September 2, 1911 



MOK1 ICULTURE 



339 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 

 Secret Commissions. 



At one time the pernicious habit of 

 seedsmen granting commissions to 

 gardeners, according to i li « ■ extent of 

 the orders placed with them, was 

 largely in vogue in this country. Even 

 the firms opposed to this unsatisfac- 

 tory method of business-getting were 

 Obliged to fall into line with their 

 competitors. The passing of the Pre- 

 vention of Corruption Act largely put 

 a stop to this system, the Nursery- 

 men's Trade Society using their in- 

 fluence to secure the carrying out of 

 the stringent provisions of the meas- 

 ure. That the illicit form of trading 

 still exsits in a smaller degree is now 

 proved by a letter which has lately 

 been issued by Mr. R. M. Leonard, 

 the Secretary of the Secret Commis- 

 sions and Bribery Prevention League, 

 who has been instructed by his com- 

 mittee to warn people against the 

 practice of certain foreign firms who 

 are in the habit of offering Ilritish 

 gardeners a secret commission. "One 

 catalogue, for which I have to thank 

 an honest gardener," Mr. Leonard 

 states "has the words written upon 

 an inside page in pencil, '5 per cent, 

 discount for head gardeners.' Another 

 firm, which exports bulbs, has just 

 written to a gardener asking for his 

 private address. Illustrations of such 

 practices might easily be multiplied, 

 but the object of this letter is to put 

 those who employ gardeners on their 

 guard, as some of the offending firms 

 have neither agents nor travelers in 

 this country; and the Prevention of 

 Corruption Act, which prevents 

 British firms from giving secret com- 

 missions affords no remedy in such 

 cases." It is to be hoped that this 

 timely reminder will be effectual in 

 checking this mischievous evasion of 

 a necessary law. 



Experiments in Tobacco Growing. 



Some interesting experiments have 

 been carried out at the South Kastern 

 Agricultural College at Wye, Kent, 

 with a view to testing the possibility 

 of growing tobacco for insect icidal 

 purposes. These trials demonstrated 

 conclusively that tobacco can be 

 grown to maturity in this country, and 

 that with a suitable variety and a good 

 soil a satisfactory crop can be ob- 

 tained. Of the two species of tobacco 

 commonly grown for smoking pur- 

 poses 20 varieties were tested, the seed 

 being obtained from the United States, 

 the Transvaal, India, Italy, and Ire- 

 land. An ordinary garden frame con- 

 sisting of three "lights" and resting on 

 a hot-bed was found a suitable form 

 of seed-bed. The season's results show 

 that an average yield may be ■ \pected 

 of from 1,600 to 2,000 pounds dry to- 

 bacco leaves, excluding the sta^s. Al- 

 lowing 4 per cent, of nicotine, this 

 works out at 64 to 80 pounds nicotine 

 per acre. The best method of extrac- 

 tion is still being investigated, but 

 soaking the cut up leaves in water is 

 quite effective in extracting the great- 

 er portion of the nicotine. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 

 A. Dessert, Chenonceaux, France. — 

 Peony Novelties for 1911, Suzette and 

 Marquis C. Lagergren. 



W. E. Marshall & Co., New York City 

 — Bulb Catalogue for Autumn, 1911. 

 Tells all about "Marshall's Matchless." 



Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. 



Y. — Peonies, Irises, Phloxes, Bulbs. A 



compact list of choice varieties of 

 these specialties. 



Stumpp & Walter Co., New York — 

 Bulbs for Autumn Planting, 1911. 

 Covers in sepia, with attractive view 

 of Cottage and Darwin Tulips. 



Peter Henderson & Co., New York 

 City — Autumn Catalogue for 1911. 

 Real Dutch in cover illustrations and 

 decidedly effective and pretty. Lavish- 

 ly illustrated. 



Harrison's Nurseries, Berlin, Md. — 

 Trade List of Standard Trees, Plants 

 and Shrubs. Unique and attractive in 

 makeup, with orange and black bor- 

 der around the pages. As to the con- 

 tents — "Harrison's" is well-known to 

 the trade. 



Wood Brothers, Fishkill, N. Y — 

 Trade List for 1911. Here is an ex- 

 cellent offer of roses — the popular 

 forcing varieties — own-root and graft- 

 ed stock, standard varieties of car- 

 nations, chrysanthemums, cannas, 

 poinsettias and begonias. They send 

 out good stock from that high table 

 land in Dutchess County. 



R. & J. Farquhar & Co., Boston, 

 Mass. — Autumn Catalogue. A splen- 

 did bulb list, profusely illustrated on 

 coated paper. The first cover page 

 shows the "Dutch Garden" at the Na- 

 tional Flower Show of 1911 in dark 

 green tints. On the back is a hand- 

 some group of Darwin tulips, named 

 varieties. 



Arthur T. Boddington, New York 

 City — Florists' Bulbs and Seeds for 

 Forcing and Planting, Summer and 

 Autumn, 1911. The "seal of quality" 

 in gold is the principal cover adorn- 

 ment of this well-balanced and very 

 comprehensive catalogue. Prices quoted 

 per 100 and 1000 and the bulb growers 

 will find them very interesting. 



NEWS NOTES. 



Atlanta, Ga.— The McMillan Seed 

 Company has moved into new and 

 larger quarters at 27 South Broad St. 

 This firm began business in Atlanta in 

 1S77 when the company was estab- 

 lished by the father of J. C. McMillan. 

 the present manager and has devel- 

 oped a large trade throughout the 

 south. 



It is reported that a move is on foot 

 to organize the vegetable forcing green- 

 house establishments in northeastern 

 Ohio, with Youngstown as a selling 

 centre, to control market prices on the 

 product. The combination, if such 

 does exist, has been carried on with 

 great secrecy and many denials of the 

 newspaper rumors are made. 



In olden times every man car- 

 ried a sword, which was neces- 

 sary for purposes of honor and 

 self-preservation. When a man 

 wanted to show another his 

 intentions were peaceable he 

 extended his right hand, signi- 

 fying he was at the mercy of 

 the other by giving up his 

 fighting arm. If the other re- 

 ciprocated he, too, extended 

 his fighting arm and they 

 grasped hands as a token of 

 mutual trust aud friendship. 

 Now there are various kinds of 

 handshakes — some vigorous, 

 denoting strength, much of the 

 mediocre kind, as though it 

 was more a duty than a volun- 

 tary salute; but the limit is the 

 fish-hand — have you ever held 

 one? Well, it feels like you 

 were handling the entrails of a 

 chicken — a sort of a s-limy- 

 where - are - you feeling, that 

 leaves with you the impression 

 that the poor fellow was weaned 

 too soon — a sort of human 

 pancake batter. Now, good, 

 sound, solid lily bulbs are like 

 a good, sound, solid handshake 

 — not made in a biscuit mould, 

 but by nature good stuff: but 

 the other kind are just like the 

 fish-hand. Shake hands with 

 the Horseshoe Brand bulbs — 

 it's worth your while to try 

 them. 



Write for prices. 



Nol B«w ChMp 

 Bui H»w O»o4 



RalpfvM. Ward & Co. 



12 West Broadway 

 NEW YORK CITY 



Cold Storage bulbs of all kinds 

 read}; for immediate or future 

 shipment. 



Order now please. 



