208 



HOETICULTUKE 



March 13, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



KstabUahed bj WUIIfun J. Bt«wart In 1904 



Vol. XXXI 



March 13, 1920 



No. 11 



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At the last meeting of the Horticultural Club 

 Seeds for in Boston a matter came up in a joking way 

 France which the newspapers have taken seriously 

 and given considerable prominence to. At 

 that meeting a plea had come in from the Horticultural 

 Society of the North of France for matei-ial to aid in re- 

 planting that war devastated land. It was stated that four 

 thousand members of this society, including horticulturists, 

 market gardeners and nurserymen, needed help. During 

 the discussion Mr. John Farquhar arose and made a motion 

 that Congress be petitioned to send France the seeds which 

 have been prepared for congressional distribution in this 

 country. Word has just come in that the Senate committee 

 had refused this year to recommend the passage of the bill 

 authorizing the usual distribution of government seeds. 

 Mr. Farquhar's motion was put and carried in a spirit of 

 Joviality, everybody realizing that the annual distribution 

 of seeds from Washington was nothing but a farce. The 

 newspaper reporters, however, when they heard the story, 

 took it seriously, with the result that one newspaper even 

 published a lengthy editorial discussing the proposition. 



As a matter of fact this very method of disposing of 

 government seeds might well be considered in all serious- 

 ness. In any event the action of the Horticultural Club 

 brought before the public the fact that France needs seeds 

 badly and that seedsmen and others in this country have 

 genuine opportunities to help their fellow workers over 

 seas. There should be a generous response, but care 

 should be taken not to send seeds which cannot be used. 

 In northern France, for example, sweet corn, peppers and 

 other long season crops cannot be grown successfully. 



It isn't intended, though, that the shipments should 

 he restricted to vegetable seeds. Flower seeds are wanted 



just as badly. Cuttings and plants can be used, too. Even 

 catalogues are desired, for that matter, so that the French 

 people can buy what they want when they have the money. 



At the meeting in Boston Mr. Farquhar immediately 

 offered a collection of seeds; Mr. William Sim said that 

 he would send over a generous amount of tomato seed; 

 and others present who had no seeds to send dipped into 

 their pockets and raised a total of over sixty dollars to 

 buy seeds and plants of various kinds. Perhaps their gen- 

 erosity will prove an incentive to other organizations 

 throughout the country. The Boston Post has found an 

 opportunity for the exercise of considerable sentiment in 

 this connection, as will be seen from the following quota- 

 tion: 



"The planting season will soon be here. American 

 seeds would create a spirit of appreciation in rural France, 

 not only when the sowing was going on but during the 

 growing time and the harvest. And many a French grand- 

 father may say to his grandson in days to come, 'That is 

 a strain of seed that was sent me from America just after 

 the great war. I have carefully kept it during all the 

 years. I hope you will carry it on after me.' " 



Elvery horticultural interest should rejoice in 

 Flower the growing appreciation of the flower shows 

 Shows and the tendency to put them on a more stable 



basis. The big show to be held in New York 

 the coming week promises to be one of the most success- 

 ful and most largely attended ever held in this country. 

 Some features of former shows will be lacking, and the 

 results of the war's restrictive measures may be seen. 

 Yet the arrangements call for an exhibition which will be 

 of the greatest value and interest to the flower loving pub- 

 lic. And after all it is for the public that these shows are 

 being given. For a long time the trade did not seem to 

 appreciate this fact, and trade features were given special 

 attention. Without question every member of the trade 

 who attends this show will be benefitted in his business 

 as a result. The main point, though, is to have the show 

 one to which the public will flock in gi-eat numbers and 

 where it will receive such an inspiration as will bring 

 about a much greater use of cut flowers, as well as a much 

 wider planting of gardens and estates. It is in this way 

 that the trade will be helped, and everything which is 

 done to make the show a success will be like casting bread 

 upon the waters, with the absolute assurance that it will 

 return again. 



Possibly less has been heard about the show in Boston 

 which will come on the following week, and yet there is 

 promise that it will be one of the most important flower 

 exhibitions ever given in New England. The chief feature 

 will be a display of orchids from the Burrage establishment 

 in Beverly. It is expected that this exhibit alone will fill 

 the lecture hall, making it far and away the largest display 

 of the kind even seen in America. Hardly second in in- 

 terest, though, will be the Japanese azaleas which E. H. 

 Wilson, assistant director of the Arnold Arboreteum, 

 iirought back from Japan last April. There are over a 

 hundred of these azaleas, and they have been grown with 

 the utmost care in the greenhouse of Professor Sargent. 

 They are now coming into flower, and will be at the height 

 of their beauty the week of the show. These azaleas, 

 wliich for the most part are kinds never before seen in 

 this country, are of wondrous beauty, and it is expected 

 that they will cause no less than a floral sensation. In- 

 deed, it was a feat of no small moment to get these living 

 plants across the Pacific and then across the American 

 continent and have them ready to show at a public ex- 

 hibition a year later. Altogether, flower lovers have a great 

 treat ahead of them, whether they go either to the New 

 York sliow or the Boston show, or better still to both. 



