782 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



ever, some of our most beautiful flowers 

 are to be found in the perennials of the 

 old fashioned gardens. A beautiful dis- 

 play of (lowers and blendinj^ of color can 

 be gained by proper management and a 

 succession of colors second to none other. 

 We need but to glance over the list of 

 these flowers from the tall growing and 

 stately sunflower and hollyhocks, with 

 their rich and dainty colorings, to the 

 diminutive dwarf daisies, to see the pos- 

 sibilities that lie within the collection. If 

 only a little care in arranging, and at- 

 tention after planting is given, lo ! what 

 a fairyland of blossoms one may have at 

 a trivial cost, which in many private gar- 

 dens, at least, would make them more 

 than welcome. Let us hope, therefore, 

 that we may see more of grandmother's 

 flowers in our gardens and that they may 

 receive their proper heritage of beauty 

 and grace in the twentieth century gar- 

 den. C. M. H. 



AN EMPLOYES' ASSOCIATION. 



Editor Florists' Review: Your re- 

 quest for an expression of opinion in re- 

 gard to the proposed association of em- 

 ployes is one that "deserves ■careful con- 

 sideration, for the problem seems to be 

 a knotty one, and also appears to have 

 gone for beyond the good advice con- 

 tained in the moderate and sensible pa- 

 per read by Mr. Knope at Detroit. 



The chief objects of a labor union 

 among the members of any handicraft 

 are the protection of its members and 

 the promotion of their financial inter- 

 ests, but one of the worst features in 

 nearly all such unions is the fact that 

 the entire membership stands on one 

 level as to pay, and thus the union is 

 most beneficial to the indifferent work- 

 man. 



It has been suggested that an or- 

 ganization of really capable workmen 

 should be formed, but just imagine the 

 thorny path of the committee on mem- 

 bership of such an organization, and 

 the great difficulty of fixing arbitrary 

 standards by which to guide such a com- 

 mittee. 



There also appears to be an obstacle 

 to the success of such a union in the 

 fact that our business is spread over a 

 great area and is mostly in small estab- 

 lishments, there being p'robablv not more 

 than 2.5,000 employes in about 10,000 

 establishments, this estimate allowing 

 for quite a liberal increase in num- 

 bers since the census of 1800. 



That there is room for improvement 

 is quite evident while we find some em- 

 ployers who desire to eniragc a skillful 

 plantsman, a capable manager and a 

 real floral artist all combined for the 

 magnificent sum of f?-2r,Am ,„.|- month 

 and board, the biii.i m. In] inu a bou- 

 doir over the bnil,, i. ; , i.ni Uiere 

 are also employii .in. ..i.lv api)re- 

 ciate efficient lielp .nul utv niUhvr to 

 give due credit. ° 



There is also the possibility of the 

 employe becoming a partner or starting 

 in business on his own account and in 

 such a case it is liighlv probable that 

 the union would be much less allurin" 

 to the man than before and on tlic whole 

 there seems to be numerous obstacles 

 and many details to be considered, and 

 this, Mr. Editor, is not the view of a 

 pessimist, but of one who feels some 

 interest in the welfare of his fellow 

 employes. W. H. Taplin. 



In regard to starting an employes' 

 •ssociation would say I am heartilv in 



favor of such a movement. I have often 

 thought that such an association would 

 be a benefit lo the employer as well as 

 the employe if the membership were 

 restricted to good, capable men ; other- 

 wise it would be useless. 



It would give the employer a better 

 chance to get good men and further- 

 more it would protect the employe 

 against men who have only a limited 

 knowledge of their profession. At all 

 events let us have such an association 

 of good practical men. 



John B. Rudy. 

 Gardener to Hon. J. S. Fassett, Elmira, 

 N. Y. 



Those who have written favoring such 

 an organization have not told us what 

 benefits would result from it except that 

 it would lead to more intimate acquaint- 

 ance and sociability, and might be the 

 means of obtaining higher wages for its 

 members. Those who would be eligible to 

 join it are so widely scattered that the 

 social features could be better attained 

 through the florists' clubs, and, once a 

 year, through the Society of American 

 Florists. 



In order to increase the wages of the 

 employed it would have to be practically 

 a trades union, and these have been the 

 cause of so much enforced idleness and 

 suffering and lawlessness, and would at 

 once antagonize employers — between 

 whom and those who work for them there 

 should be, if anything, more friendly re- 

 lations — that it* seems to me this should 

 not be undertaken. 



Trade unions are of the most benefit to 

 the unskillful and the incompetent, and 

 the capable workman who is willing to do 

 what he is hired to do, honestly, and to 

 the interest of his employer and himself, 

 lowers himself by associating with the 

 shirkers. Those who are skillful and will- 

 ing and trusty seldom lack employment, 

 for all over the country men are looking 

 and advertising for such; and if you 

 needed such a person today you would 

 have some trouble to find one unengaged. 



The workman who likes his occupation 

 and wants to succeed, should learn all he 

 can about it through study and thought 

 and observation, and if he is so unfor- 

 tunate as to be engaged by an ignorant 

 boor who will not pay his wages prompt- 

 ly, let him l.M\r liis service as soon as he 

 can lioii..i,iM\ .1,1.1 -ri'k employment with 

 ageiiH. in.iii : ,111.1 :i- soon as possible, let 

 him oii;;.i;;i. in l)u.-,iiies3 for himself, and 

 become in his turn an employer: and 

 when he is engaged in the weekly hustle 

 for the means to pay the men at H o'clock 

 on Saturdays, he will conclude that em- 

 ployes are not the only ones who have 

 troubles. W. T. Beix. 



HARDY PLANTS. 

 Another Plan. 



We have chosen as a subject for this 

 week's e.vample in home decoration a two- 

 story house. 24x."58 feet, standing on the 

 west half of a double lot .50x100 feet on 

 the southeast corner of the block, south 

 front, having no fence on the street sides 

 of lot. 



The arrangement includes only moder- 

 ately tall shrubbery and a few tall per- 

 ennials, because it is never advisable in 

 a city to plant trees which will attain a 

 large size, in a limited space, and they 

 should never be so near a house that 

 they will overshadow it with their 

 branches. 



In the plan the front line of porch is 

 .^0 feet from inner edge of sidewalk, but 



the same arrangement could still be used 

 if the distance were 10 feet less. It 

 would only bring the shrubs at the right 

 nearer to the front. 



An important consideration in making 

 a selection for the group like the one 

 here indicated is to have it so that the 

 planting may be kept in shape and pre- 

 served from year to year without e.xpert 

 assistance. All the plants and shrubs 

 named have endured ordinary winters 

 here in Chicago without special protec- 

 tion and will doubtless prove hardy ex- 

 cept far north. John Higgins. 



PAN-AMERICAN EXPOSITION. 



General Notes. 



ThePan-American Exposition threw its 

 gates open to the public on Wednesday, 

 Slay 1. The dedication and opening cer- 

 emonies which were to have taken place 

 that day have been postponed till the 

 20th. VVe might have had an earlier 

 spring, as we had two years ago, and 

 outside work could have been begun the 

 first week of March, but we had an av- 

 erage spring, so there is no excuse on 

 that account. The fact is, the few weeks 

 between the going of winter and the 

 opening of May are all too short for 

 such an immense amount of work as 

 should be done, and there are here and 

 there places which yet need the finish- 

 ing stroke. There is, however, beauty 

 enough to satisfy any one, and visitors 

 can see plainly what an enchanting 

 scene the whole will be when completed. 



The department of works has a very 

 large force of men and has been work- 

 ing hard placing the evergreen trees in 

 position around the Grand court, where 

 they are most effective as a relief to 

 the immense amount of building. The 

 hyacinths planted on both sides of the 

 Grand Court have made a most brilliant 

 show. The territory surrounding the 

 Service Building has also been very at- 

 tractive. Some thousands of shrubs 

 have been planted in many parts of the 

 grounds. The banks of the canals have 

 also been planted with groups here and 

 there of willows, and hundreds of droop- 

 ing plants are planted on the margins. 

 The asphalting was begun about ten 

 days ago, and soon every inch of main 

 road and esplanade will be covered with 

 this smooth pavement. 



If the rain and snow have been any 

 hindrance to the work, it seems to have 

 been most beneficial to the grass and 

 the spring lloweriiig plants, which in 

 maiiv |iaii- ni ill. ;ji.. mills are at pres- 

 cnl \ii\ L' n III. I ;..-!• Garden is now 

 Pill' .if ilir III..-1 .11 1 1 I, 1 ivi' parts of the 

 wliiili' .moiiiiil-. Ill u are situated all 

 the beds devoted to exhibits, in round 

 figures about 200. II. A. Dreer 

 planted a large number with bulbs last 

 fall. Six large beds of tulips at the 

 Elmwood entrance, planted by F. R. 

 Pierson, are now a brilliant mass of 

 bloom. Messrs. Dreer, C. Eisele of Phil- 

 adelphia, and Denys Zirngiebel, of Kecd- 

 ham, Mass., have also some fine beds of 

 pansies. The 4,000 hardy roses planted 

 last summer as an exhibit by Ellwang- 

 er & Barry, of Rochester, and Nelson 

 Bogue, of Batavia, have wintered well 

 and are now breaking finely, which as- 

 sures some grand beds. A large bed of 

 500 plants of Crimson Rambler roses, 

 the exhibit of F. R. Pierson, are growing 

 finely. This will be a remarkably showy 

 bed." 



lu addition to the firms mentioned 



