Club Minutes: Horticultural Society, 1949

H/6/1949-2-

Volunteer Articles:-

Lillie B. Stabler read an advertisement of the new duPont "Floral Dust", which apparently will control all of the pests, rusts, diseases, and other ailments to which our gardens are prey. It may be used as a dust or as a spray, and reports on its use by our members will be welcomed.

Rebecca Small read "Skinning America Alive",- another succinct reminder of the thin-ness of our topsoil, of its idispensability, and of the paramount importance of preserving it through every proven means of conservation.

Forethought Notes by Rebecca Small were well prepared: put water lilles out now; pinch back central shoots of dahlias to promote side growth; pinch back chrysanthemums to 6 or8 inches; divide and re-set iris, after blooming; spray all blight-subject vegetables twice with bordeaux during June.

Your secretary pro-tem is stumped when it comes to reporting the list of exhibits read by Sylvia Woodward. Fifty five exhibits were recorded, and perhaps it is sufficient to say that a neighborhood which can at one time and in great abrudance cover the field from wild strawberries to amaryllis, and from 5 varieties of lettuce to raspberries, should count its blessings with humble gratitude.

Meteorologist Edward Iddings reported for May: 6.5 inches of rainfall, and an average morning temperature of 64 1/30°

Questions:

Q. How treat aphids on apple trees? A. Black leaf 40, applied wet.

Q. What is a good general wet spray? A. Dusts are preferred, but lime sulfur is good.

Q. What is cause of non-thrifty sweet corn now? A. Most have it, but cause not agreed on.

Q. If part of pyramidal arbor vita is removed, will it fill out again? A. Yes, but not quickly.

Q. How should the Wesleys plan a two to three months automobile trip through the West? A. Yes, we all envy you, and want to hear about it when you return.

Q. How to trim back silver moon rose which is breaking down arbor? A. Remove old growth ruthlessly.

Q. Does it hurt lily of the valley to cut it back after the blooming season? A. Most say no.

Q. Is it too late to set out peppers? A. No.

Q. When stop cutting asparagus? A. Do not keep bed cut after June 1, but cut some any time growth is vigorous.

Q. Cause of peas blighting? A. Most say repeated planting in the same place is not cause, - probably wet soil is.

President McReynolds asked that a presiding officer be selected for the July and August meetings, when he will be in New England, and Clarence B. Hurrey was our choice.

Readers for next meeting: Wm. H. Hill, Sylvia Woodward.

Adjournment was to a delicious and socially delightful covered dish dinner, and thence to a picnic meeting at Triadelphia in July.

GFN sec pro tem. Geo. F. Nesbitt

Post Script:

Following the dinner it was discovered by our host and hostess that a large silver serving spoon engraved in script with the word "Yerinton" had apparently wandered off with the cutlery of one of our members. They wish everyone to be assured that if this piece is returned no questions will be asked - and none answered.

H/8/1949-1-

The Porches. August 1949.

The picnic meeting which was scheduled for Triadelphia in July having been called off because of the extremely hot weather which characterized mid-summer of 1949 throughout the entire Eastern seaboard and much of the middle West, our fourth meeting of the season was enjoyed in the cool rooms and on the pleasantly shaded veranda of The Porches.

Acting Chairman Hurrey called the meeting to order; reading of the minutes was delayed until after the presentation of the articles by appointed readers, at which time the minutes were approved without change.

Anne Miller read for absentee Sylvia Woodward "What Do Garden Birds Really Eat?", from the Home Garden, July 1949. Supported by a mass of research data on the contents of stomachs of birds of the thrush family, and of swallows, phoebes, peewees, bluejays, and many other commonly found birds at various seasons of the year, the author admits that many varieties raid our fruit and vegetable crops in a vexing manner, but maintains that even the least popular birds eat pests and weed seeds. He closes his artiole with the paragraph:-

'Most authorities agree that we would have a hard time existing on this earth if it were not for the birds. Weeds, mice, and insets would certainly get out of hand, as would parasites of many kinds. Birds are part of the natural balance, and we will be anything but wise if we upset that balance.'

William Hill read, from August 1949 The National Geographic magazine, excerpts from "Our Vegetable Travelers" by Victor R. Boswell, Principal Horticulturist, United States Department of Agriculture. This article is profusely illustrated with paintings by Else Bostelmann, and is presented in so interesting a way that a leizurely reading of it is recommended as pleasant and rewarding homework for any members who have not already taken time out to this end.

Excellent Forethought Notes were brought to us by Rebecca Small:- keep after the weeds in August; late celery needs hilling now; sew peas twice in August, and spinach for a fall crop; use Bordeaux freely, and watch egg plants and potatoes for bugs; mertensia can be moved now, being dormant; clip seeds off annuals to prolong blooming; slip English Ivy for house growing; stop feeding roses; divide and replant iris; move Oriental poppies now (in summer only). And she ended her reading by giving us Tennyson's "The Brook".

The list of exhibits was read by Emmaline Hill, and the variety of flowers, fruits, and vegetables was so great and the speciments so beautiful that your reporter cannot help wondering if our grave concerns about garden matters are fully justified.

Meteorologist Edward Iddings reported an average morning temperature of 74° and a total rainfall of 5.25 inches for July.

H/8/1949-2. Questions:- (August 1949)

Q. How treat iris borers? A. Arsenate of lead.

Q. How limit growth of ground moss? No confident answers.

Q. How prune English box? A. In spring, with care.

Q. How limit growth of arbor vita? A. Trim, but it isn't easy.

Q. Will staking tomatoes help control blight? A. Most say will not help.

Q. Is it itoo late to pinch back dahlias? A. Too late for heavy pinching.

Q. Will the Society appoint a representative to join in considering a forthcoming edition of the Annals of Sandy Spring? Mary Reading Miller appointed by the Chair.

Q. What annuals do well around amaryllis? A. Petunias, portulacca.

Q. Other name for Japanese Balloons? ? Physalis Franchetti

Q. Transplant roses in August? A. Yes, if watered, kept out of sun.

Q. How best raise cantaloupes and watermelons? A. Sandy soil, or add sand; use manure.

Q. Can magnolia be pruned? A. Prune in spring, just as active growth start; scars heal slowly, rot easily, use paint.

Q. Is duPont Ammate a selective weed killer? A. Only if used with utmost care; if applied heavily will kill everything.

Q. Deafness from DDT exposure had been reported; have members had such experience? A. No, except possibly one case.

Readers for September meeting: Edith Owings, Ulric Hutton.

Adjournment was made, via a bountiful and varied covered dish dinner (I wonder how many tons of ice cubes and gallons of iced tea Mrs. Hill provided, and take this opportunity to thanks her for her great generosity) to Fairfield, where Deborah and Albert Willson and Edward Iddings will be our co-hosts in September.

GFN Sec.Pro.Tem.

H/9/1949-1-

Fairfield. September 6, 1949.

Superlatives are dealt in positively only by those who invite correction or criticism, and in the interest of self defense your secretary pro-tem will therefore open these minutes with a question: does any of our members recall a more lovely gathering place or a more delightful hospitality than we enjoyed at this meeting?

In the absence of Clarence B. Hurrey, Robert H. Miller, Jr., presided.

The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved.

This age of specialization made itself felt in our meeting, each of our appointed readers making an excellent selection and then calling on another member to read the article.

Edith Owings (the voice was Elizabeth Ligon's) gave us "Compost is the Secret" by Richard Gordon McCloskey, from July 1949 The Maryland Gardener. In this article by a dirt gardener, the reader is urged to speed up and improve on Nature's ordinary composting nethods by making the compost heap of successive layers of green matter, earth, manure, and sprinklings of lime, adding all animal matter that is avallable, and using the heap as a place for deposting the kitchen garbage.

If such a compost heap is built up to five feet, it will in two or three months subside to some three feet, and will then be usable. The pile should not be tamped, but should be allowed to settle naturally; keep it damp, but not soggy. If these things are done, the author assures us of an odorless compost heap of great value.

Elizabeth Ligon, reading for herself, also gave us an interesting account from the sate magazine, titled "The Glorious Floribundas - Newest of Roses", Numerous beautiful varieties were described, but perhaps it is in order to quote only excerpts bearing on the general qualities of these roses:-

"The floribundas were developed by crossing types of small flowered polyanthus (a variety of primula) and hybrid teas. The resulting plants inherityed... hardy type of growth... constant blooming... cluster flowering... extreme hardiness... strong resistance to disease and insects... four or five to a dozen roses per cluster and from five to ten clusters are in bloom on each plant from start of blooming until stopped by hard frost".

Rebecca Small then read for Rose Hutton, who represented absent appointed reader Ulric Hutton, George Taloumis' article on bringing house plants in for the winter, from September 1949 "Horticulture". This article gives in detail the procedures which should be followed