196 



HOKTICULTURE 



March 6, 1920 



FUTTERMAN BROS. 



Wholesale Florists, 102W. 28th St. New York 



The Right People to Deal with. Phone Watkios 97BI-159 Consignments solicited. 



B. A. SNYDER CO. ^*±-" 



Hardy Cut Evergreens, Cut Flowers and Florists Supplies 



21-25 Otis Street, BOSTON, MASS. 



Telephone Fort Hill 1083-1084-1085 



William F. Kasting Co. 



568-570 WASHINGTON STREET 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



Would like to handle consignments from growers of good 

 Snapdragon and novelties. 



HERMAN WEISS, Wholesale Florist 



55 West 26th Street, New York City 



Boston Floral Supply Co. 



WHOLESALE FLORISTS 



DEALERsjN Q^^ Flowers and Evergrccns 



We manufacture our own Wax Flowers, Baskets, Wire Frames, and 

 preserve our own Cycas and Foliage right in our own factory. 

 OFFICE, SALESROOMS, SHIPPING DEPT. 



15 OTIS STREET ^^^^^^.T^-.,, 96 Arch Street 



BOSTON, MASS. 



Dnknown cnstomers kindly give 

 reference or cash with order 



RHODE ISLAND NURSERYMEN 



Providence. R. I. — Asserting that 

 not one cent has been appropriated by 

 the state for the benefit of nurserymen 

 here, while other states expend large 

 sums, the Rhode Island Nurserymen's 

 Association unanimously voted to ask 

 the legislature for $2,500 to properly 

 inspect and supervise "cleaning up" 

 work in the nurseries. 



The following new members were 

 elected: L. F. Kinney, Kingston; W. 

 H. Hollinsworth, Providence; H. H. De 

 Wildt, Providence; Lawrence Hay, 

 East Providence; E. Leemery, Woon- 

 socket; Thomas Shaw, Forestdale; 

 Herman Dolbeck, Woonsocket; Percy 

 Sherman, Portsmouth, and August 

 Ourade, Narragansett Pier. 



The following oflScers were elected 

 for the ensuing year: President, C. W. 

 Morey of Woonsocket; vice-president, 

 waiter Barth of Newport; secretary, 



D. A. Clarke of Fiskeville; treasurer, 

 V. A. Vanicek of Newport; executive 

 committee, H. H. De Wildt of Provi- 

 dence, C. M. Holland of Woonsocket 

 and William A. Hollingsworth of Prov- 

 idence. 



Paul V. Fortmiller in discussing the 

 "Present and Future Demand of Nur- 

 sery Stock," called attention to the 

 fact that conditions at the present 

 time are different from any previous 

 season, foremost of which is the short- 

 age of nursery stock. He explained 

 this shortage because of unusually 

 large demand for nursery stock that 

 has been created by so many workmen 

 who through the greatly increased 

 wages have purchased their own 

 homes and are now beautifying their 

 places. Another reason for the short- 

 age was because of the lack of labor 

 during the war, which curtailed the 

 production of stock. The quarantine 

 also has contributed to the shortages. 



SULPHURIC ACID FOR SWEET 

 PEAS 



It Has Proved an Effective Aid to 

 Germination. 



In the English Sweet Pea annual 

 for 1920 Mr. T. A. Weston writes very 

 interestingly about the use of sul- 

 phuric acid as an aid to germination. 

 He says: 



Prior to the discovery that some 

 Sweet Pea seeds were particularly 

 hard and almost impervious to moist- 

 ure, many seeds were sowa which 

 never appeared, or at least were so 

 slow in germinating that they were 

 given up as lost. Prior to the days of 

 the Spencers, seed for the most part 

 was very cheap, and it was only when 

 the rage for novelties developed that 

 growers realized how difficult some 

 seeds were to germinate. In later 

 years varieties came into commerce 

 that gave a percentage of seed so hard 

 that months in the soil had no effect. 

 The trouble was not wholly connected 

 with the Spencer varieties. 



With the chipping treatment grow- 

 ers were able to ensure a quick and 

 even germination of their Sweet Pea. 

 It was a fairly easy plan for the ama- 

 teur. For the trade grower, who han- 

 dled seed by the pound, it was by no 

 means a joke, but with new and expen- 

 sive varieties there was no alternative, 

 until the acid treatment was dis- 

 covered. 



It is some years since I first made 

 known in a gardening contemporary 

 the sulphuric acid method of treating 

 seed, which gives equally good and 

 perhaps better results than chipping, 

 without the latter's difficulties. The 

 treatment may be applied to all varie- 

 ties, but split seeds should not be sub- 

 jected to it. 



The discovery was hit upon more 

 or less by accident, when experiments 

 were made with a view to discovering 

 whether sterilization of seed would be 

 helpful against rot, etc. Most growers 

 have experienced the rotting off trou- 

 ble, and some years ago a worker at 

 one of the American Universities set 

 out to circumvent this and many other 

 Sweet Pea diseases, "Streak" included. 

 On the latter subject I had consider- 

 able correspondence with him, even 

 supplying him with materials. We 

 found no real cure for "Streak," but 

 the acid treatment of seed was one 

 discovery of importance. 



At one time I had the impression 

 that the darkest colored seeds were the 

 hardest, but many tests disproved this, 

 inasmuch that even white seeds will 

 remain dormant over long periods. I 

 have found seeds of King White, own 

 saved, absolutely unchanged after 24 

 days sown in a slightly heated pit. 



