MAKCll 1, 19IH1. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



383 



Mr. CaUler reports very l'iivoral)le 

 results from his roiiiovul to present 

 (luarters, assigning it all to the fact 

 that all subway cars now i)ass his 

 door, many customers niakiuR the re- 

 mark they saw his sign ami juiniieil 

 from the ear to purchase. 



It needs no words on theii- part to 

 estalilish the fact that Houghton H. 

 Clark made a Kood move when they 

 crossed the street last fall. They have 

 surely nearly doubled their business. 



It is hoped that a good white car- 

 nation will be evolved from the trade 

 exhibition n<'xt Saturday. [!. 'I', 



BUFFALO. 



The worst storm of the season visit- 

 ed this locality on Saturday aftei-noon. 

 Rain turned to .snow, and then came a 

 (iO-mile-an-hour breeze, and the key 

 being out of my bedroom door, which 

 opens on to a balcony, there was a foot 

 of snow on the carpet in the morning. 

 Of course, it was not all over the room, 

 but in drifts, the largest drift being 

 three feet from the keyhole where all 

 the snow had passed through. This 

 may seem improbable to a native of 

 Sicily, or even the south of England, 

 but is a common occurrence in Buffalo 

 even in the best regulated families. 



Under such conditions many of onr 

 oldest inhabitants have passed away 

 (some even frozen to death) to that 

 bourne where snow and ice is popu- 

 larly supposed to be non-existent, 

 however much their elements would 

 be enjoyed. 



Business has been better than foi 

 several weeks past and no scarcity of 

 flowers. Most of the store windows 

 are gay with azaleas and other flower- 

 ing plants, and tulips always liven up 

 and look cheerful. 



We are always sorry we cannot send 

 you a bowling score, but sport is at a 

 low ebb. The nearest thing to report 

 in that line is Prof. John F. Cowell's 

 trip to the everglades of Florida. He 

 hopes to bring home some live alliga- 

 tors and perchance a Seminole squaw 

 who has escaped the happy hunting 

 grounds and the civilizing bullet, but 

 incidentally he will look for tall and 

 stately palms to adorn the magnificent 

 conservatory at South Park. 



We did not see him off, but under- 

 stand that he took his friend liudd's 

 advice and loaded his grip with the 

 great and popular antidote for snake 

 and tarantula bites. We trust the pro- 

 fessor will be saved both from the 

 bites and the antidote. The latter is 

 sometimes most deadly. 



We understand there is a large herd 

 of bulb growers traveling west. They 

 have not struck our town _ yet. and 

 perhaps we may escape. Mr.' Giesy, of 

 Cincinnati, is in town, and when he is 

 around you neither feel cold nor lone- 

 some. Mr. McHutchison, of New York, 

 was also here looking after Pan-Amer 

 lean prospects. It seems to me that if 

 Mr. Mc. talks as they do in Australia. 

 that his accent is preferable to any we 

 hear. It is not so frothy as the Cock- 

 ney, nor as soapy or slangy as New 



York, nor so nasal as Chicago, nor so 

 much "aaw" as Philadelphia. It is 

 sharp, clear and pleasant. This is uo 

 credit to the young man, because it is 

 the accent of the antipodes, and he 

 imbibed it as naturally as a Cockney 

 says "You cawn't, cawn't ye." 



Wc recovered from the carnation 

 convention with the greatest prompt- 

 ness and pleasure and are ready for 

 another at your earliest convenience, 

 but must content ours(dvcs with look- 

 ing forward to Haltimore; and, ijy- 

 the-by, those pictures of Mr. K. llal- 

 liday are, in my opinion, very unlike 

 him. The real, live, animated Hob 

 lialliday is (luite a different looking 

 man, and to prove it I trust all my 

 readers will journey to the land of the 

 Oriole next year. W. S. 



BALTIMORE. 



Within a few months will be re- 

 moved two glass s'tructures which 

 mark an epoch in horticultural devel- 

 opment in this city. These are the 

 conservatories at Patterson Park and 

 at "Bolton," the home of Mr. W. W. 

 Spence, the latter of which has been 

 bought as the site for the new armory 

 of the 5th regiment, our crack militia 

 organization. Both of these houses 

 are of the curvilinear type, with a 

 central palm pavilion and wings for 

 stove and cool specimens, and were 

 erected by the predecessors of the 

 present Lord & Burnham Co., and 

 nearly at about the same time, say, 

 between 1875 and 1S77. .lust in that 

 era the Maryland Horticultural Soci- 

 ety had been re-established, and for 

 years a wave of enthusiasm for collec- 

 tions of fine plants passed over the 

 community. Such men as Wm. H. Pe- 

 rot, Wm. T. Walters, Wm. W. Spence, 

 Robt. W. L. Rasin, the Garretts, the 

 Hoens, Edward Kurtz, Captain Snow, 

 George S. Brown and other private cul- 

 tivators, and those in the trade, such 

 OS Wm, D. Brackenridge, John Feast, 

 Robt. J. Halliday, Andrew Black. 

 Sam'l Feast & Sons, James Pentland, 

 etc., had collections of foliage and 

 flowering specimens equal to those 

 found in any other community. 



The fondness for such displays ex- 

 tended to our city parks and, to ac- 

 commodate the accumulation there, 

 the conservatory now going into de- 

 cay was erected, much to the pleasure 

 of the people of that portion of our 

 municipality, in which Patterson Park 

 is located. About the same time Mr. 

 Spence put up what was then esteemed 

 a, beautiful example of a modern plant 

 structure. Like the other, it is about 

 at the end of its life. For several 

 years past it has been in charge, with 

 the surrounding handsome grounds lo- 

 cated in the heart of an urban popu- 

 lation, of Mr. John Donn, long known 

 as one of the stand-bys of the trade 

 here. Beginning at Kew, filtering 

 through the Americanizing hands of 

 Peter Henderson, head gardener , at 

 Mrs, Isabella Brown's, then in success- 

 ful business for himself, Mr. Donn has 



gained in substance, reputation and 

 avoirdupois. He was one of the lead- 

 ers in popularizing chrysanthemums in 

 this territory, and to his energy, in- 

 lluencf! and persistence the success of 

 our earlier shows was largely due, 

 whilst doubtless in pecuniary returns 

 he gained more than any other who 

 omliarked in the exploitation of hese 

 popular favorites. 



Referimce in a late Iteview to c.ie 

 of our older gardeners brings up an- 

 other notable figure — James Pentland, 

 now th(- very Nestor of the craft! Of 

 the tough fibre which is the out- 

 growth of North Irish, or Scotch- 

 Irish blood, he carries his eighty years 

 jauntily, his head silvered, but his eye 

 as bright, his heart as light as a boy"'s, 

 his step unfaltering, his spirit undaunt- 

 ed. For two-thirds of a century he 

 has worked with a trowel and knife 

 and spade, at the bench, in the trench 

 and in the nursery row, and worked, 

 too, just like he played— with all his 

 might. He has always been known 

 for his frank speech, and friend as 

 w-ell as foe was liKSTy to get the rough 

 side of his keen tongue if he deserved 

 it. But, friend or foe, clerk or layman, 

 was sure of getting honest, fair treat- 

 ment; and his word was ever his bond. 



Mr. Pentland, after several years' 

 apprenticeship in Philadelphia, came 

 to Baltimore in 1844, and was em- 

 ployed in Gr^enmount Cemetery as 

 gardener. In 1849 he bought the prop- 

 erty opposite the cemetery gate, where 

 he still carries on the business then 

 begun. As common to the gardeners 

 of that day, he grew bedding stuff, 

 roses, nursery stock, exotic grapes and 

 cut flowers, going to market to dispo.-e 

 of his products, taking contracts to 

 plant country estates, and keeping city 

 gardens trim, etc. He soon began to 

 pay particular attention to the pro- 

 duction of roses— the garden sorts, and 

 enlarged his operations in this direc- 

 tion until at the time of the civil war 

 his annual output was about 100,000 

 roses, from pots, he having in his 

 houses 750 sorts from which stock was 

 propagated. He engaged in hybridiz- 

 ing varieties and produced several 

 which were well received by the trade, 

 notably George Peabody and Beauty of 

 Greenmount (Bourbons), Woodland 

 Margaret (Noisette), and Doctor Kane 

 (hybrid tea). Mr. Pentland for many 

 years cultivated extensively the ca- 

 mellia, and raised some fine seedlings 

 of his own, of which Gen. Robt. E. 

 Lee, carmine, spotted white; Stone- 

 wall Jackson, white, striped scarlet; 

 Anna, a beautiful pink, were conspicu- 

 ously meritorious. 



Mr. Pentland's long association with 

 the flower trade of the country, the 

 noteworthy' collection of roses so long 

 maintained by him and attracting 

 many visitors, has filled him with re- 

 miniscences both curious and interest- 

 ing, which are still dear in his mem- 

 ory. He recalls now, after more than 

 sixty-five years, that at Mr. Fetters', 

 in Philadelphia, he potted the first 



