864 



HORTICULTURE 



December 21, 1912 



HORTICULTURi: 



VOL. 2VI 



DECEMBER 21, 1912 



NO. 25 



PUBLISHED WEKKLT BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING CO. 

 11 Hamilton Place. Boston. Mass. 



Telephone, Oxford tOt. 



WU. J. STEWART, Editor and Mtax^gn. 



SUBSCRIPTION PRICK 



Oa« Tear, la adTSnce, $1.00; To ForelEn Conntrlei, fl.M; To 



Canada, (l.SO. 



ADVERTISING BATSa 



Pot Inch, SO Inches to page $1.99 



DlBConnts on Contracts for consecutive insertions, ai follows i 



One month (4 times), fi per cent.; three months (13 times). 10 

 per eent.; six months (26 times), 20 per cent.; one year (62 tlmee), 

 M f er cent. 



Fase and half paffe space, special rates on applicntlMi. 



■ntered ■■ Mcond-clsas matter December 8, 1904. at tbc Past Ufflec at 

 Boaton. Mass., under tbe Act of Congresi of March 3, 1879. 



CONTENTS 



Page 



■COVER ILLUSTRATION— William H. Siebrectit, Pres- 

 ident-elect New York Florists' Club. 



NOTES ON CULTURE OF FLORISTS' STOCK— 

 Azalea mollis — Dutch Hyacinths — Dendrobiums — 

 Lilies for Easter — The Propagating Bench — Petunias 

 John J. M. Farrell 861 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLES UNDER GLASS— Melons 

 • — Pruning Figs — Making a Peach Border — Beans 

 (Bush) Using Cyanide — George H. Penson 862 



ROSE GROWING UNDER GLASS— The Christmas 

 Rush — The Coal Bin — Keeping Record of the 

 Weather — Mildew — Red Spider — Pinching Wood for 

 Propagation — Arthur C. Ruzicka 863 



-CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: 



Gardeners' and Florists' Club of Boston — St. Louis 

 Florist Club — American Gladiolus Society — New 

 York Florists' Club — Lenox Horticultural Society. . . . 865 

 New Jersey Floricultural Society — Westchester and 

 Fairfield Horticultural Society — Minnesota State 

 Horticultural Society — Western New York Horticul- 

 tural Society — New London County Horticultural 



Society — Nassau County Horticultural Society 866 



The Shaw Bancjuet — Club and Society Notes 867 



OF INTEREST TO RETAIL FLORISTS: 



Steamer Departures 872 



Flowers by Telegraph — New Flower Stores 873 



A Model Flower Store, Illustrated 874 



FLOWER MARKET REPORTS: 



Boston, Buffalo 877 



Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, New York, Washington 879 



Philadelphia, St. Louis 884 



OBITUARY — Maurice Doyle — Mrs. George Bauman — 

 G. W. Jenne — Alexander J. Thomas — Patrick Mc- 

 Donald — John Martin — Francois Granz 886 



MISCELLANEOUS: 



News Notes — Personal 870 



W. J. Palmer Wins Suit 870 



Booming the Show 870 



A Novelty Withdrawn Till Next Year 870 



New York Notes— Philadelphia Notes 875 



Chicago Notes 884 



Fires 885 



Greenhouses Building or Contemplated 886 



Patents Granted 886 



Publications Received — Incorporated 886 



Predictions regarding the flower market, 

 Christmas csin'cially at this season of the year, are 

 possibilities always in tlie "extra hazardous" class, as 

 everyhody realizes, .so we naturally ap- 

 proach the subject with the proper amount of fear and 

 trembling. Yet wdien one is repeatedly called upon to 

 reply to the question — "What seems to be the general 



outlook?"' — then something must be said. As to the 

 situation in the plant line, the fact that growers of holi- 

 day plants generally report — "sold out," "nothing left 

 to advertise," etc. — makes it look as though the story of 

 the plant trade from the growers' view-point, at least, 

 was already written, nothing being left for them to do 

 but to collect the money. In the "holiday greens and 

 supplies" department which, in common with the plants- 

 man's product, usually sizes itself up well ahead of 

 Christmas, the same sort of talk is heard — -"more orders 

 now than we possibly can fill" ; "cannot accept any more 

 business!" Turning to the cutflbwer question, we find 

 the situation about as in other years — forebodings and 

 uncertainty regarding certain leading items, and, among 

 the growers of these staples, a disposition to hold stock 

 in reserve and place an enhanced price on same for even 

 present delivery. 



Now a word about the enhanced 



The why price. On carnations, which, by 



and why not common knowledge, have been flow- 



of price advance ering very scantily this fall, the 



reports from nearly all producing 

 lentres are to the effect that the crop now in sight is 

 the lightest for years and that a holiday famine is 

 inevitable, especially on red varieties. Yet there are 

 several carnation growers whom we have inter- 

 viewed who frankly acknowledge having a full crop 

 coining in just on time and all of superlative quality. 

 As to the rose man and those who handle liis wares at 

 wh.olesale, most of them are, like their carnation breth- 

 ren, disposed to stand on the time-worn ground of an 

 unavoidably short supply due to weather conditions, etc., 

 as a basis for better ])rices. That figures on American 

 Beauty, Richmond and other red roses will soar rapidly 

 for the next few days and attain a surprising altitude 

 is freely predicted in all markets. How near all these 

 prognostications are to be proven nobody knows. Long 

 experience naturally leads us to take them with many 

 "grains of salt," but allowing that scarcity will be felt 

 in every item wliere special scarcity is predicted we 

 would respectfully suggest that this fact hardly furnishes 

 justification for any sudden Ijoosting of prices for Christ- 

 mas delivery of the many other flowers with which the 

 wholesale markets are sure to be supplied in practically 

 inexhaustible quantity. 



The trouble is that the whole exaggerated 

 A warning system of holiday flower prices has been 



so long in vogue and the habit has become 

 so confirmed that it is not easy to drop it. Yet under 

 the conditions of supply now existing we cannot get 

 away from the conviction that any florist who, by ad- 

 herence to the methods of former days when complete 

 dearths were a reality and augmented prices on every 

 availal)le flower unavoidable, discourages the purchasing 

 and use of flowers as a holiday gift by anyone, whether 

 humble or oppulent, does a serious and lasting injury 

 to his business in general and his own prospects in par- 

 ticular. Our Chicago correspondent mentions the tre- 

 niendoits call for "red ruscus" this year and the increas- 

 ing use of this and other preserved and dyed material as 

 substitutes for flowers in florists' window decorations. 

 This tendency, we might add, is not confined to Chicago 

 but seems to be quite general. It may be well for us to 

 ask ourselves whether this displacement of the fresh 

 flower by artificial material is due in any way to our 

 past policy and methods and, if so, how long we can 

 persist in antiquated practices in the face of this new 

 menace. Wien tlic danger signal is set it behooves 

 evervone on the road to take due notice. 



