MARCH 3, l.sg.S. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



579 



superintendent, has settled negotia- 

 tions with the Essex County, New Jer- 

 sey, park commissioners, to superin- 

 tend the construction of their elal)- 

 orate and extensively projected park. 

 The area of the park, without the ap- 

 proaches, covers 2 600 acres, and sur- 

 rounds the "three Oranges." Mr. Mc- 

 Millan begins his duties at once. 

 His call was very sudden, but he did 

 not get away fast enough to escape a 

 farewell reception by his many friends 

 in the city. A very handsome gold 

 watch was landed into his vest pocket. 

 But that, I believe, would not afford 

 him so much pleasure as the many 

 warm expressions of regret at his de- 

 parture and wishes for his long life, 

 happiness and prosperity, Essex 

 County is to be congratulated on hav- 

 ing secured the able and honest abil- 

 ity of Mr. McMillan. W. S. 



NEW YORK. 



Dinner of Florists' Club. 



Last Saturday evenin.i; will long be 

 remembered by all who attended the 

 eleventh annual dinner of the New 

 York Florists' Club, as one of 'he good 

 things oratorically, gastronomic.iH.v 

 and floraliy. In a word, it was a suc- 

 cess, observed from any point, and will 

 act as a milestone in the era of the 

 club's history to be long remembered, 

 and honor is due to all and congratu- 

 lations should be mutual. 



Mr. Patrick O'Mara, who acted as 

 toastmaster. proved that the reports 

 from the provinces had not been over- 

 exaggerated, and that as a "composite" 

 of all that goes to make a good toast- 

 master, he is in fact "the beau ideal." 



The tables were weighted down with 

 the choicest of flowers, thanks to the 

 contributors and the committee on 

 the whole. Mr. Lawrence Hafner's af- 

 fability proved an important factor in 

 securing contributions from the fol- 

 lowing gentlemen: 



President Plumb contributed hand- 

 some vases of Bridesmaid roses, fancy 

 carnations and lilies, and Siebrecht & 

 Son sent some handsome leaves of Cy- 

 cas circinalis. also palms, Dendrobium 

 Wardianum: ,John N. May. carnation, 

 Lily Dean, and his beautiful new rose. 

 Miss Clara Watson; W. A. Manda, a 

 well furnished pan of Adiantum Far- 

 leyense; John Young, center pieces of 

 Beauties and mignonette, very rich; 

 Ernst Asmus, purple and white lilac 

 and lily of the valley; Julius Roehrs, 

 lily of the valley and cut orchid flow- 

 ers: Rudolph Asmus, pretty vases of 

 daffodil "Golden Spur;" J. M. Keller, 

 flowers of Dendrobium Phal.\enupsis 

 Schroderiana and Cattleya Trianae: 

 Frank MacMahon, grand vase of 

 Bridesmaid roses; Frank M. Niquet. 

 his carnation, Maud Adams; John H. 

 Taylor, the beautiful new rose. Dean 

 Hole, which lights up prettily at night; 

 Charles Pesenecker & Son, pretty vases 

 of carnation William Scott. 



All the allied trade was well repre- 

 sented and the following visitors were 

 among the seventy gentlemen present: 



Prof. Smith, New Brunswick. N, J.; 

 Dr. L. N. Britton, of the botanic gar- 

 dens. New York city; W. N. Rudd. 

 editor of the American Florist, Chi- 

 cago; J. Donahue. Lenox, Mass.; W. G. 

 Gomersall. F'oughkeepsie. and .•^. Her- 

 rington. Madison. 



A word of praise to the indefatigable 

 committee on arrangement — Chairman 

 Chas. Weathered, John H. Taylor and 

 Ernst Asmus — whose untiring efforts 

 were the primary cause of the unquali- 

 fied success. Mr. John Young, the gen- 

 ial secretary, should also be coupled 

 with the above. "He saw his duty and 

 he done it." 



President Plumb, rising to welcome 

 all present to their eleventh annual 

 gathering, and to introduce the master 

 of after ceremonies, said they had ar- 

 rived at the point where the feast of 

 reason and the flow of soul was in 

 order, but he presumed it was neces- 

 sary he should say something first 

 about club matters. Of the past we 

 all know well — its successes and re- 

 verses: but let us look forward and con- 

 sider a future for the club which shall 

 be all success. The members and of- 

 cers have worked earnestly to insure 

 this in the present year. We have al- 

 ready elected twelve new members: 

 we have fourteen names to l)e acted 

 on at the next meeting, and ten others 

 are knocking for admittance. We 

 have all to put our shoulder to the 

 wheel, and I hope we will keep it 

 there. We shall find lots of ruts in 

 the road, but if we all push together 

 we are bound to succeed. Let us en- 

 deavor to keep up the earnest work of 

 this year and we shall, if we all try 

 earnestly, accomplish all we have to 

 do, looking forward to the getting of 

 a home that belongs to the club. I 

 now have the pleasure to introduce to 

 you one whom we all know and respect 

 and love, whose qualifications as toast- 

 master are known to all. who besides 

 is an earnest worker and friend of our 

 beloved club — Mr. Patrick O'Mara. 



Mr. O'Mara spoke as follows: 



"The speech I intended to make I 

 must ask leave to print, as there are 

 so many letters of regret to be read. 

 In selecting me for toastmaster, the 

 president has got right into one of the 

 ruts he said we wanted to get out of. 

 The following societies and gentlemen 

 sent letters of regret — some humor- 

 ous, some pathetic, all regretful, with 

 the exception of one signed "Aspidio- 

 tus Perniciosus," from San Jose. 

 This entomological friend said he pre- 

 ferred to associate with the nursery- 

 men and to dine off the fruits of his 

 native habitat. 



The list follows: The Baltimore 

 Florists' Club, the Chicago Florists' 

 Club, the Philadelphia Florists' Club, 

 the Boston Florists' and Gardeners' 

 Club, the Buffalo Florists' Club, the 

 Dutchess County Horticultural So- 

 sciety, the American Carnation Soci- 

 ety, Richard E. Connell, Poughkeepsie, 

 N. Y. ; John Westcott, Edwin Lonsdale, 

 W. K. Harris. D. D. L. Farson. Phila- 

 delphia; Prof. Byron D. Halsted, 

 New Brunswick, N, J.; George Salt- 



ford, Rhinebeck, N. Y.; Franklin A. 

 Whealan, Mount Vernon, Va. ; Edward 

 Hatch. Boston; George W. Anderson, 

 Milton, Mass, and Charles R. Russell, 

 Lenox, Mass. 



Mr. O'Mara then informed the gen- 

 tlemen present that he had a topical 

 poem by the Brooklyn bard. J. Austin 

 Shaw. and. striking a pose fitting the 

 occasion, he wafted to his hearers the 

 following: 



It seemed Id me long years li.'id passed 



away. 

 My spirit, fn ed from earth's encumber- 



iriK clay. 

 Mounted on wings, beyond the azure sk.v. 

 And Uirougli the universe began to fly. 



Mv mis.sion 'twas "to seek and find the 



" lost:" 

 And to locate them all. at any cost. 

 The New York Florist Club had gone 



astray. 

 ,An<l where they'd lit, no mortal man 

 could say. 



1 Hew now iiorth. now south, now east, 



now west, 

 Liut iiowht re found the star whereon 



they I'est: 

 I si-arelied the hea\*enl\' regions, far ai]d 



near; 

 N'ot one. for all my searching, did appear I 



.■\r.(l tliough it's not a proper thing to tell, 

 1 couldn't lind a trace of them in— well, 

 At an.v rate. I gave up in despair. 

 1 I'ound no shadow of "em anywhere; 



And as I swiftly Hew hack, sad. belated, 



1 fully thought the lot annihilated. 



But. all at once, as we approached the- 



planet, 

 t saiil to llanv Bunvard; "Harrv, can 



it 



Be possible they lit upon the moon?" 

 Said he: "Let's visit that dead planet 



soon! 

 At least, it was dead back in '9S!" 

 Said 1: "Let's go at once— I cannot 



wait!" 



Astronomers ha\e lied — the moon's not 



dead! 

 In autumn, dost you know, it's always 



red ? 

 The secret's out! They paint it up and 



down 

 As on old earth they used to "paint the 



town. " 



Harry was fat. and weary from his fly. 

 And didn't seem to want to farther try; 

 But 1 suggested, if we found 'em there. 

 There would be women angels, I could 

 swear. 



This thought so many happy memories 



waked 

 That Harry flew so fast the heavens 



quaked. 

 As we hustled, lightning-like, through 



space, 

 I lost some feathers trying to keep pace. 



And I was— truer word was never spo- 

 ken— 



i.ucky to get there with my wings un- 

 broken. 



However, sirs, we got there— he and I— 



And solved the greatest mystery of the 

 sky. 



Dead? I guess not. The moon was full 



that night. 

 And every soul upon it. too! That's right. 

 And palaces and flowers and buildings 



tall— 

 The New York Florist Club, sir, owned 



'em all. 

 In fact. I found no spirit there was 



worth 

 Unless he'd joined the club while on the 



earth. 



Well! 'Twas a royal welcome, cheering 



grand. 

 Which greeted us as we began to land; 



