260 



HORTICULTURE 



October 2, W20 



HORTICULTURE 



Kxtnbliiilirtl by Willliini J. Kl«wart In 19IM 



Vol. XXXII 



October 2, 1920 



No. 14 



PrHI,ISHKI» « KKKI.Y BY 



HORTICULTRE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 739 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 



.ADVEKTISIXG RATES: 



Per Inch, 30 Inches to pnfcr $1.25 



Dl«coiint on ContractM for conscrutive In.si'rtionH, us folIowH: 



One month (4 tinirs), 5 per cent.; three monthH (13 timewi). 10 

 per ct*nt.; »ix months ('iQ timed). 20 per ceut.; one year (5:2 timeH), 

 30 per cent. 



Face and hull pu^e space, not cunaet.atlve. rates on application. 



SCBSCRlrTION RATES: 



One Year, in titlvanoe, Sl.OO; To Foreign Countries, $3.00; To 

 Canudu, «1.5U. 



Entered as seeond-clasa matter December S. 1904. at the Post Office 

 at Boatou, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3. IS'JT. 



The following is so much better than 

 A good time anything that we can write that we are 

 coming submitting it without any apologies ex- 



cept to the Xew York Sun. from which 

 we borrowed it: 



I Strike and the world strikes with you, work 



and you work alone; our souls are ablaze with a 

 Bolshevik craze, the \vildest that ever was known. 

 Groan and there'll be a chorus, smile and you 

 make no hit; for we've grown long hair and we 

 preach despair, and show you a dally fit. Spend 

 and the gang will cheer you, save and you have 

 no friend; for we throw our bucks to the birds and 

 ducks and borrow from all who'll lend. Knock, 

 and you'll be a winner, boost and you'll be a frost; 

 for the old sane ways of the pre-war days are 

 now from the program lost. Strike and the world 

 strikes with you, work and you work alone; for 

 we'd rather yell and raise blue hell than strive 

 for an honest bone. Rant and you are a leader, 

 toll and you are a nut; 'twas a bitter day when we 

 pulled away from the old-time workaday rut. Wait 

 and there'll be a blowup, watch and you'll see a 

 slump, and the fads and crimes of these crazy 

 times will go to the Nation's dump. 



I 



It is interesting to find a general tendency 

 Shows and on the part of the florists, especially of re- 

 florists tailers, to take part in various flower 

 exhibitions, large and small. This ten- 

 dency has increased notably since the war, during which 

 time exhibitions were largely suspended. Formerly flor- 

 ists paid but little attention to the small shows, apparent- 

 ly thinking they were hardly worth their while. The shows 

 were, and still are, in the hands for the most part of 

 amateurs and semi-professionals, but it has been found 

 that much can be done to increase their value, and inter- 

 est for the public, by staging exhibitions from professional 

 growers and retail florists. The latter, on their part, are 

 finding that such shows are worth the time and attention 

 required to stage a worthwhile exhibit, because of the 

 intimate contact which they bring with the flower-loving 

 public and the advertising which is bound to accrue from 

 the prizes awarded them, as well as by the notices which 

 they get in the local papers. It is one of the most helpful 

 signs of the times that the small shows are receiving the 



co-operation of the professional flower grrower and seller. 

 There is room, however, even at the larger shows tor 

 better displays and more of them on the part of florists, 

 particularly In the line of flower arrangements, table deco- 

 rations and the planning of color schemes. Perhaps the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society has been remiss in 

 some ways so far as making its shows cater to the general 

 public, but it seems to have struck a new note in its plans 

 for the coming year. If these plans work out as agreed 

 upon tentatively, there will be a large number of small 

 shows, and at each of them there will be lectures or tall^ 

 about the principal flowers exhibited, and other ways of 

 making the shows useful to the amateur. This plan is 

 due largely to the enterprise and far sightedness of Miss 

 Marian Roby Case, whose articles in Houticultube have 

 attracted no little attention. 



Miss Case believes that shows of this character ought 

 to be more than mere flower exhibits, and by her gen- 

 erosity is making it possible for new methods to be intro- 

 duced. These methods are so sound and ))romise so much 

 that they are almost certain to be taken up by societies 

 in other parts of the country, with the result that there 

 will be an awakened interest on the part of the flower- 

 loving public, a much larger attention because of the in- 

 creased benefits received and naturally a financial support 

 which has been withheld in the past. 



After all. the purpose of the public flower shows should 

 be to serve the needs of the small growers and this is 

 something which will be of benefit to all horticultural in- 

 terests, commercial or otherwise, because it will certain- 

 ly stimulate the growing and buying of plants, seeds and 

 flowers. It is a long step in the right direction. 



Many guesses have been hazarded within the 

 Bulbs past year as to the bulb situation this season. 



Apparently this situation is crystalizing rapidly, 

 and the fact is evidenced that in many varieties there are 

 plenty of bulbs, and at prices which are far lower than 

 anticipated. The bulbs have been marketed in such a way, 

 however, that there has been much dissatisfaction on both 

 sides of the water. In England, as here, early in the sea- 

 son the impression was given that the supply was none 

 too plentiful, especially of Dutch stock, and that prices 

 w'ould naturally have to rule high. The Dutch growers 

 organized closely, and put up a stiff program. This pro- 

 gram, however, has not worked out as expected. High 

 prices were reached early in the selling season, but buyers 

 soon balked, stocks piled up. and as a result bulbs are being 

 peddled all through England at ridiculously low prices. 



It is true that there is much feeling across the water 

 because of Quarantine 37, and a general desire on the part 

 of many foreign growers to get back at this country in the 

 only way which seems possible, that is. through exhorbitant 

 prices, it is pointed out that this quarantine has meant ruin- 

 ation for many plant growers, especially in Belgium. And in 

 this connection it is worth mentioning that very persistent 

 efforts are being made across the water to bring about 

 some solution of the problem. Large stocks of azaleas 

 and other plants exist in Belgium and Holland, and the 

 American outlet is about the only one which would bring 

 about their dissemination. Negotiations have been started, 

 we understand, with the Federal Horticultural Board, look- 

 ing to some sort of arrangement which will permit the 

 sending in of many plants now barred, under certain re- 

 strictions. With these efforts being supplemented by in- 

 creased activity on the part of horticultural societies 

 throughout the United States, looking to the same end. 

 it would seem as though the Federal Horticultural Board 

 would have to agree upon some sort of measure which 

 would ameliorate the present difficulties. 



