•341 



HORTICULTURE 



Soptember 



1920 



HORTICULTURE 



K*tabUiihrd bj WllllKni J. St<>n-&rt In 1904 



Vol. XXXII 



September 25. 1920 



No. 13 



PUBLISHED MEKKLY BY 



HORTICULTRE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 739 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 



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DUeount on Contruct** for consrcutive Inii^rtiontt. aH followH; 



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Entered ai seoond-clasg matter December 8. 1904, at the Post Office 

 at Boston, Masa., under the Act of Congress of March 3. 1897. 



The views promulgated by Mr. D. L 

 Improvement Macintosh, the well known horticulturist 

 needed of Stillwater. Minn., in a recent number 



of Parks and Recreations, may well be 

 given consideration by 'those in charge of the public 

 grounds in other parts of the country. Mr. Macintosh 

 points out that the average park fails to live up to its 

 opportunities in being of service to the people who are in- 

 terested in trees and other plants. He calls attention to 

 the fact that very few parks have their trees labeled, and 

 that in most of them the employees can give little or no 

 information about the contents of the flower beds. 



-Now a nice bed of flowers of any kind is a delight, and 

 so is a clump of shrubs or group of trees, adding to the 

 landscape; and perhaps nothing more is needed for motor- 

 ists driving by at the rate of twenty miles an hour, but 

 the man or woman who goes into the park for real enjoy- 

 ment and information finds the whole thing a failure. 

 Why? Because no attempt is made in many instances to 

 give any Information as to the name or character of the 

 plants which are seen. Now-a-days when interest in horti- 

 cultural matters is keen, people want this sort of informa- 

 tion. If they see a tree or shrub which attracts their eye, 

 they wish to learn its name and also if it can be grown 

 in a private garden. The time is coming when a more 

 united effort must be made to meet this want. 



Some superintendents say that they have no time to 

 bother with the labeling of plants. These men are back 

 numbers. The successful park of the future will give just 

 as much information to visitors as does the Arnold Ar- 

 boretum, with its carefully labeled trees and shrubs. For 

 that matter, the time is coming when more labeling will 

 be done on private estates, especially as there is a decided 

 tendency to try out the new offerings of the nurseries. 



Mr. Macintosh tells of a man in charge of a large 

 private place whose laborers formerly knew little about the 

 plants they worked with. This man started the employees 

 to printing labels on wet, cold days when they could not 

 work outside. They did not always make a good job at 

 first, but in a short time became more proficient, and when 

 spring came had replaced all broken labels and staked 

 all new plantations. Now when the owner takes his friends 

 around, he does not have to ask the gardener what this 

 or that plant is; he can read for himself. 



This same practice can be carried out in the public 

 parks. Too often, as it happens now, if you ask any 

 employee about a specimen or a bed. you will not get a 



satisfactory answer, and in some cases even a civil answer. 

 This sort of thing is to be regretted, and must be changed, 

 but according to Mr. Macintosh, — and we think he is 

 right, — it is rather typical at present of a great number 

 of our parks, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from 

 the frozen North to the sunny South. 



The elevation of W. N. Craig to the presi- 



Pres. W. N. dency of the National Association of 



Craig Gardeners is a well deserved honor. Mr. 



Craig, who was superintendent of Faulk- 

 ner Farm, Brookline, and has been for many years secre- 

 tary of the Gardeners" and Florists' Club, of Boston, is 

 widely known, not only in New England but throughout 

 the country. In fact, it Is doubtful if any member of the 

 association has a wider acquaintanceship, Mr. Craig is 

 known not only as a master gardener of long experience 

 and much ability, but also as a lucid and entertaining 

 writer, and a forceful, interesting lecturer. He has had a 

 prominent place in leading the fight against the quaran- 

 tine No. 37, and has presented many powerful arguments 

 against this measure. As president of the National Asso- 

 ciation he may be e.\pected to do much for the benefit of 

 the fraternity of gardeners, especially in the way of bring- 

 ing a greater unity of interest between gardeners and their 

 employers. Hortici lture congratulates the National 

 Gardeners' Association on its choice of a new executive. 



In spite of high prices, all has not been 



Florists' smooth sailing for the florists throughout the 



difficulties country. Ever since the war there have 



been increasing difficulties to complicate 



business conditions. Perhaps there is no better indication 



of this fact than the situation at the Flower Exchange in 



Uoston. 



Years ago. before the great struggle across the water 

 began, every stall in the market was taken; in fact there 

 often was brisk bidding for stalls, and at times a waiting 

 list seemed likely to be created. Now look at the situation 

 At the present time there are 1.5 vacant stalls, and if ru- 

 mors are true a number of others will be vacant before 

 many weeks. It will not be surprising if the beginning 

 of the year sees 2.5 empty stalls in this market. It is cer- 

 tain that a number of greenhouses in New England will 

 close down. To be sure they are mostly those doing a 

 comparatively small business, but in the aggregate their 

 amount of shipments are considerable. .Moreover, they 

 help to lend competition to the trade. These establish- 

 ments will have to be closed down for two reasons, the 

 most pressing one being the lack of coal. ^\1iile most of 

 the big growers have been able to get w-hat coal they need 

 at a long price, many of the smaller growers, especially in 

 the more remote towns have been unable to get their or- 

 ders filled or have not been able to finance so big an un- 

 dertaking. As a result they have no coal and no prospects 

 of getting any. 



The second reason and almost of as much importance 

 is the high cost of labor. Farmers and market gardeners 

 say that labor is more plentiful and that wages are lower, 

 but this sort of thing has not been felt in the flower indus- 

 try. The reason is no doubt that skilled labor is required 

 for much of the work, especially on the smaller places. 

 This kind of labor is almost out of the market. Possibly 

 with the coming of winter there will be a greater offering 

 of labor, but the outlook now does not point that way. No 

 doubt the situation as it exists in New England is the 

 same in many parts of the country; therefore, while the 

 big grower can say that business is good and that the out- 

 look is favorable, the small .grower is getting pinched be- 

 tween the upper and the nether millstone of high-priced 

 labor and profiteering capitalists. 



