November 6, 1909 



HORTICULTURE 



637 



THE LONSDALE BANQUET. 



The classic halls of Dooner's Hotel, 

 situated in the heart of Philadelphia 

 on tile siiot where Franklin flew his 

 historic kite, have been the scene of 

 many horticultural gatherings during 

 the past twenty-five years, all of them 

 of commanding importance and dis- 

 tinction, but it is safe to say that none 

 of these surpassed if they equalled the 



Edwin Lonsdale. 



splendid array of leading lights in the 

 horticultural world that assembled on 

 the evening of October 28th. 1909, to 

 laud and bid Godspeed to Edwin Lons- 

 dale on his departure from Philadel- 

 phia to take up his permanent resi- 

 dence in California as manager of the 

 new Burpee seed farms on the Pacific 

 Coast. The affair was a glorious suc- 

 cess in every way. and a fitting testi- 

 monial to the fine personality and high 

 standing of the guest of honor as well 

 as a creditable offering on the altar 

 of friendship by the entire horticul- 

 tural trade of the East to one of its 

 most distinguished sons who has lived, 

 loved and labored amongst them for 

 nearly thirty years. Busy men in Bos- 

 ton, New York, Washington, and other 

 distant cities threw aside their Im- 

 portant affairs in order to journey to 

 the City of Brotherly Love to testify 

 their friendship, love and admiration 

 for a fellow-worker who has nobly 

 held his end up and done much as a 

 soldier of the common good, and every 

 one went away happy in the thought 

 not only that he had done his own 

 duty as a man and brother, but that 

 ho had enjoyed as well a feast of rea- 

 son and a flow of soul so splendid that 

 it would remain a pleasant red letter 

 memory in his heart to the end of 

 time. This is the reply that the Amer- 

 ican people make to critics who claim 

 that they have no ideals and no senti- 

 ments and that their only thought is 

 the almighty dollar! 



To give in detail the faintest out- 

 line of the magnificent speeches made 

 during the evening on all phases of 

 the florists' trade, the seed trade, the 

 nursery trade and allied horticultural 

 industries would take up two or three 

 papers the size of HORTICULTURE, 



so we must content ourselves by giv- 

 ing below merely a list of a few of the 

 fcriunate seventy-seven guests and 

 the merest outline of the program. 

 A full stenogi'aphic report of these 

 speeches has been preserved for the 

 benefit of the present and future by 

 that keen exponent of progress and af- 

 fairs, W. Atlee Burpee, and we feel 

 sure it will be put to good and per- 

 manent use for the public weal as be- 

 hooves a man who stands at the head 

 of the beatified hosts of wilderness- 

 adorners and happiness-bringers to 

 the huugi'y and forlorn of the human 

 race. 



A pleasing incident of the proceed- 

 ings was the presentation of a Victrola 

 —the latest and most wonderful of re- 

 producing instruments — to the guest 

 of honor, after listening to Harry Lau- 

 der, Melba, Caruso and La Boheme 

 from its magic sounding boards. 



To say that Edwin Lonsdale was 

 pleased with the great ovation given 

 him sounds stale, flat and unprofitable 

 — he was simply all broken up. 



There is a question as to who made 

 the best speech of the evening. Some 

 say Dr. Washburn ; others swear by 

 J. Otto Thilow. Patrick O'Mara of 

 New York was crisp, scintillating and 

 to the point. Elijah Wood of Boston 

 was particularly happy and W. R. 

 Smith of Washington got the hearts 

 of them all in his ode to appreciation 

 of the men who do things. F. R. Pier- 

 son was good, too, and some of the 

 local stars shone out. Far be it from 

 us to pose as a critic or judge. It is 

 best to keep out of hot water In such 

 a question. But we can say in all sin- 

 cerity that everybody did well — speak- 

 ers and singeis alike. W. C. Lang- 

 bridge, of the Jerome B. Rice Co., Cam- 

 bridge, N. Y., made a fine address on 

 behalf of the American Seed Trade As- 

 sociation, and was ably followed by 

 Thomas E. Meehan, of Thomas Meehan 

 & Sons, on behalf of the nursery trade. 

 Edward Dooners' "Kilkenny" was one 

 of the gems of the evening. However, 

 one thing v/e are sure of, and that is 

 that Howard Earl's speech was by all 

 odds the biggest. It occupied two hun- 

 dred typewritten pages and had to be 

 wheeled up to the platform on a truck 

 The toastmaster was greatly relieved 

 and gladly con.sented when a member 

 of the committee asked for leave to 

 print. 



.Joseph Heaccck, the newly elected 

 president of the Florists' Club, acted 

 as chairman and was ably assisted by 

 Toastmaster Ex-Mayor Smith — the lat- 

 ter having in no way deteriorated in 

 his role of "the greatest ever" in the 

 way of witty toastmaster. He (the 

 ex-Mayor) is like a fiddle, a meer- 

 schaum pipe or a Scotch m-m-; gets 

 better with age and more mellow and 

 altogether delightful! Robert Craig 

 gave an appreciative tribute to Wil- 

 liam K. Harris, who was absent 

 through sickness, but who sent a fine 

 message by wire which was read by 

 Secretary Rust, as were a great many 

 other messages of regret from all 

 parts of the country. 



William Wunder made a hit with his 

 stories and monologues, and Thomas 

 Hogan and C. H. Reed were also de- 

 lightful in the "Plow of Soul." Frank 

 Dooner gave the company "Loch IjO- 

 mond" and made their hearts warm 

 to him more than ever, although they 

 were already highly strung on the 



faultless care he and his chef had be- 

 stowed on the dinner arrangements. 

 R. C. Bendig made an efficient accom- 

 pauist on the piano. 



I'.obeit Craig sent a fine lot of the 

 Lonsdale crotons to decorate the tables 

 and these after they had been nicely 

 trousered in green and silver by Rob- 

 ert Klft proved a great attraction. The 

 flowers for the tables consisted mainly 

 of pink and white Killarney roses, 

 Farleyense ferns and hardy chrysan- 

 themums. These were furnished by 

 Robert Scott & Sons and were ar- 

 ranged artistically by George Craig, 

 who also furnished several wagon 

 loads of palms. It was a great night, 

 all right, and our only regret is that 

 exigencies of space compel us to be 

 brief and cut out many of the delight- 

 ful tilings, and no doubt also many of 

 the appreciative mentions that should 

 be given to those who helped to make 

 the affair a success. Two things in 

 particular we must not forget — the 

 fine speeches made by Jno. Westcott 

 and .Jno. Burton. Both of these old 

 war-horses rose to their opportunities 

 in splendid shape. 



In the v/ords of the program, "Join 

 we together in the public good for 

 what we can," we all did so — each one 

 to the best of his ability as called on 

 and the highest encomiums are iu or- 

 der for one and all. The writer is 

 proud to have been a cog in the wheel 

 and is full of admiration for the noble 

 way in which everybody aided and 

 abetted in giving a good send-off to 

 our dear old friend and distinguished 

 horticulturist, Edwin Lonsdale. May 

 he live long and prosper. And may 

 that othei' deaj old friend and distin- 

 guished horticulturist, W. Atlee Bur- 

 pee, live long and prosper, too. We 

 are proud of them both and think the 

 new combination will accomplish far- 

 reaching results. 



G. C. WATSON. 



DAHLIA WM. J. STEWART. 



The dahlia shown in the illustration 

 is said to be a seedling from A. D. 

 Livoni, raised by C. S. Finacom, Dra- 

 cut, Mass. It is pure white and very 



Plantation of Dahlia W.m. J. 

 Stewart 



floriferous, an excellent flower for 

 florists' cut flower use. Mr. Pinaoom 

 has a 35-acre farm and grows' between 

 four and five hundred varieties of 

 dahlias. The variety here Illustrated 

 is his most highly prized seedling. 



