JANUARI- 0. 1002, 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



221 



The Philadelphia Market. View in Eugene Bernheimer's. 



help to the business. In the first place, 

 knowinj; the perishable contents of the 

 boxes, they at times make no extra ef- 

 fort to more them faster than their 

 other goods. If there coiikl be an extra 

 charge made on goods of this nature at 

 rush times, for instance lilce the charge 

 for a special delivery letter. I do not 

 thinlv there is one dealer in the country 

 who would not be willing to pay this and 

 thus insure good service and prompt de- 

 livery. If possible to start a movement 

 of this kind I shall be glad to give all 

 the assistance in my power." 



Various Items. 



The H. A. Dreer Co. are growing some 

 varieties of begonias that flower only in 

 winter, believing they will prove great 

 acquisitions to the holidaj" trade. They 

 are a cross between B. socotrana, one of 

 the parents of Lorraine, and the tuberous 

 rooted. They range in color from car- 

 mine to carmine scarlet, and are very 

 free flowering. The varieties are B. En- 

 sign, H. Wintercheer and B. Mrs. Heal. 



H. II. Battles had a fine lot of well 

 grown Poinsettias from his own place; 

 they retailed at $6 a dozen. 



Pennock Bros.' window this week con- 

 tained four specimen azaleas in fancy 

 jardinieres; the effect was very rich. 



W. P. Craig returned last week from 

 a trip to Pittsburg, Chicago and Rich- 

 mond, Ind. He is much impressed with 

 the wonderful market in the west. 



Eobert Stokes, of Stokes & Gocher, 

 florists, Broad Street Station, died last 

 week. Phil. 



FLOWER SHOWS AND THEIR 

 VICISSITUDES. 



Bv Jonx THOui'K. 

 [Read before the Chicago Florists' Club. Jan. 8.] 

 It is now fifty-four or fifty-five years 

 since I went to my first flower show, 

 which was held on the race course, Lei- 

 cester, England, and from that time not 

 a year has passed but what I have vis- 

 ited at least one exhibition. From '57 

 to '71 I attended each year on an aver- 

 age of not less than twenty and at all 

 these in the capacity of either exhibitor 

 or judge, and I am sure that out of all 



these shon-s, extending over so many 

 years, there has not Ijcen, no, not one 

 single one held but what has benefited 

 horticulture directly and indirectly. I 

 must admit that all, in fact probably the 

 majority,* have not had a balance on the 

 right side of the ledger as far as finance 

 stands for success; we must admit, how- 

 ever, that even where this is the case the 

 information gained, the interest awak- 

 ened and the emulation created has been 

 of as much benefit otherwise so that the 

 investment warranted the expenditure. 



There are many difficidties to contend 

 with in the making and holding of 

 flower shows, just as much and no more 

 than nearly all specific organizations 

 that have in view the education of the 

 people, without sufficient funds and 

 necessary accommodations to carry along 

 the work. Again, shows that are only 

 held once or twice a year, and then for 

 a few days only, have to contend with, 

 perhaps, bad weather, unsuitable build- 

 ing accommodation and lethargic sup- 

 port. These are bad factors and often 

 present, but as there are silvery linings 

 to every cloud, the motto of flower show 

 promoters should be "Nil desperandum." 

 This brings me to say what I have to 

 say to you and it is with great pleasure 

 1 am able to tell you something about 

 the Kansas City flower show of last No- 

 vember. 



The success of the Kansas City flower 

 'show demonstrated beyond question 

 what can be done under seemingly ad- 

 verse circtunstances where pluck, energy 

 and determination is brought to bear. 

 I'o bring to a successful issue such an 

 exhibition within six weeks seems mar- 

 velous when we have in mind that Kan- 

 sas City is hundreds of miles away 

 from the centers where exhibition mate- 

 rial is cultivated. Then take the ex- 

 penses of transportation, which are 

 heavy, burdensome and tedious. Yet 

 with all this handicapping, it is a mat- 

 ter of record that no flower show ever 

 held in America was brought to a more 

 successful issue, or if as successful. Of 

 course, there were good and solid rea- 

 sons why this was brought about, but 

 it is puzzling to me to schedule the fac- 

 tors in their priority because of the 



many that were nearly equal. Think, 

 perhaps, I' ought to name — 



First, the magnificent Convention 

 Hall, a building that is unequaled for 

 the holding, not only of flower shows, 

 but for any other purpose (a hall 

 that has had within its walls 30,000 

 people), and in which there are no re- 

 strictions as to treatment and where 

 every accommodation is thrust upon 

 you. 



Second, the extremely liberal premi- 

 ums. It is safe to say there never be- 

 fore have been such liberal premiums of- 

 fered and they were never paid as 

 promptly, and that's worth noting. The 

 ottering of third premiirms is to be com- 

 mended and should always be done. The 

 stake premiums of $200, $150 and $100 

 luought out great competition and were 

 vigorou.sly competed for. 



Third, the masterly advertising. In 

 Director General Taggart (the prince of 

 advertisers) no flower show has been 

 fortunate enough to have a man of such 

 ability. His originality, his perspicacity 

 and his many methods seemingly reached 

 every corner of Missouri, Kansas, Illi- 

 nois, Oklahoma and the United States. 

 He had the poster (that girl in the 

 red coat and her dog), lie had hut- 

 tons, postal cards, photographs, dodgers 

 and the newspapers — how they did work 

 for the show! 



Fourth, the superb decorations, con- 

 sisting of electrical effects never before 

 attempted on such a scale at a flower 

 show, the genius of which was R. E. 

 Richardson; the Japanese pagodas and 

 tea houses; the clever use of pine trees 

 and Alabama smilax; the magnificent 

 .Tapane^ie umbrellas and monstrous lan- 

 tern; the fenced in Japanese gardens. 



The electrical scheme was complete in 

 every particular. A canopy represent- 

 ing the sky was hung over the whole of 

 the arena ; it was of light blue cheese 

 cloth; the cloth alone cost $.500. Above 

 this were electric lights representing 

 stars in various combinations. At the 

 east end of the hall and at the back of 

 the pagoda was a scenic curtain repre- 

 senting the Fuji Yama Mountain of Ja- 

 pan, capped with electricity as if in 

 eruption, and each evening a representa- 

 tion of a rising moon promptly rose at 

 7 o'clock. All of the lanterns were lit 

 by electricity. At intervals of fifteen 

 feet along the top of the boundary hedge 

 luminous globes ten inches in diameter 

 glowed like balls of iridescent silver. 

 The large Japanese pagoda and the two 

 tea houses were unique and beautiful, 

 they alone costing $1,000. The largest 

 •Tapanese umbrellas were twelve feet in 

 diameter, the smaller eight feet. In 

 some of these were dropped little globes 

 of electric light and they were superb. 

 The fenced in Japanese garden was con- 

 structed of skeleton boards and poultry 

 netting covered with branches of pine 

 and spruce. It was four feet wide 

 at the base, four feet high and two feet 

 across the top. It had one main en- 

 trance with a Japanese archway twenty- 

 two feet high, eighteen feet wide and 

 two side entrances twelve feet high and 

 sixteen feet wide. The cast end was 

 open leading up to the steps of the pa- 

 goda. It was effective and massive and 

 greatly admired. 



Fifth, the ladies and the music. The 

 ladies were enthusiastic beyond anything 

 one could conceive. They were at the 

 flower booths, in the tea houses, in the 

 pagoda and in the boxes. Those taking 

 active part in the show were gowned in 



