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AFTERMATH OF THE 



CARNATION MEETING 



By unanimous consent, last week's meeting and exhibition of the 

 American Carnation Society is put on record as one of the most suc- 

 cessful in the history of the organization, interest, attendance and quality 

 all being higher than in recent years. A mark set for Boston to emulate 



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N many respects the Indian- 

 apolis meeting of the 

 American Carnation So- 

 ciety, held last week, was 

 the best in years, but the 

 finest feature of it, prob- 

 ably, was the fact that so 

 many different people par- 

 ticipated. Anyone reading 

 the list of prize-winners 

 in last week 's issue of The Eeview could 

 not fail to note the unusual number of 

 growers awarded premiums — there was 

 no walk-away. No matter how fine it is 

 for the individual to sweep the decks, 

 it adds perceptibly to the general inter- 

 est when the premiums are well divided. 

 Facetiously, this was called the home 

 meeting of the Indiana Carnation So- 

 ciety — vice-president, secretary and 

 treasurer were Hoosiers, and the presi- 

 dent came from a contiguous state. Per- 

 haps it had its effect in bringing out the 

 local growers, but at any rate more of 

 them exhibited than usual and most of 

 them feel well repaid for it by the prizes 

 they took. 



The Meetings. 



In the meetings, 

 also, the general 

 participation was a 

 distinct stimulus to 

 the interest. The 

 elimination of long 

 essays and the sub- 

 stitution of extem- 

 poraneous discus- 

 cuss i o n bro^ight 

 many members to 

 their feet with a 

 few words on one 

 I'oiiit or another 

 and made the ses- 

 sions bright and 

 snappy. 



While it was vot- 

 ed to hold the next 

 annual meeting at 

 the usual date in 

 1918, at Boston, it 

 was decided to ac- 

 cept an invitation 

 of the Society of 

 American Florists 

 to participate in the 

 National Flower 

 Sliow at St. Louis in 

 the spring of that 

 year, the S. A. F. 

 placing $1,000 in 

 premium monov at 

 the disposal of the 

 society. The result, 



The full list of premiums awarded 

 in the exhibition, the election of 

 officers, with their portraits, com- 

 ment on the new varieties, reports 

 of officers, etc., appeared in The 

 Review for February 1. 



therefore, will be that the east and the 

 west both will have a chance next year 

 to work up a carnation show as interest- 

 ing as the Indiana one was. 



The announced discussion of the 

 "yellows" disease of carnations was 

 led by Prof. Lempke, of the florists' ex- 

 periment station at the University of 

 Illinois. Eichard Witterstaetter told of 

 his experience with the variety Mrs. 

 Valentine, having nearly lost the stock 

 at one time by this disease. He found 

 that the best way to grow the jdants 



Table Decoration of Carnation Cottage Maid Arranged by the Hill Floral Co. 



was in pots during the summer. Charles 

 S. Strout stated that he experienced 

 most trouble with Pink Delight. A. F. J. 

 Baur described an experiment in which 

 he took a dozen plants of each of sev- 

 eral varieties, heavily feeding the eleven 

 but leaving the other in the natural soil 

 of early fall. In each case the eleven 

 became diseased and the one plant con- 

 tinued healthy, convincing him to a cer- 

 tain extent that improper nutrition has 

 a great deal to do with the yellows. 

 After feeding some of these diseased 

 plants one kind of food and others a 

 different kind, some became better and 

 others worse, which has partially proven 

 to him that the proper nourishment will 

 overcome this disease. 



The Market. 



Nothing that has come up at a trade 

 convention in recent years has been of 

 greater interest to those concerned than 

 was the discussion of the demand for 

 carnations and the methods by which 

 they are marketed. It has been assert- 

 ed many times of late that the de- 

 mand for carnations 

 is decreasing, but 

 there have been 

 emphatic denials 

 that this is the case. 

 W. A. Clarke, of the 

 Pittsburgh Cut 

 Flower Co., started 

 the ball rolling. He 

 believes the demand 

 is less vigorous than 

 it was and he places 

 the responsibility 

 for it on the grow- 

 ers. He thinks the 

 carnation of today 

 does not have the 

 keeping qualities of 

 those of some years 

 ago and that they 

 have lost a great 

 percentage of their 

 fragrance. He also 

 })lamed the growers 

 for rough handling 

 and careless pack- 

 ing, causing the 

 flowers to be in bad 

 condition when they 

 reach the market. 

 David Ward disa- 

 greed, saying he be- 

 lieves most of the 

 rough handling is 

 done by the commis- 

 sion merchant. He 

 also stated that the 



