March 3. I!)n4. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



:03 



Carnation The Cardinal.— Witterstaelter. 



most gladly welcome any intenOling buy- 

 ers to visit and see for themselves these 

 varieties growing. With large investors 

 in a new variety this is often done, but 

 with the great army of florists thia is 

 impossible and they wait for the report 

 of the convention as to what rank a va- 

 riety took as a prize winne^ and how 

 ruany points it scored in the certificate 

 class. 



To repeat, with all the careful ,iudg- 

 ment that the committee brings to boar 

 in scoring points, they having nothing 

 but these few extra selected flowers to 

 guide them, and although many a variety 

 has been awarded a certificate that well 

 deserved it, and its sterling good quali- 

 ties have made it a bread winner in ev- 

 ery section of the country, yet you all 

 know that while this has been the case 

 there have also been sent out with a 

 certificate from this society a good many 

 varieties tiiat had but a short and igno- 

 ble career. Money gone into pockets 

 that never deserved it. Still worse, a 

 waste of bench room, time and labor. 

 Granted that the raiser himself is often 

 deceived. A variety may do well with 

 him for three or four years and he hon- 

 estly believes it is a splendid thing and 

 he would not be patriotic to the trade if 

 he did not let his brother florists par- 

 ticipate in the benefits derived by grow- 

 ing his wonderful variety; then in al- 

 most every place except the soil and en- 

 vironments in which it was raised from 

 a seedling and first showed its good 

 qualities, it has turned out to be a mis- 

 erable failure and a pecuniary loss to 

 many a man who felt the loss. 



We shall hear from Eobert Craig as 

 to his views on the early collapse of 

 many most promising varieties; that is 

 smntthing entirely outside the province 

 of my subject, but it has some bearing 



not. Without you our society could not 

 exist and the annual exhibition of th^ 

 new varieties is the grand feature and 

 attraction that brings members from 

 long distances to attend the meetings. 



I have nothing to criticise of what our 

 society has done, or its methods of ac- 

 complishment. The exhibition of and 

 premiums given for standard varieties is 

 a good feature, for it teaches growers 

 that some one can do an old variety in 

 fine shape, but it is to make acquaintance 

 with new varieties that brings us to- 

 gether for these most enjoyable meet- 

 ings, and that is by far the most impor- 

 tant feature of our annual convention. 

 The committee that is annually appoint- 

 ed to award certificates to these new va- 

 rieties do their work, to my knowledge, 

 most conscientiously and exercise all the 

 care and caution that they can, but only 

 in rare instances do they know anything 

 of the new aspirants to fame, except by 

 the few flowers that are on exhibition. 

 They do not know how many poor flowers 

 were left at home. It 's none of their 

 business to learn whether the plant pro- 

 duced only seven such blooms during 

 the season, or if it produced twenty-five. 

 They are not supposed to know what 

 quality of soil this variety was grown in, 

 unless they hannen to be acquainted with 

 the locality and establishment of the 

 raiser. Neither are they acquainted with 

 the temperature that best suits any cer- 

 tain variety. 



I will admit that these important 

 points are freelv imparted by the raiser 

 to any prospective purchaser, and with- 

 out doubt any and all those firms pend- 

 ing out new varieties would, and do, 



Carnation Richmond Gem. — Knopf. 



