24 



The Florists' Revie^A^ 



March 17. 1921. 



MICHIGAN FLORISTS ELECT. 



Convention at Saginaw. 



On the closing day of the Michigan 

 State Florists' Association convention, 

 which was held at the Masonic temple, 

 Saginaw, Tuesday and Wednesday, 

 March 8 and 9, the election of officers 

 was held. Those chosen to serve the 

 organization the ensuing year were as 

 follows: 



President — S. W. Coggan, Battle 

 Creek. 



Vice-president — Henry Smith, Grand 

 Rapids. 



Secretary — Eobert M. Plumb, De- 

 troit. 



Treasurer — W. S. Wells, Ann Arbor. 



Director — J. A. Bissinger, Lansing. 



Extensive publicity had been given 

 the convention for several weeks pre- 

 viously, which rewarded the association 

 with a splendid attendance. Visiting 

 florists, their wives and a host of Sagi- 

 naw people who attended the flower 

 show, which was a feature of the occa- 

 sion and open to the public, united in 

 pronouncing it one of the finest that 

 have ever been put on in that part of 

 the state. 



Professor Coons Speaks. 



On the opening day, Tuesday, March 

 8, the feature of the afternoon was ;in 

 address by Professor G. H. Coons, of 

 the Michigan Agricultural College, 

 Lansing. Professor Coons likened the 

 ailments of flowers to those of human 

 beings. "Did you ever stop to think," 

 said he, "that plants, just like human 

 beings, have diseases all their own; that 

 some horticultural equivalent of the 

 germs that plague human beings afflicts 

 flowers too; that a florist must be a 

 doctor as well as a connoisseur of the 

 beautiful?" 



Professor Coons continued his ad- 

 dress by showing the care of flowers in 

 a diseased condition and the necessity 

 of careful treatment for various dis- 

 eases, just as is necessary in case of 

 (•oiitagidus diseases of persons. To 

 prevent the spreading of such diseases 

 that afflict flowers, the affected ones 

 must be taken from their bed before 

 they infect the others. And just as san- 

 itation is prescribed for the reduction 

 of disease among men, so he emphasized 

 plant sanitation and care as a means 

 of protecting them from disease. 



Breitmeyer Urges Industry. 



Professor Coons was followed by 

 Philip Breitmeyer, of Detroit, who, in 

 an address on "Readjustment of Re- 

 tail Business," urged brother florists 

 to get the idea out of their heads that 

 "all we have to do is stand at the front 

 door or at the cash register and take 

 the money." Mr. Breitmeyer insisted 

 that the present need is to return to 

 the standards of four or five years ago, 

 to return to hard work and to get away 

 from the idea of "doing nothing and 

 getting big pay for it." 



Tuesday evening, March 8, the mem- 

 bers attended a theater party. Wednes- 



day morning they visited the Saginaw 

 greenhouse establishments. 



At the afternoon session, March 9, 

 a question box was conducted by Carl 

 L. Roethke, which brought out many 

 points of interest to the florists. The 

 message delivered by Professor R. P. 

 Hibbard, of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College, on "Greenhouse Problems from 

 the Standpoint of a Plant Physiolo- 

 gist" at this time, was received with 

 appreciation. 



The banquet, which was held at the 

 Masonic temple Wednesday evening, 

 was attended by several hundred guests. 

 Short talks were given by a number of 

 prominent members of the trade. Songs 

 and dances and other forms of enter- 

 tainment went to make up the amuse- 

 ment feature of this gathering. 



Florists Commended for Show. 



Planned and executed by the six 

 Saginaw florists, Charles Frueh & Sons, 

 the William Roethke Floral Co., Groh- 

 nuisi the Florist, .1. B. Goetz Sons, 



Sunshine Flowers and Desner & Fisher, 

 the show won the enthusiastic approval 

 of all who saw it. ' 



So successful was the show that it is 

 the plan to repeat the event every year. 

 Though this was designed simply as a 

 feature of the visit of Michigan mem- 

 bers to Saginaw, members of the trade 

 in that city have received numerous re- 

 quests that it be made an annual ex- 

 hibition. 



The big main hall of the Masonic 

 temple was crowded with flowers, well 

 arranged on long tables so as to give 

 them the best possible effect. Long 

 rows of tulips, jonquils, hyacinths, 

 daffodils, rose plants, cinerarias, car- 

 nations and other flowers were shown, 

 most of them plants. At the front of 

 the hall, placed in the center of the 

 stage, a big American flag of flowers 

 was the center of attention. 



The display of potted plants was sup- 

 plemented by exhibits of baskets, rib- 

 bons and other supplies from the firms 

 mentioned in last week's report. 



Green festoons draped the balcony of 

 the hall and occupied other places, 

 while groups of plants filled whatever 

 spaces were left by the exhibits and 

 completed the artistic decoration. 



At the closing meeting the members 

 voted to hold the 1922 convention in 

 Grand Rapids. 



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VISITING 



PITTSBURGH CLUB'S OUTING. 



Ranges Visited. 



The Pittsburgh Florists' and Garden- 

 ers' Club held another successful field 

 day Wednesday, March 9, making a tour 

 of some of the leading commercial 

 places located around the city. The 

 starting point was from the store of the 

 E. C. Ludwig Floral Co., where each 

 member of the party, which numbered 

 about fifty, was presented by E. C. 

 Ludwig with a white carnation. The 

 party proceeded to the Blind Floral 

 Co. range, at West View. Ed Blind 

 himself conducted the party through 

 the houses. Easter will find them all 

 ready. All the stock looked good, the 

 bulbs being exceptionally so, and well 

 timed. The facilities for handling were 

 up-to-date, the cellar being large enough 

 to permit the tractor to haul stock in 

 large quantities right into the hous9s. 

 Deutzia gracilis, which is coming into 

 favor again, was in good shape, and 

 voung cyclamens were in fine shape. 



The party next proceeded to the es- 

 tablishment of the John Bader Co., at 

 Troy Hill. Ben L. Elliott, the proprie- 

 tor,'lod the procession through houses of 

 palms and ferns, pot roses and lilies, 

 all in fine shape. The members took 

 a great interest in his oil-burning fur- 

 nace and no detail was overlooked in 

 the inspection of it. 



Then a visit was paid the Zieger Co., 

 on Baum boulevard. Much interest was 

 taken in the collection of foreign birds 



here. , , , „ ,, 



A look through Randolph & Mc- 

 Clements', on Penn avenue, was inter- 

 esting, following which the party were 

 the guests of this company at the Rit- 



tenhouse at a luncheon. President J. 

 Barnet reminded us that there was no 

 time for speech-making, but he called 

 upon E. C. Reineman, who expressed the 

 club's gratitude and appreci.ition of 

 Samuel McClements' hospitality, re- 

 gretting the gentleman 's absence on ac- 

 count of sickness. 



Fine Stock Seen. 



Carl Lindroth now took charge of 

 the party and headed the parade 

 through the extensive range of green- 

 houses off Stanton avenue. Pot roses, 

 lilies, hydrangeas and bulbs were all 

 fine, and cleanliness and order were ap- 

 parent everywhere. Verona was next 

 on the program, with a brief stop at H. 

 B. Zieger 's place there, where Mr. 

 Zieger demonstrated that he is some 

 engineer, as well as a grower. Ho has 

 installed the Delco light and modern 

 pumping. Begonias were in first-class 

 shape. 



The last stop was at the establish- 

 ment of Paul S. Randolph & Sons, 

 Verona, Pa. This concern has a splen- 

 did layout. Crotons and other foliage 

 plants were good. Pot roses were fine 

 and the hydrangeas were exceptional. 

 The old-time Coronilla glauca was thriv- 

 ing well. Mr. Randolph himself was 

 on the job, active as ever in spite of 

 his advancing years. 



It was an enjoyable outing and, al- 

 though the weather was anything but 

 pleasant, it failed to dampen the spirit 

 and enthusiasm of those present. Both 

 commercial men and private gardeners 

 felt indebted to J. C. Walley. of the 

 McCallum Co., Evans City, Pa., and 

 Carl Lindroth, who composed the com- 

 mittee in charge of arrangements. 



J. C. 



