64 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



June 20, 1912. 



Hydrangea 

 Otaksa 



IN TUBS 



12-iiich 

 14-inch 

 16-inch 



$2.00 each 

 3.00 each 

 4.00 each 



IN POTS 







Each $1.00 



We have about 1500 very handsome 

 plants in tubs in bud and flower 



I^Florists are always welcome visitors 

 to our Nurseries. We are only a few 

 minutes from New York City. Carl- 

 ton Hill Station ip the second stop on 

 main line of Erie Railroad. 



NURSERYMEN AND FLORISTS, 





■-^ -t -4 • 't ^ AJ^* INUKdbKY JVlbN AINU hLUKlb Id, 



Bobbink & Atkins, Rutherford, N. J. 





Mention The Review when you write 



which each may cater, are wound around 

 and securely bound by fixed habits of 

 production and sale, with the result 

 that we are running far short of our 

 opportunities. 



Once in a great while someone, after 

 years of effort, convinces us that he 

 has in a new Hydrangea aborescens a 

 real treasure, which will stir the enthu- 

 siasm of the public and increase gen- 

 eral business; and Meehan crawls out 

 of a shell to prove, with Mallow Mar- 

 vels, that there are remarkable merits 

 to be evolved from common plants, 

 while a multitude of hybridizers are 

 vying with one another to produce still 

 another hybrid Wichuraiana. 



Yes, we need more varieties, but not 

 along beaten tracks, or merely to in- 

 crease numbers. There is nothing so 

 confusing to the amateur buyer as to 

 be confronted with a huge catalogue, 

 with long lists of varieties from which 

 to select. On the other hand, Ameri- 

 cans cannot stand monotony, and plant 

 lists must be lifted out of mediocrity, 

 and the prospective customer be made 

 to feel that here, at least, is a nursery 

 that has not gone to seed. There must 

 be evidences of constant and genuine 

 progress. 



A Necessary Kind of Specializing. 



There are times when the more elabo- 

 rate list is desired, but then it should 

 be the list of a specialist. I approve 

 the specializing of such men as Farr, 

 and no doubt they are successful, but 

 I consider it would be wholly imprac- 

 tical to add such a collection and list 

 to a general line of goods. 



It is along the line of specialization 



MenaoD The Review when tou wnte 



Mention The Review when you write. 



that our nurseries should increase the 

 number and assortment of varieties. I 

 apply the term specialty in a broad 

 sense. In my opening remarks I tried 

 to make it plain that we each are 

 working under somewhat different con- 

 ditions. Some are wholly unfitted to 

 grow certain kinds of plants, while 

 other plants are adapted to peculiar 

 soil and climate. Some propagators 

 have special success with some plants 

 and not with others. Hybridization 

 and the production of new varieties is 

 someone's forte; others with great prac- 

 tical ability should simply be producers. 



Following the Crowd. 



Our great fault is that we either 

 follow the crowd, or we become moss- 

 grown and unproductive. The first- 

 named condition is not a difficult one 



to be drawn into. The general public 

 is ignorant about plants, and therefore 

 conservative in making selections. 

 Rather than risk disappointment in a 

 plant with such an awkward name as 

 Koelreuteria paniculata, they will turn 

 to something familiar — maple, copper 

 beech, or even poplar. 



The result is that a regular demand 

 is created for a few things, which every 

 nurseryman is forced to carry. It re- 

 quires moral courage and deep laid plans 

 to keep out of this onrushing current. 



A Living Death. 



Some will insist that this line of 

 least resistance is the practical one, but 

 in my own opinion it is a living death. 



In the first place, it breeds unhealth- 

 ful competition. The man who is al- 

 ways following has little hope except 



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