November 17, 1917 



HORTICULTURE 



531 



CLEVELAND FLOWER SHOW 



The success o£ the Fifth Annual 

 Cleveland Flower Show on the scale 

 on which it was carried out, well justi- 

 fies the decision of the Cleveland 

 committee in planning such an elabor- 

 ate exhibition. On account of not 

 being able to secure the Coliseum, 

 this year, it was impossible to equal 

 the success of the 1915 show. How- 

 ever the decision to use the Grays 

 Armory was much better than the 

 original plan of holding an exhibition 

 in restricted quarters at the Hotel 

 Statler. And in many ways the 

 Armory is a better building for ex- 

 hibitions than the Coliseum, although 

 much smaller, for the roof is high and 

 the entire floor space without a single 

 obstruction as is the case at the Coli- 

 seum. 



The annual meetings and exhibitions 

 of the national Rose and Chrysanthe- 

 mum societies brought florists to 

 Cleveland from every section of the 

 United States and from Canada. Over 

 three hundred florists were visitors in 

 Cleveland during the Flpwer Show, 

 and about a hundred from Cleveland 

 and vicinity brought the total trade 

 attendance to over 400, making the 

 four days a veritable national conven- 

 tion as well as a national exhibition. 



Thursday, November 8, was Chrysan- 

 themum Day. Staging was completed 

 at 11 a. m. when the judging began. 

 The building was open to the public 

 from 2 to 10.30 p. m. The annual 

 meeting of the Chrysanthemum Society 

 of America was held in the Club 

 rooms at Grays Armory at 4 p. m. In 

 the evening the bowling match be- 

 tween Cleveland and Detroit florists 

 took place. Roses and carnations and 

 miscellaneous plants were judged on 

 Friday. At 3 p. m. the meeting of the 

 national publicity committee of the S. 

 A. F. and Ohio Horticultural Society, 

 as well as chairmen of Ohio counties 

 was held, and at 4 p. m. the Fall meet- 

 ing of the American Rose Society. 

 The annual banquet of the flower 

 show was held at 8 p. m. Friday even- 

 ing. 



On Saturday and Sunday the show 

 was open to the public from Id a. ra. 

 to 10.30 p. m. On Saturday members 

 of the Women's Florist Club of Cleve- 

 land entertained all out-of-town ladies 

 at a luncheon at the Cleveland Athletic 

 Club and a theater party at the 

 matinee. During the show a number 

 of automobiles were kept at the dis- 

 posal of the reception and information 

 committee, S. M. Pentecost, chairman, 

 and many trips were organized among 

 the visitors, including visits to the 

 large greenhouses in and near Cleve- 

 land. 



The Cleveland committee deserves 

 the greatest credit for the manner in 

 which the show was carried off. H. P. 

 Knoble, general chairman, and M. A. 

 Vinson, manager, were among the 

 most active, as well as the following 

 chairmen of committees: S. M. Pente- 

 cost, information and reception: 

 Frank Ritzenthaler, entertainment ; 

 George Bate, publicity; Frank .1. 



Schoen, decoration; Frank A. Fried- 

 ley, staging; F. R. Williams, trade 

 displays, Charles Russell, retail dis- 

 plays, Herman Hart, commercial pre- 

 miums; Robert Weeks, non commer- 

 cial premium; Timothy Smith, admis- 

 sion. The flowers stood up exception- 

 ally well throughout the show. 



The National Publicity Committee of 

 the S. A. F. held a meeting in the Club 

 Rooms at Grays' Armory, Friday after- 

 noon at 3 o'clock, in connection with a 

 meeting of the chairmen of Ohio 

 county committees. The general pub- 

 licity situation was gone over and it 

 was decided to hold another meeting 

 of both the finance and advertising 

 committees at Hotel Statler, on Fri- 

 day, December 7. From reports made 

 at the meeting it was announced that 

 all money will be subscribed by Janu- 

 ary ], and will be payable in semi- 

 annual installments in January and 

 July. A uniform schedule, worked out 

 in Chicago, and presented by Fred 

 Lautenschlager was adopted by the 

 meeting. 



THE BANQUET. 



TWO hundred and fifty florists from 

 all parts of the United States and 

 from Canada sat down to the annual 

 banquet of the fifth Cleveland show 

 in the new ballroom of the HoUend-m 

 Hotel, Friday evening. The walls 

 were decorated with American and 

 Canadian flags, and each table with a 

 basket of roses as a center piece. 

 Music was furnished by an orchestra 

 centered in a bank of ferns, chrysan- 

 themums and palms, on a platform at 

 one side of the room. The singing of 

 the Metropolitan male quartet was re- 

 peatedly encored. 



Carl Hagenburger, president of the 

 Cleveland Florists' Club, opened the 

 program by welcoming the visiting 

 florists, and introducing Adam Gra- 

 ham, dean of Cleveland florists, as 

 toastmaster. In a few remarks Mr. 

 Graham traced the development of the 

 florist trade from the time he came to 

 Cleveland fifty-two years ago to the 

 present time, tracing the effect of the 

 telephone, telegraph and rapid trans- 

 portation, as well as the improved 

 methods of building and heating 

 greenhouses. William Vert, president 

 of the Chrysanthemum Society of 

 America was the second speaker. 



Charles H. Totty, president-elect of 

 the S. A. F., the third speaker, spoke 

 strongly for the publicity plans of the 

 S. A. F. The benefits of cooperation 

 according to Mr. Totty were great, and 

 publicity is going to be the greatest 

 asset the florist trade has ever known. 

 He congratulated Cleveland for the 

 foremost position it has taken in the 

 matter of co-operation and publicity 

 and stated that by showing the same 

 spirit and enthusiasm other cities 

 could take a similar place and reap 

 the same benefits. 



Benjamin Hammond, president of 

 the American Rose Society, made an 

 eloquent appeal to the florists to main- 

 tain the high standards of their busi- 



ness, especially in these war times. 

 He asked them not to forget that the 

 cultivation of flowers brings out the 

 best in man's nature and has a far 

 reaching salutary effect on the spirit 

 of the community, which is reflected in 

 tidy dooryards and wholesome, con- 

 tented citizens. This is a time of all 

 times when these things are of value. 



Philip Breitmeyer, of Detroit, paid a 

 tribute to the ladies and emphasized 

 their importance especially in the re- 

 tail side of the business. Florists have 

 awakened to the value of women and 

 have them in their stores to help out. 

 There is no better vocation than that 

 of florist, said Mr. Breitmeyer, and",' 

 considering their universal appeal, 

 nothing more essential and real in 

 these times than flowers. He spoke of 

 the advantages of the F. T. D. with its 

 550 branches throughout the country. 

 He said that in the rivalry between 

 Cleveland and Detroit he no longer 

 questioned Cleveland's place as Sixth 

 City, because Detroit was now Fourth 

 City. 



Fred Lautenschlager, of Chicago, 

 said that Cleveland was neither Sixth 

 City nor Fourth City, but first city in 

 the development and appreciation of 

 co-operation between florists. Cleve- 

 land, he said, is teaching the United 

 States the benefits of trade welfare 

 and had demonstrated the value of 

 trade publicity. He said he did not 

 agree with anyone who said that flow- 

 ers were among the non-essentials and 

 ought to be discriminated against In 

 war time. In this connection he 

 quoted a clipping of the November 3rd 

 issue of Horticulture, "Back to the 

 Stone Age," by George C. Watson. He 

 urged other cities to do what Cleve- 

 land is doing to make itself the fore- 

 most floral city in the country. 



J. H. Dunlop, of Toronto, acknowl- 

 edged the references of previous 

 speakers to English-speaking unity In 

 North America. He said he had been 

 referred to as "from across the line," 

 but there is no across the line so long 

 as our countries are engaged in a mu- 

 tual contest for liberty. 



The speaker of the evening was Dr. 

 W. H. Lichliter, pastor of Epworth 

 Memorial Church, Cleveland. He took 

 as his theme the passage "Roses 

 blooming in soot," from The Turmoil 

 by Booth Tarkington, and made a plea 

 for idealism in business. It is not the 

 amount of work you get done but the 

 spirit in which you do work, he said. 

 Every man should be bigger than his 

 business, should have some door open- 

 ing out of his work which embraces a 

 wide vista of outside things. The 

 florist in bringing out the best in na- 

 ture should feel that he is a co-worker 

 with God in bringing into the world 

 beauty and happiness. Just as the 

 florist in seeking to improve the scent 

 of the rose sets about to improve the 

 rose, so in these times, the nations in 

 seeking to improve the expression of 

 mankind should set about making bet- 

 ter men, and the florist is not least in 

 aiding toward this end. 



