TKe Western Horticultural Society 



George BatKo, Secretary, 'Winnipeg 



THE genesis of organized horticul- 

 ture upon the Canadian prairies has 

 not, so far as I am aware, been 

 carefully recorded and preserved as a 

 matter of accurate history. Enough 

 is known, however, to warrant the 

 statement that it is upwards of 25 years 

 since the earliest beginnings were made. 

 A society was then formed in Winnipeg 

 that was to devote itself especially to 

 the encouragement of tree planting. 

 The life of this organization was brief; 

 but it was followed in 1884 by a new 

 society, which in turn was succeeded by 

 two or three later associations that, one 

 after the other, came into and went out 

 of existence. 



In 1895, the market gardeners of the 

 Winnipeg district, to the number of 17, 

 met and formed what has since grown 

 into the Western Horticultural Society. 

 At first, this organization was purely 

 professional; but, later, provision was 

 made for the admission of amateurs. 

 Gradually the conclusion was reached 

 that the society would be more wide- 

 ly useful if it held fewer meetings. 

 Instead, it sought to gather the experi- 

 ence of horticulturists scattered farther 

 afield, and then to present this to the 

 public in printed form. In pursuance 

 of this policy, the papers read before 

 the society, since the year 1896, have 



been published in the form of reports 

 and given wide distribution. 



Mr. W. G. Scott 

 President Western Horticultural Society. 



On account of the scattered member- 

 ship, the meetings for some years past 

 have been held but once a year, an 

 attempt being made to hold a good con- 

 vention at a time when people hving at 



a distance would be able to reach Win- 

 nipeg on a reduced railway fare. The 

 advantage of this will be evident to 

 anyone who observes that the member- 

 ship of the society is scattered over 

 Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, 

 that quite a number of the most enthus 

 iastic members have to travel some hun- 

 dreds of miles if they wish to attend 

 these gatherings. 



For a number of years an annual 

 free distribution of plant premiums has 

 been made to the members, an attempt 

 being made to constantly introduce 

 to the general public a few reliable 

 and desirable plants that have not 

 become as widely known as they sljould. 



Much good has also been accomplished 

 by the careful compilation and period- 

 ical revision of a list of trees, shrubs, 

 and so forth, to be recommended for 

 planting in the prairie provinces. Those 

 who remember that the horticulture of 

 the Canadian west is entirely different 

 from that of the eastern provinces, or 

 from that of British Columbia, will un- 

 derstand how valuable to the settler have 

 been these lists, which have been pub- 

 lished as widely as possible in the agri- 

 cultural and general newspapers of the 

 country, as well as sent out to members 

 in pamphlet form. 



The present membership of the soci- 



A View of the Carnation Exhibition in Toronto 

 The American Carnation Society held iu Annual Convention and Exhil)ition in Toronto on January 23 and 24. The Exhibition was the finest ever seen in this country. 



Tnousands of blooms of high-grade carnations were shown. One firm alone sent 8000 blooms. 



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