December 9, 1920 



HORTICULTUEE 



363 



IMPRESSIONS OF AMERICA 

 What an Englishman Thinks of Our 

 Flower Growers and Their Methods 

 It is always interesting to get the 

 other fellow's point of view. And 

 perhaps there is food for thought in 

 the following contribution from T. A. 

 Wilson in the Horticultural Trade 

 Journal of London. 



"This country is too big for a slow 

 thinking Britisher to size up unless 

 he has ample means and opportunities 

 for getting around. Everything ap- 

 pears to be exaggerated: one might 

 almost say the country itself is an ex- 

 aggeration. Under the circumstances 

 these notes may be similarly affected. 

 Just before Easter I s^w some of the 

 finest Cyclamen I have ever seen, and 

 it is said that some growers can get 

 plants about two feet through. Tlie 

 wholesalers ai'e for the most part a 

 really nice lot of fellows, but they are 

 not all grouped together as at Covent 

 Garden. Last spring a number of 

 them forsook their old quarters and 

 located under one roof at West 18th 

 street. They have a depot to be proud 

 of — plenty of room and well fitted up. 

 Its only failing is that artificial light 

 is essential, only one or two of the 

 stores having daylight. 



I have yet to see Carnations that 

 will beat the Wallace brand, indeed. I 

 am inclined to doubt whether real 

 quality flowers ever reach the market 

 owing to the bunching method and the 

 heavy packing. Growers here prefer 

 crates, largely cardboard, containing 

 hundreds of blooms. Roses are packed 

 in the same way, 100 being about the 

 smallest pack, and this only in connec- 

 tion with long stem American Beauty 

 and other big fellows like Premier, 

 Columbia, etc. In the spring these 

 Roses are certainly fine. I might men- 

 tion that these big cases are more in 

 keeping with Lowe and Shawyer's 

 great Chrysanthemum cases, and. judg- 

 ing by the gentle handling they get 

 from the express companies, they need 

 all the iron bands to keep them to- 

 gether. 



In Boston 

 At Boston I visited the wonderful 

 Henry Penn and a few other florists, 

 who apparently find the florists' busi 

 ness a money-maker. Boston appeals 

 to me more than New York. It has an 

 English touch with its narrow streets 

 and moderate sized buildings. 1 also 

 made a point of visiting Wm. Sim, the 

 great Carnation grower, and Thos. 

 Roland, one of the few really high- 

 class plant growers. Both are, I un- 

 derstand, old Britishers, and it would 

 seem that not a few of the best grow- 

 ers in the United States first saw the 

 light in the old country. 



BEGONIAS for XMAS 



MELIOR MRS. PETERSON CINCINNATI 

 3 J, 5 and 6 Inch Pots 

 BOSTON WHITMAN 



5 and 6 Inch 



FERNS 



Telephone for Prices — Quick Delivery 



BRECK-ROBINSON NURSERY GO. 



VERONA 



Munroe Station 



LEXINGTON, MASS. 



CYPRIPDEIUMS 



A word to the wise 

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 wants for Christmas 



Book your 

 your probable 



11 



-NEW 

 7\\ 



Cypripedium Insignee 



Per 100 $25.00 



Cypripedium Sanderae 

 P'-'- '00 $50.00 



Cypripedium Harefield Hall 



Per dozen $12.00 



Cattleyas 

 Per doz. $12.00, $15.00, $18.00 



S. S. PENNOCK COMPANY 



The "'■-"-«!!.. .. Philadelphia 



BALTIMORE 



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Wliolesale 



Florists of 



PHIL.^DELPHFA 



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1216 H .Street 



Some of the wild flowers that flour- 

 ish so abundantly in America are close- 

 ly akin to what one cared for in the 

 old garden. The Ascelpias are every- 

 where, and many beautiful forms I 

 have noted. Their peculiar seed pods 

 are dried and used by florists. Rud- 

 beckias. Golden Rod and Marsh Mal- 

 lows are three other prominent 

 features. Hibiscus moschatas, is a 

 glorious sight on the marshes. Inci- 

 'lentally, marsh land is abundant in 

 these parts. For miles after leaving 

 Jersey City one passes great stretches 

 of land given up to coarse grasses and 

 bull rushes, yet, if properly drained, 

 this land would afford ample space for 

 numerous factories and homes. It ap- 

 pears appalling that so much land near 

 to the great city of New York should 

 lay wasting, especially as part of it 



juts on a broad river capable of carry- 

 ing much freight. 



Odd Notes 



America leads on packages, every- 

 thing is put up in packets. One may 

 live on packeted goods, and to a great 

 extent these packeted goods are an as- 

 set. They make the life of the house- 

 wife easier, and for the most part she 

 needs relief for there is no help avail- 

 able. 



The fruit and vegetable packages are 

 varied in shape and size, not a few of 

 them contain less than one might sup- 

 pose. They are all non-returnable. 

 Onions, Lettuce, Cauliflower, etc., all 

 come in crates or chip baskets, as do 

 all the fruits. Potatoes are largely 

 shipped in barrels of three bushels, 

 although the 100 lb. bag is a feature 

 also. 



