310 



H o irr I C U L T U R E 



April 17. 1H20 



It would seem that carnation men 

 the coming season arc going to be 

 favored with the introduction of some 

 very good varieties. Maine Sunshine 

 has certainly showed itself to be a 

 variety of the first class. It Is true 

 yellow, good size and form, and when 

 seen growinc compels mc to think that 

 It is a good producer and easy doer. 

 As to keeping qualities, anyone who 

 has followed the shows knows that it 

 is of the best. When you think that it 

 traveled from Bangor. Maine, to Chi- 

 cago, to the Carnation Convention, and 

 then came away with the highest 

 award for keeping qualities, you know 

 that It is a winner in that respect. 



Then we are to have for next season 

 White Delight, which if I am not mis- 

 taken is to be introduced jointly by C. 

 S. Strout and William Sim. It will be 

 Interesting to note that White Delight 

 Is a stronger grower than Pink De- 

 light, and 1 think I am safe in saying 

 that this is an absolute fact. A few 

 days ago. 1 saw a bench of White De- 

 light growing at Mr. Sim's place, the 

 cuttings of which were received on 

 May 17. 1919. You will admit that 

 that is very late, but on April 12. 1920. 

 those plants stood fotir feet tall, are 

 loaded with buds and flowers, and I 

 have seen that same bench off and on 

 since last August and can say right 

 now^ that it has stepped right along 

 every bit of the time, .\hout twenty- 

 five feet of this same bench of White 

 Delight is finished out with Pink De- 

 light planted from earlier cuttings, but 

 benched at the same time, and White 

 r>elight is heavier and stronger In 

 every way. The color of the foliage 

 shows a trifle more blue, but other- 

 wise it is a "Delight" in all char- 

 acteristics. 



Another thing which I think will be 

 very pleasing to all who like Pink De- 

 light is the fact that both Mr. Sim and 

 Mr Strout state that X^^lite Delight is 

 much easier of propagation. At any 

 rate, these two men have been very 

 successful in the propagation of this 

 varietv this season. 



in watering, there is no reason in the 

 world why this method should not be 

 a success. 



I was interested to note the way Mr. 

 Sim handles his young stock. He prob- 

 ably will have in his houses before 

 planting out time one hundred thou- 

 sand or more plants ready for the 

 field. This stock is taken from the cut- 

 ting bench and put into soil in the beds 

 instead of flats or pots, and the way 

 the stock is doing with him is cer- 

 tainly pleasing. Of coiirse. he doesn't 

 nse a rich or heavy soil, but I think 

 the particular point In favor of this 

 method is the saving in labor, and the 

 fact that the cuttings do so well 

 through having cool growing condi- 

 tions at the root: and if care is used 



Mr. Robert Edgar of the l^ominster 

 Floral Co.. reports a very successful 

 season, and his Easter trade must have 

 been decidedly pleasing to him. Mr. 

 Edgar is a grower of good experience 

 and has turned out a grade of stock 

 that Is marketable and in demand by 

 store men. His location is excellent 

 as he has a shipping territory that 

 reaches out in all directions in a way 

 that is sure to prove satisfactory. 



I understand that Mr. Edgar is go- 

 ing to confine himself to the pot plant 

 trade, and I think he is decidely wise 

 in expressing himself that he will hold 

 to medium-sized plants. For instance. 

 we all know that this year lilies with 

 eight to ten flowers or more to the 

 pan were slow in moving, but any 

 quantity of plants carrying four, five 

 or six flowers could have been handled. 

 Mr. Edgar will eliminate the carna- 

 tions which have been growing at this 

 range of houses and is going in par- 

 ticularly heavy on Begonias. Cycla- 

 men. Poinsettia. Ramblers, Hydran- 

 geas and Lilies. 



EXCHANGE RATES BOTHER FLO- 

 RISTS. 



Much Business Lost by American 



Grow/ers Under Present Arrang- 



ment. 



Canadian florists are very much con- 

 cerned over the rate of exchange be- 

 tween Canada and United States. The 

 contention is being made that the 

 Dominion ought to get along without 

 American flowers. Now in the past a 

 great many flowers have been shipped 

 from United States across the line, 

 especially to Montreal and Toronto. 

 For years Welch Bros., of Boston, 

 shipped great quantities of roses to 

 these cities. Roman Irwin, in New 

 York City, is known as a Canadian 

 shipper. About a year ago conditions 

 made it necessary to curtail much of 

 this trade and within the past few 

 months shipments have been very 

 small. This has been largely the re- 

 sult of the exchange rate, which for a 

 time was up to 15. Now it is down to 

 9, and doubtless in time the situation 

 will become normal again. 



Nevertheless, the opportunity is be- 

 ing taken advantage of to build up a 

 wall against American importations, 

 and some very fallacious flgures are be- 

 ing used to prop it up. For example, 

 a Toronto newspaper recently said 

 that cut flowers to the value of $165.- 

 277.00 annually were taken into Can- 

 ada from United States, and that as far 

 as the import supply is concerned the 



Dominion ought to be able to do with- 

 out them. Now this is by no means 

 an exact statement of fact. The 

 amount quoted applie.s not only to cut 

 flowers but to all kinds of nursery 

 stock. As a matter of fact, the nursery 

 stock importations made up the larger 

 part of the importations. If Canada 

 is to have this stock under present 

 conditions, it must bring it in from 

 outside. From the statemenUs which 

 have l)een made across the border, the 

 prroneous impression has gone forth 

 as intimated above that the flgures 

 named apply only to flowers, and it is 

 important that this correction be made. 



There are other factors, too, not com- 

 monly considered. While Canadian 

 florists import cut flowers, Canadian 

 growers export them. Mr. P. Welch, 

 of Boston, who has made a careful 

 study of this whole situation, said a 

 few days ago that quite as many cut 

 flowers leave Canada for the United 

 States as go into the Dominion from 

 this side of the border. While Boston 

 and other eastern cities send flowers 

 up the line, Canadian growers ship 

 them across to Detroit and other 

 points west. 



Of course in shipping flowers out 

 the Canadian growers get a much 

 greater benefit than results when flow- 

 ers are shipped in. Apart from the ex- 

 change rates, there is a duty on cut 

 flowers imported into Canada and this 

 duty has done much to curtail ship- 

 ments. The suggestion has been made 

 that the duty be taken off cut flowers, 

 but apparently it meets with little ap- 

 proval. Naturally Canadian florists 

 themselves are not united in their 

 opinion on the matter. Some of them 

 live in sections where they can get as 

 many flowers as they need from Can- 

 adian growers. Others find this a very 

 difficult matter. 



Ernest S. Simmons, of Toronto, is 

 quoted as saying that it is always un- 

 satisfactory to buy imported flowers 

 because they usually arrive in a soft 

 condition and more or less bruised. 

 This is apart from the prohibitive 

 prices. On the other hand, W. W. 

 Gammage, of Toronto, says that there 

 are localities in Canada where cut 

 flowers cannot be produced at certain 

 seasons of the year, nor shipments of 

 flower producing centers be success- 

 fully made at all times. Florists in 

 such sections would find a prohibitive 

 policy a great hardship, and at the 

 same time this policy would not bene- 

 fit home production. 



George W. Garrity. of Dunlop's, To- 

 ronto, has been interviewed by the 

 Canadian Florist and discusses the sit- 

 uation very intelligently as follows: 



"There are cases in which it is neces- 

 sary to import some varieties of flow- 



