168 



HORTICULTURE 



February 28, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



BKtabUahrd by WlUlun J. Stewart In IMM 



Vol. XXXI 



February 28, 1920 



No. 9 



PDBUSHED \\'EEKL.T BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 

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 this office. 



There is one feature about the pro- 



When Boards posed quarantine regulations of the 



Disagree Federal Horticultural Board against 



New England and New York on ac- 

 count of the European corn-borer which should receive 

 the attention of all dahlia and gladiolus growers. The 

 Federal Board specifically designates dahlia and gladi- 

 olus bulbs meaning, of course, corms and tubers) as not 

 subject to the embargo, because not capable of carrying 

 the borer. Now there is very good reason to believe that 

 with this point as an argument, the growers would have 

 no difficulty in inducing Illinois to suspend its state quar- 

 antine so far as it relates to gladiolus corms and dahlia 

 roots. Of course the Illinois board may feel that it must 

 stick to its program to save its face, as it were, but on 

 the whole we believe that it will defer to the supposed 

 greater knowledge of the Federal Board. At any rate, 

 these different boards ought to co-ordinate. If we can't 

 get them to agree among themselves as to what are dan- 

 gerous carriers and what are not, we certainly shall find 

 ourselves in a parlous state. 



Porttinately coal is beginning to reach New Eng- 

 Hard land, although it has been badly delayed by re- 

 times peated storms. In most instances it has come 

 in time to save the florists from loss, although 

 there are several hig growers who could count the boards 

 in the floors in their bins before the new supply arrived. 

 A few florists have been obliged to close down their houses, 

 or at least a part of their range. It is rather curious to 

 find two simultaneous reports coming in from New Bed- 

 ford, one to the effect that William P. Peirce had been 



obliged to close up his greenhouses on account of the coal 

 situation and that EMward Davis, of the same place had 

 closed up because he couldn't get help. The coal shortages 

 come spasmodically, as it were, but the labor shortage we 

 apparently have always with us. This is getting to be one 

 of the most serious phases of the business, and many an 

 employer has found himself doing work this season which 

 in the past had been delegated to a laborer. 



During the season of big storms florists have also been 

 sadly handicapped by difficulty in making deliveries. Even 

 in the case of funeral orders it has been almost impossible 

 many times to get the goods through at the hour specified. 

 In some instances railroad delays have proved pretty ex- 

 pensive, as in the case of large quantities of '^^alentine 

 violets shipped to New York, but held up by storms. 

 Altogether florists have been having a decidedly uncom- 

 fortable month, for along with the difficulties mentioned 

 have come storms of such severity as to break down houses 

 and ruin valuable crops. It is safe to say that the present 

 winter and especially February of this year 1920. will long 

 be remembered by florists the country over. Certainly it 

 has been "hard times" — in one sense of the word. 



We have laughed at Uncle Sam and 

 Free seeds his tree seed idea for a quarter century 



and quarantines but the laugh has been mostly on ac- 

 count of the way It was done. The 

 idea behind the thing originally was a good one. That 

 idea, fundamentally, was to increase a love of horticulture 

 among the people located far from civilized centers. When 

 the law was first passed there was little in the way of 

 mail order seed trade, and folks living in the far corners 

 had little chance of getting seeds to make a garden so they 

 never thought of making one. Of course, when the mail 

 order seed houses took the matter up the necessity for 

 Uncle Sam's efforts ceased, and the custom should have 

 been abolished — instead of being turned into a vote getting 

 graft for congressmen. But compared with the quarantines, 

 it is not worth mentioning. If it doesn't help any now, at 

 least it does no harm — which quarantines do. 



Now In regard to quarantines, Kirby M. White, of D. M. 

 Perry & Co., hit the nail on the head when he said: 



"Garden seeds do not carry weeds. No state law can 

 control Interstate commerce in seeds as to trueness or 

 reliability. State laws, as heretofore enacted, have held 

 considerable power for harm but little or no power for 

 good." 



That is perfectly true. The idea back of all this legisla- 

 tion is to hinder. Thou shalt not do this. Thou shalt not 

 do that. But never a single effort to help in any way. In 

 an Industry, deep and intricate, the finer points of which 

 are not indicated on the surface. Mr. White says further: 



"The value of breeding is ignored. The time will come 

 when the public in regard to seeds will have to follow the 

 lead of those in animal husbandry in realizing that breed- 

 ing is the one hope of horticulture. All lesser desiderata 

 must be subordinated to breeding, certainly nothing must 

 be allowed to observe its right." 



It our legislators, state and national, would give thought 

 to this idea — of helping the seedsmen to breed better, and 

 still better seeds — they would earn the plaudits of man- 

 kind. Let them forget a little about 100 per cent, growth 

 and 100 per cent, purity. Let them remember that a very 

 choice, highly bred, strain — even if it only grows 50 per 

 cent. — is incalculably more valuable than a poor strain 

 that grows 100 per cent. 



Let everybody turn in, and let the universal slogan be — 

 Help Horticulture. Instead of Repressive Quarantines — ex- 

 tend the Helping Hand! — Oeo. W. Watson. 



