December, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



297 



bility of forming- an Ontario Vegetable 

 Growers' Association. Action resulted. 

 Last month the eicrhth annual convention of 

 this Association was held. It was lars:ely 

 attended by deleg-ates from all parts of 

 the province. This .Association has active 

 branches throughout Ontario, a large mem- 

 bership, and has accomplished much valu- 

 able work on behalf of the vegetable grow- 

 ers of the province. The reports presented 

 by branch associations at the recent con- 

 viention showed that their members have 

 saved many thousands of dollars through 

 cooperative efforts. Thus have the benefits 

 of cooperative effort been demonstrated 

 once more. 



Ontario's Horticulturalists Meet and Confer 



The Ontario Fruit Growers' Association 

 is to be congratulated upon the excellent 

 results that have followed from the ap- 

 pointment of Mr. Mcintosh as its trans- 

 portation agent. The members of the as- 

 sociation were delighted, as they had every 

 reason to be, with the report presented by 

 Mr. Mcintosh at their recent convention. 

 Other provincial fruit growers' associations 

 might well follow the example that has thus 

 been set. A general and uniform agitation 

 of the question of freight and express rates 

 in all the provinces would strengthen the 

 hands of the producers in their dealings 

 with the rnilway companies. 



PUBLISHER'S DESK 



Our front cover illustration shows a view 

 of a portion of the exhibits at the recent 

 Ontario Horticultural Exhibition. As will 

 be seen the exhibition reflected credit on 

 the horticultural interests of the province. 

 • * » 



This issue of The Canadian Horticulturist 

 is a little later in reaching our subscribers 

 than usual. This is due to the fact that 

 the Ontario Horticultural Exhibition was 

 this year held a week later than in former 

 years. As a very large percentage of the 

 readers of The Canadian Horticulturist 

 tabe a deep interest in this exhibition, as 

 well as in the conventions held in connec- 

 tion therewith, we felt justified in delaying 

 publication sufficiently to enable us to pub- 

 lish the full reports of the proceedings 

 which appear in this issue. 

 « • • 



The horticultural ^societies of Ontario 

 hold their annual meetings during the first 

 week in November. The meetings held 

 this year were encouraging in character. 

 A number of interesting reports concerning 

 them have reached us for publication in 

 The Canadian Horticulturist. Owing to the 

 fact that our columns this month are 

 crowded with reports of the conventions of 

 the Ontario Horticultural Association and 

 similar organizations, we have been unable 

 to publish these reports concerning the 

 local societies. Otherwise they would have 

 been published with pleasure. 

 » » • 



December brings the ever-welcome and 

 joyous Christmats and holiday season. May 

 it be burdened with rich blessings and 

 crowded with happy experiences for all the 

 readers of The Canadian Horticulturist, is 

 the wish of the publishers. 



R. S. Duncan, who was in charge of the 

 fruit exhibit in the made-in-Canada train, 

 which recently toured the west, says that he 

 found people everywhere expressing a pref- 

 erence for the Ontario apple. How different 

 when we consider the package, 



THE eighth annual convention of the 

 Ontario Horticultural Association, 

 which was held in thtei Parliament 

 Buildings, Toronto, November 20th 

 and 21st, evidently proved that this As- 

 sociation continues to grow in strength and 

 public approval. Some fifty societies were 

 represented by delegates. The convention 

 sessions proved interesting and helpful 

 throughout, and should benefit the over 

 sixty local societies in Ontario. 

 president's address 

 In his presidential address, the retiring 

 president. Rev. A. H. Scott, M.A., of Perth, 

 spoke on the "Livability" and "Visibil- 

 ity" of life. "Livability," he said, "was 

 not a word to be found in the dictionary, 

 but next to 'lovability' it was the greatest 

 thing in the world. No one has as yet 

 estimated, nor can they, the power of life 

 in the soils. What life is we know not. 

 Life began in a garden, the first man was 

 a gardener and life began to go wrong 

 when the man left the garden. Gardening 

 is the best of all toils, it is the acme of art. 

 The charm of horticulture was in its visi- 

 bility — a visibility as possible of existence 

 in the back yard as in the bigger areas of 

 parks and gardens." 



FIN.\Nrl.^L ST.4TEMENT 



The treasurer's statement showed re- 

 ceipts for the year of .$237.37, and expendi- 

 tures of $106.95, with a balance on hand of 

 $130.78. Some sixty societies in the pro- 

 vince were affiliated with the Ontario As- 

 sociation, being the laj-gest number in its 

 exist-enos. 



superintendent's report 



Superintendent J. Lockie Wilson reported 

 that isix societies had passed out of exist- 

 ence — Cayuga, Elora, Milton, St. Mary's, 

 Simcoe and Sudbury. There is a possibility 

 that the Milton and Sudbury societies will 

 be revived. The Simcoe society when it 

 disbanded had a balance on hand of nearly 

 $100, New societies have been arganized in 

 Dundalk, High Park (Toronto), and Paris. 

 Complaints have been registered by the 

 High Park and Toronto societies over the 

 fact that the Act limits the maximum grant 

 thiey can each receive is five hundred dol- 

 lars. All other societies in the province 

 can receive grants as high as eight hun- 

 dred dollars. During the year the Act was 

 amended, enabling new societies to 'be or- 

 ganijsed in Police Villatres having a popu- 

 lation of not leas than five hundred. Mr. 

 Wilson urged growing towns to profit by 

 the error of town planners in the past and 

 at once procure ample breathin.g places for 

 their citizens, and playgrounds for the 

 children. 



SOCIETY STJGOESTIONS 



Mr. H. W. Brown, of the Berlin Society, 

 believed that the Department of Agriculture 

 would help the societies if it w^ould distri- 

 bute a circular furnishing the names of 

 capable speakers on horticultural subjtects, 

 with a list of their ubjects and dates when 

 the services of such speakers could be ob- 

 tained. He pointed out that the Horticul- 

 tural Societies Act does not facilitate work 

 that will reach boys and girls, and suggest- 

 ed that a new section might be placed in 

 the Act setting forth a basis of organiza- 

 tion, an outline of procedure and a method 

 of financing a "Children's Guild" or child- 

 ren's section of a horticultural society. The 

 advisability of charging a smaller fee than 

 one dollar in the case of children was dealt 

 with. Mr. Brown advocated a copious list 

 of options offered as premiums for both 

 spring and fall planting, and the holding 

 of at least one exhibition each ytar. 



A new feature was the holding of mid- 

 day luncheons, on the conclusion of which 

 each day those present were invited to 

 offer suggestions bearing on the work of 

 the association. These discussions proved 

 interesting and helpful. 



Hon. W. H. Hearst, Minister of Lands, 

 Forests, and Mines, spoke enthusiaistically 

 of the horticultural possibilities of Nor- 

 thern Ontario. Flowers and vegetables 

 grown there equal those produced in any 

 other part of the province. Gardens in 

 Haileybury and Temiskaming have pro- 

 duced beds of sweet peas with stalks four- 

 teen feet long. 



Parks Commissioner C. E. Chambers, of 

 Toronto, read an excellent paper entitled 

 "A Park System for Small Towns," and 

 Mr. H. J. Moore, of Queen Victoria Park, 

 Niagara Falls, one on the "Ornamentation 

 of Town Boulevards." Both of these 



papers will be published in later issues of 

 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



GREETINGS FROM THE STATES 



Mr. R. B. Watrous, Secretary of the 

 American Civic Association, showed a ser- 

 ies of islides illustrating the three types of 

 garden cities now being laid out and advo- 

 cated in England and Germany. The 

 speaker brought greetings from the associa- 

 tion he represented. 



Two excellent papers, one entitled "Re- 

 cent Experimental Work," by F. E. Buck, 

 of the Central Experimental Farm, Ottawa, 

 and the other, "Vegetable Production on a 

 Thirty-foot Lot," by Geo. Baldwin, Tor- 

 onto, were well received, and will be men- 

 tioned more fully in later issues. 



SCHOOL children AND HORTICULTURE 



A paper, which was so well received that 

 arrangements were made to have copies of 

 it printed for general distribution, was read 

 by Mrs. R. B. Potts, of Hamilton, on the 

 subject, "School Children and Horticul- 

 ture." An extended reference to this re- 

 port will be published in a later issue. 

 Mrs. Potts told of children, backward in 

 their school work, who had practically been 

 remade by becoming interested in garden- 

 ing. When taught in the schools, horticul- 

 ture trains the head, the heart, and the 

 hands, and brings the child in touch with 

 life in a manner impossible under prevail- 

 ing methods. 



SHRUBS FOR LAWNS 



Mr. Roderick Cameron, of Toronto, read 

 a paper entitled "The Best Varieties of 

 Shrubs for Lawnis Surrounding Public 

 Buildings," a portion of which appears else- 

 where in this issue, and the balance of 

 which will be published later. 



Mr. Hugh Johnson, of Toronto, gave 

 suggestions on the conduct of lawn and 

 garden competitions. Hie advocated the in- 

 spection of lawns and gardens entered for 

 competition at least three times in a sea- 

 son, spring, summer, and autumn, and that 

 special attention be given to the owners 

 of new houses, who, he claimed, should be 

 put in a class by themselves. 



The fixing of maximum and minimum 

 points for the judging and a deduction of 

 twenty-five per cent, of points for untidy or 

 ill-kept fences were suggested, as well as 

 the doing away with tight board fences. 

 The beautification of fences should be an 

 important consideration. 



(Coneluded on page 306) 



A few years ago we used a box 9x12x18. 

 We now use the standard size and think it 

 alright for export purposes,— A. W. Peart, 

 Burlington, Out, 



