January 10. 1914 



HORTICULTURE 



41 



PRrVATE, PROFESSIONAL OR 



COMMERCIAL— WHICH? 



Editor of Hounc-rLTTBE, 

 Dear Sir: 



In the course of conversation with 

 a member of the G. & F. Club of Bos- 

 ton at its last meeting, some senti- 

 ments were expressed and assertions 

 made by him which the writer feels 

 are worthy of wider consideration and 

 discussion. The subject naturally re- 

 lated to the forthcoming S. A. F. Con- 

 vention and ramified into many side 

 issues more or less pertinent to the 

 question. In view of the fact that the 

 member referred to is one of the most 

 thoughtful and representative men in 

 the Club and in the private gardener 

 fraternity, it is fair to assume that he 

 voices more or less accurately the 

 sentiment of that branch of the profes- 

 sion. Furthermore, in justice to him 

 as a critic, it may be said that through 

 years of devoted service and liberal 

 giving he has earned a right to the 

 utmost freedom of expression. 



His contention, briefly, is that the 

 S. A. F. is essentially a commercial 

 body, that it has never done anything 

 for the private gardener as such and. 

 consequently, that the latter should 

 not be expected to bear the brunt of 

 its entertainment. Aside from the 

 question of fact, the subsidiary ques- 

 tions arose as to; What is a "private 

 gardener?" Wherein does he differ 

 from a "commercial gardener?" and if 

 the S. A. F. has not been helpful to 

 him, why not? In a mixed member- 

 ship of "Privates" and "Commercials," 

 such as exists in the G. & F. Club in 

 Boston, one can readily observe the 

 segregation into separate camps of the 

 two branches and that the active 

 agent in creating and maintaining this 

 division is invariably the private gar- 

 dener. It does not require a very 

 astute observer to discover that one 

 reason at least for this attitude of 

 mind lies in the time-honored super- 

 stition that the private-gardener be- 

 longs in the amateur class and as such 

 has a kind of superiority over his more 

 "mercenary" brother. Xo doubt, the 

 confusion of terms "private" and "am- 

 ateur" has much to do with this quite 

 unwarranted assuniption. There is 

 little hope that the proposed change 

 from "private" to "professional" will 

 help matters much, as the latter term 

 will, no doubt, be used in its classic 

 sense and still serve to differentiate 

 the two branches. 



To prove among other things that 

 the S. A. F. was not intended as a 

 benefit to the "private gardener." my 

 friend pointed to the very name itself 

 as evidence. The fatal word "Florist" 

 had been installed and no private gar- 

 dener need apply. Here, with regard 

 to terms, again, while the word "com- 

 mercial" is, in the mind of the private 

 gardener, bad enongh, "florist" is in- 

 tolerable and so both in the S. A. F. 

 and our own G. & F. Club of Boston, 

 this poor, innocent, little word has set 

 up an almost insuperable difficulty. 

 As a matter of fact, there is no essen- 

 tial difference between the gardener 

 who grows plants and flowers for one 

 patron and he who caters in a similar 

 way to many; certainly the under-men 

 in both cases fill positions practically 

 alike. The former is a professional 

 gardener working for a living just as 

 much as the latter and is In no sense 



an amateur. He places before his one 

 patron the best and newest thing in 

 horticulture, he studies landscape gar- 

 dening, the arrangements of green- 

 houses, etc., just as his "commercial" 

 brother does in serving his more num- 

 erous customers. 



They both do it for profit: the fact 

 that one has a fixed income and the 

 other a variable one does not affect 

 the question. In fact even in that re- 

 spect, the "private gardener" is al- 

 ways aiming at increased income 

 either through efficiency or opportun- 

 ity, or both. Seeing then, that the 

 "private gardener" is just as com- 

 mercial both in instinct and endeavor 

 as his "commercial" brother, the writ- 

 er fails to see any reason why the S. 

 A. F., if it is valuable to one, is not 

 equally so to the other. If it has not 

 proved so, it may be fairly suspected 

 that the fault lies with the private gar- 

 dener rather than the S. A. F. 



There is no doubt that the name of 

 the Society was unfortunately chosen 

 and has militated against its growth 

 and usefulness and will continue to do 

 so. The fact remains, however, that it 

 has been and is a splendid organiza- 

 tion. It deserves the support of every 

 one engaged in the profession of Horti- 

 culture and with this freely given and 

 with possibly a new name and the in- 

 clusion of all subsidiary associations 

 within its fold, there will be talent 

 and material sufficient to make it the 

 largest and finest Horticultural So- 

 ciety in the world. 



Yours very truly, 



F. E. Paimer. 



Brookline, Mass. 



BOOMING THE PANAMA-PACIFIC. 



George A. Dennison, Chief of the 

 Department of Horticulture at the 

 Panama-Pacific International Exposi- 

 tion, sends us a very sanguine com- 

 munication concerning the outlook in 

 his Department. 



As an evidence of the zeal with 

 which the advisory committee is go- 

 ing at the work, he gives the follow- 

 ing brief quotations from their several 

 letters in which they accepted the 

 onerous and taxing duties of the posi- 

 tion: — 



A. F. J. Baur, s«cretary of the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society, writes: 



"I shall )te pleased to assist in ever}' 

 way possible in making this department 

 the success it deserves to he." 



J. P. Brown, International Society of 

 Arboriculture: 



"I shall he very glad to co-operate with 

 the management In any way that I can. 

 It is my intention to urge our members to 

 be there. I had a fine exhibit at the St. 

 Louis KxpositioD. and was appointed an 

 international juror by President Francis." 



Harry A. Bunyard, secretary Ameri- 

 can Sweet Pea Society: 



"I will do all that is po.ssible to advance 

 the floricultural exhibits in 1915. I have 

 brought the matter of having our society 

 take part in the exposition before the con- 

 vention in Boston. The question was laid 

 over until I!*14. It is quite probable, how- 

 ever, that we win take up your kind in- 

 vitation at that time and accept the same." 



M. C. Ebel, secretary National Asso- 

 ciation of Gardeners: 



"I pledge myself to do what I can to 

 further the interests of horticulture and 

 floriculture and shall continue to try and 

 further the interests of the Exposition 

 among the gardening fraternity." 



L. Merton Gage, American Gladiolus 

 Society; 



"I shall be active in every way where I 

 can be of service; shall collect a cot-flower 

 display, urge San Francisco as oor meet- 

 ing place, etc., etc." 



L. A. Goodman, President American 

 Pomological Society, Kansas City; 



"1 shall do my best to serve yon and 

 the cause and will try to bring the meet- 

 ing to your city." 



Frank E. Gorrell, secretary National 

 Canners' Association; 



"I will make every possible effort in try- 

 ing to make the Exposition a success." 



Fred E. Grover, secretary National 

 Association of Retail Nurserymen; 



"... I will use such influence as I 

 may have with the members of our or- 

 ganization to enconrage a large nursery 



exhibit." 



Benj. Hammond, secretary of the 

 American Rose Society; 



"1 will come to San Francisco and do 

 whatever I can in the meantime." 



H. C. Irish, secretary National Coun- 

 cil of Horticulture: 



"I assure you of my earnest co-opera- 

 tion in furthering a great bortlcnlttiral 

 exhibit." 



C. W. Johnson, secretary Chrysan- 

 themum Society of America: 



"I will do all in my power to further 

 the Interests of the Exposition and shall 

 be pleased to serve yon in any capacity.' 



C. E. Kendel, secretar>- American 

 Seed Trade Association: 



"Will assist in bringing the World's 

 Seed Trade Convention to your city, and I 

 regard the appointment on your advisory 

 committee as not only an honor but a 

 duty." 



J. P. Pilkington, American Associa- 

 tion of Nurserymen: 



"1 will be pleased to serve in any way 

 possible as an individual grower or as 

 president of my association." 



Charles H. Tottj-, chairman, New 

 York Flower Show; 



"I will serve you In any capacity that 

 you may name, and will do all the pub- 

 licity promoting within my power." 



John Young, secretary American Flor- 

 ists and Ornamental Horticulturists; 



"Please do not hesitate to call on me 

 at any time, as I will always be ready 

 to assist in bringing about a successfnl 

 floricultural exhibit." 



And from the following came formal 

 replies of acceptance coupled with ex- 

 pressions of good will which have since 

 been exhibited in vigorous, effective 

 and enthusiastic support and achieve- 

 ment: C. P. Close, secretary Society for 

 Horticultural Science; David Fairchild, 

 president American Breeders' Associa- 

 tion; J. B. Wight, secretary National 

 Nut Growers' Association; Mrs. Charles 

 H. Maynard, secretary Ladies' Society 

 of American Florists; Dr. J. R. Wilson, 

 ex-secretarj' National Nut Growers 

 Association, and Bertrand H. Farr, 

 president American Peony Society. 



A NEW AZALEA. 



A. Schultheis, of College Point, N. 

 Y., is enthusiastic over the appear- 

 ance in his place of a unique sport 

 from Azalea Mme. Petrick. There is 

 a European sport from Mme. Petrick 

 on the market, but this is quite dis- 

 tinct from it, the color, resembling 

 that of Vervaeneana, being much more 

 vivid and pure in all lights — natural 

 or artificial— and the habit equally de- 

 sirable. In the myriads of azaleas 

 handled by Mr. Schultheis during his 

 long business career this is the first 

 sport that has appeared and it certain- 

 ly looks like a good one. 



