The Weekly Florists* Review. 



65 



found. I am not exaggerating the speed 

 of this wonderful bovine. Could a care- 

 ful sclcplinii of luT nfr«]iriiii; have been 



nuulr :iimI ;i -rirlililir -rlrrliull of futUrC 



geni'r:il h II- Ihr.r \^. nil now be a race 



of ll.ini.M r:,|||r ,.,|,|;,| ,,, >|„.<.,1 to tllC 

 faniUll- I r.nl;,!,,,:!, ■ ,,,,,!,., I 1,\ .M,'. 



ThoiiM^ W I .!.> -.1, ulin h I., I- . I.MMr.l 

 up all I'l- II. .11. I ..I 111- .1.1-- ilH- -iiiii- 

 mcr. W In. II ».. Mill..,! Im|. iI,,. ni^lii ( I 

 ought to say lay down for llie iiii^hl i 10. 

 I. M. slept oji the west side, \V. S. in the 

 middle, and A. S. on the east side. 



Excepting the loss of our provisions we 

 had not seen much of the rats. Our 

 presence had disturbed their frolics, but 

 that did not last long. I am sure this 

 shanty had been for a long time prior to 

 our advent a grand rallying place for 

 all the leading rats of the market 

 square. Doubtless where we slept was 

 the convention hall for the Society of 

 Canadian Rats and Ornamental House 



shooting, or if deer were as tame as cat- 

 tle they would not be hunted at all. 

 Through ages these creatures have 

 learned that man is their enemy and 

 have all sorts of instinctive tricks to 

 escape his weapons. The game birds even 



5ubli 



"survival of the littest," T will merely 

 say (hat ratting under the conditions 

 exiilaiiicd ali(i\'i- began to pall on us and 

 in a ic \ wr. I.J we gave it over and the 

 lai- hail lull ^way. Very possibly we 



gill arrii>i il to their music and 



]iranks. and il I remember correctly we 

 did not sleep at all well the first few 

 nights we were away from the rats. 



Midsummer and harvest time came 

 and W. S. and E. I. M. volunteered to go 

 out into the good agricultural district 





#1iBSM 



Water Effect in a Kansas City Park. 



Rodents. There were holes for entry and 

 exit innumerable, but the one principal 

 approach was through a spacious hole in 

 the northwest corner about eighteen 

 inches from E. I. M.'s ear. For the first 

 few nights after the arrival of W. S. we 

 slept the sleep of the weary, undisturbed 

 by either cow or rodent. Then we began 

 to ask each other, "Did you feel some- 

 thing run over your face last night?" or 

 "Did you hear something squeaking be- 

 fore you went to sleep?" and soon these 

 symptoms increased, till at the end of 

 three weeks the rats got over our pres- 

 ence and held high carnival over and 

 around us. 



One night about the time these ratifi- 

 cation meetings began to be unpleasant 

 we stopped up several holes, but left the 

 principal one open. Then E. I. M. laid 

 down, as we all did, but in his left hand 

 he had a big rag, and one of the others 

 had a match. In twenty minutes we 

 came to the conclusion that there was 

 a full meeting, so over the hole went the 

 bag and up to the lamp went the match. 

 It is wonderful how rats will find places 

 of escape where you don't see them, but 

 in spite of that we murdered eleven. This 

 was repeated at intervals of a few nights, 

 but even that sport gets tame. The in- 

 centive and sport of shooting or hunting 

 is always increased by the wariness and 

 crafty instinct of your game. If grouse 

 and quail were as tame as the pigeons 

 in your cote there would be no sport in 



and labor in the fields and incidentally 

 add to the firm's exchequer. We wan- 

 dered all day in a splendid farming dis- 

 trict, but did not get an engagement. 

 The farmer we were talking to had just 

 hired a man, but he was sure his friend, 

 Donald McPherson, the farm just beyond 

 his next neighbor, wanted several men. 

 So we walked all day without results, 

 and in the middle of the night took a 

 train back to Stratford. On approaching 

 the back door, strange to say, the cow 

 was not there. Some vigorous kicks 

 brought A. S. off his perch. Poor fel- 

 low! He had collected several old boxes 

 and put them one on top of the other 

 till they nearly reached the ceiling, and 

 on them was his roosting place. He gave 

 the wanderers anything but a hearty wel- 

 come ; in fact, plainly showed his disgust 

 at our failure. Soon after that W. S. 

 left, never to visit Stratford again, and 

 E. I. M. left soon after. The following 

 spring the business was wound up, every- 

 body was paid one hundred cents on the 

 dollar, and the three old partners are 

 widely scattered. If any Stratford flor- 

 ists should by chance see this little auto- 

 biography I can assure them that every 

 word is true, and if old Bill Jones was 

 alive he could prove it. W. S. 



You need it in your business. The 

 Florists' Manual, by Wm. Scott. Send in 

 your order now. 



The Market. 



Condilions in general have improved 

 a.s to acmaiul ami there is a shortage of 

 Beauties and red roses. In white the 

 siii)ply is still more than sullicient. 

 Carnations have also been short of de- 

 nianil the last few days. All good vio- 

 lets that come in are quickly taken up. 

 Both supply and demand are, however, 

 nuuh smaller than last year. Just 

 lately there has been a scarcity at times. 

 Prices are somewhat stider all along 

 the line and the Christmas influence is 

 beginning to be felt. 



As to the supply for Christmas trade 

 few will venture a prediction. All agree 

 that Beauties and red roses will be 

 scarce, and some think there will be a 

 seriou- slmrla.jr all around. Others 

 look till (iiiiii.jli r.iidcs and Maids to go 

 aroiniil .mil I In -anie as to violets. Un- 

 less wu liavij a lair amount of bright 

 weather during the next ten days it is 

 likely that the supply of carnations Avill 

 be insufficient. There will probably be 

 quite a few chrysanthemums, mainly 

 yellow in color. 



A great many advance orders for 

 Christmas have been already placed and 

 inquiiirs fmni lniyiis are numerous. In- 

 dicatiiiii- :iii. ihat the demand will be 

 largi'. I'm.- will probably be about the 



dob Meeting, 



At the last meeting of the Florists' 

 Club a letter was received from the Gal- 

 A'eston florists acknowledging the receipt 

 of Treasurer Sanders' last draft and 

 statins that of all the assistance ex- 

 tendnl iiv llir tiaili' .">0 per cent had come 

 from ( liiia.jii. I 111. letter expressed the 

 gratiluili' 111 lliu-i who had been assisted 

 by the cuntiibutu.ns. 



The report of the banquet committee 

 was received. It named the following as 

 contributors to the entertainment fund: 

 Kennicott Bros. Co.. McKeller & Winter- 

 son, 0. P. Bassett, E. H. Hunt, E. Wien- 

 boeber, E. C. Amling, Wietor Bros., 

 Wetland & Eiseh, James Hartshorne, 0. 

 J. Friedman, J. B. Deamud, J. D. Thomp- 

 son, J. C. Vaughan, Peter Reinberg, 

 Geo. Reinberg, M. Barker, A. Lange and 

 a friend. 



The papers on roses by Messrs. Geo. 

 Collins and Paul Kopanka were very in- 

 teresting and the thanks of the club were 

 tendered to both for their valuable es- 

 says. They appear elsewhere in this is- 

 sue. 



Mr. W. N. Campbell was elected to 

 membership. 



At the next meeting ISIessrs. Walter 

 Kreitling and P. J. Hauswirth will favor 

 the club with some observations on the 

 trials and tribulations of the retail flor- 

 ist. Walter intimates that he will color 

 the "red violet" blue. 



Various Items. 



McKellar & Winterson are doing a tre- 

 mendous business in supplies for Christ- 

 mas trade, the volume of same being 

 fully three times that of last year. Busi- 

 ness is most decidedly on the rush here. 



A. G. Prince & Co., who were the Chi- 

 cago agents of the Hinsdale Rose Co., 

 have decided to discontinue the commis- 

 sion business. The Hinsdale Rose Co. 

 and ITenrv Pavne will in future consign 

 their entire stock to E. H. Hunt, whose 

 growing business makes these additions 

 to his list of consignors very acceptable. 



