530 



HORTI CULTURE 



October 14, 1911 



Dutch bulbs \ ECeizerskroon tulip 

 weighing an ounce and a bait or an 

 ounce and three-quarters has been put 

 in competition with others weighing 

 from five-eighths to three-quarters of 

 an ounce. The seedsman cannot do 

 much tor the upbuilding of his busi- 

 ness by buying and selling the cheap- 

 est, meani to be, obtained. In 

 doing this he fools himself, Injures his 

 customer, and in the end loses his 

 trade. What I have said to the private 

 gardener about learning His calling ap- 

 plies still more forcibly to the seeds- 

 man, 'too many ien do not 

 know (heir busini Holland 

 bulb men are aware of this and are 

 still taking unfair advantage of the 

 situation. It is well known in Holland 

 that the favorite single blue Hyacinth 

 Charles Dickens has become so dete- 

 riorated bj di i that it is no longer 

 lit to be grown. Yet it is listed aud 

 sold to this country by the Holland 

 growers who usually send for it ".Ma- 

 rie," a cheap, inferior sort. We have 

 seen the beautiful pure white La 

 Grandesse substituted with La Fran- 

 chise, a blush sort having a purple 

 skinned bulb. Standard Silver and 

 Standard Gold tulips have also de- 

 teriorated, yet these are regularly list- 

 ed by man] seedsmen, who in most 

 cases receive substitutes such as Cot- 

 tage Boy, Arms of Leiden, or other 

 inferior sorts. 



The Nurseryman. 



Nurserymen, as a rule, nave been 

 progressive, more so, perhaps, than 

 those engaged in other lines of horti- 

 cultural industry. Still, there is much 

 for them to do. Too frequently they 

 are more anxious to sell stock than 

 to assure themselves thai the stock 

 sold will be well planted, that the 

 ground will be suitably prepared, and 

 that the after-care it receives will he 

 such that the purchasers' success with 

 it will bring the vendor future orders. 

 In the long run it would not hurt the 

 nurseryman to inform a client that 

 the cost of preparation of ground and 

 planting, if done properly, will equal 

 or exceed the cost of the stock. Great 

 ignorance prevails as to the conditions 

 under which nursery stock will 

 thrive, especially of the more common 

 shade trees, which are often planted 

 in gravel. 



Nurserymen should endeavor to di- 

 versify plantations; there is ample 

 material with which to do this and 

 their clients would welcome the varie- 

 ty New material, too, is at hand and 

 the nurseryman has a thousand or 

 more new trees, shrubs and vines re- 

 cently brought from Western China 

 and elsewhere with which to augment 

 his already large variety of available 

 material. 



Many of the nurserymen are mak- 

 ing better terms on their stock, or al- 

 lowing larger discounts to the so- 

 called landscape architects than they 

 do to private gardeners This prac- 

 tice is to be regretted. It puts the 

 gardener at a disadvantage, which is 

 unfair to him. Why should the so- 

 called landscape architect, who often 

 has no practical horticultural knowl- 

 edge, and. perhaps, nothing more than 

 a short course in drawing, and an- 

 other in reading Dow r ning, Mawson, 

 and a few other authors for his stock 

 in trade — be accorded trade courtesies 

 which give him advantage over the 



FIELD OF SPECIOSUM LILIES 

 Al Flowerfleld Farm of John Lewis Childa 



trained gardener who has spent fifteen 

 or twenty years of his life in acquir- 

 ing his practical k nowledge. Choose 

 ye this day whom ye will serve, 

 brother nurserymen; but as for me, 

 and my house, we will stand by the 

 gardener! I will not see him super- 

 seded and supplanted by a man much 

 his inferior in horticultural knowledge 

 and ability. 



New York Horticulturists. 



New York horticulturists: Yours is 

 the largest opportunity. You have the 

 wealth of the country about you. Y'ou 

 have the finest estates within a hun- 

 dred miles of your doors. It is your 

 duty to see that horticulture grows, 

 not only in your vicinity but also 

 throughout the country, for are you 

 not located on the country's greatest 

 thoroughfare? It is your duty to so 

 serve those who come to you that they 

 will be encouraged to become larger 

 patrons of horticulture; and if you do 

 this you will undoubtedly reap the 

 benefit. 



You are planning to hold the third 

 National Flower Show in this city. If 

 you make the success of it of which 

 you are capable it will prove a great 

 Stimulus for horticultural trade in New 

 York. To do this you must get to work 

 at once. Y'our schi uld be out 



not later than January 1. (let busy at 

 ■ ii! this is your opportu- 

 nity. 



TAXING POT PLANTS. 



Springfield, O. — Backed by all the 

 local florists, the George H. Mellen 

 Company lias filed an injunction suit 

 to restrain the country treasurer from 

 collecting taxes to the amount of $250. 

 They raise the point that flowers taken 

 from the ground and placed in pots 

 should be classed as real estate instead 

 of personal property. The point is one 

 that will be watched with interest by 

 all florists. 



WHITHER TENDING? 



There are some who say that the 

 recent quarter centennial banquet of 

 I he Florists' Club of Philadelphia was a 

 big success because out of 149 present 

 there were 49 ladies. We are not find- 

 ing any fault either with the commit- 

 tee or the ladies, and nothing personal 

 is intended. The question is, how did 

 the banquet compare with similar 

 events of the past 25 years? Only 

 about one-third of the membership at- 

 tended and the missing majority em- 

 body some of the finest and most pro- 

 gressive brains in the business. Why 

 were they absent? 



Banquets are organized as a rule 

 with some object. in view outside of 

 the "Eats" and the sociability. When 

 our forefathers blazed the way into 

 the wilderness they took their lives 

 into their hands. These were the men 

 who made our country. Are we come 

 to the pass now where the cigarettes 

 and the frou frous are to shape club 

 policy and aims and replace the men 

 of initiative, of courage and of far- 

 seeing business ability? 



It would look that way, but it is 

 not really so. If. however, the Flor- 

 ists' Clubs let tin frou frous run them 

 (there are male as well as female 

 frou frous). there will be a galloping 

 consumption — and after that a chance 

 for a new and virile organism. "Whom 

 the gods would destroy they first make 

 mad." As before said, there is noth- 

 ing personal in this. Our plea is for 

 the broader view of things, the more 

 tolerant spirit and the revival of the 

 old-time nerve and enthusiasm. 



G. C. WATSON. 



North Easton, Mass. — John McFar- 

 land has a new garden hybrid orchid 

 Cattleya McFarlandii Dowiana 



which he exhibited at Horticultural 

 Hall, October 7. Last March he ex- 

 hibited one from the same batch of 

 seedlings, and won a silver medal. 

 The present seedling is very distinctly 

 different, however. 



