600 



IlOETICULTrRE 



November 2, 1912 



HORTICULTURi: 



VOL. XVI 



NOVEMBER 2, 1912 



NO, 18 



PIBLISUED WEEKLY BY 



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CONTENTS 



Page 



COVER ILLUSTRATION— A Dahlia Walk. 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— Ameri- 

 can Beauty Roses for Easter — Care of Calceolarias — 

 Dahlias — Gardenias — Growing Sweet Peas — Spiraea 

 Japonica — John J. M. Farrell 597 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS— Root 

 Pruning — Melons in Pots — Radishes — Lettuce — 

 Ocorge H. Penson 598 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS— Liquid Manure and 

 Mulching — Green Fly — Disbudding — Regulating Tem- 

 perature in Houses — Arthur C. Ruzicka 599 



THE GREAT NEW ROSE MRS. CHARLES RUSSELL 

 —G. C. Watson 601 



A NEW BURPEE SWEET PEA— Illustrated 601 



THE EXHIBITIONS: 



Lenox Horticultural Society — Tuxedo Horticultural 

 Society — Counecticut Horticultural Society — Nassau 

 County Horticultural Society — Massachusetts Agri- 

 cultural College — Coming Exhibitions 602 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: 



Notes 603 



Society of American Florists 620 



SEED TRADE 606 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Steamer Departures — New Flower Stores 608 



Flowers by Telegraph 609 



OUT OF THE GINGER JAR— G. C. Watson 611 



OBITUARY: 



R. G. Pierce — William F. A. Kendel — Charles W. 

 Reimers — L. P. Walz — August Balluf — John Spinier. 611 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Washington... 613 



New York, Philadelphia 615 



St. Louis 620 



DURING RECESS— Bowling 620 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



Personal 601 



Cincinnati Notes 601 



Co-operative Flower Market 601 



Boston Flower Exchange 603 



An Economical Fountain — Illustrated 606 



News Notes 609-620-622 



New York Notes — Chicago Notes — Providence Notes .610 



Incorporated 610 



Detroit Notes — Washington Notes 611 



Catalogues Received 620 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 622 



No argument or demonstration is 



Cheaper flowers, needed to convince the readers of 



How? this paper that the cost of fitting up 



and conducting a retail flower store 



is today very much greater than it was a few years ago. 



Ice boxes, mirrors, tiled windows, electric lighting and 



other furnishings of the average flower establishment 



are only a part of the luxurious outfit which one must 

 have in order to compete successfully for trade. Auto 

 delivery cars, uniformed messengers, fancy boxes, sta- 

 tionery, etc., all help to make the expense account such as 

 would liave appalled even the most ambitious a few years 

 back. All this has to be covered in by the selling profit. 

 With the cost of doing business so much increased and 

 salaries and the "cost of living" advanced in equal degree 

 we can't see much encouragement for those who are 

 constantly clamoring that the public should get their 

 ilowers from these stores at lower prices. Indeed flowers 

 are one of the very few commodities on which prices 

 liave not advanced in recent years. If they are to be 

 sold at a still lower figure it must be by means of some 

 lULicli less costly medium than the up-todate city flower 

 s'"ore. 



The eagerness with which any 



Worthy novelties worthy novelty in flowers is now 



In favor welcomed by the retail florist trade 



is one of the most gratifj-ing signs 

 of the times and that the producers are ready with an 

 enthusiastic response to this encouragement so long 

 denied them, is the natural result. For many years the 

 rather antagonistic attitude of the influential retailer 

 often acted as a deterrent to any great investment of en- 

 terprise in the introduction of new varieties. Now, the 

 reverse is true and tlie man with novelties in any line is 

 the one most sought after. And all this is advancement 

 in the right direction and a good thing for the flower 

 trade. Of course the "novelties"' must be novelties in 

 fact and not merely counterparts of things already com- 

 mon or already discarded as unworthy. The sacrifice of 

 the goose tliat laid the golden eggs will again be repeated 

 i f "progressive principles" are not strictly adhered to by 

 llie introducers. As a check upon the indiscriminate 

 dissemination of things of unproven value the various 

 ^pecial S{xieties are doing a great service to the trade. 

 Tliere may be an occasional exception, but it will be pru- 

 ■lent to assume that a seedling rose, carnation, chrys- 

 anthenmm, dahlia, sweet pea or peony introduction 

 which cannot show credentials from its respective society 

 iisuallv belongs in the discard. 



Our horticultural friends across the 

 Imitation versus Atlantic are somewhat worked up 

 real flowers about the increasing popularity of 



artificial flowers and the willingness 

 of florists to sell them. In this country the problem is 

 by no means a new one and the increasing skill shown in 

 the production of these imitation flowers should not be 

 underestimated. It must be admitted, however, as we 

 have befoie remarked, that the artificial flower has its 

 place and an unqualified denunciation of it by the 

 grower of fresh goods would hardly serve any good pur- 

 pose. The sinning which we all can consistently con- 

 demn is its use as a substitute for the real thing where 

 the latter can and should properly be used. Fresh flow- 

 ers in a ladies' hat are as impracticable as a bridal bou- 

 (|uet in cloth imitation would be abominable. Last win- 

 ter it was quite a common thing to see on Broadway 

 silk cattleyas worn as corsage adornment, but everybody 

 could see they were imitations and on freezing days when 

 fresh flowers could not be worn we must admit there was 

 some common-sense in the practice. "The eternal fitness 

 of things" is a good standard to have in mind. Any 

 florist who would encourage the use of artificial fiowers 

 as sub=lilutes for the genuine when the latter would be 

 practicable and fit is a proper Subject for censure, but 

 there are plenty of uses for the fonner and the more 

 nearly perfect tliey are made the better we enjoy seeing 

 them. Let us be careful not to stand up so straight that 

 \vf (imiblc over backwards. 



