March 12. 1903. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



6n 



Edgar Sanders. 



using one pound to eight gallons of 

 water, but where soap is useil it is nec- 

 essary to wash off the foliage occasion- 

 ally, and I would advise experiments on 

 a small scale before spraying a large 

 batch. 



The bulletin mentioned can be had by 

 addressing the station. 



W. R. PlERSOX. 



EDGAR SANDERS. 



We present herewith an excellent por- 

 trait of Mr. Edgar Sanders, the veteran 

 Chicago florist, who is now 75 years of 

 age and' who is still one of the youngest 

 in spirit. Though now confined to his 

 home by illness there is strong hope 

 that his familiar figure will soon again 

 be seen among us. 



i[r. Sanders was born in Sussex 

 County, England, Oct. 10, 1827. His 

 father was gardener on the Crawley es- 

 tate in that country, a position which he 

 held for upwards of fifty years. Edgar 

 was the eldest of fourteen children, and 

 after receiving his education went to 

 work at the age of thirteen years, first 

 in a, nursery, then a,s gardener on a 

 private estate, forging his way up from 

 a boy to foreman of the establishment. 

 Subsequently he held the position of 

 head gardener in two private places near 

 Egham, Surrey. In \8^S Mr. Sanders 

 decidedi to come to America, landing in 

 New York in April of that year. He 

 immediately proceeded to Albany, where 

 his first labor was performed in James 

 Wilson's nursery; subsequently he ob- 

 tained a month's work laying out the 

 grounds of Luther Tucker, who was the 

 original publisher of Downing's Horti- 

 culturist, but at the time mentioned had 



started The Country Gentleman, for 

 which paper Mr. Sanders began to write 

 at once, and was on its staff for a iper- 

 iod of six years. After completing the 

 work for Mr. Tucker, Mr. Sanders be- 

 came gardener for General John F. 

 Rathlxjne, of Albany, a gentleman who 

 afterwards became famous for his col- 

 lection of orchids. A few years after 

 Mr. Sanders left, the late William Gray, 

 of Albany, filled this position at Rath- 

 bone's. 



Here the subject of our sketch re- 

 mained until the Spring of 1857, when 

 he decided to try his fortune in the 

 west, leaving then for Chicago, where he 

 purchased land and built the first fifty- 

 five foot greenhouse in the spring of 

 1857. He raised a general stock of 

 plants, and was noted as a shipper of 

 same all over the country. He opened 

 his first flower store permanently in 

 Chicago alx)ut 1804. The fire of 1871 

 checked his career for some time, al- 

 though he was fortunate in only having 

 the store burned out. He remained 

 away from the retail trade for three 

 years, when he entere<l this branch 

 again, and continued' in it until about 

 1882. when he practically retired from 

 the direct work of florist. 



When Mr. Sanders came to Chicago, 

 the section in which he began business 

 was known as Ijake View. It was then 

 but a small town with a few hundred 

 inhabitants and Chicago's population 

 was less than 100.000. There were no 

 sidewalks north of Xorth Ave., and the 

 old plank road, now Evanston Ave., was 

 the fashionable drive leading out to the 

 equally fashionable Lake View House on 

 the lake shore. It was on this ,plank 

 road that Sir. Sanders' greenhouses 



were located. At this time Chicago s- 

 northern boundary line had been moved 

 from North Ave. to FuUerton Ave. 



Mr. Sanders has been for many years 

 a contributor to the horticultural pa- 

 pers. On arriving in Chicago he became 

 attached to the staff of the Prairie 

 Farmer, published in that city, and con- 

 tinued in that position until a few years 

 ago. He also conducted a horticultural 

 department of a daily in Chicago, and 

 wrote for the Orange Judd Farmer, all 

 at the same time. His first venture at 

 writing for the class papers was com- 

 menced at the age of nineteen, when he 

 began to contribute to the London Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle. He also was a. cor- 

 respondent, from England, to the Amer- 

 ican Gardeners' Chronicle, then pub- 

 lished in New York. For about ten 

 years past Mr. Sanders has Ijeen the 

 Chicago correspondent of the Florists' 

 Exchange. 



Mr. Sanders has also during his busy 

 life, taken an active part in public work. 

 In the 70's he was for three and a half 

 years a commissioner of highways of 

 the town of Lakeview, Chicago; was su- 

 pervisor and treasurer of the same town 

 from 187fl to 188.3. when it became part 

 of the city of Chicago. He was also 

 first commissioner of pidilic works. 



Mr. Sanders was married l)efore leav- 

 ing England. His wife died in 1874. He 

 has five daughters, all of whom are mar- 

 ried, and quite a number of grandchil- 

 dren. 



Mr. Sanders has always taken an ac- 

 tive interest in all matters horticultural, 

 and was elected the first temporary 

 president of the American Association of 

 Nurserymen in 1876, and again presi- 

 dent in 1884. He has been president of 

 the Chicago Florists' Club, in which he 

 was a busy worker, and is still treas- 

 urer. He is also a member of the ex- 

 ecutive committee of the Horticultural 

 Society of Chicago and has taken a deep! 

 interest in the success of the annual 

 exhibitions. 



His illness has been deeply regretted 

 by his host of friends in the trade and 

 all hope most earnestly for his sipeedy 

 and complete recovery. 



EXHAUST STEAM. 



I am adjacent to an electric power 

 plant that burns .SO tons of soft coal 

 per day. the plant Ijeing run on the 

 most economic plan possible. \\Tiat per 

 cent of heat would be lost and how much 

 would be available in the exhaust for 

 greenhouse heating? How many square 

 feet of glass would it heat to a tempera- 

 ture sufficient for lettuce growing? What 

 is the best method of using the exhaust? 



C. S. 



Tlie inquiry of C. S. is not answerable 

 in its present form, so much depending 

 upon conditions not stated. In the first 

 place, we should know the amount of 

 water consumed by the plant in ques- 

 tion, the pressure of the steam used, 

 whether it is used in a single or double 

 expansion engine or otherwise, in fact, 

 it would only be possible to give a bare 

 approximate reply without personal in- 

 spection of the plant in question. Two 

 methods of utilizing the exhaust steam 

 are practicable, one in which the steam 

 circulates direct through the heating 

 coils within the houses and the other 

 where the steam circulates through coils 

 in a closed tank, thus heating water and 

 thus permitting of a hot water circula- 

 tion within the houses. We believe the 



