March, 1919 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



63 





portations by the Department of Agriculture. 

 While I realize that many changes will be ac- 

 complished in gardening and floriculture by 

 these restrictions yet I fail to see where much 

 harm can come, but do not fail to see where 

 much good will be the result of the new order of 

 things to be. American horticulture and the 

 florist's trade in general has suffered severely 

 during the war; we can also well admit that the 

 florist's business is not making many recruits 

 among the younger generation as but few young 

 men or women are enthused to the point of 

 making a full apprenticeship in order to make a 

 successful living out of the business. Why? 

 Many of us ponder over this question until we 

 take a look at what other trades can offer once the 

 apprentice has knowledge and experience in his 

 particular line. To become a really proficient 

 florist, well acquainted with the various phases of 

 his chosen calling, means as much study and la- 

 bor as the calling of a physician or engineer 

 requires, and then what are the rewards in com- 

 parison? The reason why the skilled gardener 

 or florist is not more appreciated is the fact that 

 the products requiring the most skill to produce 

 are simply imported from Europe where the 

 slaves of labor and militarism produce the stock 

 to flood American markets.. 



Why not earnestly support every effort that 

 helps to make our country independent? We 

 are absolutely able to produce all that the public 

 will demand and buy, but we must have a price 

 that is higher than for goods produced abroad. 

 Explained to the public properly, this order will 

 be given its full approval and the standing of 

 our trade in the community will rise to higher 

 levels than it has ever been before. In my 

 opinion the press ought to give this ruling of the 

 Department of Agriculture the fullest support 

 possible instead of furthering the desires of a very 



few large importing firms by fostering their ef- 

 forts in preventing adoption of the new restric- 

 tions. The capital invested by these firms can 

 equally well be employed in American products 

 and help American industries instead of injuring 

 them to the advantage of foreign powers. 



Those who claim that American Azaleas, Rho- 

 dodendrons, Conifers, etc., cannot be produced 

 equal to the best imported should visit the coast 

 of the Pacific Northwest to change and enlighten 

 their opinion and knowledge on the possibilities 

 of the country; and to the eastern public a re- 

 minder might not be amiss that the state of 

 Oregon is yet a field practically untapped by or- 

 namental horticulture with a climate surpassing 

 that of Belgium and Holland for the production 

 of nursery stock. When the war needs of our 

 country called on Oregon for its share that share 

 was promptly forthcoming, sc why should Oregon 

 be slighted and its possibilities lie dormant in 

 order that a few importing firms may continue to 

 patronize foreign producers and have them flood 

 the country with products that can all be raised 

 right here with labor waiting for employment? 



Such are the facts but sadly too little known. 



The Garden Magazine might well use its 

 influence for the good of the masses, and point 

 out to its readers that hope for fine flowers, sup- 

 plied in the past from Europe, need not be given 

 up when the source of past supply is shut off. 

 Our enterprising nurserymen will soon get to 

 work and open up new sources in suitable locali- 

 ties in the great Northwest states. 



Portland, Ore. J. G. Bacher. 



Misdirected Energy 



To the Editor of The Garden Magazine: 

 T AM dismayed to read in your January issue 

 -*- that an embargo is to be placed on the im- 

 portation of plants, bulbs, etc. It seems to me 



likely to prove one of the sweeping and senseless 

 measures to which we are constantly subjected 

 by the Agricultural Department. Cannot you 

 do something to mitigate the severity of such a 

 proceeding? Since the war began it has been im- 

 possible to procure bulbs from Holland and our 

 gardens have suffered accordingly. As you 

 know, only a very limited number of varieties 

 of Tulips and other bulbs is to be had from our 

 own dealers, and my bulbs have been my greatest 

 pleasure. [What is understood as Dutch Bulbs 

 will still be admitted for a time. — Ed.] There 

 is no pest or disease which is introduced through 

 these bulbs; and as you point out the very worst 

 pests we have suffered have been saddled upon 

 us by so-called scientific investigators! The 

 Belgian nurseries too, need all the aid we can 

 give them by importing Azaleas and other plants 

 in which they alone specialize. 



Why cannot a widespread protest or petition 

 be circulated, perhaps by you and endorsed by 

 the Garden Club of America, Woman's National 

 Farm and Garden Association, and similar or- 

 ganizations begging our Government to use at 

 least common intelligence before permitting 

 such a drastic and disastrous order to take 

 effect? 



My garden is visited from time to time by a 

 government inspector who is'sent out in the inter- 

 est of the White-pine blister control — a nearsighted 

 young man who does not know a currant bush 

 from a cabbage; and who blinks at my currant 

 and gooseberry bushes and then says, "These 

 are alright, but I found that your black currants 

 were suspicious!" And I have never had a black 

 currant on my place! — But this only goes to show 

 how futile are many of the measures upon which 

 our Government is annually wasting large sums 

 of money! 



Florida. Marcia E. Hale. 



AMOI 



Fall Flowering Iris. — Since my note in Jan- 

 uary about fall-flowering Iris in general and 

 Iris lurida in particular (page 170) I have been 

 much pleased to receive a letter from Mr. W. 

 Rickatson Dykes, the English authority on Irises, 

 in answer to one I wrote him in regard to this 

 two-flowering habit of lurida. "My impression," 

 he says, "is that garden hybrids are much more 

 liable to flower a second time than are the species. 

 I take it that you mean lurida Redouteana, and 

 that this is a hybrid I am tolerably certain, though 

 I cannot suggest its parents." I think this is very 

 interesting. And a western correspondent re- 

 minds me that in the Iris catalogue of R. Wallace 

 & Co. I. Mrs. Alan Gray is credited with a second 

 flowering. This Iris is the result of a cross be- 

 tween I. Ciengialti and I. Queen of May. I 

 have just added this variety to my collection so 

 am able to make no report upon it. Mr. Dykes 

 further said that here in America where the 

 autumn is long and sunny, Iris plants are much 

 more apt to be encouraged to a second flowering, 

 than in damper, less sunny climates. — L. B. 

 Wilder. 



Fall-blooming Iris. — In the January issue, 

 Mrs. Wilder asks, "Are there other fall-blooming 

 Irises?" In my large collection Mrs. Alan Gray 

 blooms habitually and abundantly in May and 

 again in August and September (a note records 

 its bloom on Lafayette Day). It is a cross be- 

 tween the now well known pallida variety, Queen 

 of May, and the less well known species, Cen- 

 gialti. The color, a soft lilac pink, is lovely. 

 The stems are two feet and more, quite over- 

 topping the foliage and are, in the autumn, three 

 and four flowered. In May, blooming with the 



Pe ©PEN "COLUMN! 



Readers Interchanges °f Experiences „ 

 J «« *^ ar, d Ideas ^» w^Xf* 



1 



intermediate Iris Ingeborg (large white) over 

 well established clumps of Phlox divaricata, it 

 makes an exquisite picture. In August a clump 

 near Funkia subcordata gave great pleasure and 

 in September over pegged down Boltonia as- 

 teroides it was delightful. This autumn habit of 

 distributing its bloom over a longer period than 

 in the spring is a precious one from the Iris lover's 

 view point. It is noted that the second bloom 

 is more perfect on clumps shielded from the after- 

 noon sun. This variety, in my experience ex- 

 tending over a number of years, is the only one 

 from which I confidently expect an autumn 

 bloom. The Iris lurida has only recently been 

 added to my collection and, when established, 

 will, I hope, repeat the interesting habit in my 

 garden which Mrs. Wilder has found habitual in 

 her garden. An occasional Iris bloom in late 

 autumn is not an unusual delight, appearing 

 almost entirely on the earlier bloomers, i. e. the 

 pumilas and their hybrids. The record in my 

 garden this summer and autumn for second bloom 

 is first, a blossom in July sent up from the very 

 dwarf pumila variety lutea, on a bracted stem 

 ten inches high, thus defying all pumila tradition, 

 which is a long perianth tube and almost no stem. 

 Mrs. Alan Gray, as described, came next, bloom- 

 ing in August and September and there was a 

 scattered bloom from cristata, cyanea and 

 Sapphire the first the tiny native crested Iris and 



the second two, dwarfs, classed sometimes with 

 the Pumilas, but not true ones. From an un- 

 named seedling of "The Bride" (white), one of 

 my own, there came in mid October an exquisite 

 bloom of soft yellow, fragrant and beautifully 

 formed. In late October, for the first time with 

 me, lutescens variety Statellae bloomed freely. 

 This bloom was made on clumps that had been 

 severely divided and transplanted in August of 

 the year before and which bloomed sparingly the 

 following spring. It is possible that this treat- 

 ment might insure autumn bloom from this 

 variety. I shall try it again. Lutescens is a 

 distinct species of Iris, retaining its foliage 

 throughout the winter and giving freely of 

 its pretty creamy blossoms on fifteen inch 

 stems in late April. — Ella Porter McKinney, 

 New Jersey. 



Covering the Ground. — Glad to note that 

 you intend to make your magazine even more 

 helpful by having more articles on planning and 

 beautifying the home grounds. This is as it 

 should be, but we hope that you will continue to 

 "boost" the practical vegetable garden. We 

 must not let the thousands of war gardens go 

 back to disuse. Your January number covered 

 the ground well. — Anna M. Burke, Mass. 



Decorative Dwarf Buckeyes. — Some of the 

 Dwarf Buckeyes are very decorative and are 

 proving to be unusually good plants for bold 

 effects on large estates, although their value has 

 been overlooked in large measure. Perhaps the 

 best collection in the country is to be found in the 

 Arnold Arboretum, where several species attract 

 much attention in the flowering season. Per- 



