46 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AtfoUBt 19, 1009. 



Experimental Greenhouses, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



(Ordinary wooden bench to left, solid concrete bed in center.) 



disaffection into loyalty. He was the 

 wise counselor, the devoted friend of oul* 

 society, the skillful organizer, and to him 

 was due in large measure the pronounced 

 success of that first meeting. 



Cincinnati was selected as the best 

 place for our first meeting for two rea- 

 sons: First, on account of its geograph- 

 ical position, being intermediate between 

 the east and west; second, on account 

 <of the hearty invitation given by the 

 rnembers of the profession in this city. 

 How well these members acquitted them- 

 selves is greatly to their credit, for their 

 willingness to help and their cordial wel- 

 <'X)me awakened a strong fraternal feeling 

 which was of untold value. 



Early Fears and Encouras:ements. 



I shall always remember with pleasure 

 the arrival of the different delegations 

 from the various sections of our country 

 on the night preceding the opening of our 

 meeting. When I looked upon the faces 

 of the men who had come up to that 

 first session I confess I felt relieved and 

 Appy, for a great load of responsibility 

 had been rolled away. 



• The spirit of those present from every 

 section of the country seemed to set the 

 mark of approval upon the efforts put 

 forth by those who had taken up the 

 initial work of organization. 



If you will look over the report of the 

 proceedings of that first meeting you will 

 find many prophetic utterances regard- 

 ing the future, not only of the organiza- 

 tion, but of floriculture — and most of 

 these prophecies have come to pass. The 

 topics of the papers read on that occa- 

 sion were eminently practical, and of 

 far-reaching importance to the trade at 

 that time. I sometimes think we fail to 

 appreciate the tremendous power for 

 good that this society has wielded, but 

 Mr. Vaxighan will take up that phase of 

 the society's work, for no one is better 

 qualified or entitled to speak on this sub- 

 ject than he. He has been an inde- 

 fatigable worker and a tower of strength 

 to the organization down to the present 

 moment. 



The one question foremost in the early 

 days of the society was hail insurance. 

 Tlds was a vital question, which caused 



prolonged argument and discussion. The 

 formation of the Hail Association was 

 coincident with the organization of the 

 Society of American Florists, and the 

 wisdom of its founders is best justified 

 by a study of its finances, which you will 

 hear presented by the treasurer. 



We have looked in vain for many fa- 

 miliar faces that were present on that 

 first occasion; they have gone on before, 

 having served their day and generation. 

 Myron Hunt, Peter Henderson, J. M. 

 Jordan, Hendricks, John Henderson, As- 

 raus, Scott, Thorpe — the list is a grow- 

 ing one, and though each death seemed a 

 loss beyond repair, the building has been 

 so well founded that the individual stones 

 have been replaced without impairing its 

 strength, a lact which is the highest 

 tribute possible to the wisdom of the 

 founders of the S. A. F. 



U. S. VORK FOR FLORICULTURE. 



[A p.aper by B. T. Galloway, Chief of the 

 Bureau ot Plant Industry, U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, read at the Cincinnati convention.] 



The United States Department of Ag- 

 riculture is doing considerable work 

 bearing both directly and indirectly 

 upon floriculture. I shall not attempt 

 to discuss all of this work, but will en- 

 deavor to point out and emphasize cer- 

 tain lines of investigation and experi- 

 ment that are now being carried on by 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry. 



Introducing New Plants. 



As is pretty well known, the depart- 

 ment has for a number of years been 

 making a special endeavor in the matter 

 of introducing new plants and seeds 

 from foreign countries. While the greater 

 portion of the introductions have been 

 more strictly of an agricultural nature, 

 there are some things which have been 

 brought in of interest to the horticul- 

 turist. 



During the past three years the de- 

 partment has had Frank N. Meyer, an 

 agricultural explorer, visiting little 

 known regions of Asia, with the result 

 that quite a number of promising crops 

 have been sent in by him. It is too 

 early yet to predict what these things 

 will do. They are being tested at a 

 number of our stations and also in co- 



operation with reliable horticulturists ia 

 different parts of the country, with a 

 view to determining their possibilities 

 and adaptation to varying conditions of 

 soil and climate. 



Among some of the things which Mr. 

 Meyer has secured is a new and strik- 

 ing white bark pine, which grows to great 

 size and seems specially fitted for ceme- 

 teries and certain types of public parks 

 and grounds. Mr. Meyer has secured 

 also a number of interesting quick-grow- 

 ing and more or less ornamental, drought 

 and alkali resistant willows. One of the 

 problems met with by horticulturists in 

 certain parts of the west has to do with 

 plants that may be suitable for orna- 

 mental purposes under arid or semi- 

 arid conditions. It is believed that some 

 of the willows found by Mr. Meyer will 

 be useful in this connection. Several nen 

 forms of poplars have been secured, one 

 of which, it is believed, will prove a 

 valuable tree for avenues and streets. 

 Mr. Meyer also secured a collection of 

 Chinese pistachio, a beautiful ornamental 

 tree and a very promising stock for the 

 pistachio nut — a plant which the de- 

 partment is endeavoring to introduce iu 

 various parts of the country. Various 

 forms of elms have also been found and 

 introduced. Some of these have promise 

 of value in their ability to resist drought 

 and alkali, hence may become quite useful 

 in connection with the development of 

 gardens and parks in the semiarid 

 regions of the United States. Some 

 promising cold and drought resistant 

 roses were secured, which may be of value 

 in connection with the drier sections of 

 the country, or may be useful adjuncts 

 to the horticultural possibilities of other 

 sections. 



Plant Breeding and Improvement. 



Closely associated with the plant in- 

 troduction work is that which has to do 

 with the improvement of plants by 

 breeding and selection. Considerable 

 work of this kind has been under way for 

 a number of years, the results of which 

 have already been published. Mr. Oli- 

 ver's efforts in the direction of improv- 

 ing the lily have been set forth in bulle- 

 tins from the department, and his work 

 in securing new types of dahlias has also 

 been described from time to time in other 

 publications. 



As a finishing touch to our lily work, 

 we secured a large number of apparently 

 healthy bulbs of such varieties as the 

 multiflorum, Harrisii and giganteum. 

 They were flowered and what were 

 thought to be desirable crosses made be- 

 tween the varieties. Nearly sixty quarts 

 of seed resulted, which was distributed 

 in southern California and elsewhere. 

 One firm has eight acres of these seed- 

 lings in fine condition, which will bloom 

 next spring. Other lots are equally 

 promising. The future of lily growing 

 will depend upon the growers growing 

 the bulbs upon new ground; that is, to 

 put other crops in the ground ' for at 

 least three years succeeding the lily 

 crop. In connection with the work with 

 dahlias, I may say that we now have 

 about six seedlings which are promis- 

 ing. One of them is a semidouble red 

 with long stems and early in blooming. 



Study of Principles of Plant Breeding. 



Considerable work is in progress in 

 the matter of getting at the basic prin- 

 ciples involved in improvement by breed- 

 ing and selection of commercial florists' 

 crops, such as the rose and carnation. 

 The principles involved in carnation 



