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TAKE OFF YOUR HAT 



TO THE HOOSIERS 



The fifth national flower show, in progress at Indianapolis this week, 

 is a notable success — the more notable because less than seven weeks ago the 

 place of exhibition was unexpectedly shifted to the Hoosier capital from 

 Cleveland. All visitors praise the remarkable work of the Indiana florists. 



S one enters the hall where- 

 in the national flower show 

 is staged, at Indianapolis 

 this week, one sees first of 

 all a piece of statuary — a 

 figure, whose sex, age and 

 race are indeterminable, 

 tugs with one hand at a 

 rope fastened about the 

 horns of a stocky .ram and 

 with the other coaxingly extends an ear 

 of corn toward the animal. No explana- 

 tion of its symbolism is offered and no 

 title is given the piece. Various sug- 

 gestions are offered. One is that it de- 

 picts Indianapolis getting Cleveland's 

 goat, but if anyone got the Cleveland 

 florists' goat, it was the mayor of their 

 city and no other. Another suggestion 

 is that it represents an attempt to get 

 the goat of the Indianapolis florists. 

 That would be more logical; to be asked 

 to prepare for and to stage a national 

 flower show in the short space of six 

 weeks might be thought enough to get 

 anybody's goat. 



Not the Hoosiers'! 



But not the Hoosiers 'I The exhibition 

 at Indianapolis this week would be 



creditable in the biggest city in the 

 land, and from every point of view its 

 Oldening days point to success. Under 

 any circumstances it would be a notable 

 exhibition; under the circumstances 

 which surrounded this show, it is noth- 

 ing loss than remarkable. 



The trade awaited a surpassing show 

 this year. The last one, at Philadel- 

 phia in 1916, was a huge success, net- 

 ting a good-sized profit and outshining 

 all its predecessors. When the exhibi- 

 tion planned for St. Louis was called off 

 because of the handicap of war condi- 

 tions, florists' appetites were whetted. 

 Cleveland promised a wonderful audi- 

 torium to house the display this year, 

 and every florist in the Fifth City 

 worked to set a record in national 

 shows. Then the blow fell — the mayor 

 of Cleveland gave his decision to allow 

 no exhibitions in the new auditorium 

 until it was absolutely completed. And 

 the unsuspecting florists of Indianapolis 

 were suddenly candidates for the Cleve- 

 landers' job. To a man they accepted 

 and since have worked with such zest 

 and cooperation that success could not 

 but be theirs. If there is a secret in its 

 success, it lies in the organization here. 



Irwin Bt'rteriiiann disclaims any great 

 amount of labor. "The boys did itl" 

 he says. Each did his job and did it 

 well. Outside agencies assisted gener- 

 ously. Throughout the state the organi- 

 zation spread. It is not an Indianapolis 

 show; it is an Indiana show. 



Everybody Helped. 



Appreciating the efforts of the 

 Hoosit^r florists, the florists elsewhere 

 wore ready with exhibits. That seemed 

 for a time the crucial test. Quarantine 

 37 and the war had handicapped the 

 trade. It was thought the distance to 

 the Atlantic coast would be too great to 

 expect much aid from that section. On 

 the contrary. New England has a strong 

 representation. Cleveland did not quit, 

 though sorely disappointed; some fine 

 exhibits from Ohio are to be seen. In- 

 deed, one cannot do better than repeat 

 the message of Samuel S. Pennock, 

 president of the Society of American 

 Florists, and of George Asnius, chair- 

 man of the national flower show com- 

 mittee, who came to the writer to say: 

 "Tell the florists, when you write of 

 the show, that we, as representing the 

 management, appreciate highly and are 



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Thomas Roland's Acacias, Which Formed the Central Group at the Indianapolis Show> with the Randall Fountain in Center. 



