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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



NOVEMBER 23, 



tion does not get impaired. Soliel 

 d'Octobre is very good as an early yel- 

 low. In flower from October 10, M. 

 Deis we shall try extensively next year. 

 Calvat seems to be the most success- 

 ful raiser of seedlings now living. 



The man who named a red seedling 

 Joe Chamberlain must have seen with 

 prophetic eye the trouble coming in 

 the Transvaal, for which some parties 

 claim he is largely responsible. Joe 

 will not be very popular here, unless it 

 be for purely exhibition work. Mary 

 Molyneux is a very tall growing pink, 

 for which we have no future use. 



Mrs. J. Tranter is a variety worth 

 watching. It is large and symmetrical, 

 coming white on the crown and pink 

 on the terminal buds. 



Hooper Pearson is a very deep yel- 

 low, but seems to have little beyond its 

 color to recommend it. It is early, and 

 has a fine stem and foliage, but the 

 flower as compared with the stem is 

 very small, and the stock is badly in- 

 fested with rust. 



Older European varieties that we do 



not consider worthy of future trials 

 are here given: 



Duke of Wellington; Emily Silsbury, 

 nice flower, but miserable stem; Mrs. 

 Charles Keyser, large yellow, but 

 shapeless; Ella Curtis; Royal Sover- 

 eign, broad and spreading, but deficient 

 in petalage; Pelmo; Marie Hoste, very 



vigorous, but ; Hugh Crawford, a 



fine, vigorous grower, but the color (a 

 yellowy brown) is away off; Neva 

 Teichmann. This last named variety 

 was sent out as "the darkest kind yet 

 raised." We don't see why; we have 

 seen lots of varieties darker in color. 

 Whatever its past, its future is black 

 enough, for we cast it into outer dark- 

 ness, where the colors cease from 

 troubling, and the worst is like the 

 best. 



Of the American varieties sent out 

 in 1S9S, Merza stands out as the most 

 prominent in this section. It came 

 through a notoriously bad season with- 

 out a stain on its reputation or petals. 

 Merza will add one more to the list of 

 Nathan Smith's successes, unless I 

 mistake. BRIAN BORU. 



Art at the Flower Shows. 



In our last note we promised to re- 

 view the recent flower shows from the 

 retail and artistic point of view, and 

 now, after all our trouble, of visits 

 and careful examinations, we are 

 forced to express our disappointment 

 and say they were scarcely worth the 

 while. From the grower's standpoint 

 nearly all this year's exhibitions were 

 successes — the plants were well grown, 

 the chrysanthemums were very large, 

 the other cut flowers were the best 

 that could be spared from the market. 

 From the retailer's point of view they 

 were mostly failures — they were all the 

 same, there was nothing new and very 

 little to learn at them, that is with two 

 honorable exceptions. 



The apathy shown towards our an- 

 nual flower shows by the retail florists 

 throughout the country is a matter 

 deserving serious consideration. Most 

 of us know 'tis useless to talk French 

 to a stubborn mule; 'tis silly to con- 

 demn without first finding out who 

 deserves it. If you attend club meet- 

 ings.or listen to those who know it all, 



you will invariably hear, "Oh, the re- 

 tailers are not worth bothering with, 

 they are too indifferent." That's all 

 very nice for country birds to sing, but 

 we know there is nothing at the aver- 

 age florists' club meeting to justify a 

 man leaving his store and wasting his 

 valuable time to see or listen to. 



The great majority of show schedules 

 are arranged by growers for the benefit 

 of growers, and in the very rare ex- 

 ceptions where they are not there are 

 other reasons sufficient to justify the 

 retailer's contempt. A perusal of this 

 year's prize lists is cause for amuse- 

 ment and exasperation. Compare the 

 amounts offered in the different sec- 

 tions and you will be struck by the 

 ignorance or the hoggishness of the 

 compilers. 



Perhaps the matter of competent 

 judges is the greatest cause for the 

 absence of creditable exhibits from re- 

 tailers, and it is a point well taken by 

 them. Yes, we will agree with you that 

 art is a matter of taste — but it is re- 

 fined taste; it is the bright blossom of 

 education and experience, and we dis- 



pute the claims of every Tom, Dick and 

 Harry's competency to judge the work 

 of the floral artist; in fact, we assert 

 there are very few competent judges, 

 and with all due respect to our numer- 

 ous friends, none were engaged in that 

 line of work this year. 



We know there are set rules to assist 

 judges of growers' products. Such 

 rules are not necessary, for almost any 

 grade of intelligence can distinguish 

 superiority in plant or flower. It is 

 different judging the work of an artist, 

 for whilst the rules may be just as 

 plain, the judge's opinion must be 

 formed by the eye's power of discern- 

 ment, — the mind's knowledge of beauty 

 in its loveliest forms. This is a great 

 big world, and it's occupied by an end- 

 less variety of peoples. Refinement is 

 not the dominant trait in human na- 

 ture, but we see the different profes- 

 sions acknowledged as teachers and 

 authorities in particular lines of edu- 

 cation and art. 



Floriculture would today occupy a 

 more exalted position were those who 

 are its students more conversant with 

 its importance and better able to dis- 

 play its great grandeur. We can never 

 expect the public to properly recognize 

 our claim that our profession be 

 ranked among the fine arts until we 

 ourselves agree and demand it. You 

 might as well send a house-painter to 

 judge a gallery of paintings as send a 

 grower or outsider to determine be- 

 tween the creations of the floral artist. 

 We depreciate the art ourselves by the 

 standard we put upon it, and though 

 the retailer is justified in keeping out 

 of competition at shows, yet he loses 

 much by not making some display to 

 attract trade. 



Now, let us consider the shows held 

 in the different towns and cities this 

 year. Philadelphia's beautiful Horti- 

 cultural Hall would look grand under 

 any circumstances; here every induce- 

 ment was offered (outside money) for 

 the retailers to show their ability (and 

 that is not of a low order in Philadel- 

 phia), yet there was no representation 

 there. The groups of orchids and 

 acalyphas were fine and deservedly 

 admired. 



In Boston we practically see the 

 same thing. That city also has its 

 fine Horticultural Hall. One would 

 imagine that with the unequaled ad- 

 vantages offered in both these great 

 cities something would be done to 

 bring out the best in all branches of 

 the trade, but no, in Boston there 

 wasn't a retailer represented. The 

 plants and flowers were fine, that's all. 



Chicago, for some years, has led the 

 rest of the cities in full representative 

 shows. The retailers of that city not 

 only make excellent non-competitive 

 displays but there is also keen com- 

 petition in several classes where fair 

 sized prizes are offered. The quality 

 of the work shown could scarcely be 

 surpassed anywhere. Some of it may 

 lack finish, and is exaggerated, and if 

 we criticise it is only done in a friend- 

 ly spirit. Let us consider the bridal 



