May 8, 1909 



HORTICULTURE, 



663 



Obituary, 



John A. Shellerti. 



Philadelphia lost one of its prominent 

 figures in the florist trade this weelt 

 in the demise of John A. Shellem, who 

 passed away on the 3rd inst. after a 

 long illness and was buried May 6th. 

 Robert Craig and Robert Kift, two of 

 his close personal friends, were 

 among the pall bearers, and many of 

 the leading members of the trade at- 

 tended the funeral. 



Mr. Shellem was born and brought 

 up in the southern section of Phila- 

 delphia known as "The Neck", and as 

 a young man was an iron moulder, 

 with a keen taste in an amateur way 

 for floriculture, which later — having 

 inherited means — he turned to com- 

 mercial account, starting in 1880 as 

 a florist at 17th and Tasker streets. 

 Two windfalls came his way; the 

 first, when the property at the latter 

 point was purchased by the city for a 

 school site; the second, when the 

 leased Clark greenhouses on South 

 Broad street were taken for a new 

 street. On both, substantial profits 

 came to the owner, who afterwards 

 built an extensive range of green- 

 houses at Magazine lane and latterly 

 had a retail store just below 17th and 

 Tasker streets. As a grower Mr. 

 Shellem never posed as anything out 

 of the common, nevertheless he raised 

 a few things that made some mark, 

 among them being the rose W. R. 

 Smith; an improved large-flowering 

 pure white freesia; the Early Snow 

 chrysanthemum, a standard white, 

 generally considered the superior of 

 Polly Rose of the same earliness; and 

 the Craigi croton. which is now recog- 

 nized as one of the very best of the 

 oak-leaved type. 



Personally, Mr. Shellem was of a 

 modest and retiring disposition; warm 

 hearted to a fault; enthusiastic in the 

 artistic advancement of floriculture, 

 and always a willing coadjutor in all 

 movements for the general welfare of 

 the trade. He joined the local Flor- 

 ists' Club almost at its inception, 

 twenty-four years ago, and the Penn- 

 sylvania Horticultural Society at the 

 same time. The Society of American 

 Florists counted him among its mem- 

 bers also, and he was a regular at- 

 tendant at nearly all of its annual con- 

 ventions. A widow, six sons and one 

 daughter survive him, all of whom are 

 grown up. The business will be con- 

 tinued by the family. Mr. Shellem 

 was 59 years of age and was univer- 

 sally respected as one of the most 

 genial and likable men in the busi- 

 ness, and that, too, in a city where 

 the craft is noted for containing such 

 a large proportion of men who follow 

 and adorn their escutcheon "Brotherly 

 Love", and do their level best to live 

 up to it in spite of the strenuous com- 

 petition and conditions of modern 

 business life. 



George D. Bennett. 



George D. Bennett, who has been 

 foreman at the Boston Public Garden, 

 Boston, for nearly a quarter of a cen- 

 tury, died on April 25, aged 49 years. 

 About three weeks previous Mr. Ben- 

 nett had his leg severely injured by a 

 falling limb from a tree which he was 



trimming and was taken to the hos- 

 pital, where pneumonia ensued and 

 proved fatal. He was a most indus- 

 trious and valuable man in the im- 

 portant position which he filled so 

 long and his death leaves a vacancy 

 which will not be readily filled. ' Mr. 

 Bennett served under his father, the 

 late Henry Bennett, on the Cheney es- 

 tate at Wellesley, Mass., when a young 

 man and proved a clever pupil of a 

 good instructor. 



Mrs. Gottfried Amiing. 



Laurette, wife of Gottfried Amiing, 

 died on April 24 in her sixty-eighth 

 year. A husband and nine children 

 survive her, of whom Albert F., of 

 Maywood, Ernest C. of Chicago and 

 William, who has recently moved from 

 Milwaukee to Maywood, are well 

 known to the trade. 



S. W. Marshall. 



Samuel W. Marshall, nurseryman, of 

 Fresno, Calif., died on April 15. He is 

 survived by a widow and son; the lat- 

 ter has been actively associated in 

 business with him. 



Foster Udell. 



Foster Udell, known as the apple 

 king, is dead at Brockport, N. Y. His 

 orchards were famous and were in- 

 spected annually by the Cornell Uni- 

 versity students. 



M. P. Cam. 



Maurice P. Cam, for many years 

 gardener to W. W. Justice of Man- 

 heim. Pa., died on April 25. He was 

 born in Whitemarsh, Pa., fifty-five 

 years ago. 



Edward Hennessy. 



Edward Hennessy, one of the most 

 expert gardeners in the country, died 

 at Elizabeth, N. J., April 20, in his 

 sixty-fourth year. 



Thomas Kennedy. 

 Thomas Kennedy, employed for 

 many years in the Swan Point Ceme- 

 tery, Providence, R. I., died on April 

 21, aged 62. 



L. B. Baxter. 

 L. B. Baxter, nurseryman, died on 

 April 21 at Nichols, Mo., aged 48. 



In the haste consequent upon the 

 receipt of the news of the death of 

 Herman Dreyer, just as last week's 

 paper was ready for the press, we in- 

 advertently mentioned Flatbush, N. Y., 

 as Mr. Dreyer's former place of busi- 

 ness. We should have written Wood- 

 side. Mr. Dreyer was 50 years of age. 

 The funeral was held on Saturday. 

 May 1, and was attended by many 

 florists and plant growers for the New 

 York market. He leaves a wife and 

 three children. 



NEWS NOTES. 



Warren, O. — J. H. Brown & Son 

 have leased the Gaskill greenhouses. 



Ames, la. — The hail storm on April 

 28 did considerable damage to the 

 greenhouses in town. 



IN MEMORIAM. 



Resolutions adopted by the Florists' 

 Club of Philadelphia, at its meeting, 

 May 4th, 1909, upon tlie death of David 

 Beam: 



We, the members of The Florists' Club 

 of Philadelphia, having heard with deep 

 regret of the death of one of our oldest 

 and most beloved members, David Beam, 

 extend our heartfelt sympathy to hia 

 brother, John, and other members of the 

 famil.v. We have lost one that took an 

 active part and was deepl.v interested in 

 Horticulture, or anything that tended to 

 the advancement of the same; also that 

 we have lost a true and tried friend. 



(Signed) JOIJN WESTCOTT, 



GEORGE ANDERSON, 



Committee. 



Resolutions adopted by the Florists' 

 Club of Philadelphia, at its meeting, 

 May 4th, 1909, upon the death of John 

 A. Shellem: 



Whereas, The Florists' Club of Phila- 

 delphia having heard with deep regret of 

 the death of their fellow member, John A. 

 Shellem. 



Resolved, That the Club hereby ex- 

 presses its deep sense of loss in the pass- 

 ing away of this most estimable brother, 

 who has been with us for so many years, 

 through storm and suushine, and who has 

 always been most enthusiastic in every 

 movement for the general welfare of the 

 trade. 



Resolved Further, That we hereby put 

 ourselves on record in appreciation of the 

 sterling worth of our deceased brother In 

 all his delations socially and commercially, 

 and of the affection in which we held him 

 for his open and kindly disposition, and 



Further Resolved, That we record here- 

 with a few of his noted achievements In 

 the improvement of commercial florists' 

 plants, namely the Rose W. R. Smith, the 

 Croton Craigi, the Early Snow Chrysan- 

 themum, and the large flowering pure 

 white Freesia. These, among other good 

 things, will be a lasting monument to his 

 memory and will keep fond recollection 

 vivid longer than stone or marble. 



Resolved Further, That a copy of these 

 resolutions, suitably engrossed, be sent to 

 the family of the deceased. 



(Signed) EDWIN LONSDALE, 



GEORGE C. WATSON, 

 Committee 



THE CHRYSANTHEMUM. 



Editor HORTICULTURE. 



The notes of Pres. Smith in your last 

 issue regarding increasing the mem- 

 bership of the C. S. A. are timely and 

 to the point and it is a fact that though 

 many florists watch the report of the 

 different committees in the fall, still 

 they are Indifferent about joining the 

 society and becoming actively inter- 

 ested in it. Some there are I know 

 who believe that all the work now 

 being done by the different societies 

 such as the Rose Society, the Carna- 

 tion Society and the Chrysanthemum 

 Society should be done by sub-commit- 

 tees of the S. A. F., and I am not pre- 

 pared to say but what that would be 

 the ideal way. In the meantime how- 

 ever, what should be done about It? 

 Surely the Chrysanthemum Society la 

 worth the annual dues of $2.00 (which 

 is all the applicant is aslted to con- 

 tribute) to every florist in the country, 

 not to mention the hundreds of private 

 gardeners and amateur growers who 

 can all find valuable information In 

 its yearly report. Pres. Smith and his 

 committees are willing to work and 

 make this the banner year for thla 

 Society, so brother growers show your 

 interest in the matter. In the common 

 slang of the day "It's up to you." 



C. H. TOTTY. 



Everett, Mass. — Osgood Bros., the 

 Woodlawn florists, have opened a 

 down-town office in the Everett Asso- 

 ciates' Building. 



Havre de Grace, Md. — Chas. tJffler 

 has taken a position with C. E. Bryan, 

 Mt. Pleasant. 



