150 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
charge of the farm. L. B. Scott, is a well known expert in 
this line, graduating from the Michigan Agricultural Col¬ 
lege in 1911. He has been connected since that time with 
the Department of Agriculture and has done much 
original research and work in the improvement of citrus 
plants and fruits. 
MISLEADING STATEMENTS 
Ridiculous and misleading statements are to he expect¬ 
ed in the daily press, especially if they deal with the 
bizarre and unusual about plants, but Nursery or Florist 
trade papers should at least, avoid reprinting them as 
facts. In a recent issue of a Nursery Trade Paper, the 
following statement appeared, presumably in support of 
the embargo against the importation of orchids: 
“Orchids are not plants for millionaires only and that 
by and by the children of the poor may gather these or¬ 
chids in our woods and meadows without money and 
without price.” , 
It is true there are a number of indigenous orchid¬ 
aceous plants growing wild in our woods and always 
has been, but they are very rare, especially the showy 
kinds like the Cypripediums that are dug up and de¬ 
stroyed as soon as seen by thoughtless, but perhaps well 
meaning flower lovers. 
The paragraph, however, did not refer to these, but 
the exotic kinds that were exhibited at the Horticultural 
Hall, at Boston. 
The children of the poor will have ceased to exist and 
our woods and meadows too, long before exotic orchids 
such as were exhibited at the Boston show will live in 
our climate without the protection of a greenhouse and 
artificial heat. 
A NATIONAL FLOWER GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION 
A new society is being organized by the florists un¬ 
der the title of The National Flower Growers’ Associa¬ 
tion. The objects of the Association as given in Article 
II of the constitution are as follows: 
“The advancement of commercial floriculture under 
glass; devising ways and means for the best and most 
economical way of producing and marketing stock; dis¬ 
couraging unfair competition and encouraging coopera¬ 
tion; to more perfectly combat insects and diseases; to 
bring about uniform working conditions for labor; uni¬ 
form grading of flowers and plants; to procure uni¬ 
formity and certainty in the customs and usages in the 
trade; to educate floriculturists to better business meth¬ 
ods; to devise and carry out ways and means of better¬ 
ing selling conditions and eliminating the present cause 
of waste in marketing flowers; lo secure a uniform basis 
of credit and collection of accounts; and to promote the 
interests of commercial floriculturists.” 
The by-laws call for the first annual meeting to be 
held at Cleveland, Ohio, in August, 1920. 
Copies of the constitution and by-laws are being sent 
lo the secretaries of the florists clubs throughout the 
country, requesting them to send delegates to rep¬ 
resent their particular communities. 
The proposed annual dues arc based on the amount of 
glass owned or controlled by the members of the local 
associations and it will be the duty ol each local organ¬ 
ization lo have an annual inyoicc made of the amount ol 
square feet of ground under glass that each member 
owns. Also, the number and kind of plants grown on 
the premises. This is lo be done once each year between 
the dates of October 1 and December 31\ One copy of 
such invoice shall be mailed to the office of the national 
association not later than January 15, following such in¬ 
voice, and one copy is to be kept on file in the office of 
the local secretary. 
SOMETHING NEW. 
Novelties or “something new” is what the whole world 
is looking for. The nurseryman even with a big collec¬ 
tion of plants or a big variety of one kind is often at a 
loss lo know what to feature in his catalogue or advertis¬ 
ing. lie will visit other nurseries, search the magazines 
and often invest in plants he does not know much about 
with the hope he will find a money maker, or something 
new on which lo specialize. 
It is an old and trite saying, “There is nothing new un¬ 
der the sun,” and very often he has something growing on 
his own grounds that would be a regular gold mine if 
properly exploited. 
We are all too apt to think because a plant is well 
known to ourselves it is considered common to everyone 
else. Such is not the case. Some of the common native 
plants, if properly grown and handled, would be a revela¬ 
tion to many people who would gladly buy them. 
There are a host of plants grown in the nurseries of 
real merit that only need to be better grown and their 
qualities made known lo insure a large sale. Even some 
of the old timers such as Periwinkle, Vinca minor or Lily 
of the Valley have possibilities as big sellers if grown in 
sufficiently large quantity to advertise their fitness for 
certain purposes. 
Among fruit trees how many retail buyers will ask for 
an Elberta Peach because it is I lie only variety they know. 
Or a Baldwin Apple because they do not know the merits 
of some of the choicer kinds. 
Old nurserymen can look back over their experience 
and recall that most of the popular and widely distribut¬ 
ed plants of garden origin owe that popularity to some 
enterprising nurseryman advertising them. 
There are a great many more just as deserving waiting 
to be introduced to the buying public. 
The florists seem to be more enterprising than the nur¬ 
serymen in this respect. 
At one time there were few kinds of flowers handled by 
the florists’ stores except Roses, Carnations, Chrysanthe¬ 
mums, Violets, Orchids, Lilies and bloom from choice 
exotic plants. Now the humble Pot Marigold, Asters, 
Daisies, Pansies, in fact any kind of bloom that has merit 
as a cut flower is grown and offered to the public and 
finds a ready sale. 
“Something new” consists rather in bringing out the 
best there is in old things in the plant line than in 
novelties. 
What is needed in nurseries more than anything else is 
good growers to bring out the best in the old Ihings that 
have merit. 
It is perhaps not every genus of plants that have the 
