280 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AUGUST 17 



CHICAGO TO DETROIT. 



The noon Wabash train last Monday 

 carried a jolly party of sixty-eight 

 bound for Detroit. The party included 

 quite a number from other western and 

 northwestern cities. All were enter- 

 tained at luncheon and dinner by the 

 Chicago club and all enjoyed them- 

 selves heartily en route. Charley Mc- 

 Kellar had his guitar along and he and 

 Ed. Wiuterson and Walter Kreitling 

 rendered a vocal program that woke 

 the echoes and moved the sand dunes 

 along the Michigan shore. The refrain 

 "There'll be a hot time in Detroit to- 

 night" was received with much ap- 

 plause. Edgar Sanders was as youth- 

 ful as the youngest, and led a song 

 with original lines appropriate to the 

 occasion. 



The party included the following: J. 

 F. Wilcox and wife, J. J. Hess, Geo. 

 Swoboda and wife, L. C. Chapin, J. 

 Hr dkinson, L. Henderson and P. Floth, 

 Omaha; N. Zweifel, A. Klokner, C. B. 

 Whitnall. W. A. Kennedy and H. V. 

 Hunkel, Milwaukee; E. F. Lemke and 

 wife and Aug. Swanson and wife. St. 

 Paul; E. Nagel and Fred Busch, Min- 

 neapolis; Geo. M. Kellogg and wife 



and Arthur Newell and wife, Kansas 

 City; J. T. D. Fulmer and daughter 

 and J. F. Marshall, Des Moines; J. T. 

 Temple, Davenport; E. Haentze, Fond 

 du Lac, Wis.: John Wunder, Winona, 

 Minn.; Frank Berry, Stillwater, Minn.; 

 Otto Sylvester, Oconomowoc, Wis.; J. 

 C. Renr.iscm, Sioux City; J. A. Kramer, 

 Cedar Rapids; Geo. Kranz, Muscatine; 

 F. J. King and wife and daughter, Ot 

 tawa, 111. 



Of the Chicagoans there were W. N. 

 Rudd, E. Wienhoeber, E. Buettner, 

 Peter Reinberg, Edgar Sanders, E. 

 Winterson, C. W. McKellar, P. J. 

 Hauswirth, E. E. Pieser, J. S. Wilson, 

 Jas. HartShorne, Chas. Dickinson, J. 

 C. Vaughan, M. Barker, C. Schweigert, 

 J. V. Merrion, C. W. Erringer, E. C. 

 Primer, G. L Grant and wife, P. Wie- 

 land, Albert Fuchs, Mrs. G. Gehrke, 

 Walter Kreitling and wife, Miss Wie- 

 land, Annie McDonald. 



There was a big reception committee 

 to welcome the party on the arrival of 

 the train at Detroit and a hearty hand- 

 shake for everyone. The St. Louis 

 delegation reached the city a few min- 

 utes later, and the two parties had a 

 grand conference at the station. 



Human Nature. 



We hope you enjoyed the conven- 

 tion and that business and pleasure 

 went well together. Human nature is 

 a funny thing if you consider it, or in- 

 vestigate it in any way, for the pur- 

 pose of recommending reforms Happy 

 are they who can trudge along in the 

 narrow sun ray of self-satisfaction; 

 yet even their success is attributable 

 to some kind of improvement. Flor- 

 ists are always improving — yes, won- 

 derfully so, and yet whilst we may 

 recognize and admit the sense and 

 justice of some plan, we fail to sup- 

 port it, because of temerity — our de- 

 sire to remain in the shade whilst we 

 pray for the sunshine. Make a note 

 of what you consider was lacking at 

 this convention, compare what was 

 there to what in your opinion should 

 have been there, and recommend the 

 difference. 



In the event of an exhibition of cut 

 flowers and work at the next conven- 

 tion it would be wise to make note of 



the materials that are available just at 

 this time. It is unfortunate that the 

 convention is held at a time when 

 plants and flowers are at their worst. 

 Still there is enough to show some- 

 thing interesting; and the critical 

 should remember the conditions; the 

 difficulties under which results are ac- 

 complished. We sincerely hope the 

 retailers will make a creditable dem- 

 onstration next year. 



Orchids. 

 Fine flowers are exceedingly scarce 

 at present. Orchids, both in variety 

 and quantity, are not to be depended 

 on; of course a few Cattleyas can be 

 had, but you have to do a lot of ma- 

 neuvering to get them; this makes 

 many of us ignore them and recom- 

 mend some less satisfactory flower, 

 but which we are sure we can get. 

 Orchid growers make a mistake in 

 idolizing their products; nothing is too 

 beautiful, and all that's bright must 

 fade. Orchids will always be in de- 

 mand in this country; a vast amount 



more of them would be used if the sup- 

 ply could be relied on. It's easy for a 

 grower to say that there was no sun, 

 but the retailer cannot give that as 

 an excuse why Madame shouldn't get 

 flowers for her party. No, no, poor 

 fellow, he must conjure up a thousand 

 excuses which often only end in his 

 losing his best customer. It's a funny 

 business. The man who has a large, 

 select trade has troubles enough be- 

 times on the sea of "supply and de- 

 mand," and the man who has only a 

 small, precarious business is often 

 compelled to occupy a position similar 

 to the one the minnow does to the 

 shark. This, of course, only applies 

 to specially rare stock, and yet we oc- 

 casionally see a street fakir chasing 

 around for orchids. Apropos* of this, 

 there is cause to reflect on the wisdom 

 of spending such vast amounts of 

 money on fitting up glittering estab- 

 lishments. We don't wish to hurt your 

 ambition or pride in your having the 

 "finest" store in town, etc., but then 

 there are other sides to the question. 

 Your work is no better in the new 

 than it was in the old, and there are 

 many wise and wealthy people who 

 prefer the unostentatious. The poor 

 and the general average may be at- 

 tracted by brilliancy, but they cannot 

 indulge in it in a manner that will 

 support it. 



We have often wondered why some 

 florists do not have their stores tiled 

 instead of plastered or painted. Such 

 a store would be better for plants and 

 flowers, and the hose could be used 

 occasionally to advantage. 



Referring back to orchids again, we 

 recently used some Cattleya Harri- 

 soniana to great advantage. It's a 

 lovely little flower, specially fine for 

 wear; moie of it should be grown. 



Summer Flowers. 



Bouvardia Humboldtii corymbiflora 

 is coming in and is one of the choicest 

 white flowers; extra fine for cluster 

 work or cut flowers and keeps well; 

 should be more extensively grown. 

 Some one was looking for forget-me- 

 nots lately. There is a limited demand 

 for this pretty little flower all the 

 year 'round; it means worlds from a 

 sentimental point of view, and it is 

 very often important that we should 

 get it. Myosotis palustris is the vari- 

 ety that will bloom all summer if 

 planted in a cool, damp place. Myoso- 

 tis, "Blue Perfection," is the best, 

 however, and can be had at all times 

 by successive sowings. 



The yellow annual chrysanthemum 

 is grown extensively in Europe for 

 cutting purposes; it grows well here, 

 too, and is very useful in early sum- 

 mer. We have such an abundance of 

 fine yellow flowers to choose from in 

 late summer and autumn that the color 

 may be said to predominate on the 

 American landscape. 



Yellow is a good color for decora- 

 tive purposes, and one need never hes- 

 itate in using lots of it, providing 

 plenty of green is used with it. 



A closer acquaintance with gladi- 

 olus will prove that they are pos- 



