FEBRUARY 24. 1S9S. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



539 



Some High Grade Blooms. Glimpses of the Carnation Exhibition. 



sentiment, "The Philadelphia Meet- 

 ing.'' He expressed the belief that in 

 the Eastern carnation belt would be 

 lield one of the greatest conventions 

 of the American Carnation Society and 

 assured all tliat lie would spare no ef- 

 fort on ills part to insure the con- 

 tinued progress of the society. 



The "Future of the Carnation" was 

 the subject assigned Mr. E. G. Hill, 

 and, if all the good things he predicted 

 for the "Divine Flower" are realized, 

 the carnation will certainly hold a very 

 higli position among the flowers of the 

 future. 



"The Whole Thing" was the compre- 

 liensive subject assigned to Mr. Wil- 

 liam Scott and he was equal to the de- 

 mands upon him. He fairly outdid 

 iimself and made an address which 

 will go upon record as the most In- 

 .^tructive and entertaining one ever de- 

 livered by him, which is saying a great 

 deal. 



"Insuring the Carnation" was treat- 

 «d by Mr. W. J. Vesey, secretary of the 

 Florists' Mutual Fire Association, and 

 he told those present some interesting 

 facts regarding the insuring, not of 

 the carnation, but of the houses that 

 ■contain them. 



Mr. E. H. Giesy was called upon to 

 ■use "The Voice of Prophecy." He com- 

 plained that all the material for pro- 

 phecy had been used by the previous 

 speakers, but managed to make some 

 very effective points just the same. 



Mr. John Thorpe spoke to "The Old 

 and The New" and told of the varieties 

 ■which he had brought with him from 

 Europe in the sixties and compared 



those with the magnificent varieties 

 seen in the exhibition hall at this con- 

 vention. 



A toast to "The Horticultural Socie- 

 ties" was responded to by Mr. W. H. 

 Chadwick. pres dent of the Horticul- 

 tural Society of Chicago, with a very 

 witty address in which he fully sus- 

 tained the reputation of Chicago for 

 not being over-modest in its claims as 

 to size and importance. Referring par- 

 ticularly to the exhibitions given in 

 this city, he attributed their success 

 largely to the interest which had been 

 awakened among the amateurs in this 

 city and pointed out that their moral 

 and financial support was necessary to 

 make such exhibitions successful. 



Mr. C. W. Ward spoke of "The Car- 

 nation in Greater New York" and told 

 of the progress that had been made in 

 securing an adequate piice for carna- 

 tion flowers of extra grade, and cheer- 

 ed his hearers by telling of sales of 

 high-grade carnation blooms in cer- 

 tain seasons of the year at as high as 

 ?10.00 n hundred. 



Mr. Fred Dorner spoke briefly to the 

 toast "The Divine Flower." He con- 

 sidered the carnation one of tlie most 

 beautiful flowers grown and believed 

 that it appealed more generally to the 

 hearts of the people than any other. 



Secretary Albert M. Herr spoke of 

 the progress that had been made dur- 

 ing the past year and expressed the 

 greatest confidence as to the future. 



A toast to "The Horticultural Press" 

 was responded to by Mr. A'ex Wallace 

 of the Florists' Exchange. He believed 

 that the horticultural press had been 

 an important factor in the progress of 



the carnation through its reports of 

 what had been accomplished by the 

 various growers and through spreading 

 to the whole trade reports of the w'ork 

 of the Carnation Society. 



Mr. R. Witterstaetter spoke of "The 

 Carnation in Ohio." He admitted that 

 Ohio did not stand so high on the roll 

 as its sister state of Indiana, but held 

 that the "Buckeye" state was doing 

 its share towards the advancement of 

 the carnation. 



Mr. J. S. Stuart spoke of "The Car- 

 nation in Indiana" in a very entertain- 

 ing and witty address. He felt that In- 

 diana stood very near the top of the 

 list in carnation culture and spoke in 

 particular of the great work accom- 

 plished by Jlr. Fred Dorner. 



The subjects were interspersed with 

 singing by the Chicago Florist Club's 

 Quartette, composed of Messrs. C. W. 

 McKellar, E. F. Winterson. E. H. Kis- 

 sell and Chas. Balluff. The quartette 

 was a decided feature of the entertain- 

 ment and it was well that the boys had 

 an extensive repertory, as they were 

 obliged to respond to numerous re- 

 calls. 



The party dispersed at 12:30 A. M., 

 all feeling that tliey had spent one of 

 the most enjoyable evenings of their 

 lives. 



MOISTURE THE PLANTS GREAT- 

 EST REQUIREMENT 



BV I'R' •!■. j, L . Ak I lilK. 



I Read before the Chicago Convention of tlie Amer- 

 ican Carnation Societ\,] 



That which is most common usually 

 provokes least attention. The fact 

 that water is connected with all kinds 

 of life, that it is a universal solvent, 

 and that it is taken up freely by organ- 

 isms, and evaporated from their sur- 

 faces in large amounts, encourages in- 

 difference toward the sutjject rather 

 than excites interest. Water hides un- 

 der no disguises; it is always seperable 

 aud recognizable; it does not partake 

 of the mysteries of tlie food supply. 



The man who undertakes to protect 

 plants from the accidents of outdoor 

 life by housing them under a canopy 

 of glass, becomes the step-parent to na- 

 ture, and will succeed best when he 

 most fully understands the needs of the 

 charges iulrustca to his care. It does 

 not follow that the greenhouse culti- 

 vator is to imitate nature in her meth- 

 ods of supplying the wants of the 

 plant; more economical, more direct, 

 and more efficient methods are often 

 possible, and in fact are often neces- 

 sary to secure commercial success. 



Because out of doors it rains on the 

 just and unjust alike is no reason why 

 the florist should drench everything 

 within his houses daily. Overhead 

 watering under glass may be a good 

 imitation of nature, but it is not neces- 

 sarily the way to bring about the re- 

 sult the florist has in view, healthy 

 plants with a maximum development 

 of flowers. The watering pot and its 

 substitute, the spray nozzle, are to 



