October 12, 1912 



HOETICULTURE 



■ 05 . 



FOREIGN NOTES. 



The time flies and few things in 

 horticulture remind us of more than 

 the frequency with which the great 

 quinquennal shows at Ghent come 

 round. Next April we are to have an- 

 other and in conjunction therewith an 

 International Horticultural Congress 

 will be held, at which horticulturists, 

 native or foreign, are invited to par- 

 ticii ate. A circular has been issued 

 with form of proposed membership. 

 The fee is one dollar, and it may be 

 taken for granted that Belgian hospi- 

 tality will, as usual, be lavish and cor- 

 dial. Besides the useful and instruc- 

 tive there will be festive gatherings 

 and those wishing to take part may 

 obtain full details from the Secretary. 

 M. Ed. Rodigas, 79 Avenue Chazal. 

 Brussels, Belgium. 



French Gardeners in London. 



On Saturday September 7th, a most 

 enjoyable day's outing was offered co 

 the young French gardeners belong- 

 ing to the Societe Francaise d'Horti- 

 culture de Londres. The firm of 

 James Carter & Co., invited the So- 

 ciety to visit their new establishment 

 at Raynes Park. About 400 of tne 

 young Frenchmen accepted and were 

 accompanied by some half-dozen of 

 the English members of the Society. 

 A hearty welcome was extended by 

 Mr. Harold Beale who showed the 

 party around what must be regarded 

 as one of the most up-to-date seed es- 

 tablishments in England. 



After a thorough inspection of all 

 departments of the big seed house, 

 the party was conducted to the dining 

 hall. Mr. Harold Beale occupied the 

 chair and a splendid lunch was served 

 — nothing but champagne being pro- 

 vided except a choice liqueur at the 

 finish. Then in a few well-chosen 

 words dear old papa Schneider arose 

 and as president of the French So- 

 ciety thanked as only a Frenchman 

 can, the hosts for their great kindness 

 and hospitality towards the young 

 foreigners who most heartily appreci- 

 ated the visit. 



Electroculture. 

 Electricity is nowadays an impor- 

 tant-factor tn our lives. Applied to 

 horticulture it has problems that will 

 interest all engaged in Adam's craft. 

 We learn that the first International 

 Congress of Electroculture has been 

 decided upon and that it will take 

 place at Rheims, France, on the 24th 

 to 26th of October. 



Mme. Philippe de Vilmorin. 

 We are sure that all our readers 

 who know this charming lady, the 

 wife of one of the most eminent and 

 most widely respected French horti- 

 culturists will rejoice with us in learn- 

 ing that the French government has 

 recently conferred upon her the Cross 

 of Chevalier of the Merite Agricole for 

 her services in horticulture. There 

 are few great gatherings of nursery- 

 men in Europe where this lady is not 

 to be seen with her husband and in a 

 country like France where woman 

 holds an important place, it is only 

 reasonable that honors should be be- 

 stowed upon them for meritorious 

 services rendered. 



Horticultural Society of Prance, has 

 just been appointed a corresponding 

 member of the Royal Horticultural So- 

 ciety of London, England. M. Gibault 

 is a great authority on horticultural 

 and botanical literature and well de- 

 serves the distinction. 



C. HARMAN PAYNE. 



CYPRIPEDIUM FAIRRIEANUM. 



The accompanying illustration repre- 

 sents a good variety of this dainty 

 little cypripedium having the dorsal 

 sepal much more open on top than is 

 generally the case in this species. 



C. Fairrieanum is by no means an 

 easy subject to grow, at least I don't 



find it to be so. The best location 

 for it seems to be a cool shady, place 

 in the cattleya house near the' glass. 

 Perhaps the use of pieces of lime- 

 stone in place of potsherds would be 

 more to its liking. At the last potting 

 I mixed small pieces of old plaster in 

 with the loam (as I canot get any 

 limestone around here) and they seem 

 to like it, for they have made con- 

 siderable headway since then. It 

 would be interesting to hear the ex- 

 perience of other gardeners with this 

 cypripedium. M. J. POPE. 



Naugatuck, Conn. 



ADVERTISING VS. READING MAT- 

 TER. 



Dear Sir; — Your first paragraph in 

 editorial column of October 5th inst., 

 under the title, "Advice Accepted," 

 lias struck me with more than ordi- 

 nary interest, for I always had strong 

 views regarding the subject therein 

 iiitntioned. I have never ceased won- 

 dering how editors or publishers 

 should be so apparently indifferent re- 

 garding the permanent merits of their 

 respective publications as a repository 

 of helpful reference for all time, in 

 burdening their publications with bi- 

 zarre advertisements throughout the 

 reading matter, when the interest ot 

 bcith advertisements and reading mat- 

 ter could be as well and as effectually 

 met separately. The self-effacement 

 from an honorary place on the shelves 

 of private or public libraries of those 

 publications that pursue this course 

 ia sufficiently eloquent to point out 

 its errors. When you were but very 

 young at your post of conducting 

 HORTICULTURE editorially, and but 

 a few numbers had been issued, 1 

 happened to be at your office; you 

 asked me how I liked the new paper. 

 Answering, I said that I liked it very 

 well; adding, that I should like it 

 much better if the advertising matter 

 were "confined to the cover pages," 

 as it should from my way of looking 

 at it. and if permanent usefulness 

 and personal pride on the part of the 

 promoters had anything to do with its 

 welfare, quoting as examples, the 

 English Chronicle, the English Gar- 

 den, the Deutsche Gartner-Zeitung, and 

 others to support my contention. You 

 will pardon me if I feel somewhat 

 elated at this late date to find others 

 thinking as I did then, evoking such 

 applause at Chicago as you tell us in 

 the paragraphs referred to, as to con- 

 vince your experienced self to remark 

 that there was "Something in it." 



Be assured, that although this note 

 is addressed to you, that HORTICUL- 

 TURE or its management is neither 

 more nor less considered involved in 

 the argument than its contemporaries. 

 Let us have the arguments; much 

 good Is evolved from well-meant ones. 

 K. FINLAYSON. 



M. George Gibault. 

 Our old and valued friend, M. George 

 Gibault, the librarian of the National 



Petal jma. Calif. — The Main Street 

 Nursery has been purchased by Henry 

 Schnabel, formerly of Stanford Uni- 

 versity. Calif. In addition to nursery 

 stock he will handle cut flowers. 



NOTES FROM GERMANY. 



Charles Lenker, of Freeport, N. Y., 

 who is traveling in Germany, writes 

 interestingly of the flower business 

 as he found it in Hamburg. He says 

 that chrysanthemums of very good 

 mid-season varieties, such as Robin- 

 sons, are bringing $3.00 per dozen 

 and carnations such as Enchantress, 

 Beacon. White Perfection and Da- 

 heim from $4.00 to $8.00 per 100 

 wholesale. In the latter "splits" have 

 to be taken along, as no culling is 

 allowed. Asters are very poor, the 

 stuff offered in some of the best stores 

 being such that no American store of 

 any pretensions would look at. Lily 

 of the valley is about half a crop this 

 vear; there are whole fields that will 

 have to be left tor another year, the 

 extreme dry season having left them 

 with only about one-half flowering 

 pips, so that it would not pay to dig 

 them. 



Mr. Lenker comments in character- 

 istic philosophical manner of the in- 

 convenience he had to undergo on ac- 

 count of having had his baggage left 

 behind at Hoboken. His visit, follow- 

 ing Hamburg will include Quedlin- 

 burg, Leipzig and Dresden. 



