176 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



fered bj* various firms, and the Lawson 

 medals will also be awarded. 



It will no doubt be a great exhibition 

 and a memorable meeting. .\nil .tb Bal- 

 timore is famed for its hii>|.ii ,i!II \ Ihic 

 is no question but what tl ■■ i il -:.l' 

 will be well looked -.xiui > .ii,iiii;\ 



pleasure and profit arc :mI i ■. i' ' ihI 



ed at these annual meetiiij;>. 



Copies of the full pioj-rain aiul jire- 



list 



Iter 



ested by addressing the socrctary, Al 

 bcrt M. Herr, Lancaster. Pa. 



A VISIT TO PETER FISHER. 



Hearing of many pilgrimages being 

 made to Mr. Peter Fisher's place. I took 

 a run out to see if 1 could find out what 

 attractions the ))hii-i inii;lii liave. In 

 eonnrection with tin- ilnui-lii ^ r.mes the 

 fact that Mr. Fi.-h. i i- -rl.lni,, seen in 

 Boston. I found uul u hy Hk- place has 

 attractions both for himself as well as 

 others. He has a family consisting of 



blossoms instead of cuttings, as at pres- 

 ent. The expected shipping of three 

 hundred .thousand rooted cuttings makes 

 this necessary. 



II «,iul,l I'akr a 1 k to .Ir,,lil.c lli- 



U, ik A, I Ih. . II.- .,11. NMII. II kill llllll 



not even attempt it. Sulhce it for nic 

 to say I never passed a more pleasant 

 afteriioon. He tries to conceal nothing 

 about his work. What he does and why 

 he does it is as open as the field for 

 a.stronomical research on a clear mid- 

 winter night. Mr. W. H. Elliott, in the 

 course 111' a linr paper read before the 

 Gardi'i. -I -' II ml I'll 'lists' Club three years 

 ago saiil Mr. I'i-licr had "chased the 

 Lawson pink -i ta-t it could not get 

 away!"' He i■^ -nil . lia^iiig cithers just 

 as fast and I tliink mhi will lind he has 

 caught two or tln.r .iki.iii as good. But 

 they will speak fur thcin-clves at the 

 proper time. But lie is comma'nder-in- 

 chief of an army of rooting cuttings 



a wife and four children, of whom he is, 

 and should be, both fond and proud. 



He has a fine home, almost ideally sit- 

 uated for iKith pUa-uiv and Iii- lai-im-s. 



I.I Ih 



occupy his « liulc liuiL, i:i.- whiilc men- 

 tal and pli}sical power, and from which 

 he has won the unique and em-iable posi- 

 tion of the most noted new carnation 

 producer of Xew England. Visitors get 

 their eiijoyincnt in seeing a respected co- 

 worker so iilcasantly placed and in' view- 

 ing the successive stages of his work as 

 well as the magnificent results. 



He has not been noted as a grower, 

 because his plant was not large enough, 

 but he will be heard from later, as his 

 strictly first-class additions will make 

 him a formidable rival when worked for 



which are fighting for one of those victo- 

 ries which "peace hath as well as w-ar!" 

 The noticeable features about the 



gi>.|.iili(.|i-(s arc: First, the absolutely 

 p.ifi.l i..i,lili.iii .it aim. .-I every plant 

 aluiul 111.. |.la.i'. I .'aim 1 lii-re is not an- 

 other iiiaii ill \i \\ lai'jkin.l that can have 

 so many kiml- hm.1. i ..n. ii.if and all of 

 them so tho^..u:lll^ lilii-iiaiiiig the hab- 

 it of its kind. S. . ..ml. i k. ak^nlute clean- 

 liness of evcr\ I kiii._. all. .Ill the place. 

 Third, the d.i/. n- ..i lil..--'iins and seed 

 pods which li« n link n.kcts inscribed 

 with facts cull., iiiin^; i...rit bybridi/a- 

 tion. His knowledge ui these and his 

 stern requirements of them are Mr. Fish- 

 er's strong points. He has thrown away 

 many better varieties than others have 

 tried to introduce and seemingly will not 

 "let well enough alone." 



Of course much attention centers 

 around the new varieties he has "caught" 

 and is w.ukiMg up a stock of them. Go 

 and -ee tliciii. .r. S, Mantek. 



CARNATION RE'VERIES. 



Bv J.4S. Hautsuoh.nk. 



Mirk repoit-. ami 

 cago's. /Jr. i\v.i- .. 

 eeived $lU.llo L. --I. 

 and its class, uhilc 



. I . Ill s. . tions of 

 .1111. v.iiieties of 

 iii-i.in..-. the Xew 

 II ^lauee at Chi- 

 f.irnier city re- 

 in r 100 for Crane 

 Lawsons and the 



other top notclicrs they were able to get 

 as high as $25.00 per 100; ancl I have 

 heard from reliable sources, of carna- 

 tions wholesaling there at 50 crents 

 apiece. There is no wonder that it sets 

 the Chicago grower and retailer alike 

 to thinking and looking for the cause, 

 for highest price obtained in Chicago 

 last Christmas for the ci'eam of the cut 

 was 8 cents each, and the great majority 

 of it was only able to fetch 5 or 6 cents 

 each, including good Lawsons and 

 Cranes. How does it come about? I 

 think aTiy one who knows will agree with 

 me that as good stock goes to the Chi- 

 cago market as to any in the country. 



During a brief chat I had a few days 

 ago with a prominent eastern grower 

 he dropped the remark that the eastern 

 people would have the large blooms and 

 were willing to pay for them. That is 

 not the case in Chicago, excepting as 

 fo the fore part of it. Our people want 

 the finest to be had, but when it comes to 

 paying the additional price you see them 

 squirm. 



In our conversation I gleaned this 

 much from him, that the retailers in 

 Xew York and Philadelphia made it a 

 point to arrange their blooms in such a 

 way that the customer's attention would 

 at once be attracted by the difTerence 

 in the quality. For instance, a fine vase 

 ..f l.awsons would be placed in the midst 

 .i| a group of common carnations, some- 

 times with a placard attached stating 

 that it was the genuine Lawson. etc. I 

 think the scheme a good one, although 

 it is not new, but it might be applied 

 to other fine stock the same way, with 

 or without the placard. The customer 

 steps inside, inquires the price, pushes 

 his nose into them, buys too or three 

 dozen of the eiimTiioner ones, but cannot 

 resist the (.•ii!|.lan..n t.. at I'east get half 

 a dozen tu -k .\\ In- iiii'iids how much 

 he knows ak. Ill III. .liilerence in pinks, 

 or iiiavlie I.. Ilk. a^ ,1 present to some 



l|..\\ iiiaii\ I liii.i;; iilail florists mnkie 

 a <li-i.ila.\ ..I .111 il.iw.-is in their win- 

 dows.' 'V'ery few. It is not the fashion 

 here. People know they have got them 

 inside. But that isn't the point. If 

 your wife ernes slmpping she comes home 

 ioadvd witk m. i . k.m.li-.- that she never 

 had thouglii i imlil she had seen it 

 where the m. r-li.iiil kad placed it for 

 that very purpose. 1 am not a retailer 

 and perhaps do not know enough about 

 their afTairs to be giving pointers, l)ut 

 this much 1 do know, that to ask and 

 insist on ..'eiliiiL' im.n. Ilian tlire'c times 

 for their -l..U ikm ik.v lia\. ]iaid the 

 grower for -.mi. i- wfw^. . -peeially so 

 on that vc.r> tup grade uliicli is called 

 extra fancy or specials. It has been 

 done in Chicago to my personal knowl- 

 edge. 



T -h.iiil.l tliiiik it would pay better in 

 111. l.nLi mil I'' aim to make only what 

 pi.. 11 is al.-..'iilely necessary on the ex- 

 tra . Iiiiiee giaile of blooms, thereby cs- 

 tjiblishing a trade for that clnss of stock 

 and nothing else, and at the same time 



