16 



HORTICULTURE 



July 3, 1920 



FLORISTS OF CLEVELAND 



Men and Women Who Will be Hosts 

 of the S. A. F. 



Naturally the attention of florists all 

 over the country is now focused on 

 Cleveland where the next convention 

 Is to be held. As it happens, many 

 of the Cleveland florists are already 

 well known to the trade in general, 

 and there is no doubt but what they 

 will make excellent hosts. Mr. H. P. 

 Merrick, writing in the June number 

 of the Journal of the Society of Amer- 

 ican Florists, discusses somewhat at 

 length a number of the less known 

 florists of Cleveland and vicinity. The 

 following are interesting excerpts 

 from his article: 



"Uniquely situated in the apex of a 

 flat-iron building is the retail store of 

 the Jones-Russell Co. Almost sur- 

 rounded by glass, this store has the 

 novel effect of a huge showcase en- 

 closing a bower of beauty. Owing to 

 the expiration of their lease in the 

 near future, the company have been 

 compelled to seek a new home, and an 

 admirable location has been found in 

 the magnificent new Hanna building 

 now nearing completion. It is their 

 desire and purpose to so arrange the 

 equipment of this store that it will 

 take its place, without question, as 

 one of the beautiful flower establish- 

 ments in America. 



"As recent as fourteen years ago, 

 Herman P. Knoble was engaged in 

 the hardware business, but realizing 

 the possibility of applying modern ef- 

 ficiency methods to the retail flower 

 business, which held for him a strong 

 attraction. Mr. Knoble, launched the 

 firm of Knoble Bros., with a force of 

 four employees, which has since In- 

 creased to an organization of thirty. 

 Approaching the business with unus- 

 ual breadth of vision, Mr. Knoble, now 

 a director of the S. A. P., enjoys a na- 

 tional reputation as one of the lead- 

 ers in the business, and is recognized 

 as an authority upon publicity and 

 selling methods. 



"The "Woolworth of the floral busi- 

 ness' is the sobriquet not misapplied 

 to Al. Barber, for he has achieved re- 

 nown by applying the chain system 

 to his flower stores, of which he now 

 operates six, three in Cleveland, and 

 one each in Akron, Youngstown and 

 Warren. With the recently acquired 

 Calhoun property on Euclid avenue 

 he has added to his facilities a range 

 of greenhouses, among them an at- 

 tractive show house fronting on Eu- 



clid avenue. The sign, 'Park Flower 

 Shop' upon a store indicates that it is 

 one of the links in Mr. Barber's chain. 



"Prom a never-failing fount of 

 friendliness, Asher M. Coe radiates 

 good-wili and the perennial sunshine 

 of his countenances beams forth 

 wherever there is held a gathering of 

 national importance to the florists. 

 Measured solely by extent of glass, 

 Mr. Coe's range of greenhouses, in the 

 rural suburb. North Olmstead, is less 

 impressive than many of our modern 

 'flower factories,' but the quantity and 

 quality of the stock produced is a 

 marvel to all who behold. 



'No, Captain' John Kirchner does 

 not sail the seas, for the prefixed title 

 relates to the fleet of White trucks 

 which he commands. One of Cleve- 

 land's most up-to-date florist's. Mr. 

 Kirchner conducts growing houses on 

 Greene road, and a splendidly ap- 

 pointed store on Quincy avenue. Not 

 the least lucrative department of Mr. 

 Kirchner's business is the renting of 

 palms for decorative purposes. 



"Last, but very far from being 

 least, Cleveland boasts a galaxy of 

 stars — or shall we say a garland of 

 American Beauties — in a goodly list 

 of women florists. The equality of 

 the sexes is well exemplified by the 

 acme of success which many of these 

 ladies have attained. Familiar names 

 among the feminine members of the 

 florists' cult are Miss Hester Getz. 

 Mrs. Mercer, Mrs. Schott, Miss Dunn, 

 the 'Misses O'Connor, Miss Christine 

 and Mrs. Vopat. 



"At Mentor are the Merkle Brothers, 

 who. like most of our commercial 

 growers, embarked upon their enter- 

 prise many years ago, with a very 

 modest beginning. Their greenhouses 



range today is one of the largest in 

 the vicinity of Cleveland, and while 

 formerly it was devoted to the grow- 

 ing of potted plants and ferns, a 

 large extension was built several 

 years ago to provide facilities for the 

 growing of cut flowers. 



"Prominent also is the name of Carl 

 Hagenberger, and his plant estab- 

 lished at Mentor is famed as the 

 home of the Cleveland Chen'y. 



"Several years ago the Cleveland 

 Cut Flower Co., composed of Frank 

 Williams and the genial Bate brothers, 

 George, Herbert and Guy, dismantled 

 their large greenhouse range at East 

 Cleveland and rebuilt it in a modern 

 manner upon property which had 

 been acquired at Newton Falls for 

 this purpose, and upon which they 

 had adready erected three rose houses, 

 each 50 feet wide by 400 feet long. 

 Newton Falls, a small and somnolent 

 town, was selected because of its su- 

 perior climatic conditions and the ab- 

 sence of manufacturing industries 

 and their attendant smoke and con- 

 gestion. 



"Just a few doors from the store of 

 the Cleveland Cut Flower Co., is the 

 wholesale store of the Cleveland 

 Plant & Flower Company, conducted 

 by Walter C. Priest and S. H. Ber- 

 thold. Mr. Priest is also vice-presi- 

 dent of the Brookline Floral Co., 

 operating a large range of glass on 

 Pearl Road. A number of these 

 greenhouses were rebuilt last year 

 after having been demolished by a 

 cyclone. 



"Among the several wholesale 

 branches recently established in vari- 

 ous cities by the McCallura Co., is 

 that of the Cleveland-McCallum Co., 

 under the management of James Mac- 



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