-600 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



A QUARTER CENTURY'S 

 PROGRESS. 



sui.pl 



V a tlu'inc tor tlie es- 

 food for lliousilit to 

 thti-c iiiLiii'^cil in its (lpvfl(>i)nu>iit, and 



even rciiiololy connect cil willi il. While 

 liorticulture generally Iki- hkmIc -rciii 

 strides forward, the niu^l |.niiinunccd 



IK.rticiilarly in the growiiij; -f <'Ut llow- 

 irs to supply the great cities during 

 tlie winter season. It is in this par- 

 ticular Ijranch of tloricu'tnrc that Amer- 

 ican horticulture can jn-tly claim pre- 

 .ccd:nce over all others, and althou.ah the 

 scope of this paper is not liin'tcil to 

 tliat alone, a review of il «ill l<'ini thi' 

 |iriiicipal part. So prom mik d i> I lie 

 advance in greenhouse emi-l i iiei i,>n. in 

 methods of growing, in liu-iin -- inelh- 



crysanthemunis. e, i jnlnm-. i- :nid 



other tlower'ns |il;uil-. Ih.il Ihe [nu^re-s 



lav be well ton, 

 i-nt with the -mU 

 nd e.p.ally pro, 



.Mv first actual contaii uilli lln- ^ival 

 Xew' York cut flower market uj- in the 

 winter of lS74-7.i. Jt s(,in- i.ieiedihh' 

 in these day's that one man carryiiiL; 

 ilow'ers in a basket, w'ith a l)oy to help 

 on busy days, and the use of a horse 

 and wagon at Christmas and New 

 Year-s. would dispose of al.nul *:l.-..()0() 

 worth of Howers annu.ilh. ImiI -i.eh u:i~ 

 the fact. A hu-e li;i-kel. -iieh :.^ »a~ 

 in general use I'l ian\ eiil ll.i\\cr~ then 

 would hold an amazing lot of flowers. 

 La I'actole, Lamarque. Safrano, Tsal)ella 

 Sprunt. Bon Silene and Douglas roses, 

 cut with stems about a foot long in the 

 cxlrcmc. did not take up much room; 

 (MUKitinns picked short and a few per- 



I'- 



Ih.ra. tubcr.,^c,. li'y of the valley, .'U- 

 patorium, allamanda, begonias, Dutch 

 bulb stock. .7asminnm grandiflonuu, cal- 



l;l-. \i"!e1.. -weet :ilv--nni. miL'nonpttc, 



el 1. n.h.oi r.Vieini I u. li.nis Ama- 



/.eii ,1. I. n r- .,1 ( I--II- ,li-, ,.l..i , sniilax, 

 l.iHe- .,1 i'rLii -..liiuiri \I;mI:iiim' I'olloek, 



ihiiiL; ami evcrylliine in the shape of 

 Ihiuer- e.iuM he -nlil lu the early part 

 of the last quarter century. The camel- 

 lia was in tlie market when I first be- 

 gan, but was rapidly passing away. It 

 is interesting to note that the camellia 

 was much in evidence among the flow- 

 ers used at the funeral of the late Queen 

 of England, and that there is every evi- 

 dence of a revival in them. Thus do 

 fashions change, and the favorite of 

 today may b? the despised outcast to- 

 morrow. Orchids, with the exception 

 of Cypripedium insigne. Dendrobium no- 

 bi!e," BIctia Tankervilliir or Phaius 

 grandifolivis, Persisteria elata and zyg- 

 o])etalum, were praeticallv unknown, 

 an.l onlv a few of these found their way 



to market— nui inly from private col- 

 lections. 



It was about IST.l that the first de- 

 cided gronndswell in the coming evidu- 

 tion in floriculture was felt. All eyes 

 were being turned toward the rose; the 

 varieties then being grown were far 

 from satisfactory. Larger flowers ami 

 a better grade were demanded and the 

 supply was forthcoming. The growers 

 of Madison. X. .1.. began sending in 

 Cornelia Cook, and a great revelation 

 it was! General Jacqueminot was ar- 



the liuds Ininging from $1 to ^2 each. 

 William Francis Bennett and Pierre 

 (luillot were tried in an eiVort to pro- 

 vide the desired red iii-e in wiuler miuI 

 fa'led. Souvenir dc \\..Mt(.n iii:iile il- 

 appearance and held it> own uiit 1 llie 



which has since held the Held until 

 challcnued bv Liberty, to which it has 

 net \r\ reliiKpiished il. Souvenir d"nn 

 AinJH.i- un:ihle l.i hohl ils lilace against 

 III,' jiiui.l (ntherine Meniict and the 

 (la\- eaiiie when her fail' daughter, 

 Hridesiiiail. .Irovc the parent from the 

 market. The Bride, another daughter 

 of Mermet. quickly drove Cornelia Cook 

 and Nipheti>s into ohseiirily. I'erle des 

 .laidiii- c elip-e.i \l:neclinl Xeil, and Sun- 

 >,l. (laiiL^litei .,i I'eil.-. Ii.i.l licr day only 

 |.) leliie inln cili-iiiril.\ evi n before the 

 pareiil. Almiii I ss.'i I hi' American 

 licaiitv u.i- u-lierecl in. Tliis grand 





up to 



sm.ill .i.n II 1-, r.ip.i '.-,nnei nm- i;une 

 too. K.I1-. I in \iejii-l.i \ leluii.i i- .me 



of the x.iriell,- »i, h 111- e I . -I.l>. 



Mme. (le Wanes illc. .Mine. Tiene (.nillni, 

 Mme. Capucine. Duchess of .\lhany. I'm i 

 tan and Wabau. from which miuh was 

 expected, file past in onr memories. 



\,.xl in imp.. 1 knee I.. I hi' rose as a 

 , ni II..U.1 .■..111.- 111.' ..iMLitinii. The de- 



M-I,i| Ill . I I II.' ' :i I iLil Mil in this coun- 



tiy i> .li-liii.ln.l.\ AnMri.iiii. The vari- 

 eties in use have been raised here, the 

 methods of culture have been jjerfected 

 here. From Hinsdale to Prosperity; 

 Portia to America, CJ. H. Crane and 

 .luhilee; from Pres. de (Jraw to Lizzie 

 Mctiowan, Flora Hill. Ala.ska and White 

 C'oud: from La Pnrilc to Tidal Wave. 

 William Scott mh.I Mr- TIi ..im- W, Law- 

 son: fn.m Ml- .l.lill. I - li.nl.i.Mk; 

 from Charniei t.. Mi- < ■■■ n-j. M I'.radt 

 and Olvmpia: fi..iii \-i..ii.i i.. r.niieicup 

 and Gold Xugget; from Rosy .Morn to 

 Ethel Crocker, the ilarquis and Gene- 

 vieve Lord: from Crimson King to Gen- 

 eral Maceo. (Jeneral (!omez. Kgypt and 

 Governor Hoosevelt — these indicate the 

 giant strides made, but tell little of the 

 patient, intelligent edorts of the hybrid- 

 izers. It is a ' ' ' ' ' ' ' 



horticulturists 



The violet, that other important mem- 

 ber of the cut-flower family, has grown 

 in importance with the others, but its 

 history does not contain as much interest 

 as does that of the rose or carnation. 



crop in the cut-flower market, exhibits 

 one of the most wonderful eftorts in 

 American horticulture to develop and 

 popularize a particular flower. To Mr. 

 .(ohn Thorpe is due much of the credit 

 for this. The exhibit inns iii Xcvv York 

 l„..,,inini: in Iss,;. ,,1.,, ,n I'iiil.Mlelphia 



H. 



portatiou in 1888 eDiitaining .Mrs. Al- 

 pheus Hardy and other valuable varie- 

 ties, importations from England and the 

 continent, the rapid production of seed- 

 lings of pronounced merit here, all com- 

 bined to set afloat on the sea of popular 

 favor the glorious "Queen of Autumn." 

 1 1 i- highly creditable to our cultivators 

 ili.ii well "among the best varieties in 

 111. H .ihl todav are found varieties 

 lai-ed here. 



Now let us glance at the evolution in 

 the plant trade. It is today divided into, 

 say. five sections— the catalogue trade, 

 the carnation rooted ml tin," trade, which 

 is a branch rcalK ..t tie' eiit-flowcr 

 trade; the market II. ii-l immi the large 

 cities, who grow- -.11 «....l...l llnwering 

 and ornamental t..li..j.ii l. .Mhi.l' plants 

 for market and eeni. i. . i. - il.. L:iiiwer ot 

 decorative plants, -u. ii ,■- i.ilni-. lor the 

 citv retail florist; ,in.l ihe ll.ni.-t in the 

 smaller cities and towns who supplies 

 a local trade almost exclusively. 



The first mentioned is perhaps the 



iiost 



ipor 



taut and the most interest- 



he men en.gaged in it have to de- 

 cide what to take up and what to droj), 

 and as the majority decide, so it will 

 be in nine cases out of ten. The cata- 

 loaue man reaches where no florist or 

 seedman has vet ventured. The develop- 

 ment of the catalo.mie ha- l..en wnmlevful 

 in the extreme. Tueiils li\.> \.mi- ai:.. 



the most ambition- in lie «u\ was 



a book of abmit one hiiiili. I p.-j.-. ''■\'-' 

 inches, in a )ilaiu cover ml -pai-. ly 



illustrated. This was a u. I..ii- al- 



vance over what was pnlili-li..l i.n >. n- 

 hctVire. Todav the leading ratal. ..mi.- lias 

 IIM pai^es, is a book SixlUi inches, has 

 an illniiiinated cover, six colored plates, 

 r. I, lie, I photographic scenes, every page 

 is pic.fusely illustrated, and ten copies 

 are distributed for one sent out twenty- 

 live vears a"o. Althouah I am unable 



lleld. In ;uiaUlou 1(1 tln-e we liin-i enn 

 sider the great number of foreign cata 

 logucs sent here; the American trade is 

 no mean item to Kuvnpean houses. Ow 



vehicle to distribute the catalogue was 

 Peter Henderson, with the celebrated 

 moonflower in 1887. He first otTered the 

 plant in his catalogue as Calonyction 

 grandiflorum, or "Evening Glory," in 

 1879, the text dilating on its moonlike 

 flowers. In 1884 the name moonflower 

 was used in the catalogue for the first 

 time; the jiriee was twenty cents then 

 and up to 1887. When it wiis advertised 

 in the magazines the pri. . wa- li\..l at 

 40 cents each, and llic .1. man. I ^^ a - pli. - 

 noinenal, about (iO.illlO plani- I., ihl' -.1.1. 

 anainsl -i.OOO the pri'vi..!!- \.ar. Tins 

 CNp.rinieiil -howed so forcibly the value 

 of a piipnlai an.l descriptive name and the 

 ii-i- .if a -pe, ialty that the plan was fol- 

 hiu.d li\ mam 'thereafter with varying 



