September 15, 190G 



HORTICUI^TURE. 



889 



After Adjournment 



A recent number of the IMiilailrlphia 

 Public Ledger presents a picture of a 

 group of serious-loolving yonnt; men 

 gazing intently at some object in a 

 greenhouse, inscribed "Students at 

 University of Pennsylvania waiehing 

 the Nepenthe trapping a rat." I'hila- 

 delphia is never slow on diversions, 

 and the Ledger is its vade meciira. 



changed for the better on Monday 

 morning; the oil soaked through the 

 hard material of the road, and now 

 people can walk and drive thereon free 

 from the annoying clouds of dust 

 previously coinplaincd of. 



A Bostonian just leturned from lln' imp 

 ular "trii) to Europe" says what struck 

 her most in London was not The ;j:rime 

 and fogs, but tho flowers! Flowei-s wore 

 everywhere, in window boxes, in f^ardens 

 spied thi-ousrh palings and over briel; walls, 

 and in glorious disi>lay in the pai-ks. She 

 never dreamed of a I,ondon witli tiowers, 

 hence the surprise. Some d.ay .Vnieriean 

 eities will be smitten l>y llie sann- I.oiirlon 

 iilea of relieving the monotiuiy of Iua<-ks 

 and stones with summer's flowers. SI i-aug- 

 ei-s rave about the loveliness of Uoston's 

 suburlis: give them the chance to say nice 

 things about the floral decked streets. Cul- 

 tivate a love of flowers: they cover a multi- 

 tude of sins against architecture. — Boston 

 Traveler. 



True as Gospel, and applies to other 

 cities besides Boston. Let us all take 

 hold and hurry along the great day. 



Frank Piatt says that in 1.5 years' ex- 

 perience he has never heard of a complaint 

 of the rates of his express company, and 

 so he concludes that they are entirely 

 satisfactor.v. A more reasonable conclu- 

 sion would be that the public has realized 

 the fntilitv of kicking. — Boston Daily 

 Globe. 



Frank Piatt, we believe, is a rela- 

 tive of one Tom Piatt, of wide political 

 notriety and president of the United 

 Express Company. If Frank Plait 

 will look into the correspondence of 

 his company he will find record of a 

 letter written July 3. 1906, signed by 

 E. T. Piatt, treasurer, in which 

 acknowledgment is made of the receipt 

 of a very urgent complaint of un.iust 

 charges on cut flower shipments. Not 

 having yet "realized the futility of 

 kicking," that section of the public 

 known as the S. A. F. propose to have 

 some further correspondence with Mr. 

 Piatt's company in the near future. 



NEWPORT NOTES 



Last Saturday morning the people of 

 Newport were put into a state well 

 nigh bordering on the hysterical by 

 the appearance of the most fashionable 

 driveway in the city — Bellevue Ave. — 

 covered and puddled with an ill-look- 

 ing and ill-smelling compound called 

 by some crude petroleum and tar. For 

 some time past many complaints were 

 made by summer residents of the dusty 

 condition of the avenue, ending ulti- 

 mately with the offer of a few of their 

 number to purchase enough of this oil 

 to cover that section of the avenue 

 from Bath Road to Bailey's beach. 

 The offer was made to the city govern- 

 ment and accepted, and permission 

 granted for the experiment to be made 

 last Saturday morning. The oil was_ 

 put on with the regular street water 

 sprinkler and the result was that for 

 a time the avenue looked black and 

 had on its surface a chain of puddles 

 into which those of the summer resi- 

 dents who were not aware of the pro- 

 ceedings, innocently drove their costly 

 equipages. Their drive on the avenue 

 was very short on that eventful morn- 

 ing: in short, the avenue was des. rted 

 for the rest of that day. But to do the 

 perpetrators of this temporary initiry 

 justice, the conditions were matei'ially 



OBITUARY. 



George W. Patten of Lowell, Mass., 

 died on September 1, aged .53 years, 

 t! months. 5 days. He had been in poor 

 health from a |)aralylic shock for some 

 months. Mr. Patten was a native of 

 Waterboro, Me. His first employment 

 as a florist was with his cousin M. A. 

 Patten, the well-known carnation 

 grower of Tewksbury. Mass.. who at 

 that time was conducting a retail store 

 in Lowell. George then W'ent into 

 business for himself for a time, after 

 which he went west and secured em- 

 ployment with R. J. Mendenhall of 

 Minneapolis. Returning east he again 

 entered the employ of M. A. Patten, 



The L.tTE Geo. W. P.vttex 



taking charge of the Lowell store until 

 nine years ago when associated with 

 Mr. Roberts he bought out the store. 

 Mr. Patten has many friends whose 

 sympathy has been with him through 

 his long discouraging illness. 



From our English contemporaries we 

 learn of the death of two leaders in 

 science. Dr. Marshall Ward who, since 

 189.5, has acted as professor of botany 

 in the University of Cambridge, who 

 died on August 26th at Torcpiay, and 

 Charles Baron Clarke, whose inono- 

 graphs and contributions to various 

 "Floras" have won an enviable repu- 

 tation for him, and whose death oc- 

 curred on .August 2.5th. 



A HOME-MADE WEED KILLER. 



Arsenate of soda and water in the 

 proportion of one pound to a gallon 

 will kill weeds in path or gutter quick- 

 ly and effectively. This substance is 

 the basis of most of the weed-killers 

 on the market. 



John Westcott 



i.See Frontlspleie.i 



.John Westcott is not a difficult 

 character to sketch. His personality 

 at once impresses one with a sense of 

 absolute openness, simplicity, and sin- 

 cerity. There is nothing of the Jekyll 

 and Hyde or dual personality about 

 .lohn Westcott. He has lived over 

 sixty years in the same community, 

 his ingoings and outgoings being all as 

 an open book. He declares himself no 

 saint, no shining example, and yet I 

 venture to say that he is a much 

 wholesomer proposition than many 

 who make more pretences, for through 

 his every word and act shines the 

 clear soul of ultimate honesty — the 

 noblest handiwork of the Almighty— a 

 manly man. 



Having such a man in our midst, 

 how could we Philadelphia people re- 

 sist asking for him the place of honor 

 in this year's election at Dayton so 

 that we could put our best foot for- 

 ward in 1907 with .John Westcott in 

 the vice-presidency? 



The prosaic details of Mr. Westcotf's 

 career have been told so often in the 

 trade papers that it is unnecessary to 

 repeat them here. Suffice it to say that 

 he is a gardener and florist of th« old 

 school and knows every phase of the 

 business thoroughly. He was a partner 

 of Pennock Bros., the leading retail 

 store in Philadelphia, for over thirty 

 years, and now owns the growing es- 

 tablishment at Ridge and Lehigh Ave.. 

 but has retired from active business 

 and leaves the management to his son 

 and other members of the family. But 

 although retired Mr. Westcott is still 

 in the prime of viiror. hearty and 

 healthy, and enjovs all the good things 

 of this life as they come along with 

 a i^est that is envied bv many men only 

 half his age. And if there is one 

 thing that distinguishes him more 

 than his squareness or his picttir- 

 cstnieness it is his usefulness. No 

 labor is too hard or too irksome for 

 biin: no half measure will suit .Tohn 

 Westcott. Like the late Charles Brad- 

 laugh his motto is "Thorough" and 

 he lives un to it He w.ns one of the 

 founders of the Florists' Club of Phila- 

 dplnhia which was the first organiza- 

 tion of its kind (being founded in 

 1,«;.S51 and he has been one of its main 

 bulwarks ever since. The club is more 

 to .Tohn than church or chapel, more 

 than lodge room or partv caucus, and 

 I verily believe that if :\trs. Westcott 

 were not the exceptionallv charming 

 woman that she Is it would he more 

 tn him than wife or weans. That this 

 club has been so successful is largely 

 due to tho uninue and powerful person- 

 ality of Mr. Westcott, and everybody 

 honps th=t he niav loner be spared to 

 continue his earnest effort for the ad- 

 vancement of Its interests. To quote 

 Law's spirited description: 



••Tliei-o-s 'Westeon'. nu'lilng. iret-tliere John, 



"With stem In wondrous store. 

 TI»e niere t»e finds there's work to do. 



TTo nlwflvs works the more. 

 Tl'" king of ilnndv tt^liennen. the 



Ware! own roniniodore." 



In work or nlav a rare nhilosopher, 

 a steadfast friend, a charming com- 

 nanion, eood hearted, gpnerous to a 

 fault. May his tribe increase and 

 multinly and "may his shadow never 

 grow less!" 



GEORGE C. WATSON. 



