98 



The Florists^ Review 



DicaifBiB IB, 1921 



Jhe fl orUts whose cards appear on the pages carrying this head, are prepared to fin oiden 

 ~~ from other florists for local delivery on the usual basis. — — — 



Index to Pink Part Appears This Week on Pages 95 and 96 



HILL ON ROSES 



^^i^^a»Ws<Sf?{BWW^<l^^ 



(Continued from a forward pa^e.) 



sold a good many of it. " I asked, "How 

 many can you let me have?" He said, 

 "Well, I am not going to let you take 

 all I have. I have to keep some for my 

 own trade." I said, "How many? 

 Let's get down to business." He said, 

 "About 300." I was the happiest fel- 

 low in the world when I got those 300 

 over here. But what do you think? 

 Somebody put J. D. Eisele on to it and 

 Dreer 's had it in their catalogue, so that 

 I put Ophelia on the market about a 

 year too soon. However, I have no 

 cause to complain, because Ophelia has 

 been the mother of nearly all the roses I 

 have raised thus far. 



Beginnings in Hybridization. 



It is so long since I began to hybridize 

 that I have almost forgotten how I did 

 it, but I worked it out. Do you know 

 the first rose I got that gave me any 

 encouragement was General Mac Arthur? 

 I had been plodding along for a number 

 of years working at the job — but let me 

 tell you al)out General MacArthur. I was 

 over in the London gardens last year, 

 and the man who had charge of the roses 

 — tliey have, of course, beds containing 

 twenty -five to fifty and sometimes 100 

 varieties — came to a red rose and said, 

 "I think this is the best red rose we 

 have over here. If you haven 't this rose, 

 you ought to get it." I asked him, 

 "Wliat's the name?" I recognized it 

 at once as General MacArthur. He said, 

 "General Mc Arthur." And I said, 

 "Rather an old acquaintance; I origi- 

 nated that rose." He replied,- "You 

 did?" I said, "Yes. I happen to be the 

 originator." I met another man at the 

 flower show in London, from South 

 Africa. I think he was one of those 

 diamond merchants, and he was looking 

 around through the show when some- 

 body told him that Mr. Hill was there 

 from America. He said, "I want to see 

 that man," and so he was brought over 

 and introduced to me. He said, "I want 

 to shake your hand and thank you." 

 I asked him, "What for?" He said, "I 

 am from South Africa, and, do you 

 know? the finest rose we have in South 

 Africa is your General MacArthur. It 

 grows with exuberance and there is a 

 charm about it." I felt that that was 

 compensation for some of the work that 

 had not brought returns. And so we go 

 through life. We must not expect to 

 make money out of everything. 



Disseminating the New Ones. 



Recently a writer was extolling the 

 method, practiced by some rosarians, of 

 distributing plants over the country 

 among different growers for trial, saying 

 that was about the only honest method of 

 putting out a new rose. Now, it kind of 

 stuck with me — the plan to give ont trial 



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Leading Florist in 



TOPEKA, KANSAS 



Our large, new and beautiful store 

 is right up to date in every way. 

 Your telegraph orders will com- 

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819 Kansas Ave.. <3^ 



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plants. We figured up the other day, if 

 we were to give all the persons who have 

 applied for America twelve plants apiece 

 it would take about 2,400 plants to go 

 around. But not only that; if we were 

 to distribute that many plants and other 

 friends of ours found some had it and 

 they did not get it, where would we be? 

 We would be "in the soup," because we 

 should make more enemies than we 

 should friends. I bought a rose, William 



R. Smith, from John Shellem; I gave 

 him $500 and you fellows had a spread 

 and a great time naming it for old Mr. 

 Smith. Of course, the name of the man 

 was all right; but John said, "You get 

 all the stock of it." Well, John, out 

 of the goodness of his heart, had sent it 

 around, and when I came to announce 

 the sale of the rose, bless your life! they 

 said, "Why, this thing has been kick- 



(CoDtinaed on page 109,) 



