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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



FEBRUARY 23, 1S99. 



The W. C. Smith silver cup for the 

 best light pinli seedling was won by 

 L. E. Marquisee with The Marquis. 



The judges submitted the following 

 report on other exhibits: "The judges 

 find several exhibits of gi-eat merit 

 not entered for competition, among 

 them a magnificent vase of the Mrs. 

 Thos. W. Lawson carnation, shown by 

 Peter Fisher; a grand bunch of Golden 

 Gata roses, by Grove P. Rawson; two 

 grand vases of G. H. Crane carnations, 

 by F. Dorner & Sons Co.; a vase of 

 Brunner roses that are perfect, by 

 Hugh Graham; a collection of flowers 

 of Primula sinensis, in twenty-one dis- 

 tinct varieties, by Wm. Scott; some 

 well grown single violets, by Jos. 

 Towell; a vase of tlie new rose Liberty, 

 magnificent in every respect, by Er- 

 nst Asmus; a very tasty collection of 

 fancy baskets, by H. Bayersdorfer & 

 Co.; a collection of tools, implements, 

 garden requisites and fertilizers, by H. 

 A. Dreer; garden hose and a varied 

 assortment of greenhouse appliances, 

 by H. F. Michell; many sizes and 

 styles of their flower boxes, by Ed- 

 wards & Docker; and finally Robert 

 Kift showed a small collection of his 

 marvellous new style carnations which 

 be calls Dianthus Elephanticus." 



The marvellous new carnations 

 shown by Mr. Kift were constructed 

 of three or four flowers that had been 

 deftly joined together so as to form 

 one bloom. They made a tremendous 

 impression at a distance but a near 

 view showed that they were mere 

 works of art and not a sensational 

 new carnation. 



Owing to the late arrival of many 

 exhibits several supplementary reipoils 

 were made by the judges. These men- 

 tioned "Five vases of elegant blooms 

 of carnations from the Cottage Gar- 

 dens; Maud Adams, from Frank Ni- 

 quet, Patcliogue, N. Y., arrived late 

 but in splendid condition; four fine 

 vases of California seedlings, from Al- 

 bert M. Herr; a collection of seedlings 

 from J. L. Dillon: new carnation Sand- 

 usky, from W. E. Hall, Clyde, 0.; 

 seedlings Mary E. Baker and Anna 

 C. Bastburn, from Louis C. Eastburn, 

 Kennett Square, Pa.; a scarlet sport 

 from Tidal Wave, named Uncle Walt- 

 er, that looks very well, from Jno. 

 Murchie, Sharon, Pa.; Maid of Honor 

 roses, from Hoffn/eister Floral Co.. 

 Cincinnati, O. ; vases of America, 

 Bon Ton, Jubilee, Gold Nugget, Tri- 

 umph and White Cloud, from E. G. 

 Hill & Co.; vases of Pingree and Ce- 

 rise Queen, from Geo. A. Rackham; 

 vases of Annazindy, Flora Hill, Mrs. 

 Bradt and White Cloud, from H. Web- 

 er & Sons; seedling carnation Hanna 

 Hobart, from Jno. H. Sievers, San 

 Francisco, which scored 86 points and 

 arrived in remarkably fine condition 

 considering the distance the flowers 

 had traveled." 



Among the whites Mr. Dorner's 

 White Cloud showed up grandly this 

 year and made a much stronger im- 

 pression than last year. It seems to 



have done exceedingly well with all 

 Who have grown it 



The vase of Mrs. Lawson occupied 

 a prominent position in the hall and 

 attracted a great deal of attention. It 

 certainly is a gi'and flower. 



One of the most striking exhibits in 

 the hall was the vase of the Liberty 

 rose, shown by Ernst Asmus. It is 

 Htrongly suggestive of an improved 

 Jacqueminot, with fragrance closely 

 resembling that of the old time favo- 

 rite. If it proves a free producer 

 Meteor will be relegated to the back- 

 ground in short order. 



The Sessions. 



A short preliminary session of the 

 society was held late Thursday morn- 

 ing, merely to select judges. The regu- 

 lar program was not taken up till the 

 afternoon of Thursday but it was then 

 rapidly disposed of. The reports of 

 the secretary and nomenclature com- 

 mittee were read as printed in our 

 last issue. 



In his address President Wm. Nich- 

 olson expressed his gratification at the 

 large attendance in view of the unfa- 

 vorable conditions and recalled the 

 fact that the society first saw the light 

 in the City of Brotherly Love. "Hav- 

 ing traveled over the rough and rug- 

 ged paths from the far east to the 

 great west, we meet once more at the 

 birthplace of this" society. When we 

 look back and see what the advance 

 lias been since the first meeting then 

 only can we realize what this society 

 has done for the advancement of the 

 carnation." He thought growers of 

 new varieties should be encouraged to 

 send a few plants to prominent grow- 

 ers in different parts of the country 

 for trial before disseminating them, 

 and thus ascertain in advance whether 

 the variety would prove satisfactory 

 in different soils and under various 

 conditions. He made some suggestions 

 as to changes in the scale of points for 

 judging seedlings, which were later 

 acted upon by the society. He saw en- 

 couragement for the future in the ex- 

 perience of Mr. Peter Fisher in secur- 

 ing so high a price as $30,000 for a 

 new carnation. He believed that the 

 future for the carnation was never 

 brigihter than at the present time. 



The paper by Mr. Thos. F. Galvin, 

 of Boston, on the carnation from the 

 standpoint of the retailer was read by 

 Mr. J. N. May, Mr. Galvin not being 

 present. In the paper Mr. Galvin re- 

 ferred to the wonderful progress of 

 floriculture during the last quarter 

 century. The Bon Silene rose had 

 first opened the eyes of the Boston 

 growers to the possibilities of profit in 

 the growing of cut flowers for market, 

 and this rose had given BostO'U con- 

 siderable prominence in the floricul- 

 tural world. Of the roses now grown 

 he placed American Beauty at the 

 head and believes it will retain its 

 popularity for many years. The pro- 

 gress made by the rose has been 



marvellous, but still more rapid strides 

 are now being made by thei carnation. 

 He referred to the interest taken by 

 Mr. Thos. W. Lawson in all flowers 

 and to the stimulation of interest in 

 the carnation by the general public 

 through Mr. Lawson's recent purchase 

 of the variety named after his wife. 



Mr. Robert Kift then read his paper 

 upon the same subject. 



The report of Treasurer F. Dorner, 

 Jr., showed total receipts during the 

 year of $965.32 and total expenditures 

 of $492.95, leaving a balance on hand 

 of $472,37. 



A telegram from Mr. Thos. W. Law- 

 son, of Boston, offering to contribute 

 the sum of $500 toward the prizes for 

 next year's exhibition was received 

 with long continued applause. 



The paper on fertilizers by Prof. 

 Britton was listened to with close at- 

 tention. In response to questions that 

 followed Prof. Britton said that the 

 stitfest stems noted were those of 

 Daybreak where nitrate had been used. 

 He considered the carbonate as good a 

 form of potash as any. He had used 

 the muriate because it was the least 

 expensive. The sulphate would be all 

 right. He added lime to the soil as 

 peat is slightly acid, and he used it to 

 correct the acidity. He believed there 

 was no danger in mixing the salts with 

 the soil immediately before planting 

 provided they were used in moderate 

 quantities and thoroughly mixed with 

 the soil. Thorough stirring of the soil 

 hastens nitrification. The de-nitrify- 

 ing microbes work more in the deeper 

 places away from the air. 



Election of Officers. 



The annual election of officers re- 

 sulted in the unar.imous election of 

 the following: 



President, Wm. P. Craig, Philadel- 

 phia. 



Vice-President, Wm. F. Kasting, 

 Buffalo. 



Secretary, Albert M. Herr, Lan- 

 caster, Pa. 



Treasurer, Fred Dorner, Jr., Lafay- 

 ette. Ind. 



This staff is composed entirely of 

 quite young men. President Craig is 

 only 27 and Vice-President Kasting is 

 but 28. But all are men of action and 

 stamina and the interests of the so- 

 ciety will be well cared for. 



Buffalo was selected as the place of 

 meeting in 1900. An invitation was 

 also received from Detroit, being pre- 

 sented for the Detroit Florists' Club 

 by its Vice-President, Mr. Geo. A. 

 Rackham, but it was thought by the 

 majority that Detroit should not be 

 taxed with further burdens after tak- 

 ing care of the S. A. F. tlie summer be- 

 fore. The invitation to Buffalo was 

 extended by Wm. Scott, and after list- 

 ening to the eloquent words of that 

 gentleman and the applause with 

 which they were greeted Mr. Rackham 

 withdrew Detroit in favor of Buffalo 

 and the vote was made unanimous. 

 Baltimore was also mentioned but no 



