' Massachusetts Horticultural, ·Society
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,.,.,. V\ f\ 9' -· ,OF THE ' MASSACHUSETTS L" _..,,, ... _ HORTICULTURAL, ·SOCIETY� FOR� THE YEA R ·t918 ·,-. - ✓ .. : "'_ PART I .. PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY --t BOSTON . NINETEEN HUNDRED AND· EIGH�TEEN, . -{ TRANSACTIONS OF THE ilas.mgusctts J.ortimlturnl£.odd! FOR THE YEAR 1918 PART I - ·-··---------BOSTON..... -- -- · \ PRINTED FOR THE SOCIETY NINETEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN ! '1I 8 rl �1assacy1rndts qJortintltural OFFICERS AND STANDING COMMITTEES FOR 1918. President. RICHARD M. SALTONSTALL, OF NEWTON. Vice-Presidents. NATHANIEL 'I'. KIDDER, OF MILTON. CHARLES s. SARGENT, OF BROOKLINE. Treasurer. w ALTER HUNNEWELL, OF BOSTON. Secretary. WILLIAM P. RICH, OF CHELSEA.* Trustees. THOMAS ALLEN, OF BOSTON. GEORGE E. BARNARD, OF IPSWICH. ERNEST B. DANE, OF BROOKLINE. WILLIAM C. ENDICOTT, OF BOSTON. ARTHUR F. ESTABROOK, OF BOSTON. JOHN K. M. L. FARQUHAR, OF BOSTON. WALTER HUNNEWELL, OF BosTo�. CHARLES ,v. MOSELEY, OF NEWBURYPORT. ANDREW W. PRESTON, OF BosTo�. THOMAS ROLAND, OF NA HANT. EDWIN s. WEBSTER, OF BOSTON. STEPHEN M. WELD, OF w AREHAM. Delegate to the State Board of Agriculture. SAMUEL J. GODDARD, OF FR.�MINGHAM, Nominating Committee. JOHN S. AMES, Bo,TON ROBERT CAJ\IERON, CAMBRIDGE. THOMAS ROLAND, NAHANT, EDWIN S. WEBSTER, BosTON0 ERNEST H. WILSON, BOSTON. * Communications to the Secretary, on the business of the Society, should be addressed to him at Horticultural Hall, Boston. COMMITTEES FOR 1918 ll'inauce Committee WALTER HUNNEWELL, Chairman ARTHUR F. ESTABROOK STEPHEN M. WELD Membership Committee THOMAS ALLEN CHARLES W. MOSELEY GEORGE E. BARNARD THOl\IAS ROLAND RICHARD M. SALTONSTALL Committee on Prizes and Exhibitions JAMES WHEELER, Chairman ROBERT CAMERON DUNCAN FINLAYSON. WILLIA:\! N. CRAIG T. D. HATFIELD. Committee on Pla.nta and l'lowera WILLIAM ANDERSON, Chairman ARTHUR H. FEWKES DONALD McKENZIE S. J. GODDARD WILLIAM SIM Committee on Fruita EDWARD B. WILDER, Chairman WILLIAM N. CRAIG ISAAC H. LOCKE JAMES METHVEN Committee on Vegetables JOHN L. SMITH, Chairman EDWARD PARKER WILLIAM C. RUST Committee on Gardens RICHARD M. SALTONSTALL, Chairman JOHN S. AMES DAVID R. CRAIG WILLIAM NICHOLSON CHARLES SANDER CHARLES H. TENNEY Committee on Library CHARLES S. SARGENT, Chairman ERNEST B. DANE NATHANIEL T. KIDDER Committee on Lectures and Publlcationa FRED A. WILSON, Chairman THOMAS ALLEN JOH� K. 1\1. L. FARQUHAR Committee on Children's: Gardena HENRY S. ADAMS, Chairman DR. HARRIS KENNEDY l\IRS. W. ROD:\IAN PEABODY MISS MARGARET A. RAND JAMES WHEELER l\iASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1918. The Transactions of the Society are issued annually in two parts under the direction of the Committee on Lectures and Publications. Communications relating to the objects of the Society, its publi cations, exhibitions, and membership. may be addressed to ".illiam P. Rich, Secretary, Horticultural Hall, No. 300 l\Iassachusetts Avenue, Boston, l\1assachusetts. FRED A. \YILSON, Chairman } Committee on THmIAS ALLEK Lectures and JoHN K. l\I. L. FARQUHAR Publications. CO�TE�TS. THE lNAl!GPR.-\.L :\IEETING 7 HoRTICPLTl!RAL PAPERS 15 Alpine Plants for the Rock Garden. By JI rs. Louis Chanler 17 The Arnold Arboretum. By Edzcarcl I. Farrington 33 New Horticultural Crops for Food Supply. By Prof. U. P. Hedrick 51 The Peony. By Bertrand JI. Farr 65 The Diseases of Roses. By Prof. Louis JI. Jfassey . 81 -I .. I _J THE INAUGURAL l\IEETIKG, JANUARY 12, 1918. TRANSACTIONS OF THE 1918, PART I. I)JAUGURAL :.\IEETING. The Inaugural :\Ieeting of the :\Iassachusetts Horticultural Society for the year 1918 was held at Horticultural Hall, Boston, on Saturday, January 12, at twelve o'clock, with President Salton stall in the Chair. The call for the meeting was read by the Secretary and the record of the previous meeting was read and approved. The President then proceeded to deliver his Inaugural Address. INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT SALTONSTALL. Ladies and Gentlemen, JI embers of the .Jlassachusctts Horticultural Society: It has been a great pleasure to me to serve as your President for the past two years. It was certainly my intention to retire with the close of last year, but it was represented to me that several of my predecessors had served three years; that it was a year filled with difficulties arising from the war and that under the circumstances I owed it to the Society to continue in office one more year. For these reasons I shall gladly undertake to serve to my best ability although I believe that rotation in the office of the President of this Society every two years ordinarily is advisable. The past year has been one of great interest to me and I feel that the result of the work of your Trustees and the various Com mittees undertaken during the year has not only kept up with the 8 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY standard of the past eighty-eight �'ears, but in several respects has shown marked progress. There have been ten indoor shows during the year. These all will be spoken of in the reports of your Committees. I want to speak briefly of the Spring Show, the June Outdoor Show, the Special Fruit Show, and of the Children's Garden Show. We started in early last year to make the March Show especially attractive and we employed for the first time Mr. Chester I. Campbell, the well-known publicity agent, to assist in giving publicity to the Show. The exhibit itself was certainly most attractive. We shall carry in our minds for years the impression made by the lovely exhibits of Acacias and Orchids and flowering bulbs and grouped plants. The exhibits were effectively arranged both as to color and varieties and many who have attended our shows for years were enthusiastic in their praise of this Show. It was a Show that stimulated a real interest in a very large number of people. The paid entrances amounted to $7,383.25, a considerably larger amount than was ever received at any one show given by the Society. Our expenses were large but we made a considerable sum, and the thing not to be overlooked is the fact that we reached a very large number of people. I think it may well be referred to as the biggest and the best· show we ever had indoors. The June Show was featured along quite different lines; our Society in its early history had given shows on the Public Garden and Boston Common, the last in 1873. We wished to exhibit some of our beautiful indoor and outdoor plants and shrubs under more favorable conditions than is possible in the Hall and for this reason secured the spacious grounds of the Arioch Wentworth Institute. It is not necessary to mention the great amount. of work which was done in adapting these grounds to the rock garden and pond and the outside planting for it is fresh in the minds of all of us. The seven large tents with their various special exhibits was the most ambitious venture ever undertaken by our Society in the way of an outdoor show. The exhibits were certainly most excellent. The Orchid Show was worth traveling miles to see, and the same was true of the Azaleas, the ,visterias, and the Roses. For some reason which I cannot explain we had most uncommonly bad luck on weather. INAUGURAL l\IEETING 9 It was very cold and rainy prior to the Show so that the Rhododen drons were far from their bloom, and to make matters worse it continued to rain almost every day of the Show. It was indeed most depressing. If I remember rightly, the one person who could look pleasant during the last days of the Show ,vas our good friend James Wheeler who did his very best to help us out of our troubles. The Show was not supported by the public and under the circum stances the result was not surprising although terribly disappoint r ing. Great thanks are due to l\lr. " alter Hunnewell and Prof. Charles S. Sargent for their exhibits of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, and Wisterias, to Messrs.. John Waterer's Sons Co. of England, for a fine exhibit of Rhododendrons, to Mr. Thomas Roland for the Roses, to Mr. John K. J\I. L. Farquhar for his collection of new T . varieties of evergreens, mostly the result of J\Ir." ilson's collections in China and Japan in recent years, to J\Ir. Cooley, l\Ir. Webster, Julius Roehrs Co., F. J. Dolansky, Mrs. Weld, and several others for the Orchids, to Mr. Sim for his Pansy exhibit, and to numer ous other exhibitors all of whom exhibited, without expectation of money prizes. As one result of this effort, I was obliged to call upon 19 members of our Society who had underwritten various amounts in case of a loss and as a result of their generosity our Society sustained a trifling loss although the amount to be paid up was a good large sum, so large that I think it just as ,veil not to mention it. The chances of bad weather necessarily make a show of this kind more of a venture. I am glad that we gave the Show and certainly hope that it may have done some lasting good to our Society. The Show in itself was certainly most creditable, and the Society is greatly indebtecled to Mr. Thomas Allen for his efficient services in connection with the arrangement of the same. At the Fall Fruit Show given in conjunction with the American Pomological Society and the New England Fruit Show in Novem ber there was a fine exhibit of apples and a fair exhibit of pears, grapes, and some other fruits. An instructi,·e series of lectures was given during the progress of the Show. Great interest is ap parent in the cultivation of the apple but there seems to be a comparatively little interest in the growing and development of the pear.