October 7. 1911 



EDUCATION IN FLORICULTURE. 



Mr. Editor: 



Prof. White, i" bis desli e to cooper- 

 ate with practical gardeners and flor- 

 ists on betaall ol floriculture al Am 

 berst, displayed a creditable breadtb 

 hi urn ;ui<l earnestness tor the ad- 

 vancement ol horticulture In this 

 state, aud. I think il your valuable 

 paper were used aa a means i<>r dls- 

 cu88ing the best way to train young 

 gardeners aud llorists he would gain a 

 good deal ni help In that direction. My 

 own vim is that his department 

 should be so constructed that It 

 would u"i 1< .in too much to either the 

 commercial or what is called private 

 gardening, i he European apprentice- 

 ship system is very good, but In my 

 day ii bad a great detect. In not hav- 

 ing the time or facilities for study 

 which is so necessary to keep any one 

 from tailing into a rut or getting set 

 in his ideas. 



Amherst, 1 think, .should secure 

 those Intending to follow horticultural 

 pursuits at fifteen or sixteen years of 

 age about the time they finish gram- 

 mar school, as from mj observation 

 and experience (for I have children in 

 high school i after a boy has gone two 

 years or more to high school he will 

 very often not care to knuckle down to 

 that manual labor which is necessary 

 in training anyone to be a good practi- 

 cal gardener or florist. The course 

 should be at the very least three years 

 and four would be better; one year at 

 outdoor vegetable and fruit-growing, 

 a second in what might be called 

 Mower garden work and a third in the 

 greenhouses, but it would better be 

 two years In the greenhouses as indoor 

 fruit culture is beginning to come to 

 its own in this country, and one year 

 should be devoted to it. 



There should be a good collection of 

 fruits, vegetables and plants, both out- 

 doors and in the greenhouses, but not 

 many varieties of any species, for if 

 one knows how to grow one rose or 

 carnation or tomato, for instance, he 

 will by experience soon learn the pecu- 

 liarities of the several varieties of 

 either. I see no sense in a horticul- 

 tural school going into a series of ex- 

 periments with the different varieties 

 of carnations or roses about how many 

 flowers per plant they will produce in 

 a given time, as the majority of new 

 varieties have a comparatively very 

 short life and it is waste of time and 

 public money, if the institution is sup- 

 ported by the state. 



The members of the committee 

 chosen by I'res. Miller of the G. & F. 

 Club of Boston, are men of wide expe- 

 rience and success in gardening mat- 

 ters, and we ought to see our state col- 

 lege do some good work for horticul- 

 ture through their efforts in co-opera- 

 tion with Prof. White. 



GEORGE F. STEWART. 



Medford. Mass. 



BRITISH HORTICULTURE. 

 A Dahlia Display. 

 The season of drought caused a fall- 

 ing off in the quality and quantit] ol 

 the exhibits at the annual show of the 

 National Dahlia Society at the Crystal 

 Palace, on Sept. 7th ami Mb. The 

 novelties were also fewer in number. 

 First class certificates were granted 

 to the following new varieties: Mau- 

 rice Rivoire an attractive addition to 



HORTICULTURE 



the collarette varii ties; Uranus, a cai 

 ins varletj . mottli d and Btrl] 

 let, on a white ground; Miss Stred 

 wick deep pink cactus, with pale yel- 

 low centre. In the non-competltlve 



n the leading dahlia specialists 

 made admirable displays. Messrs. 

 Hobbles, Ltd., ol Dereham, Norfolk, 

 had a well arranged and comprehen- 

 sive group, which secured the only 

 large gold medal awarded. M- 

 H. Cannell and Sons, of Swan ley, 

 Kent, had a good selection of cactus, 

 single, and paeony-llowered van. 

 which were arranged to the best ad- 

 vantage, and received a gold medal 

 Messrs. Keynes, Williams & Co., Salis- 

 bury, made an effective display of cac- 

 tus varieties, prominent varieties bi 

 ing Conquest, Johannesburg, Joan of 

 Are, Mrs. Chas. Wyatt, Cavalier, etc. 

 Other firms who included awards for 

 varied and interesting collections in- 

 cluded Mr. J. B. Riding, Chingford, 

 Essex; Mr. John Walker, Thame, 

 Oxon; Mr. J. T. West, Tower Hill. 

 Brentwood, Essex; Mr. M. V. Seale, 

 Sevenoaks, Kent; Chas. Turner, 

 Slough, Bucks; Carter & Co, Raynes 

 Park, Surrey. 



497 



Trade Society Meeting. 

 The Horticultural Trades' Associa- 

 tion which is doing excellent work in 

 the interests of British nurserymen 

 and seedsmen, held its annual meet- 

 ing recently at Exeter, under the pres- 

 idency of Mr. Peter Veitch, of that 

 town. At the business meeting a sat- 

 isfactory report of the Association's 

 work was presented, recording the con- 

 tinued usefulness of the Society's op- 

 erations. In addition a number of 

 matters of moment to the trade were 

 fully discussed. The remainder of the 

 time was spent in sight-seeing. Sev- 

 eral of the chief nurseries in the dis- 

 trict were visited. On the second day 

 a visit was paid to Bicton, through 

 the kindness of Lord Clinton, where a 

 magnificent collection of conifers, rare 

 plants and flowers were the chief at- 

 traction. A very enjoyable time was 

 spent on the water in exploring the 

 delightful scenery of the West Coun- 

 try. Mr. A. W. Paul of Waltham 

 Cross, was elected as the President 

 for the ensuing year. 



W. H. ADSETT. 



RUBUS INNOMINATUS. 



Editor HORTICULTURE: 



Seeing a cut of the new berry 

 "Rubus Innomlnatus" in your issue of 

 Sept. 30 I write for particulars. Is 

 the plant for sale? How long after 

 being planted before it fruits? I am 

 82, but would like to see it growing 

 and fruited. Yours truly, 



DR. J. H. THOMAS 

 Wyoming, Del. 



In reply to Dr. Thomas' query and 

 incidentally several other Inquirers, 

 Mr. Wilson informs us that Rubus in- 

 nominatus will fruit in the third year 

 from seed and the second year from 

 cuttings. The only firm offering it in 

 this country, so far as we know, is R. 

 & J. Farquhar & Co. of Boston, who 

 will no doubt give prices and other 

 i tit i n niation on request. 



FRUIT AND VEGETABLE NOTES 

 FROM MIDDLE WEST. 



Strawberries have made a little bet- 

 t( r growth than usual this year and 

 will go into the winter with more 

 plants set and developed ready lor 

 Mar's fruiting than they usually 

 The acreage for this coming 

 year will not be quite as large as 

 what has just fruited. 



There appears to be less anthrac- 

 nose on the raspberry canes this year 

 with Mime growers tian there has 

 bi i ii lor several seasons, but general- 

 h speaking, there is more, and the 



i IB lot a|i;i irent. 



Onions are all out of the field and 

 mostly sold. Some have been shipped 

 this ton in the car loose, but gener- 

 ally it will pay the shipper to have 

 them sacked before they are loaded. 

 The price is around $1.75 to $2.00 per 

 100 lbs. and there is not much chance 

 of its being lower for a few months. 

 Yellow Globe is most largely grown. 



Apples and pears are a slow sale at 

 any price but stay around 75c. The 

 crop is not big yet most trees have 

 some on them that are salable. 



Peaches are plenty, yet the price Is 

 $1.25 to $1.50 and up for the fancy 

 ones. Banked trees are safer for the 

 winter and are doing better produc- 

 ing this year than the ones not so 

 treated. 



County fairs have shown more 

 fruit on display this year than ever 

 before. The size was a little above 

 the ordinary, but the most specimens 

 have more or less scale spots on 

 them. 



A NOVEL GREENHOUSE FEAT. 



An event of great interest to the 

 florists' took- place a few days ago 

 when Mr. Stahelin moved a block of 

 four houses, 35x173 each, over a field 

 of 29,000 carnation plants which had 

 been cultivated there all summer long. 

 The houses are just like any other 

 houses except that they have no 

 benches, of course, and the heating is 

 all overhead. As the carnations are 

 planted in the. field, they make one 

 house each of Winsor, White En- 

 chantress, May Day and Beacon. 



The supporting posts of the houses 

 have heavy wheels inserted in their 

 base which run on steel rails; these 

 again are supported by concrete posts 

 eight feet apart. It took five men six 

 hours to move them into place but Mr. 

 Stahelin expects to move them in 30 

 minutes next year. 



Next season the place over which 

 these houses were built will be culti- 

 vated and planted with carnations and 

 the houses moved back on again. For 

 the heating of these houses Mr. Stahe- 

 lin made provisions by erecting a con- 

 boiler house. 30x42. with two 

 boilers of Inn horsepower each, and a 

 smokestack SU feet high with a 50 

 inch flue. Although this entirely new 

 method is more or less of an experl- 

 nevertheless, Mr. Stahelin has 

 certainly opened up a new line of 

 l bought. 



FRANK DANZER. 



Greencastle, Pa. — The Troxell & 

 Shake greenhouses have been taken 

 in charge by George D. Reid. It is 

 expected they will eventually pur- 

 chase the plant. 



Savanna, III. — Joe Dunn has pur- 

 i based John Lambert's interest in the 

 una Greenhouses and is now sole 

 owner of the business. Mr. Lambert 

 to go on the road as represen- 

 tative of a bulb firm. 



