 

 nal type collected by E. H. Wilson in 

 China, was perhaps the finest new 

 hardy herbaceous plant in the whole 

 exhibition. The flowers as shown in 

 the Illustration, are borne in a succes- 

 sion of whorls, color white with a yel- 

 low throat and a reddish tinge on the 

 exterior of the corolla tube. 



Obituary. 



William Spangler. 



William Spangler, nurseryman and 

 florist, of Dover, N. J., died on July 

 9, aged .55 years. Two sons survive 



him. 



George Wilmore. 



George Wilmore. father of W. W. 

 Wilmore. the dahlia specialist, Denver, 

 Colo., died suddenly on July 20. aged 

 S4 years. 



Providence, R. I. — Alexander H. 

 Johnson. City Forester, and a me:n- 

 ber of the firm of George Johnson & 

 Son (Elm wood Greenhouses), has 

 been at Fort Greble the past week 

 with the First District Rhode Island 

 National Gi;ard of which he is Lieu- 

 tenant Colonel. During his absence 

 the duties of City Forester were per- 

 formed by James Thornton, assistant 

 in that department. 



The Field Naturalist Society is 

 planning to hold a flower show Aug. 

 24-25. Several silver cups have been 

 offered in the competition classes. 



J. A. Budlong of Auburn, is spend- 

 ing the summer at Narragansett Pier. 



William Bester. 



William Bester, florist, 205 South 

 Potomac sti'Cet. Hagerstown, Md.. died 

 on July 28, aged 6S years. He had 

 been in the florist business in Hagers- 

 town for many years and had estab- 

 lished a very successful business. 

 Heart disease is given as the cause 

 of death. A widow and four children 

 survive him. 



Charles Knopf. 

 On July 25, Chai'les Knopf, well- 

 known carnation grower, of Richmond, 

 Ind., died after a short illness, aged 

 36 years. He had been engaged in the 

 greenhouse business for twenty years 

 and had disseminated a number of car- 

 nations. Admiration was his last in- 

 troduction, coming out in 1909, 



Albert Bommersbach. 

 Albert Bommersbach, son of Nicho- 

 las Bommersbach, nurseryman, 702 

 Spring avenue, Decatur, III., and man- 

 ager of the business, died on July 28, 

 aged 33 years. He learned his trade 

 with his father and when the store on 

 North Water street was opened he 

 took over the management of the 

 greenhouses and the Greenwood ave- 

 nue business. 



