December 30, 1911 



HO ll'l' I ( ULTURE 



933 



AMERICAN BULBS. 



A paper read before the Western Gladiolus 

 and Dahlia Society by E. s. Thompson 



Perhaps this subject maj aol appeal 

 to man; of you as being of special 

 Importance, but to me it is of wide 

 significance. Always, as far as our his- 

 tory is concerned, we have looked to 

 Europe for bulbs that are sold. A few 

 of course in the homes of the people, 

 but as for growing on a scab' com 

 mensurate with the demand, home 

 raising was hardly thought of until 

 close on to the original World's Fair, 

 Chicago, 1903. But since that date it 

 has grown by leaps and bounds, until 

 today we are largely supplying our 

 own country, and also 

 exporting by the mil- 

 lion. In tuberose bulbs 

 we beat the world, on 

 the south Atlantic 

 coast; and from Long 

 Island, thanks to the 

 enterprise of John 

 Lewis Childs millions 

 of gladiolus bulbs are 

 exported to Europe and 

 other countries. The 

 greatest drawback 

 seems to be to grow 

 what is known as the 

 Dutch bulbs and lilies. 

 However, we are find- 

 ing that the Pacific 

 northwest in the vicin- 

 ity of Pnget Sound 

 is well adapted to 

 growing this class of 

 bulbs,- as also is the 

 Richmond district on 

 the Atlantic coast. 

 This United States has 

 climatic advantages ex- 

 celled by none, and 

 it needs only the push 

 of Yankee ingenuity 

 to develop other lines 

 fully as much. Tiger 

 lilies can be grown on 

 the East Lake Michi- 

 gan coast as cheaply 

 and as well as in Hol- 

 land. Of course we 

 have to contend with 

 the cheap labor of other 

 countries but we have 

 an offset in the saving 

 of freights and the loss 

 in carriage, that often- 

 times leaves a good 

 margin of profit of it- 

 self. 



One of the greatest 

 difficulties we have to 

 encounter is the slogan 

 dear to the heart of 

 many, "Importer." As 

 though something im- 

 ported was vastly superior to anything 

 grown in the usual every day way at 

 home. One of the obstacles to 

 progress in any line of work is the de- 

 sire of some to be exclusively superior 

 to their fellow mortals, and it applies 

 to the bulb business as well as to a 

 host of other lines. But when men 

 who specialize in any one line join 

 together and work for mutual ad- 

 vancement, all are benefited. 



Of late years our leading seedsmen 

 are sending all over the world for new 

 and rare things. Childs has done this 

 to a large extent, and although at times 

 over-colored regarding results, we are 

 greatly indebted to him for the mar- 

 velous advance in the gladiolus. Far- 

 quhar of Boston has been doing valu- 



able work with lilies. With Bui 

 and Groft, as well as our own Kun- 

 derd and Koerner, rapid progress is 

 pushed on apace With the glorious 

 gladiolus. What we Deed now is co 

 operation among growers and a dispo- 

 sition to play fair with results, and by 

 ibis means gain for ourselves advan 

 tages that should accrue to the hy- 

 bridizer and giower. Our country can 

 produce almost anything in the bulb 

 line the world produces, and we sr< 

 truly only on the brink of the great 

 stream of success not only with the 

 gladiolus and dahlia, but with numer- 

 ous others of the world's favorites in 

 flowers produced from a bulbous c 



crops ibis season, and said "America 

 must grow her own seeds." How about 

 our own bulbs? They are of equal im- 

 portance and deserve equal attention. 

 The field is broad and valuable, and 

 by no means occupied. Let us during 

 the coming year try out more of the 

 varieties sold by seedsmen in this 

 country, and come up here another 

 season with a show of bulbs that for 

 value will fairly take the trade off 

 their feet. 



One 



Begonia Gloire i>k Lokraine 



of the late Victor I. emoine's best productions 



rhizome root. California and the 

 Pacific coast, the Fruit Belt of Mich- 

 igan, Long Island and the south At- 

 lantic coast, are producing today vast 

 quantities of bulbs that know no 

 superior, and other parts of our coun- 

 try are coming to the front in an 

 equally meritorious manner. 



Brothers let us go at this matter 

 with a determination to get the best 

 out of it and nothing will stop the 

 progress. Our slogan should be "Grow 

 our own stuff," and we can, if we will. 

 I believe our catalogue men would 

 gladly patronize home growers did we 

 but produce as well and reasonable. 

 A Long Island grower now in France 

 wrote to HORTICULTURE deploring 

 the shortage of seeds in European 



DYNAMITING LAND. 



On Dec. 20th a most interesting 

 demonstration in dynamiting land was 

 carried out on the es- 

 - tate of Mr. Colgate 

 Hoyt, Centre Island, 

 Oyster Bay, L. I., be- 

 fore a delegation of 

 members of the Nas- 

 sau County Horticul- 

 tural Society The 

 demonstrators were 

 Joseph Robinson, su- 

 perintendent of the es- 

 tate and John T. In- 

 gram, florist, Oyster 

 May. What was ac- 

 complished clearly ex- 

 emplified the efficacy of 

 the action of dynamite 

 in improving certain 

 soil conditions and in 

 cheapening labor. 



A section of ground 

 of a swampy nature, 

 having a rather good 

 top soil, but an under- 

 stratum of hard imper- 

 vious material, thereby 

 causing a sour un- 

 d rained condition was 

 dynamited to pioduce a 

 natural drainage 



through the shattering 

 of this understratum. 



Another demonstra- 

 tion was that of dyna- 

 miting places for tree 

 planting, so as to less- 

 en the manual labor 

 attached to the digging 

 of holes and to improve 

 the condition of the 

 soil. Also tree stumps 

 were dynamited, with 

 the result of a con- 

 siderable lessening of 

 manual labor in their 

 removal. The results 

 obtained throughout 

 were most satisfactory, 

 and clearly exemplified 

 that dynamite is a 

 potent factor in land 

 operations. 

 The demonstrators are enthusiastic 

 and energetic men and no doubt would 

 be only too glad to relate the results 

 of their labors in this field of work. 

 JOHN F. JOHNSTON. 



Lawrence, Mass. — After conducting 

 the most successful auction sale which 

 this city has ever known, Thornton 

 Brothers have entirely closed out all 

 of their immense stock of jewelry, 

 silverware, cut glass, china, bric-a- 

 brac, etc. They will still remain in 

 the florist business at their present lo- 

 cation. 



Price quotations given in the adver- 

 tisements and reading columns in this 

 paper are for the trade exclusively. 



