350 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 23, 19J0. 



the visitors. The writer has reason 

 to feel slightly hurt, init the inci- 

 dent will be forgotten with the lapse 

 of time. A gentleman belonging to 

 the great family of Smiths, and this 

 particular one is a most excellent gar- 

 dener but very outspoken. It appears 

 he had honored me by reading some 

 notes I have written in the past and 

 formed some idea of the author. 

 Here is his reception: 

 "How do you do, Mr. Smith?" 

 "How do you do? Well, well, this 

 is W. S. of Buffalo; well, well, I am 

 disappointed. I expected to see a 

 great, big, 6x3 man, and came down 

 here in full highland costume." 



Cities of Canada are far apart and 

 distances great, but with all that the 

 attendance at the convention was 

 over 60 per cent increase of last year. 

 The sessions were well attended by all 

 and the greatest attention given to the 

 papers and discussions. In this respect 

 the society could give points to some 

 other larger societies. The Canadian 

 journals will doubtless give full re- 

 ports of all that occurred. I cannot, 

 however, refrain from mentioning a 

 few of the papers that impressed me 

 as of remarkable value. Mr. S. S. 

 Bain read a very vigorous paper on 

 organization. The truths which he 

 quoted are good if carried out. Mr, 

 King gave us a long and most thor- 

 ough talk on stoking fuel, heating and 

 ventilation. This is a really most sci- 

 entific paper and every word of it is 

 of value to every man who has a 

 greenhouse. Automatic ventilation is 

 doubtless the thing of the future and 

 Mr. King is master of the subject. 

 What to me was a gem and considered 

 by all a masterpiece was a paper by 

 Mr. Robinson. The title, "How to 

 Make a Private Place Attractive," is 

 not a startling one. but I assure you 

 Mr. Robinson handled it in great 

 style and what is more, can show in 

 the beautiful place under his charge 

 that he can practice as well as preach. 

 Every gardener in the land should 

 read this splendid paper, it will do 

 you good no matter whether you have 

 charge of the Duke of New York's 

 place or the humblest garden. There 

 is every evidence that the Canadian 

 Horticultural Society will grow in 

 strength and usefulness, and I am glad 

 I was there. W. S. 



OBITUARY. 



Louis Menand. 



Louis Menand, the patriarch of 

 American florists, died August 15 at 

 his home in Albany, N. Y., at the 

 ripe age of 93 years. 



Mr. Menand was born in France but 

 came to America in 1837 and found 

 his first employment here with Grant 

 Thorburn in New York. Later he 

 started in business tor himself in 

 Albany and carried on business there 

 the remainder of his lifetime. He 

 was the oldest living florist in Amer- 

 ica and his passing cuts the last 

 living link with the very early days 

 of the trade in America. 



At the suggestion of the writer Mr. 

 Menand some years ago wrote an au- 

 tobiography. It is an extremely in- 



The Late Louis Menand. 



teresting volume and of great histor- 

 ical value. His descriptions of the 

 early exhibitions in New York city, 

 for which he had to transport his 

 plants from Albany by boat, throw a 

 flood of light upon the horticultural 

 celebrities of the period, and indicate, 

 by the way, that the characteristics 

 of the exhibitors of those days did not 

 vary essentially from those of the 

 present. 



Mr. Menand's establishment at Al- 

 bany soon acquired a national repu- 

 tation. He loved plants tor their own 

 sake and the variety of his stock was 

 such that one could feel sure of flnd- 

 ing at his place specimens of many 

 subjects not to be had elsewhere in 

 the country. He was especially fond 

 of orchids and many of the finest 

 gems of this royal family made their 

 American debut at his establishment. 



Mr. Menand was of a kindly, genial 

 disposition, an original thinker, and 

 had been an omniverous reader, 

 which made his correspondence unus- 

 ually interesting. He stood high in 

 the community and his death will be 

 deeply mourned by an unusually wide 

 circle of friends and acquaintances. 



Among the writer's most cherished 

 mementoes of celebrated horticultur- 

 ists are a number of personal letters 

 from Mr. Menand, and thou-gh over 85 

 years of age at the time, the writing 

 showed few traces of his advanced 

 age. 



His most serious trouble was the 

 death of his wife, who had been a 

 loving helpmeet for over half a cen- 

 tury, and the letter announcing her 

 death was one of the most pathetic 

 we ever received. 



A good man has gone; in the full 

 ripeness of years he has been gath- 

 ered to his fathers; but he left an 

 impress upon American floriculture 

 that will never be effaced. May we 

 all live as full and useful lives as he 

 who lived to watch American flori- 

 culture from almost its inception up 

 to the beginning of this new century. 



LILIUM HARRISIL 



A very successful grower says that 

 most florists give their Harrisii too 

 much water. He keeps them very 

 much on the dry side till buds form. 



He pots them in ordinary soil, places 

 in a frame, covers with two inches of 

 earth, then puts on the sash and shut- 

 ters on top. Not a drop of water is 

 given until the bulbs are taken in, 

 and they are even then watered very 

 sparingly. In this way all the fine 

 working roots are preserved in active 

 condition and a stout, firm growth is 

 made. When the buds show, more 

 water is given. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market- 



The weather remains dry and hot 

 and growers are very much in need 

 of a good rain. The cut flower trade 

 drags along as usual at this time of 

 the year. 



Good stock of all kinds is scarce, 

 but plenty of bud roses are in the mar- 

 ket just now; the best quality finds a 

 ready sale, but there is little of it 

 coming in and most of the stock 

 offered in roses is of such quality 

 that nobody cares to buy it at any 

 price. The price of the bulk of the 

 stock is from $2 to $3; only the best 

 selected Kaiserins, Meteors, Brides 

 and Maids bring the top figure, $5. 

 A few Beauties are coming in, all 

 short stemmed, very soft, and don't 

 sell well at any price. Carnations, 

 good stock, are very scarce, though 

 plenty of poor ones come in that sell 

 at 75 cents per hundred, mostly white. 

 Colored ones are very scarce, and fair 

 blooms are hard to obtain in this mar- 

 ket. Tuberoses, gladoli, hydrangeas 

 and other outdoor stuff is plentiful 

 and the market is glutted with some 

 of them. Clematis paniculata is now 

 in bloom and the store men are using 

 it up in choice funeral work. 



The outlook for better quality of 

 stock in the near future is very prom- 

 ising, from the reports of our local 

 growers and from those who ship to 

 this market. 



Various Notes. 



Visitor last week was W. D. K. 

 Smith, representing the Dayton Fold- 

 ing Box Co. of Dayton, Ohio. 



Mrs. M. M. Ayers left Friday night, 

 and James Young and son, C. A. 

 Kuehn, Harry Young, J. W. Kunz, 

 Chas. Connon and wife, and George 

 Windier and mother left Saturday 

 night for New i'ork to attend the S. A. 

 F. convention. 



F. J. Riese, formerly of Chicago, now 



