142 



HOKTICULTUKE 



July 31, 1915 



NEWS ITEMS FROM EVERYWHERE 



CHICAGO. 



Word has been received from Frank 

 Oechslin saying tliat tliey were enjoy- 

 ing their western outing but that a 

 man needed an overcoat, as it was so 

 cold. 



As a background, the windows of 

 the George Wienhoeber store had two 

 large wreaths of green and purple last 

 Monday, out of respect to the great 

 number of dead in the city. 



Phil McKee made a visit to Lincoln 

 last week to see how the l)ig GuUett 

 range is progressing. On his return he 

 left immediately for a business trip 

 for his firm which is finding the sea- 

 son a busy one for greenhouse build- 

 ers. 



James J. Marsh, president of the 

 Farmers' and Florists' Fertilizer Co., 

 left this week for a business trip to 

 Davenport and other cities of the mid- 

 dle west. Mr. Marsh reports business 

 as very good. 



The J. C. Moninger Co. received a 

 telegram from Wilcox & Sons, of 

 Council Bluffs, la., saying that they 

 had suffered a large loss of glass 

 from a hail storm which struck their 

 plant on July 18th. 



It seems now as if the peonies lasted 

 so long this season that they might 

 help out with the great need for flow- 

 ers this week. Those who have been 

 wishing to see them all used up by 

 July 15th are most glad now to know 

 there is a good supply left in the stor- 

 age houses. 



It is gratifying to note one new 

 user of flowers in a large way the 

 past week. The largest cafeteria In 

 the city. The Harmony, gave a flower 

 to each of its patrons on July 26th. 

 As the daily attendance averages 

 from three to five thousand, it meant 

 the use of many flowers, but better 

 still, the example was a good one. 

 All of the tables were provided with 

 a small bouquet and each employee 

 ■wore a flower. 



The August flower show at Garfield 

 Park Conservatories will include 800 

 lily plants of several varieties. Just 

 now the main bed in the big show 

 room is filled with blooming plants of 

 Nicotiana hybrids and along the side 

 beds the beautiful gloxinias and be- 

 gonias are found. The old time favor- 

 ite achimenes are there too and appeal 

 to those who love the flowers of a 

 generation ago. An interesting group 

 of plants rarely seen in bloom in 

 August is the Campanula Vidalii, na- 

 tive of the Canary Islands. 



A rare sight at the Garfield Park 

 Conservatories is thirty foot plants of 

 Kentia Forsteriana bearing fruit. The 

 clusters are about ten feet from the 

 ground and hang directly from the 

 trunk. The fruit is about the size and 

 shape of a sweet acorn and when cut 

 open resembles white wax. Mr. Koch 

 gave a scientific explanation of the pro- 

 cess of fertilization in this familiar 

 palm which seldom bears fruit outside 

 of its native country. 



Another novelty was a Ricinus Zan- 

 zibaronsis 25 ft. high, now three years 

 old. This is cotnmonly grown as an 

 annual but is in reality a perennial. 

 Mr. Koch explained that it rests in 

 winter. 



D. L. Harris, president of the Pul- 

 verized Manure Co. finds so tar that 

 business has not been affected by the 

 European disturbances. He thinks 

 the probabilities are that the growers 

 will find that the use of so much 

 potash is not so necessary as they 

 have been led to believe, but that 

 proper cultivation of the soil will 

 largely take its place. Mr. Harris is 

 very optimistic on the outlook for the 

 fertilizer business in the near future, 

 though now it is more or less affected 

 by local conditions, as in the south 

 owing to the loss of the cotton market. 

 The Pulverized Manure Co. has just 

 completed its third plant, which is 

 located in Kansas City, Mo. The 

 second one is in St. Louis, Mo., while 

 the main plant is here in Chicago. 

 Their manufactured tonnage has been 

 the largest this year in the ten years 

 of their existence. 



A delegation of the St. Louis Asso- 

 ciation of Park Employees and their 

 ladies, numbering twenty-two, visited 

 Chicago, arriving Sunday, July 25th. 

 and leaving for home July 28th. 

 Among the number were General 

 Supt. Ernst Strehle; head gardener 

 for the city of St. Louis, John Moritz: 

 landscape gardener Board of Educa- 

 tion. Hugo Schaff; Supervisor of Play 

 Grounds, Mr. Kidlans. They were 

 met by Rudolph Schiele of the North- 

 side Parks and Wm. O'Carrall of the 

 University of Chicago. Sunday af- 

 ternoon August Koch conducted them 

 through Garfield Park and its conserv- 

 atories. Monday morning a tour of 

 the South Parks was made and Mon- 

 day afternoon they visited Morton 

 Grove and inspected the greenhouse 

 establishment of Poehlmann Bros. 

 Co. The visitors expressed them- 

 selves as much pleased with what 

 Chicago has to offer in the way of 

 parks and public play grounds. 



Chicago is grief stricken over the 

 terrible calamity of the capsized East- 

 land. Florists were singularly free 

 from loss, although some were aboard 

 the boat and some lost relatives. One 

 of the fortunate to escape was Joe 

 Eringer of Zech & Mann's. With his 

 fiancee and four other young ladies he 

 climbed over the rail on to the hull of 

 the boat as it careened to the other 

 side and they made their escape with- 

 out getting into the water at all. Chas. 

 Stehlek who is employed at Concordid 

 Cemetery, lost a son and the young 

 lady who was to have been his bride. 

 Eleanor Hahn, of A. Lange's retail 

 store was among those rescued from 

 the river but her relatives were lost. 

 Wm. Wichtendahl, one of Maywood's 

 growers lost a brother on the boat. 

 Among F. Oechslin's force George 

 Kirchoff was refused admission as the 

 boat was filled and thereby his life 

 was probably saved. The accident, 

 w-hich cost over a thousand lives, 

 naturally made a sudden change 

 in the flower market, and on 

 the afternoon of the same day 

 (Saturday) increased demand for flow- 

 ers began to be noticed. On Sunday 

 It was more apparent and by Monday 

 every florist in the city was making 

 up flowers for the many funerals, 

 which will be held throughout the 

 week. 



BOSTON. 



E. Allan Peirce is entertaining his 

 friend William Whiting of New York 

 City. 



The fishing trip in Boston harbor by 

 a number of the dealers and salesmen 

 in the Flower Exchange has been post- 

 poned until Thursday, August 5. 



.Mr. and Mrs. P. Welch, accompanied 

 by Mr. and .Mrs. T. J. Grey, will start 

 on their western trip on Wednesday, 

 August 4, expecting to reach San Fran- 

 cisco a few days before the Conven- 

 tion date. 



David Welch of Welch Bros., Bos- 

 ton, has returned from his holiday at 

 Rockland, Me., where he indulged lib- 

 erally in his favorite exercise of horse- 

 back riding, looking the picture of ro- 

 bust health and virility. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The C. Young & Sons Co. have 

 bought a new site on Oliver street 

 road. A new range of houses will 

 be built this summer. The old site is 

 now mostly surrounded with buildings 

 and is practically useless for growing 

 and the land is too valuable for this 

 purpose. 



The Retail Florists' Association met 

 July 19 at the Mission Inn Garden. 

 J. P. Ammann was to be the speaker 

 of the evening but Mr. Ammann failed 

 to come. Secretary Weber reports 

 that all the summer meetings will be 

 held at the garden, the next meeting 

 taking place Monday evening, August 

 16. 



San Francisco — July and August are 

 the months holding the records for 

 conventions in San Francisco during 

 the exposition period, August having 

 the largest number and July next. 

 Lodge conventions have brought many 

 visitors the past week and among 

 them are several florists. J. R. Stein- 

 hauser of Pittsburg, Kan., is here with 

 the Shriners and Elks. Carl Baum of 

 Knoxville, Tenn., is here also, as well 

 as Samuel Lundy of Denver. Colo.; 

 R. C. Kerr of Houston, Tex.; Chas. P. 

 Mueller of Wichita, Kan., and Vincent 

 Gorly of St. Louis, Mo., has just left 

 for the southern part of the state after 

 spending several days in San Fran- 

 cisco. He expects to remain in the 

 state until after the S. A. F. conven- 

 tion. 



Mrs. J. Wessell. secretary of the 

 Ladies' California Floral Society, has 

 resumed her duties with Pelicano, 

 Rossi & Co., after a short vacation. 

 She says the women are taking con- 

 siderable interest in their new organ- 

 ization. 



Cincinnati — Mr. and Mrs. J. A. 

 Peterson, Miss Ada Kresken and Law- 

 rence Kresken have signified their in- 

 tention of attending the S. A. F. con- 

 vention and the Frisco Fair. 



Wm. Gear has the formal opening of 

 his new store on Saturday the 31st 

 of this month. 



