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1082 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review^ 



FBBEtJABY 28, 1907. 



subcordata, Sieboldiana, -ovata and oth- 

 ers may be raised from seed, which 

 should be sown as soon as ripe, this 

 method is not to be recommended, as it 

 is slow and somewhat uncertain. Divi- 

 sion of the crowns in fall or early spring, 

 preferably the latter, is far the better 

 method of propagation. Use a sharp 

 spade to cut the clumps in pieces. 



^_ W. N. C. 



JAMES GUENEY. 



James Gurney, superintendent of 

 Tower Grove park, St. Louis, Mo., is a 

 man born with the love of gardening, 

 inheriting his ability in this line from 

 his father. He is an Englishman by 

 birth, and has had much-sexperience in 

 the business in his native land. He be- 

 gan work at it at the age of 16, and 

 was well acquainted with the late Queen 

 Victoria. When Mr. Gurney came to 

 this country he was 32 years of age. 



Mr. Gurney has been connected with 

 Tower Grove park ever, since he came 

 to this country. The late Henry Shaw 

 gave this park to St. Louis, and at that 

 time Mr. Gurney had, been associated 



with Mr. Shaw at hia country home near 

 that city. Mr. Shaw's estate finally be- 

 came the Missouri Botanic Garden, and 

 here the results of Mr. Gurney 's work 

 are best seen. When Tower Grove park 

 was given to St. Louis it was but natu- 

 ral that he who had spent years in the 

 beautifying of it should become its su- 

 perintendent. Mr. Gurney has accom- 

 plished wonders with his charge since it 

 became part of the city. In his work 

 he has produced new varieties of can- 

 nas, nymphseas and an excellent agera- 

 tum, named by him Stella Gurney. The 

 prominent feature of the park is the 

 fine collection of aquatic plants, which 

 has received more attention and care 

 from Mr. .Gurney than anything else. 



James Gurney has grown gray in the 

 years he has spent in his chosen profes- 

 rjion, and today is one of the foremost 

 gardeners of the country. He contin- 

 ues to fill his post at Tower Grove park, 

 and only a personal visit to the scene 

 of his labors, such as all true garden- 

 ers and thousands in the trade delight 

 in paying, can show the excellent results 

 of his work. 



WILD LAWSON. 



Bef erring to the note on "Wild Law- 

 sons" in the Review for February 14, 

 if when you discover a wild plant you 

 will give it a good pruning, by cutting 

 four or five shoots away close to the 

 main stock, the so-called wild plant will 

 give some fine blooms on stems twenty 

 to twenty-four inches long. 



McElhinney Bros. 



shape and the topping has been done 

 . right, blooming will begin at once and 

 will increase in volume, according to 

 the vigor of your plants, regardless of 

 the style of the bench. A few days ago 

 one of our best local growers visited 

 our establishment. I first showed him 

 •through, some houses which had been 

 giving a heavy cut since October, ana 



which are beginning to show the eflfects^ 

 whereupon he expressed the opinion that 

 he liked raised benches better, but when 

 a little later I showed him a lot that 

 were planted later and were then right 

 in the height of the crop he did not 

 think that raised benches could do any 

 better. Another incident occurred a few 

 seasons ago, and it was a fair sample 

 of what happens frequently. A local 

 grower saw our carnations on these 

 beds and concluded it was the proper 

 thing and he would change his beds 

 as fast as they needed rebuilding, 

 but he would try it first in a limited 

 way, as I advised him to do. The next 

 summer he tore out the south bench in a 

 house that had a side wall four and 

 one-half feet high. Instead of filling in 

 with cinders he filled in with old bench 

 soil, which was quite sandy. With the 

 poor drainage and the shade from the 

 wall of course he had no success, and 

 condemned that style of bed. There are 

 a great many growers who are not so 

 unreasonable as the one mentioned, but 

 who nevertheless are prejudiced, and un- 

 less a thing will stand heaa and shoul- 

 ders above another they refuse to see 

 its merits. 



After five years we would not think 

 of cnanging back to the raised bench. 

 We may some day be able to improve on 

 these cinder beds, however. 



A. F. J. B. 



LIGHT AND SHADE ON PLANTS. 



[A paper by H. Hasselbrlni?, of the University 

 of Chicago, read before the annual convention of 

 the Illinois State Florists' Association at BIooui- 

 ington, February 19, 1907.] 



Much of our - scientific work of the 

 present day is done with a direct view 

 to its bearing on the practical affairs 

 of the world. Another phase of science 

 is concerned primarily in the search for 

 truth and the addition of facts to human 

 knowledge. Of this type of work often 



SOLID BEDS VERSUS BENCHES. 



I saw in the Review of February 14 an 

 answer to a query as to whether carna- 

 tions can be grown on solid beds with 

 cinders under the soil as successfully as 

 on raised benches. L. C. C. recom- 

 mends the latter. That the sentiment in 

 favor of raised benches is quite general 

 among the growers of the country 1 

 would not care to deny, but I claim it 

 is unjustly so and that it will decrease 

 as time goes on. We have for five years 

 been growing our carnations on solid 

 beds and we do not have to blush when 

 our stock is set up beside that of other 

 growers. When we first changed, our 

 stock was as good as it had ever been, 

 if not better, and it has improved in ac- 

 cordance with the improvement in the 

 varieties just as much as the stock of 

 other growers has. Our stock has never 

 gone lagging. So much for the quality 

 that such beds will produce. 



As to the crops being more tardy, I 

 say there is nothing in it. It is almost 

 entirely a question of what kind of a 

 start your plamts get after they are 

 benched. If the plants suffer from 

 transplanting, the early crop will oe 

 scant and poor and the winter crop will 

 start off with less vigor and will be 

 late, regardless of the style of bench 

 you use. On the other hand, if you 

 get your plants established in good 



James Gurney. 



