16 



The Florists' Review 



Fbbrdaby 8, 1917. 



and doubtless would have been present 

 this time had they the least idea of the 

 great treat, floricultural and gastronom- 

 ical, prepared for and enjoyed by those 

 fortunate enough to be present. 



Carl Hagenburger, of Mentor, O., 

 showed a few plants of his dwarf sola- 

 nuin, which were covered with berries. 

 This variety is sure to find favor. 



Van Bochove & Bro., of Kalamazoo, 

 Mich., sent their grower, A. Westveer, 

 just to see what was beiiig done by 

 others. ' ' For, ' ' observed Mr. West- 

 veer, "this is the grandest object lesson 

 to the grower who is interested in the 

 new varieties. The grower notes the 

 product, quizzes the introducer, and 

 should — if he is the right sort — learn 

 enough to more than pay for the expense 

 incurred on the trip.'' 



The charming display of sweet peas 

 staged by Peter Weiland, of Newcastle, 

 Ind., was the center of attraction. John 

 Dunlop, in commenting on the lovely 

 bunch of Rose Queen, incidentally men- 

 tioned that he is trying out eleven va- 

 rieties of Yarrawa type and looks for 

 big results. Discussing the frequent 

 failure of sweet pea seeds to germinate, 

 Mr. Dunlop says they usually soak the 

 seeds for twenty-four hours, and if the 

 skin is hard crack it. The grower then 

 invariably obtains almost a full per- 

 centage of germination, especially so in 

 whites, the ehyest to seed and the hard- 

 est to sprout. 



John Bertermann remarked that he is 

 not worrying about foreign valley pips, 

 as he has been successful in raising his 

 own stock. 



It was a felicitous moment when, dur- 

 ing the visit to the Hill establishments 

 at Richmond, a member of the party sug- 

 gested the name Columbia for a lovely 

 debutante rose of next year. The sug- 

 g stion was immediately adopted and 

 later pledged at the gathering at the 

 Country Club, coupling it with the name 

 of its popular owner, E. G. Hill. Red 

 Rover, a glowing crimson, is to be in- 

 troduced at the same time; an escort, 

 as it were. Other beautiful seedlings 

 were noted, from pure white through 

 the loveliest tints and shades to deep 

 crimson, some of perfect form and lack- 

 ing in fragrance, others the reverse. 



The unanimous verdict was that right 

 here is found much that goes to make 

 the queen of flowers so justly popular. 

 Mr. Hill later in a postprandial talk 

 urged those present to equally interest 

 themselves in the advancement of the 

 divine flower, as he was doing with the 

 rose. W. M. 



Continuing the Discussion. 



The twenty-sixth annual meeting of 

 the American Carnation Society, as re- 

 gards number and quality of exhibits, 

 undoubtedly was the most successful 

 ever held. One of the outstanding im- 

 pressions was that of the prevailing 

 good fellowship and unity of interest 

 among members. It would seem that 

 the business meetings are not attended 

 by all of the visiting members, as they 

 should be. Many of the members lose 

 the best part of these conventions by 

 not attending the meetings and enter- 

 ing into the general discussions. While 

 the social side of our conventions should 

 not be lost sight of, it would seem im- 

 portant, if the carnation growers are 

 desirous of placing the flower back on 

 the pedestal of popular favor, that they 

 should not neglect the educational side, 

 including those opportunities for an ex- 

 change of ideas that are open to the 

 members at these meetings. 



The discussion on the marketing of 

 carnations was both vigorous and to the 

 point and brought out many valuable 

 ideas. It is quite evident that both the 

 growers and the wholesalers can in many 

 instances improve their methods of han- 

 dling carnations, to the end that they 

 go into the hands of the buyers in proper 

 condition. The lack of demand for car- 

 nations does not seem to be due to any 

 lack of varieties possessing all the ad- 

 mirable qualities of size, color, fragrance 

 and keeping qualities, but is due more to 

 the smaller margin of profit realized in 

 the handling than is possible with roses 

 and, in fact, many other flowers han- 

 dled by the retailer. Would it not be 

 well for the retailer to demand only the 

 l)i'st in quality, when buying, and then 

 ask a price that will give him a proper 

 margin of profit f It is a well known 

 fact that the better grades of carnations 

 liave sold at a lower price than they 



should, when cost of production is taken 

 into consideration. If the retailer will 

 put a ban on the poorer grades of car- 

 nations, at the same time showing a 

 willingness to pay the grower a fair 

 price for quality, and insist on stock that 

 has been properly cut, packed and han- 

 dled by both grower and wholesaler, he 

 will soon force both grower and whole- 

 saler to deliver, carnations that will 

 bring a price commensurate with the 

 quality. True, this will force an im- 

 mense number of carnations into the 

 hands of the street peddlers at a low 

 price and would mean practically no re- 

 turns to the growers of poor stock, but 

 it would seem that if the carnation is 

 to retain its proper degree of popularity 

 with the buying public the large num- 

 ber of growers of uniformly inferior 

 stock are due to receive the jolt of find- 

 ing their stock practically unsalable. I 

 believe the wholesale men could do a 

 great deal to aid by notifying their con- 

 signors immediately on the reception of 

 poor grade stock that the stock in ques- 

 tion is practically unsalable, and im- 

 pressing upon their consignors that ship- 

 ments of such stock will not pay for 

 the express and commission for selling. 



H. E. Humiston. 



A CLUB AT COLUMBUS. 



Thirteen enthusiastic florists assem- 

 bled at the Neil House on the evening of 

 January 29 and formed what will be 

 known as the Columbus Florists' Club. 

 After several hours of lively discussion, 

 it was agreed that the club be conducted 

 on a business basis, the object of the 

 organization being to study all phases 

 of the business, but particularly adver- 

 tising, selling and growing. At each of 

 the meetings, which are scheduled to be 

 held twice a month, a paper prepared by 

 a member on any subject of interest to 

 the trade will be read. At different times 

 arrangements will be made with promi- 

 nent florists of other cities to address 

 the club members on florists' problems. 



The following were elected officers 

 for one year: President, Alfred C. 

 Hottes, professor in floriculture of the 

 Ohio State University; vice-president, 

 Walter Stephens, of S. F. Stephens & 

 Son; secretary, A. Munk, of Munk Flo- 

 ral Co.; treasurer, Walter Engel, super- 

 intendent of the Munk Floral Co. range. 

 The various committees and the work of 

 the committees will be worked out by 

 the officers before the next meeting. 



Memberships in the club will be lim- 

 ited to proprietors, managers and ad- 

 vanced students of floriculture. Any 

 candidate for membership present at 

 the next meeting will be admitted. 

 Thereafter new members will be elect- 

 ed, as customary. The fee for charter 

 members will be $1, after which the en- 

 trance fee will be $5, with 50 cents 

 monthly dues. 



New Carnation Radium in Tabic Decoration by Claypool Hotel Flor'st. 



Emporia, Kan. — Mrs. E. R. Lewis has 



leased her Cliarlsen Flower Shop and 

 for the time being is taking a vacation. 



Mantorville, Minn. — W. E. Fryer has 

 raised numerous seedling phloxes and 

 has produced three new varieties that 

 are said to be of surpassing merit. 



Lisbon, O. — John Scott has been un- 

 dergoing special treatment at a Cleve- 

 land hospital for a serious skin trouble 

 on the face. Mr. Scott has suffered from 

 a disease of the skin for a number of 

 years, but during the last few months it 

 has grown much worse. 



