September 



1891.] 



Garden and Forest. 



409 



GARDEN AND FOREST. 



PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY 



THE GARDEN AND FOREST PUBLISHING CO. 



Office: Tribune Building, New York. 



Conducted by Professor C. S. Sargent. 



ENTERED AS SECOND-CLASS MATTER AT THE POST OFFICE AT NEW YORK, N. Y. 



NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1891. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 



Editorial Articles :— Tlie Responsibilities of Florists 4°9 



Monuments in Public Places. — If 4'° 



Only a Fence-corner. (With figure.) 4*° 



Winter Beauty in the Home Grounds 411 



New or Little-known Plants : — Protea nana. (With figure.) IV. Watson. 412 



Foreign Correspondence :— London Letter W. Goldring. 412 



Cultural Department: — Midsummer Flowers J. N. Gerard. 414 



Experiences with the Rose-bug in 1891 A. W. Pearson. 415 



Notes on American Plants F. H. Horsford. i,i(> 



Garden Phloxes T. D. Hatfield. 416 



Flowers for Late Summer ■ T. D. Hatfield. 417 



Baptisias M. Barker. 417 



Correspondence :— What is a " Garden '">. IV. Robinson. 417 



■ How the Red Cedar Grows in New England J. J. H. Gregory. 417 



Periodical Literature: — A Ride Through the Caucasian Mountains. — I. 



Dr. Dieck. 417 

 The Florists' Convention : — II. The Future of Horticulture in America, 



IV. A. Manda. 418 



Flowering Plants for Decorative Use in Winter W. H. Tafilin. 418 



Begonias John Chambers. 419 



Notes 4 2 ° 



Illustrations : — Protea nana, Fig. 66 413 



Fence-corner in Illinois, Fig. 67 415 



The Responsibilities of Florists. 



WE have heretofore alluded to the controlling influence 

 exerted by florists and nurserymen in forming pub- 

 lic taste in matters relating to horticulture. Many Ameri- 

 cans, it is true, who own country places have a considerable 

 knowledge of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants, and give 

 personal attention and study to the adornment of their 

 home-grounds. Such places are not always planted in the 

 most artistic manner, but the planting invariably shows 

 individuality and more or less skill. Certainly their own- 

 ers derive from them a satisfaction which can never be 

 gained by those who have no knowledge of plants, and 

 who therefore can give no intelligent attention to the work 

 of their gardeners. There are many persons, too, who 

 have clear and correct ideas about the plants and flowers 

 which should be used for decorative purposes in-doors ; 

 and to them a vase of cut flowers, properly arranged and 

 placed, will afford a much keener delight than it can pos- 

 sibly do to those who buy flowers simply because it is the 

 fashion. And yet it must be confessed that a great ma- 

 jority of those who plant trees and buy flowers get all their 

 ideas at second hand, and it is the nurseryman or florist 

 who practically chooses for them where any choice is 

 made. Generally it may be said that this duty devolves 

 upon the local florist ; for a florist can now be found in 

 every well-settled neighborhood, and the bright display of 

 his stock in the principal street advertises his business to 

 every passer-by, while the grower of ornamental trees and 

 shrubs is usually located in the country. In this way it 

 happens that the florists of the country do by far the 

 greater part of what is done toward forming and directing 

 the taste of the people in horticultural affairs. 



The thought naturally suggested by considerations of 

 this kind is, that a grave responsibility must accompany 

 such a power ; or, in other words, that florists who 

 exert such an influence upon public taste are bound by a 



corresponding duty to take heed that the public taste is 

 elevated to an appreciation of the beautiful in its simplicity 

 and genuineness, and not degraded by being familiarized 

 with what is tawdry or false. On the other hand, it must 

 be said that florists do business primarily for profit; and if 

 buyers demand monstrosities in the way of floral designs, 

 or ask for plants which have gained a fictitious reputation 

 from highly colored pictures, but have no genuine merit, why 

 should not this demand be met, especially when it is to 

 the dealer's pecuniary interest to offer such supplies ? 

 Other tradesmen who furnish us with articles of clothing 

 or jewelry or house furniture provide what fashion de- 

 mands, without regard to the intrinsic beauty or ugliness 

 of their wares, and why should a separate rule be laid 

 down for florists? Really the obligation in one case is 

 quite as binding as in the other. One of the essayists at 

 the recent convention in Toronto characterized horticulture 

 as a profession rather than a trade, and he probably meant 

 by this that the cultivation of beautiful natural objects 

 was a more dignified and responsible calling than other 

 material occupations. But, after all, every man is under 

 equal obligations to society to do all that in him lies for 

 the general education in taste and morals. The conflict 

 between personal advantage and the general good is not 

 confined to any business or trade or profession. One call- 

 ing, so long as it is a legitimate and useful one, is quite 

 as honorable, intrinsically, as another. It is the conscience 

 and intelligence with which work is done that gives dig- 

 nity to the worker, whether he be artist or artisan. 



Fortunately, as a matter of fact, there is little real con- 

 flict between the business interests of the florists and the 

 claims of good taste. American buyers are quick to recog- 

 nize the superiority of what is genuine over what is mere- 

 tricious, so that American florists need have little fear of 

 doing work that is too refined and artistic to win public ap- 

 preciation. In our large cities the florists' windows which 

 are most artistically decorated attract the most attention, 

 and those florists who have made the greatest progress in 

 the direction of naturalness and simplicity are doing the 

 most prosperous business. That the florists themselves 

 have made a conspicuous advance in the quality of their 

 work is well known, and President Norton stated this fact 

 with emphasis in his address at Toronto a fortnight ago. 

 Of course, there are some growers who estimate the worth 

 of a rose according to its bigness only, and there are others 

 who value flowers for their novelty or singularity rather 

 than for their beauty or sweetness. Many stiff " set pieces " 

 are yet constructed, and reliance is still placed by some 

 floral designers on stuffed birds and artificial insects. There 

 are many things yet to be learned of color-harmonies and 

 contrasts, and of the proper use of foliage. Much of the 

 bedding out in public parks and private grounds offends 

 cultivated taste by its violent color, and equally offends 

 good morals by its needless extravagance. But, after all, 

 there is no country in the world where the florists show 

 such good taste as those of the United States, and nowhere 

 in the world where floral work of genuine merit receives 

 such ready and such hearty recognition. Indeed, it is the 

 quick appreciation of American buyers which has reacted 

 to school the florists and train them to work of higher 

 excellence. 



The sum of the matter is, that every conscientious florist 

 must feel that within his sphere, and to the extent of his 

 personal ability, he has some responsibility for the influence 

 of his craft upon the horticultural taste of the community. 

 He can do much to develop correct taste ; he can do some- 

 thing to retard this development. A devotion to the duty 

 which devolves upon him as a public-spirited member of 

 society does not, however, demand any business sacrifice. 

 Enlightened self-interest, as well as loyalty to his calling 

 and to art, should prompt him to avoid everything insincere 

 and affected with all tricks and deceptions for gaining 

 temporary applause, until all his work is characterized by 

 truthfulness, simplicity and naturalness. Of course, no one 

 but a genuine artist can do work of such quality, and the 



