THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN 
230 
Second, that the scale of points for displays of cut roses be re¬ 
vised as follows: 
Quality of bloom, formerly 40 points, now 60 points. 
Artistic arrangement and effect, formerly 40 points, now 30 
points. 
Variety, formerly 20 points, now 10 points. 
(b) That rule 4 of the rules and -regulations of the American 
Rose Society, as printed on page 20 of the first preliminary plant 
schedule of the Sixth National Flower Show, Cleveland, Ohio, 
for 1924, be repealed so that this reference to pinching should 
he entirely eliminated; and further (c) that the rule now reading 
that “no gold medal is to be awarded to any rose scoring less 
than 95 points,” he changed to read “90 points.” 
Plans were made for holding the Annual Meeting of the 
American Rose Society on September 20th, at the nursery of 
Bobbink & Atkins, Rutherford, N. J. J. Horace McFarland as 
chairman, George H. Peterson and Robert Simpson were ap¬ 
pointed a committee to submit nominations for officers to be 
elected at the Anual Meeting, with intructions that such nomina 
tions should be sent to members, together with proposed consti¬ 
tutional changes in ample time to give all the opportunity to 
vote by proxy if unable to attend in person. 
A committee was appointed to recommend a budget for 1924. 
$150 was authorized for use of the membership committee in the 
near future. 
The total membership of the society was reported to have 
gone above the three thousand members mark for the first time 
in its history. 
The treasurer reported a balance on hand of $1,732.67, from 
which should be deducted the item of bills payable in excess of 
$1,000. Also in membership fund an uninvested balance of 
$1,196.12. 
Announcement was made that permission had been finally 
secured from the Department of Agriculture to proceed with the 
plans for the distribution of the Mary Wallace Rose, and the 
committee in charge were authorized to proceed to enlist the 
firms of all rose growers or rose distributors who were interest¬ 
ed in order to negotiate with them for the equitable distribution 
of this stock. In the meanwhile it is expected that members 
of the trade who are interested will at once send to the sec¬ 
retary for full information regarding the terms of distribution. 
ROBERT PYLE, Secretary. 
CREPE MYRTLES 
A visitor from the North, to Washington and localities 
South, at this time of year can not but he impressed by 
the Crepe Myrtles that are to be seen in the gardens and 
grounds of the homes in that part of the country. 
They are very beautiful and stand out in their attract¬ 
iveness very conspicuously as there are few othei 
shrubs in bloom at this time of the year. The prevailing 
color is pink although occasionally one can see a white 
form that is not quite such a free bloomer, and shades 
of purple which sometimes run to shades not pleasing to 
some fastidious colorists but even these shades are very 
attractive when seen in combination with white or where 
there is no other color to clash with them. 
The Crepe Myrtle suggests such wonderful possibilities 
to the florists and gardeners that one wonders why it has 
not been singled out for development and exploitation to 
a much greater extent than it is. There seems to be such 
wonderful latent possibilities in the plant. It is true it 
is doubtfully hardy north of Washington but isolated 
plants have stood the winters of the locality of Philadel¬ 
phia and other more northern points. When the plant is 
cut down by the frost it seems to come up more vigorous 
than, ever so that its tenderness should not prevent it 
from being more extensively used. There are many 
plants being handled by the florists, in great quantities, 
w ithout nearly the merits of the Crepe Myrtle, which 
neither have the constitution nor are as hardy. 
Perhaps their blooming in the season of the Dahlia, 
Canna, Cladiolia and other showy plants lias had some¬ 
thing to do with it; but being a shrub and extremely well 
adapted to pot culture it would seem as if a place could 
be found for it especially in city gardens or where it 
could be given tub culture with the idea of giving them 
protection during the winter in such manner as the Hy¬ 
drangea otaksa and varieties. 
It could readily be wintered under about the same con¬ 
ditions as the Bay tree, and tub Crepe Myrtles in flower 
would certainly be quite a sensation in northern cities. 
In the south too, even where the plants may be seen 
growing in the yards of the humblest homes there has 
been very little attempt to utilize it as it deserves. 
As an ornamental hedge planted it would make a glor¬ 
ious show The pruning of it would be so simple that 
practically anyone could do it, the crepe myrtle flowers 
on l he young wood. Even the man with the shears who 
ruins so many of our spring flowering shrubs would not 
affect its blooming. Every vigorous shoot carries a fine 
truss of bloom. There is no reason why young plants 
should not be grown like the hybrid tea roses, cut down 
to the ground in spring the young shoots would flower by 
August. 
The Crepe Myrtle, Lagerstromeria indxca, usually 
grows to the height of ten to twelve feet, sometimes as¬ 
suming the proportions of a small tree but there are now 
dwarf forms in red, pink and blue, that are much small¬ 
er than the type and would lend themselves very well to 
pot culture. Doubtless in time the Crepe Myrtle will 
come into its own but this will only be when the florists 
take hold of it and bring its real value to the attention 
of the flower loving public. 
Lagerstroemia speciosa Floss-Reginae is a wonderful¬ 
ly beautiful kind, very distinctive from the above. In 
India where it is a native tree it attains the height of 
fifty to sixty feet. The past spring the writer secured 
a few plants from Teas Nursery Company, Houston, 
Texas, they arrived at the nursery about February, were 
carried in a cool greenhouse until May when they were 
planted out of doors, the plants were dormant and about 
18 to 24 in. high. These were pruned back in much the 
same way you would prune a two year old hybrid tea 
rose, they made a growth of several stems each 15 to 18 
in. long, each stem carrying a truss of bloom 9 to 10 in. 
long and weighting them to the ground. The exquisite 
shade of purple often seen in some of the orchids and 
large trusses excited the admiration of all who saw 
them. 
This plant is certainly worthy of attention by Northern 
florists as a subject for pot culture. It looks as if it had 
wonderful possibilities as a tub or pot plant for either 
indoor or out door decoration where something very 
striking is wanted in the way of blooming plant at this 
time of the year. 
(ibitaarij 
,1. R. Hoag, of Hoag & Wilbur, Landscape Specialists 
and Nurserymen, Troy, New York, died on June 30th. 
Mr. R. G. Wilbur w ill still carry on the business under 
the firm name of Hoag & Wilbur. 
