346 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 23, 1900. 



had nearly reached the limit In perfect 

 greenhouse construction, but each year 

 shows some little defect, and a way to 

 overcome it. The palatial houses now 

 used form one of the greatest contrasts 

 to the methods of a few years back, and 

 no small portion of the carnation's im- 

 provement Is directly due to this one 

 thing-. 



Everybody knows the absolute ne- 

 cessity of careful selection of stock, 

 and doubly so in the selection of cut- 

 tings, and their proper care: so that I 

 can say nothing new along this line. 

 One of the evils of today is a tendency 

 to bite off more than we can chew; it 

 is poor policy and would better be aban- 

 doned, as it means only a loss of repu- 

 tation and money. 



I have thus far said nothing of the 

 seedling man— the hybridist. Certainly a 

 very large slice of the credit and the 

 honor the carnation now enjoys is due 

 to his efforts. We are wont to kick and 

 to cuff him for the indifferent and poor 

 varieties he has burdened us with, but 

 through it all shines the fact that he is 

 a most deserving fellow, and has labored 

 hard for the advancement of the car- 

 nation. We have passed the era when 

 any medium good variety may be dis- 

 seminated. We now expect some speci3,I 

 feature in a new candidate for honor. 

 Hybridists understand this fact very 

 well, and we are promised some sensa- 

 tions at our annual meeting in Baltimore 

 next February. 



There is only one real practical stand- 

 ard by which we can judge a carnation, 

 and that is its ability to make money 

 for the grower. It would be unfair to 

 seedling raisers did we Intimate that this 

 fact is not always kept in view. We 

 cannot expect to scale the ladder at a 

 single bound, and must therefore be con- 

 tent with a gradual ascent. 



The foregoing, I believe, will cover In 

 a general way the practical part o£ the 

 improvement of the carnation, but there 

 is another side to be seen, another force 

 to be reckoned with. The various trade 

 journals must come in for their share; 

 the different florists' clubs and societies 

 which give exhibitions from time to 

 time, and award prizes, thereby stimu- 

 lating interest as well as a friendly 

 rivalry. It must be admitted, however, 

 that the greatest of these forces is the 

 S. A. F.'s biggest and proudest baby, 

 the American Carnation Society. The 

 mother society may well feel proud of 

 her offspring. We are accomplishing in 

 a systematic way things which would be 

 impossible were not the American Car- 

 nation Society in existence. This organ- 

 ization brings together annually the car- 

 nation lovers from all parts of the 

 country. That these meetings and ex- 

 hibitions accomplish great things must 

 not be doubted for an instant. 



The practical fruits which resulted 

 from the great advertising the carnation 

 received as a result of the deal which 

 made the Lawson carnation the prop- 

 erty of Mr. Thos. W. Lawson, was 

 largely brought about by the Carnation 

 Society. If there had been no Carnation 

 Society there would have been no Law- 

 son fund, and likewise no Lawson med- 

 als. That interest in the society on this 

 account has increased a hundred fold 

 is certainly true. Mr. Lawson has been 

 a potent factor in the advancement of 

 the carnation, and the beautiful flower 

 which bears his wife's name is a fitting 

 example of the up-to-date carnation. 



To sum up every detail, and give due 

 credit to each for the part played by it 

 in bringing the carnation to it's present 

 standard would make a long story. I 

 will leave this to you. and believe "that 

 you agree with me that the small as 

 well as the large items are necessary to 

 complete the list, the whole forming" one 

 grand pyramid. 



A glance at the future is always in- 

 teresting. During the next ten years we 

 may expect many great changes in the 

 cultivation of the carnation. Perhap.s 

 even a revolution. Prof. Arthur and 

 others have started many of us to ex- 



perimenting with sub-watering, the ulti- 

 mate success of which would be fraught 

 with incalculable benefit to the grrower, 

 and at the same time reduce very largely 

 the labor connected with the daily care 

 of the plants. The principle of sub- 

 watering is all right, and out of the ex- 

 perimenting now going on some good 

 must certainly come. That a good many 

 failures are being met with in these ex- 

 periments is very natural. We cannot 

 hope to be successful to any great degree 

 at the very outset. We must first be- 

 come thoroughly familiar with the idea 

 and the principle of sub-watering, and 

 the effect under varying conditions it 

 has upon the plants before we will be in 

 a position to reap the benefits of our 

 experiments. 



A few years ago when Indoor culture 

 was first suggested for carnations the 

 idea was receiver", in anything but a 

 favorable light. In spite of this, how- 

 ever, we have been gradually drift- 

 ing toward indoor culture. Many now 

 house their plants as early as the first 

 week in July. Thus half the distance 

 between outdoor and Indoor culture has 

 been traversed. Whether the remaining 

 distance between the two systems will 

 be covered remains to be seen. 



One of the most important matters in 

 connection with indoor culture is thor- 

 ough ventilation. When we have mas- 

 tered this fully we may expect good re- 

 sults from indoor culture. 



What the hybridist will bring forth in 

 the near future is always interesting to 

 conjecture. 



There must be some law or system in 

 nature regarding color, etc., possibly by 

 degrees, study, work, and practice, these 

 secrets might be gradually unfolded to 

 us. At any rate we know that these 

 things will not come to us unless we 

 make some effort. 



CHICAGO TO NEW YORK. 



The special train over the Lake 

 Shore road, elaborately decorated with 

 flowers and greens and with banners 

 announcing it to be the "Florists' 

 Convention Special," left Cuicago at 

 3 p. m. Sunday with a party of 68 

 people aboard. The train consisted of 

 three Pullman sleepers, a dining car 

 and a buffet smoking car. It was a 

 jolly crowd and the special train was 

 voted a big winner. The party was 

 taken care of in fine style, the train 

 running on limited time, the dining 

 car service being first class and the 

 ofllcials in charge of the train seemed 

 anxious to contribute in every way 

 possible to the comfort of all. 



After breakfast at Niagara Falls the 

 trip through the gorge was enjoyed 

 and it was one long to be remem- 

 bered. The roadway is cut out of the 

 side of the gorge below the falls and 

 for many miles the cars run along the 

 rapids, by the whirlpool. Devil's Hole 

 and other scriptural and impressive 

 places. On the return the cars land- 

 ed the party at the falls and a half 

 hour was spent examining this wonder 

 of the world from different view 

 points. The stay at the falls con- 

 sumed more time than expected, but 

 it was well spent and the special traitx 

 started when the party was ready, 

 making a quick run to Buffalo and 

 thence to New York on limited time 

 over the New York Central. There 

 were numerous accessions to the 

 party en route. 



The party included the following: 



Chicago: Geo. M. Garland. Walter 

 Retzer, Geo. Wittbold, Otto "Witt- 



bold, G. H. Pieser and wife, S. Gar- 

 land, Sr., N. Wietor, Ed. Wlnterson 

 and wife, Aug. Jurgens & Son, Peter 

 Reinberg and wife, W. N. Rudd and 

 wife. J. B. Amphlett, J. W. Brringer, 

 Walter Kreitling and wife, W. H. Kid-" 

 well, Edgar Sanders, Luke Collins, 

 Geo. Asmus, Adam Zender, Chas. Bal- 

 luff, Harry Smyth, Geo. Weiland, Mrs. 

 Dr. Melms, Annie McDonald, Mary 

 McDonald, J. S. Wilson, John Degnan, 

 G. L. Grant, N. A. Schmitz, L. F. Vos- 

 bugh, J. C. Vaughan, M. Barker. 



Milwaukee: C. C. Poll worth, N. 

 Zweifel, A. Klokner, Wm. Edlefsen, 

 C. B. "WTiitnall. 



Council Bluffs, la.: J. F. Wilcox and 

 wife. 



Pleasant Hill, Mo.: Geo. M. Kellogg 

 and wife. 



Joliet, 111.; J. D. Thompson and 

 wife, C. B. Finley. 



St. Paul: Aug. S. Swanson. 



San Francisco: E. W. McLellan. 



Denver: J. A. Valentine. 



Tiffin, O.: L. Ullrich. 



Clinton, la.: A. H. Bather, Jessie 

 Bather. 



Grand Rapids, Mich.: Geo. F. Crabb. 



Ames, la.: A. T. Erwin. 



Evergreen, Ala.: E. A. Beavan. 



Dixon, 111.: 0. L. Baird. 



Fond du Lac, Wis.: E. Haentze. 



Elkhart, Ind.: Mr. and Mrs. E. M. 

 Bullock. 



Huntington, Ind.: Geo. Pastor and 

 wife. 



Ft. Wayne, Ind.: F. J. Knecht. 



Ionia, Mich.: C. B. Derthrick. 



Oshkosh, Wis.: J. C. Puestow. 



Willoughby, O.: H. R. Carlton. 



Cleveland: Miss Amelia Smith. 



West Mentor, 0.: Carl Hagenburger, 

 Philip Hagenburger, Lizzie Hagen- 

 burger. 



The delegates en route during the 

 long journey were sustained and en- 

 couraged by the cheering words from 

 Ft. Wayne. 



But the feature of the trip was 

 a stirring speech by Ed. Winterson. in 

 which he said: "Ladies and gentle- 

 men, it's the onliest thing that ever 

 happened. Put my hat on. He's the 

 gamiest man in the bunch, but has 

 no odor. Any time he can't write his 

 name in the smoke of the past, pres- 

 ent and future, come and see me. I 

 will get my hair curled in New York. 

 We must have it, for we need it. 

 When the time comes it will arrive. 

 What they would do to him — leave 

 that to us. You fellows are getting 

 awful noisy over there — cut it out. 

 I haven't any thermometer, but sus- 

 pect a case of hot air. Get your 

 money's worth." 



And he unquestionably got it. 



What he didn't get was acquired by 

 Walter Kreitling, who drank oceans 

 of water. 



AMES, IOWA.— Prof. John Craig, 

 head of the department of horticul- 

 ture in the Iowa State Agricultural 

 College, has resigned, and will leave 

 this fall to accept a similar position 

 in Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

 John I. Schulte has been chosen his 

 successor, 



