r ■'^'' 



r.v ( v^'-' ";^^ ■ - ■'•■>* •:•:■-:, Vy, 



•J - J* 'V "' 



._j|.,. 



JDLT 6, 1916. 



Jli*< 



The Florists' Review 



17 



OBITUARY 



Walter P. Stokes. 



Walter P. Stokes, of Moorestown, 

 N. J., died July 1, at Moosehead Lake, 

 Me., where he went early in the sum- 

 mer in the hope of benefiting his fail- 

 ing health. 



Walter P. Stokes was one of the 

 best known seedsmen in America, a man 

 of conservative disposition and pains- 

 taking methods, who won the confidence 

 of all with whom he had dealings. He 

 was born in Philadelphia, in 1856, and 

 spent the greater part of his life with- 

 in that city. His first employment was 

 in the grocery trade, where he came in 

 contact with market gardeners and at 

 length began to supply and be de- 

 pended on for special strains of seeds. 

 Herbert W. Johnson then was manager 

 for C. G. Eogers, a pioneer in the seed 

 business in Philadelphia. In 1882, 

 when Mr. Stokes was 26 years of age, 

 the partnership of Johnson & Stokes 

 was formed and a retail seed store 

 opened at 1104 Market street, the 

 wholesaling of seeds being a natural 

 development of the reputation for sup- 

 plying dependable stock; Mr. Stokes be- 

 came known for the painstaking ac- 

 curacy of the firm's catalogues, which 

 he wrote. When this partnership ex- 

 pired by limitation, July 1, 1906, the 

 business occupied a double store at 217 

 and 219 Market street and was con- 

 tinued as two separate concerns, the 

 store being divided, the one at 219 Mar- 

 ket street being known as Stokes Seed 

 Store and the one at 217 Market street 

 as the Johnson Seed Co. Of the latter 

 Herbert W. Johnson was president and 

 Cliflford Phillip secretary and treasur- 

 er. Mr. Phillip was succeeded by Mr. 

 Johnson's two sons, but the company 

 went into involuntary bankruptcy July 

 19, 1915. 



Operating along modern lines, Stokes 

 Seed Store established a trial grounds 

 at Moorestown, N. J. Here seed 

 growing became of constantly in- 

 creasing importance. In the course of 

 time the Philadelphia retail business 

 was discontinued and a wholesale and 

 market gardeners' trade conducted 

 from Moorestown under the title of 

 Stokes Seed Farms Co., Inc. With the 

 season of 1916 a largely increased acre- 

 age was put out, of pepper, eggplant, 

 kale, okra, radish, tomato, spinach, 

 turnip, sweet corn and field corn. 



For many years Mr. Stokes was ac- 

 tive in the affairs of the American Seed 

 Trade Association, being elected as its 

 president in 1902. He occupied the 

 chair at the twenty-first annual conven- 

 tion, held at Atlantic City the following 

 year. 



Thomas Wilson. 



Men old in the trade in Massachu- 

 setts will learn with regret of the death 

 of Thomas Wilson, once a well known 

 florist at Newburyport, where he also 

 was prominently identified with the Ma- 

 sonic fraternity 



Mr. Wilson was 68 years of age. As 

 a young man he was one of the pioneer 

 florists of eastern Massachusetts, but 

 about thirty-five years ago he removed 

 to Grass Valley, Cal., where he again 

 made a reputation as a florist and was 

 appointed superintendent of the grounds 



connected with the state agricultural 

 school at Davisville, Cal., where he re- 

 mained until failing health made it 

 necessary for him to take up a less 

 exacting position. The interment was 

 at Grass Valley. 



L. A. King. 



L. A. King, aged 58 years, expired 

 suddenly June 27, in front of the 

 armory of the Monticello guards at 

 Charlottesville, Va., where he had 

 gone to join in the send-off given the 

 local military company on the eve of 

 its departure for the frontier. He is 

 survived by his wife, who was Miss 

 Lena L. Mallory, of Ashland, and two 

 daughters, Mrs. Marguerite Weatherby, 

 of Rocky Mount, N. C, and Miss Olive 

 King, of Richmond. Interment was at 

 Richmond, Va., June 29. 



Eugene J. Ferrari. 



Eugene J. Ferrari, a member of the 

 firm of Ferrari Bros., growers at San 



Francisco, Cal., died June 26 at a sana- 

 torium at Los Gatos, Cal. The deceased 

 was a native of Italy, but spent most 

 of his life in this country. Besides his 

 brothers, Emile and Peter, who were 

 associated with him in the business, he 

 is survived by a wife, a daughter and 

 another brother, Louis Ferrari. 



wmiam BaU. 



William Ball, 89 years of age, for 

 many years a florist at Spuyten Duyvil, 

 N. Y., died June 23, at his home, 2422 

 University avenue, New York city. 



BUSINESS EMBABBASSMENTS. 



New York, N. Y.— Ralph A. Bell, Nat 

 P. Whitley and Nathan Sternberg, trad- 

 ing as the Bell Rosery, at 2654 Broad- 

 way, have made an assignment to 

 C. Edward Benoit. 



Worcester, Mass. — John U. Gibbons 

 has been declared bankrupt. His liabil- 

 ities were $662 and assets $271. 



Newcastle, Ind. — Myer Heller, of the 

 South Park Floral Co., who also con- 

 ducts the largest department store here, 

 that of the Kahn-Heller Co., has been 

 elected president of the Indiana Retail 

 Dry Goods Association. 



Elkhart, Ind. — Mrs. Emily E. Weaver, 

 82 years of age, died July 3, at the 

 home of her daughter, Mrs. E. M. Bul- 

 lock, who is well known in the trade, 

 being a regular attendant at S. A. F. 

 conventions and large flower shows. 



Wheeling, W. Va.— Frederick Wher- 

 ley, manager of the Virginia Flower 

 Shop, is conducting a tour of northern 

 United States and southeastern Canada. 

 A large number of teachers of the 

 Wheeling schools and others are mak- 

 ing th^ trip under Mr. Wherley's aus- 

 pices. 



Knoxville, Tenn. — The Knoxville Flo- 

 rists' Society will hold its third annual 

 picnic July 6, at Elkmont, Tenn., a 

 mountain summer resort about seventy 

 miles from Knoxville. A special train 

 has been chartered for the occasion and 

 the picnickers will leave the city early 

 in the morning and expect to have a 

 fine time. 



Hampton, la. — E. Curtis, proprietor 

 of the Curtis Floral Co., has sold his 

 business interests here to C. H. Hollied, 

 who took possession July 1. Mr. Curtis, 

 who has been in business in Hampton 

 for fourteen years, has removed to Web- 

 ster City, where he will take charge 

 of his greenhouses, which he formerly 

 leased to other parties. Mr. Hollied 

 formerly was superintendent of the city 

 parks of Springfield, Mo., and taught 

 gardening in the public schools there. 



Camden, N. J. — F. R. Matsinger, who 

 conducted a florists' business at 

 Palmyra for twenty years, located in 

 the city last winter, at 2734 Concord 

 avenue, starting with a Lord & Burn- 

 ham house, 20x80 feet. 



Geneseo, HI.— The Tyner Floral Co. 

 has discontinued business, having sold 

 its property and business to W. G. 

 Thomas, of Sheffield. Mr. and Mrs. 

 Tyner are visiting relatives at Indian- 

 apolis and probably will remain in the 

 Indiana capital. 



St. Paul, Minn. — For the midsummer 

 festival at Lake Phalen June 24 there 

 was a parade of 300 decorated automo- 

 biles, some of them making good work 

 for the florists. For instance, on one 

 of the cars Holm & Olson used 2,300 

 peonies, with three cases of huckleberry 

 for green. 



Plymouth, Ind. — F. A. Forbes reports 

 that in his section of the Hoosier state 

 the season now closing has been an er- 

 ratic one, both as to weather and busi- 

 ness. It has been difficult to foretell 

 the needs of each week — hard to order 

 just enough and not too much. Not- 

 withstanding, business has averaged 

 well in comparison with that of pre- 

 vious years. 



Carthage, Mo. — Each spring the peo- 

 ple of Carthage go to Sarcoxie to view 

 the peony fields of the Oronogo Flower 

 Gardens. It is an annual affair, and 

 the roads are thronged with automobiles 

 on Sundays during the blooming period. 

 The cool weather this year prolonged 

 the season of peonies for several days 

 and large cuts were shipped to nearby 

 cities. The Oronogo Flower Gardens 

 also operate greenhouses. 



