January 2, 1919. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



OEIiEBRATE CHBISTllIAS. 



Some Overseas; Others on tlie Job. 



Christmas found many members of 

 the trade back on the job after periods 

 in the service overseas or at the train- 

 ing camps in this country. It undoubt- 

 edly was far from a cheerful Christmas 

 for those whom the ocean separated 

 from their homes^ but it was a busy one 

 for those who had returned. Becent 

 news letters in The Eeview have report- 

 ed that hundreds of the florists who 

 were in the camps here have returned. 

 Several are back from overseas and, as 

 the troop movements across the ocean 

 are becoming larger, it will not be long 

 before a majority of our florist-fighters 

 will have resumed their peace-time oc- 

 cupations. 



James Alva Gain. 



James Alva Gain, second son of W. 

 A. Gain, seedsman and florist, Astoria, 

 111., died at Urbana, 111., December 8, 

 at the age of 20 years, of pneumonia 

 following influenza. He enlisted in the 

 Students' Army Training Corps Octo- 

 ber 1 and was a member of Headquar- 

 tera Company I, at the University of 

 Illinois. This youthful patriot was 

 earnest and studious in his work and 

 anxious to be of service to his coun- 

 try. He intended to take the 4-year 

 course in agriculture at the University 

 of Illinois. He was possessed of marked 

 ability and had been a valuable assist- 

 ant to his father in business. 



In the Motor Corps. 



Harry J. Hamm, who at the time he 

 started in business at Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 was the youngest retailer in that city, 

 enlisted in the Motor Bepair Service 

 of the Quartermaster's Department, U. 

 8. A., May 19, 1918, and served until 

 the armistice put an end to hostilities. 



Corp* Harry J. Hamm. 



While he is away Allen J. Hamm is con- 

 ducting the business. 



Levlne Brings Souvenir. 



When the steamer George Washing- 

 ton arrived at New York December 23 

 one of those who were glad to see the 

 statue of Liberty again was Corporal 

 Morris H. Levine, who is widely known 

 among florists by reason of his years 

 of itinerancy. Corporal Levine brought 

 a souvenir from France, a piece of Ger- 

 man shrapnel. Also he walked with a 

 crutch. The New York Herald took his 

 picture and that of the piece of shrap- 

 nel. They appeared in the paper the 

 day before Christmas. 



Sergeant Woodruff Safe. 



Sergeant Stiles D. Woodruff, of 

 Orange, Conn., son of Watson S. Wood- 

 ruff, has been heard from since the sign- 

 ing of the armistice. He was located 

 on the Verdun front during the last nine 

 days of active artillery engagement. He 

 is a member of the 302nd Field Artil- 

 lery and was exceedingly active up to 

 the stroke of eleven o'clock November 

 11. He reports a most intensely inter- 

 esting experience, came through with- 

 out a scratch and is well and happy. 



Sergeant Frank Gain. 



Sergeant Frank Gain, eldest son of 

 W. A. Gain, Astoria, 111., won honors 

 November 25, for which his experience 

 in the trade aided him to qualify. He 

 was assigned to special work superin- 

 tending the planting of six acres of 

 "spuds," which yielded a crop that 

 was marketed for $3,800. His success 

 in this work was rewarded by a silver 

 medal and a parchment from the French 

 government. He was one of five in his 

 regiment wlio were decorated. Sergeant 

 Gain assisted his father in planning and 

 building his first greenhouse. He hopes 

 to return home by spring, after his work 

 in France has been finished. 



Thirty-eight from Iowa Seed Co. 



Since the war began the Iowa Seed 

 Co., Des Moines, la., has contributed 

 thirty-eight of its men to the various 

 branches of the TJ. S. service. Included 

 in this number are the foreman and 

 propagator and nurserymen, rose grow- 

 ers, section men and helpers. Albert 

 E. Stevens, the foreman, is now serving 

 in the Medical Department of the 349th 

 Infantry in France. When the boys re- 

 turn they will find their places open 

 for them, the remainder of the force 

 doing the work in the meantime. 



Vem Schluraff Betums. 



Vern Schluraff, who went from Chi- 

 cago to Camp Gordon, Ga., where he 

 was in the Central Officers' Training 

 School at the time the armistice was 

 signed, did not wait for the commission 

 which he stood to get, but resigned in 

 order to get back into harness in time 

 for the holiday rush. He is in his 

 former position as manager for J. M. 

 Cochrane, West Pullman, 111., a post 

 for which he is well qualified, having 

 been in charge of the Schluraff Florid 



Co., at Erie, Pa., for years before he 

 came west. Mr. Schluraff says that 

 florists are especially well fitted to 

 qualify for officers, because they al 

 ready have learned to apply themselves 

 strenuously to the task in hand. His 

 hours in the training school were from 

 5 a. m. to 9 p. m. and the days were 

 spent in hard work. He found the work 

 incident to the Christmas rush "like 

 play," after his experience in camp, 

 where he says The Eeview was his con- 

 stant companion. 



NASHVILLE, TENN. 



The Market. 



The holiday trade was the best on 

 record. There was not enough stock to 

 meet requirements. In fact, business 

 was limited only by the supply of flow- 

 ers, but as prices were double those of 

 last year, no one should complain. A 

 business aggregating many more dollars 

 than in any holiday season in the 

 past was done with much less rush and 

 overwork. This is as it should be. We 

 are sure that if the growers were not so 

 prone to produce a surplus of everything 

 in its season, we should all make more 

 money, sleep longer hours and enjoy bet- 

 ter health. 



Poiusettias were in evidence in all 

 their glory. In fact, they seemed finer 

 than ever before, perhaps because they 

 did not have to compete with azaleas. 

 The supply was not so large as last year, 

 but perhaps that was better than to have 

 had too many. There is no better way 



Albert E. Stevens. 



