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NATIONAL SHOW SETS 



NEW HIGH RECORD 



Philadelphia, with the fourth 8. A. F. exhibition in progress this 

 week, is making a new mark for national shows in America. The quality 

 of the stock exhibited never has been surpassed and the quantity of it is so 

 great as to overtax the capacity of the largesi hall in the city. 





^tTtrc^rnfiME 



HE great 

 progress in 



exhibitign in 



T progress in Philadelphia 

 this week has demon- 

 strated, clearly enough so 

 that all may see, that the 

 problem confronting the 

 S. A. F. in preparing for 

 the Fifth National Flower 

 Show is not one of ex- 

 hibits, of attendance or of 

 balancing financial accounts, but of 

 adequate facilities for holding such 

 large exhibitions as national shows in 

 America now have become. It may be 

 said, of course, that not outside the 

 three big eastern cities, Boston, New 

 York and Philadelphia, which in turn 

 have had the show in spring, is such an 

 exhibition possible, but it is the fact 

 that from the beginning the national 

 flower shows have each shown an ad- 

 vance from every point of view, so 

 that they noW quite eclipse every other 

 trade event in the year in which they 

 are held. It certainly is so in Phila- 

 delphia this week. 



The show that opened in Philadel- 

 phia March 25 was the result of two 

 years of work on the part of a body of 

 men of unusual ability and filled with 

 the determination to spare no effort to 

 make a new mark in flower show an- 

 nals in America. They are succeeding 

 to such a degree that it was found 

 Convention hall is entirely inadequate. 

 Although it is the largest in Philadel- 



phia, the building is filled so full that 

 it is safe to say the show would create 

 a better impression if each exhibit 

 could have been allowed twice as much 

 space. The opportunity for artistic ar- 

 rangement was lacking; the most per- 

 fect specimens of blooming plants were 

 of necessity packed together until their 

 individuality was lost, and even at that 

 the aisle space for the accommodation 

 of those who pay the admission fee is 

 much less than it should be. 



Loss of Two Sundays. 



Perhaps the exceptional sucfeess the 

 show is scoring is in part due to a 

 series of fortunate circumstances that 

 cannot be relied on for the future. At 

 any rate, everything has been in favor 

 of the exhibition except the city police 

 administration. The show was opened 

 on Saturday afternoon for the purpose 

 of including Sunday, March 26, and it 

 was planned to keep it open to include 

 Sunday, April 2, mindful of the splen- 

 did Sunday crowds obtained in other 

 cities. But these plans were made 

 without consultation with the authori- 

 ties. At the last moment the opening 

 of the doors on the Sabbath was for- 

 bidden by the police because of a city 

 ordinance forbidding entertainments 

 charging an admission fee on Sunday. 

 The order came so late that news of it 

 could not be generally disseminated. 

 Sunday was a rarely beautiful spring 



day and in the afternoon many thou- 

 sands thronged to the hall, 50-cent piece 

 in hand, only to be turned away by 

 the police. Only members of the 

 S. A. F. were admitted. Chairman 

 Asmus places the loss in revenue at 

 $5,000 for the day. Others put it 

 higher. 



Efficient Management. 



Convention hall is nearly a half- 

 hour's ride by street car from the cen- 

 ter of the city, but any handicap there- 

 by imposed seems to have been fully 

 overcome by the splendid publicity the 

 show has had and is having. The ad- 

 vertising end was placed in the hands 

 of W. F. Therkildson, publicity man of 

 the Burpee organization, and the result 

 has been an exploitation the like of 

 which no flower show ever has known. 

 Hundreds of columns of text and 

 whole pages of pictures have appeared 

 in the newspapers and it is safe to say 

 every person in Philadelphia who can 

 read is aware the flower show is in 

 town this week. Of course the at- 

 tendance is large, the hall being well 

 filled from the moment the doors were 

 opened. A. Herrington, of Madison, 

 N. J., is superintendent, assisted by 

 Guy W. French and Joseph Beaver, of 

 Chicago. They had everything ready 

 at the opening hour, when addresses 

 were made by several prominent Phila- 

 delphians interested in floriculture and 



Pint Prize Orchid Group of the JuUin Roebn G)., at the Natioaal Flower Show thb Week. 



