December, 1916. 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



297 



January. For some monttis the paper situa- 

 tion in Canada has been growing more acute. 

 For the past three months the cost of the 

 paper used in The Canadian Horticulturist 

 has been practically double what it used to 

 be. Paper is one of the heaviest items of 

 expense the publisher has to meet. So far 

 we have not been aJble to secure a contract 

 for. any considerable amount of our present 

 grade of paper, even at exisiting prices. All 

 the other publications who use book stock 

 are in the same position. The paper manu- 

 facturers have offered to supply the publish- 

 ers with an inferior grade of book paper, 

 for which the price will be almost double 

 what has hitherto been paid for the stock 

 now Ibeing used. During Decemlber it is 

 probable that the publishers will hold a 

 meeting, and some arrangement may be 

 entered into with the paper manufacturers. 

 Already, one or t-wo leading publications in 

 Canada have commenced to use half tone 

 news stock in place of book stocp. This is a 

 superior grade of paper to that used in the 

 ordinary newspaper. It is being found diffi- 

 cult, however, to secure even this grade of 

 paper. Needless to say, this condition is 

 one of those brought about largely by the 

 war, and one, therefore, which must be faced 

 with the best grace possible. Rest assured 

 that The Canadian Horticulturist will come 

 out in as good form as possible, but do not 

 be surprised should the grade of paper used 

 be different to that 'which has been used 

 for some years back. 



Ontario Horticultural Convention Held in Toronto 



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Plans are well under way which should 

 assure the readers of The Canadian Horti- 

 culturist with the best numbers during 1917 

 that we have ever published. This applies 

 to every department of the paper. Through 

 tbe cooperation of Dominion Fruit Com- 

 missioner, D. Johnson; R. M. Winslow, Pro- 

 vincial Horticulturist and Fruit Pests In- 

 spector for British Columbia; President M. 

 Cumming and Prof. P. J. Shaw, of the Nova 

 cotia Agricultural College, prominent fruit 



owers in Ontario, and others, a program 

 of articles for each issue of the year is in 

 course of preparation, which will make these 

 issues of unusual interest. Each issue will 

 contain articles not only representative of 

 Ontario conditions, but of the fruit districts 

 of British Columbia and Nova Scotia as 

 well. Quebec, also, will not be overlooked. 

 Capable correspondents are being secured, 

 and the articles will be timely for the 

 month in which they appear. Already a 

 number of prominent ifruit growers have 

 consented to contribute, and a very interest- 

 ing and Instructive list of issues of The 

 Canadian Horticulturist Is assured for 1917. 



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For the floral pages similar arrangements 

 are being made. Mr. F. E. Buck, of the 

 Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, and 

 others in close touch with the needs of the 

 amateur flower grower have been consulted, 

 and a long li.st of very instructive subjects 

 prepared, which It Is planned shall be 

 .specially Ilhistrated. We propose to make 

 the Illustrations u.sed during 1917 relate as 

 closely as possible to the articles that ac- 

 company them. In order that they may thus 

 prove of the greatest possible educational 

 value. Further announcejments a;bout these 

 issues will be made later. 



The attention of our readers is called to 

 the new poultry department found on page 

 300. We have had many requests for a 

 column dealing with poultry from the view- 

 point of the man who keeps a few hens in 

 his orchard or in his back yard. Mr. Collan- 

 der will supply this column with monthly 

 hints, whirh we believe will be of service 

 to our rearlers. 



The eleventh annual convention of the 

 Ontario Horticultural Association, held in 

 the railway committee rooms, parliament 

 buildings, Toronto, on November 22nd and 

 23rd, had for its slogan, "A More Beautiful 

 Ontario." That the work of Societies is get- 

 ting hold of the towns and cities of Ontario, 

 . is evidenced by the fact that this year seven 

 new societies have been formed. This 

 brings the total number of societies In the 

 Province up to ninety-one, with a lotal paid 

 up membership of over sixteen thousand. 

 The program for the Convention was an ex- 

 ceptionally attractive one, and well repaid 

 anyone who was so fortunate as to attend 

 this convention. 



The Rev. G. W. Tebbs, of Hamilton, who 

 occupied the chair, welcomed the delegates 

 to the convention. "Garden lovers," stated 

 Mr. Tebbs, "must have a large vision of their 

 work. While the home garden is very im- 

 portant to individual members of a society, 

 they can never attain the highest good until 

 they take into consideration the beautifying 

 of their entire city." The first step toward 

 town beautification is the cleaning up and 

 beautifying the waste spaces. Mr. Tebbs 

 places great weight on the education of the 

 rising generation to love flowers. 



The financial condition of the association, 

 as stated by Mr. C. A. Hesson, St. Cathar- 

 ines, treasurer, is flourishing. Mr. Hesson 

 congratulated the association on the in- 

 crease in the number of societies that have 

 affiliated with the association this year. 

 Some of the societies have not been living 

 up to their affiliation agreement, in that they 

 do not keep their affiliation fees paid up 

 promptly. Mr. Hesson then read over the 

 names of societies which had already paid 

 up. This had the effect of bringing on quite 

 a stampede of those delegates from socie- 

 ties which were dilatory in paying their fees. 



Secretary J. Lockie Wilson, in presenting 

 his report, emphasized the importance of all 

 societies in the Province affiliating with this 

 central association. The association helps 

 to keep up the size of grants to the different 

 societies. After speaking of the growth in 

 the membership of societies throughout the 

 Province, fMr. Wilson stated that the small- 

 est town should own its park, its play- 

 grounds and its civic greenhouse. The 

 school garden work is not growing as rapidly 

 as one could wish. It is not an end itself, 

 but rather a means toward the beautifying 

 of the scholars' home gardens. 



A report was now read of the work of all 

 the different societies. Several societies 

 were outstanding in trying out something 

 new this year. In one society no premiums 

 were given. The money was used for civic 

 improvements. Another society has made 

 It a feature to arrange visits to ordinary city 

 lot gardens laid out to advantage. This 

 gives the members who take advantage of 

 these visits a chance to see what can be done 

 In the .small garden. St. Thomas, the largest 

 society in the Province, (although fairly 

 closely followed by Ottawa) held this spring 

 a tulip festival, the first of its kind In Can- 

 ada. 



Resolutions of condolence were passed by 

 the convention, to the relatives of three 

 friends of the association who have been 

 removed from our midst since the last meet- 

 ing. These were Hon. James Duff, Minister 

 of Agriculture, -C. C. James, Commissioner 

 nf Ae-rinnlture, and John Cavers, of Oakville. 

 They were all friends of the association, 

 and their loss Is deeply felt. 



The program proper began with an ad- 

 dress by W. E. Saunders, London, on "Birds 

 and Their Relation to Horticulture." Mr. 

 Saunders took up the subject both from an 

 economic side— dealing with insect eating 

 birds, and from the aesthetic side in con- 

 nection with the garden. His address was 

 mostly given over to methods for attracting 

 birds. Beef fat and nuts may be used to 

 attract all winter birds. He advises the 

 trapping of the English sparrow, because 

 of its effect in driving away our native 

 birds. The most effective trap is a box with 

 one end held up by a stick to which a string 

 is attached leading to a window. Food is 

 placed under this box, and when sparrows 

 go in to feed, the string is pulled. Summer 

 birds may be attracted by drinking and bath- 

 ing pools, and bird nesting boxes. His ad- 

 dress brought on a very heated argument on 

 the place of the Sat. It was decided that 

 the only place for the cat was under ground, 

 and a resolution for the abolition of this 

 animal was passed by the convention. 



Dr. L. M. Massey, of Cornell University, 

 gave an address on 'The Diseases of Roses." 

 He stated that at present there is not much 

 known regarding these diseases. Mildew, 

 Blackspot, and Crown Gall of roses are do- 

 ing much damage. Dr. Massey has been ap- 

 pointed to investigate into these diseases. 



Mr. Richard iMarshall, Chief Gardener in 

 Queens Park, Toronto, gave a rather techni- 

 cal address on ''Color Schemes for Formal 

 Flower Beds." He advised anyone who In- 

 tended to start a bed to visit the best gar- 

 dens, note both the effective beds and those 

 to be shunned, and get the reasons of the 

 gardener for his placing certain flowers to- 

 gether. In concluding his remarks, he gave 

 the flowers which he found most effective 

 In various sized beds. 



At four o'clock the meeting adjourned, to 

 allow the delegates to take advantage of the 

 invitation of Sir Edmund Osier, that they 

 should visit his conservatories. This excur- 

 sion was much enjoyed by all the delegates. 

 Great credit is due Mr. William Allen, chief 

 gardener, for the beautiful display of 

 chrysanthemums in the conservatory. Tea 

 was served the delegates, and all came away 

 with a feeling of gratitude to Sir Edmund 

 for his kindness. 



In thfe evening we were treated to a beau- 

 tifully illustrated address by Mr. William 

 Allen. Slides were shown of the different 

 flowers used by Mr. Allen, in their natural 

 colors. Mr. Allen advised us that the per- 

 ennial border be soaked with liquid manure 

 after the plants have ceased flowering In 

 the fall. He also discouraged the trimming 

 of flowering shrubs. Success in flower 

 growing will only come to him who studies 

 his plants and finds out for himself how to 

 treat the Individual subjects. 



Hon. Lt. Col. J. L. Hughes gave perhaps 

 the most inspiring address of the whole con- 

 vention. He dealt with the influence of 

 horticulture on child morals. He stated that 

 there are fewer gardeners in the penitentiary 

 than any other class of society. He made a 

 plea for the beautification of the farms, as 

 well as the cities. By means of school gar- 

 dens he believes that the boys not only learn 

 to beautify their home gardens, but also 

 their city. Horticulture on the farms might 

 even be made a source of Income. He r"nd 

 cases of where ferns were grown profitably, 

 as well as orchids. 



(Continued Col. 3, p. 298.) 



