OCTOBBB 11, 1917. 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



ment was for me to take hold of the 

 active management. I knew absolutely 

 nothing about the business, and, in fact, 

 there were a great many of the com- 

 mon flowers that I did not even know 

 by name. I realized that I was up 

 against a tough proposition, but I im- 

 mediately subscribed for the two trade 

 papers which were then being published 

 and sat up nights to read anything 

 and everything that I could get hold 

 of that had any bearing on the florists' 

 business. 



"No one needs to be told that at 

 the start I met with a great many ex- 

 pensive failures. In addition to my 

 reading I made it a point to travel 

 as extensively as I felt I could afford 

 and visited the prosperous florists' es- 

 tablishments in the different parts of 

 the country. I have been a pretty reg- 

 ular attendant at the meetings of the 

 Society of American Florists and the 

 American Carnation Society and be- 

 lieve that these various trips have been 

 productive of a great deal of good to 

 me. In fact, I believe they have been 

 the best expended dollars that I have 

 spent in the florists' business." 



In September, 1904, Mr. Seaman died 

 suddenly. Mr. Valentine took over the 

 active management of the estate's in- 

 terest in the concern and reorganized 

 it on the cooperative plan. Several of 

 the employees of the company were al- 

 lowed to acquire small blocks of stock. 

 At the time Mr. Valentine said he be- 

 lieved that a largo part of the success 

 of the company was due to the spirit 

 of loyalty among its employees. Since 

 that time the company has continued 

 its earlier success and is now one of the 

 most prosperous establishments in the 

 country. 



Mr. Valentine's trips to the S. A. F. 

 convention, brought him into contact 

 with the prominent florists of the coun- 

 try, wlio soon recognized his excep- 

 tional ability. Several times he was 

 called upon to read papers before the 

 society and at its 1908 convention, hold 

 at Niagara Falls, he was elected its 

 ])resident, serving during the follow- 

 ing year with distinguislied success. 



That Mr. Valentine did not long re- 

 main ignorant of flowers and tlicir cul- 

 ture after lie set out to learn about 

 them, is shown by the fact that in 

 1906 he road a technical paper before 

 the American Carnation Society at its 

 meeting in Boston. Five years later 

 he was elected president of the society 

 and since liad l)een active in its affairs. 



It was Mr. Valentine who conceived 

 the idea wliich developed into the Flo- 

 rists' Telcgiaph Delivery Association, 

 in January, 1910. He was made tenijio- 

 rary president at the preliminary meet- 

 ing, and when the organization was 

 perfected, in August of the same year, 

 he was made its first president, serving 

 several terms. 



Aside from his activities in florists' 

 organizations, Mr. Valentine was prom- 

 inent in Den\'er civic societies. He was 

 a member of the Denver Rotary Club, 

 and consequently was the Rotary florist 

 of Denver, and of the Denver Civic 

 -Vssociation. 



Mr. Valentine is survived by Iiis wife 

 and fatlier. 



Mr. Valentine was a man of many 

 unusual qualities, possessed of a keenly 

 analytical and well trained brain that 

 made his counsel much sought among 

 tlie trade. For instance, lie was tlie 

 author of tlie F. T. D. constitution and 



J. A. Valentine. 



by-laws and . of the new code of the 

 Florists' Hail Association, adopted so 

 recently as last August. His personal 

 qualities endeared him to all who came 

 in contact with him and every man in 

 the trade will feel a sense of personal 

 loss in his death. 



The funeral was held at St. John's 

 Cathedral at 1 p. m. Wednesday, Octo- 

 ber 10, following private services for 

 the family at tlie home. Burial was at 

 Fairmont cemetery. Among the out-of- 

 town florists ])resent were W. N. Rudd, 

 of Cliicago, Frank Crump and Edward 

 Johnson, of Colorado Springs. Practi- 

 cally every member of the trade in 

 Denver was there and tlie floral pieces 

 Avere extremely numerous and fine. 

 From all parts of the country the fam- 

 ily and the Park Floral Co. have re- 

 ceived tolcgrains and otlier messages of 

 sympathy. The obituary resolutions 

 committee of tlie Society of American 

 Florists was one of the first heard from 

 in tliis respect. 



LANCASTER, PA. 



Club Visits Vincents. 

 October 4, the Lancaster county 

 florists visited the dahlia show at the 

 farm of the R. Vincent, Jr., & Sons 

 Co., at White Marsh, Md. If it had not 

 rained at the start, tliere would easily 

 liave been twenty automohilos, but even 

 as it was, there were eiglit machines 

 in line. The weather cleared later and 

 we soon had a perfect October day. The 

 route lay through Conowingo, Bel Air 

 and Perry Hall, and the country was 

 resplendent with its autumn glory. 



At the Vincent farm seventy-five 

 acres were a mass of dahlia blooms, 

 and the wonderful showing of cut 

 dahlias in the potting sheds was en- 

 joyed by more than 6,000 persons dur- 

 ing October 3 and 4. 



R. Vincent, Jr., showed our party 

 over the place. The trial grounds of 

 the new varieties of dahlias were most 

 interesting. The new dahlia, King of 

 tlie Autumn, a beautiful sliade of burnt 

 umber, was the most admired of all. 

 Other choice varieties were ]Mme. Van 

 Loon, A. C. Ide, Oregon Beauty, Minnie 

 Burgle, Beloit, Flamingo, Hortulanus 

 Fiet. Mr. Vincent said that the three 

 greatest blooming dahlias are Lons- 

 dale, Mrs. C. L. Seybold and Jack's 

 Discovery. Dahlias as ]ilants for bed- 

 ding out were new to most of us, but 

 we were delighted with a large oval 

 bed of a single scarlet dalilia which 

 had bronze foliage and was about thirtv 

 inches in heiglit. 



Those in the party were: Mr. and 

 Mrs. Alljort M. Herr, Mr. and Mrs. 

 Elmer J. W^eaver, Mr. and ;Mrs. Frank 

 L. Kohr, Mr. and Mrs. J. Wade Gay- 

 ley, Mr. and Mrs. J. De Barry Heintsh, 

 Mr. and Mrs. Fred Spinner, Mr. and 

 Mrs. Wissler, Miss Weaver, Miss Eliza- 

 beth Kohr, Miss Harnish, II. K. Rohrer. 

 A. K. Rohrer, Amos N. Rohrer, Robert 

 Kohr, T. J. Nolan, Jonas Shank and 

 party and David Shank and party. 



Leaving White Marsh at 3 p. m., the 

 jtarty returned to Lancaster pleased 

 with the Vincent hospitality and the 

 outing. H. K. R. 



