756 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



March 10, 1904. 



to be horticulturists. That eloquenee 

 was not easy to respond to and the one 

 chosen to respond suffered sadly in com- 

 parison. 



Brother Rudd's essay on "The Man- 

 agement of Flower Shows" covered the 

 whole ground from A to Z and as he 

 is a past master as a manager, it was 

 greatly enjoyed and wdll be many times 

 referred to for assistance by men un- 

 dertaking such duties. We never knew 

 this classical gentleman from Chicago 

 in better voice or more graceful in his 

 delivery. Little discussion ensued be- 

 cause it could not be criticised, except 

 by John P. Sullivan, who in commending 

 Mr. Eudd's paper very smartly gave a 

 .iar to some exhibitors who had every 

 chance to stage their flowers on time, 

 but through indolence and carelessness 

 did not, and caused needless anxiety and 

 hard work to the manager. 



The essay by William Scott was rather 

 radical and socialistic in its propositions 

 and brought down on his bald head a 

 good deal of abuse from the leading 

 lights of the society. It gave rise to 

 lots of debate and the criticisms and 

 ridicule that were heaped on him were 

 greatly enjoyed by himself and his fear- 

 less champion, Mr. Altick. I would 

 rather be right than be Carrie Nation. 



The meetings were well attended. 

 They were snappy, lively and interest- 

 ing and G-eorge A. Eackliam has not 

 only been an ideal president from the 

 day he was elected, but he is a clean- 

 cut, decisive chairman. 



Of course you all realize that in elect- 

 ing James Hartshorn e as president you 

 did exactly the right thing. His elec- 

 tion was a foregone conclusion, because 

 he deserved the honor. He has been a 

 loyal supporter of the society, always a 

 large exhibitor and I am glad to say at 

 Detroit a very large prize winner. 



The banquet on Thursday evening was 



enjoyed immensely by everyone who had 

 the good fortune to be present and 1 

 am truly sorry for the few who thought 

 they must leave for home, or some- 

 where else, before the hour for the de- 

 lightful function. Like my notes on 

 the carnations, I don't assume to speak 

 of all who added to the pleasure of the 

 evening, for they were many. Who 

 cares much for the menu? If they do, 

 the most delicious viands were there. 

 But pork and beans is a banquet if you 

 are hungry. It was "the feast of rea- 

 son and flow of soul" that we were 

 hungry for, and a feast we got in both 

 these attributes of man and woman 

 that distinguish us chiefly from the 

 lower animals. 



The instrument,!! music was delightful 

 and the high-toned vaudeville that was 

 sandwiched in between speakers was 

 greatly enjoyed. That wonderful bari- 

 tone that stood right behind the writer 

 when singing, actually made the few 

 gray liairs -left stand up S't.rajght. The 

 musical events that were the surprise 

 and pleasure to me of the whole evening, 

 were the two selections from the ' ' Bo- 

 hemian Girl" by Walter Mott, of 

 Jamestown, N. Y. We can remember 

 when Walter's performance was good 

 enough for an English ' ' free and easy. ' ' 

 Now he will do for grand opera, sucli 

 will study and practice do. The only 

 number I did not enjoy was the robust 

 blonde in the coon songs. Lets have 

 sweet woman as feminine as possible, or 

 what she should be, and let the .coarser 

 sex portray tlie lower civilization. 



I can single out none of the speakers 

 above another, for they were all good. 

 E. G. Hill never was in better form and 

 is more and more becoming a Inimorist. 

 The w'brd picture of the spotted cow 

 fitting- on the thistle bush and singing 

 like a bird and talking like E. G. H. 

 was very realistic. W. S. told about 



oily rubber trees and otheTi things. Mr. 

 Altick gave us an earnest talk on the 

 McKinley league. He deserves the great- _ 

 est credit for the hard work he is shoul- 

 dering in this patriotic cause. 



Mr. Ulrieh, of Tiffin, Ohio, who is 

 blessed with a splendid voice, talked on 

 the benefits of our society and its meet- 

 ings under the head of "Did It Ever 

 Occur to You, ' ' and it was very evident 

 that many fine thoughts had occurred to 

 him. A most beautiful address was that 

 by Dr. Smith, an honorary member of 

 the Detroit Florists' Club. He began 

 with the scientific and chemical and 

 physical benefits of plant culture and 

 finished with the spiritual and moral 

 blessing of flowers as he had seen their 

 effects on the bereaved, the sick and 

 even on the convict. His talk was in- 

 deed a treat. 



Then there c^me sturdy John F. Sul- 

 livan, who loudly and ably proclaimed 

 the blessings of florists' clubs and what 

 they had done for Detroit. Very grace- 

 fully did the president of the S. A. F., 

 Phil. Breitmeyer, thank all of us for be- 

 ing present and asked for a good attend- 

 ance and support at St. Louis. Then 

 Alex. Wallace sang one of his good 

 Scotch songs. Then to thie delight and 

 surprise of manj-, we listened to a wittv, 

 clever, modest talk by Mrfe Judge Ve- 

 sey, of Fort Wayne. No wonder the 

 judge— well, he is a lucky man. Then 

 Mr. Thompson presented a beautiful cuii 

 to Mr. Partridge, who feelingly thanked 

 him and the society. T'he chairman 

 then presented the president-elect, Harts- 

 horne, the magnificent Lawson Gold 

 Medal and after some remarks, which 

 surely came from his helart, he most 

 graciously handed the beautiful medal 

 to Fred Dorner, .Tr., for it was that gen- 

 tlemen 's firm which raised the lovely 

 Fiancee. Mr. Eackham made a fine ad- 

 dress on the carnations of the past, and 

 the last, but not least by a jugful, we 

 were kept in roars of laughter by a ten- 

 minute yarn from the wit of the society, 

 ;\Ir. Peirce, of Waltham, Mass. More 

 of this great old man hereafter. 



Mr. Flowerday, as toastmaster of the 

 evening, was ideal in his position, and 

 here endeth my notes of a convention 

 that has never been surpassed in exhibi- 

 tion, in business and in pleasure in the 

 history of our good society. 



William Scott. 



W. K. Partridge's Vase of Carnation Enchantress. 



(Tlie oiil.v v:ise In llie show which touU two first pi-BniluniH.) 



NOTES ON VARIETIES. 



You hare had in last week's issue a 

 complete report of the awards at the 

 Detroit convention, and so I will merely 

 give you a few notes on the impressions 

 gained while looking over the exhibition 

 during the two days. In the first place 

 T want to say that Mr. Sullivan made a 

 good exhibition manager, as good as we 

 have ever had and better than most. The 

 arrangement was good and everything 

 was so well planned that no confusion 

 was possible. All the vases competing 

 in the same class were set together and 

 the judges had no trouble in finding all 

 the entries in each class. This idea 

 should be adopted at all the exhibitions 

 in the future. So well was everything 

 planned that by the time specified in the 

 premium list every exhibit was in place, 

 something very unusual. 



The average quality of the blooms was 

 \ery high indeed. There were very few 

 that would not have stood a good show 

 for first money at most exhibitions and 



