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■57- ■ 



Mabch 9, 1016. 



The Florists^ Review 



27 



OBITUARY 



Albert Boper. 



Albert Eoper was attacked in his 

 greenhouse at Tewksbury, Mass., March 

 1, and beaten to death. There were 

 evidences of a terrific struggle. The 

 identity of his assailant has not yet 

 been established, but the police are 

 holding one of Mr. Roper's sons. The 

 news created a great sensation in trade 

 circles in Massachusetts. On every 

 hand expressions of sympathy and deep 

 regret are heard at the untimely pass- 

 ing of one of our ablest growers and 

 most skillful carnation hybridists. 



Mr. Roper was born in England fifty- 

 five years ago and came to America in 

 1880. He first worked for John Jones, 

 Madison, N. J., later going to John N. 

 May's, Summit, N. J. For a time he 

 managed a commercial plant in Albany, 

 N. Y. Later he went to Tewksbury, 

 Mass., as grower for M. A. Patten; 

 from there he went to Shepard Gardens, 

 Lowell, Mass. He started in business 

 at Tewksbury twenty years ago and has 

 always specialized in carnations. 



Fair Maid and other novelties were 

 raised here. Alice Coombs, the winner 

 of quite a number of gold and silver 

 medals, originated here, as did Grace, 

 Commonwealth and other varieties not 

 yet in commerce, but all of merit. A 

 cerise-pink seedling, which was to have 

 been introduced next season, is a won- 

 der and will easily put all existing va- 

 rieties of that shade in the background. 

 Other novelties were coming along, and 

 the writer spent several hours with Mr. 

 Roper the day before his death examin- 

 ing and commenting on these. 



The deceased was a most unassuming 

 man. He was ever ready to impart 

 information regarding his favorite 

 flower. He seemed to have an intuition 

 for desirable crosses and a surprisingly 

 large number of his crosses were valu- 

 able ones. The quality of his flowers 

 was well known and he always secured 

 a fancy price in Boston, where his 

 produce was sold at the Flower Ex- 

 change. Mr. Roper was a member of 

 the American Carnation Society and a 

 regular attendant at its conventions. 

 He was at the St. Louis convention and 

 later visited Richmond, Indianapolis, 

 Chicago and other carnation centers. 

 He was a member of the Gardeners ' and 

 Florists' Club of Boston, and a regular 

 attendant and exhibitor on carnation 

 nights. He leaves a widow, five sons 

 and a daughter. Three sons are in the 

 business and it is hoped they can suc- 

 cessfully carry on their father's estab- 

 lishment, on which he had labored so 

 hard. Funeral services were held in 

 Tewksbury March 5, and, at the wish 

 of the family, were private. There 

 were many beautiful floral tributes 

 from the wholesale flower markets. Gar- 

 deners' and Florists' Club, retailers and 

 many others, testifying the esteem in 

 which he was held. The bearers were 

 Peter Fisher, of Ellis; William Nichol- 

 son, W. R. Nicholson and S. J. God- 

 dard, of Framingham ; Lewis Smith and 

 Louis E. Small, of Tewksbury. 



W. N. Craig. 



Fred. W. Bruenlg. 



(For Obituary Notice 8e« Th« ReTlew for Match 2, page 23.) 



like of which we have not felt for 

 many a day. Genial, unassuming Al- 

 bert Roper, we can hardly realize that 

 we are not to see him again at our con- 

 ventions. We cannot recall a meeting 

 in recent years that he has not attended 

 and he surely will be missed. Truly, 

 the carnation has lost an ardent advo- 

 cate and the American Carnation So- 

 ciety a loyal member and a stanch 

 supporter. May his soul rest in peace. 

 A. F. J. Baur, Sec'y. 



Mrs. J. A. Pettigrew. 



Mrs. J. A. Pettigrew, widow of J. A. 

 Pettigrew, for many years park super- 

 intendent of Boston, died February 26 

 at the home of one of her daughters, 

 in Brooklyn, N. Y., after a short ill- 

 ness from pneumonia, and was interred 

 in that city February 28. All her fam- 

 ily, Dr. R. R. Pettigrew, of Youngstown, 

 0., Mrs. Geo. T. Sisson, Mrs. G. W. 

 Hinckley and Mrs. R. W. Curtis, were 

 present before her death. Mr. Curtis 

 is assistant professor of landscape archi- 

 tecture at Cornell University and had 

 just moved for a three months' stay at 

 Jamaica Plain, Mass., a few days be- 

 fore the death of Mrs. Pettigrew. 



WANTS BLOOMS AT CHRISTMAS. 



When should the seed of Primula 

 malacoides, Schizanthus Wisetonensis, 

 Freesia Purity and F. refracta alba be 

 sown to have plants in bloom for next 

 Christmas! C. W. P.— Can. 



size if started earlier than the date 

 named. You can have plants in as 

 large as 8-inch pots or as small as 5- 

 inch pota from sowings made at the 

 time mentioned. It is well to state, 

 however, that while you can have a few 

 flowers of P. malacoides for Christmas, 

 it is not possible to have presentable 

 plants at so early a date. This variety 

 will not tolerate a warm house. A 

 temperature of 45 degrees at night is 

 ample and in such a temperature it is 

 at its best from January 25 to March 

 15. 



Schizanthus Wisetonensis is another 

 plant needing cool treatment all the 

 time. For Christmas flowering sow the 

 seed August 1. This is not a good 

 Christmas subject. From February 1 

 to April 15 it is to be seen at its best. 



Prqbably you mean bulbs and not 

 seeds of the two freesias named. Plant 

 the bulbs in 8-iiich or 10-inch pans as 

 soon as received in July. Keep in a 

 coldframe until September, then place 

 on a shelf in a house kept at 55 deg^rees 

 at night to flower for Christmas. You 

 will not flower all, but a fair propor- 

 tion should be on time. C. W. 



In the news of the death of Albert 

 Roper, and the manner in which it came 

 about, we have suffered a shock the 



Seeds of Primula malacoides should 

 not be sown earliej than from June 15 

 to July 1. This primula is a rapid 

 grower and will become of unwieldy 



Humboldt, la. — Charles E. Louwerse 

 has moved to Cedar Rapids, where he 

 has hung out his shingle as a landscape 

 gardener. Mr. Louwerse has purchased 

 forty acres of land, part of which will 

 be planted to roses in the spring. 



Fowler, Colo. — Miss Josephine Bige- 

 low, who has been associated with Mrs. 

 M. Coleman in the business of Coleman 

 & Bigelow, has purchased her partner's 

 interest and is doing business under 

 the name of Fairview Greenhouses. 



