r"W''- .-■«'■■'-:.•; 



22 



The Florists' Re^tiw 



Mat 6, 191f. 



engineer to run them. The loss this 

 would put upon florists operating small 

 places is too well understood to require 

 comment. 



"I think it would be extremely wise 

 for the Society of American Florists 

 and their allied interests to work in 

 harmony with this association for the 

 purpose of defeating these bills, and to 

 that end, I am writing President Pat- 

 rick Welch today along the lines of 

 this letter. 



"I believe it would be a wise plan 

 if a committee of the Society of Amer- 

 ican Florists, together with the Editor 

 of The Eeview, could meet with the 

 executive committee of our association 

 for a further debate of this interest- 

 ing problem. I shall be glad to ar- 

 range for our association a meeting of 

 our executive committee to meet with 

 the gentlemen suggested above if you 

 think it is wise to do so." 



.aa"^ ' 



Chance for State Vice-Presidents. 



Here is the offer of effective help. 

 In most cases the trade has no knowl- 

 edge of the threatened danger until it 

 is far too late to take steps to turn 

 legislation into safe channels. But, 

 warned by the association of .boiler 

 manufacturers of which Mr. ^erendeen 

 is secretary, the trade has the organi- 

 zation for effective work. In two or 

 three states there' are well officered 

 associations capable of leading such a 

 fight as impends in Pennsylvania, but 

 in most states the work can best be 

 done under the leadership of the S. A. 

 F. state vice-president, backed by the 

 members and by the trade at large in 

 the state. No doubt President Welch 

 will take prompt advantage of Mr. 

 Herendeen's offer of cooperation. To 

 get the state vice-presidents effectively 

 at work for the interests of the trade 

 would be a credit to any administra- 

 tion. 



EARLY DAYS IN PHILADELPHIA. 



Portland, Me. — The new greenhouses 

 on Main street are about completed 

 and will be occupied by James Hawker. 



Lynn, Mass. — Samuel T. Goodwin has 

 the sympathy of the trade in the death 

 of his sister, Mrs. A. T. Feltch, of 

 Newburyport, April 22. 



Fairfield, Me. — C. P. Loder's green- 

 house was Isroken into on a recent night, 

 but the burglars got nothing but some 

 stamped envelopes and a few blank 

 checks from the office. 



Wellesley Hills, Mass. — During the 

 big storm Monday afternoon, April 26, 

 a large greenhouse on Oakland avenue, 

 owned by Thomas Capers, was demol- 

 ished by the wind, entailing a loss esti- 

 mattd at about $5,000. 



Orono, Me. — Members of the trade 

 may be interested in Bulletin 233, re- 

 cently issued by the Maine Agricul- 

 tural Experiment Station. It is by 

 Edith M. Patch, entomologist, and 

 bears the title "Maine Aphids of the 

 Rose Family." 



Fall River, Mass. — Bids submitted to 

 the park board for the addition of a 

 greenhouse and corridor at the Oak 

 Grove cemetery range wore: Weathered 

 Co., Jersey City, N. J., $2,650; Lord & 

 Burnham Co., Boston, $3,775; Hitch- 

 ings & Co., Boston, $3,926. 



Brauford, Conn. — After an existence 

 of about a month, the store of Latham 

 & Barrows, on Main street, was closed 

 April 24, again proving the inability 

 of this town to support a flower store. 

 Branford A. Latham has greenhouses 

 at Guilford. Mr. Barrows was in the 

 employ of a New Haven florist before 

 starting the business here. 



Pottersville, Mass. — An attempt was 

 made to burn the residence and green- 

 houses of John Cross, on Center street, 

 Saturday night, April 24. The porch 

 and steps had been covered by kerosene 

 by the firebug and ignited. Fortu- 

 nately, the blaze was discovered before 

 it had spread far. Mr. Cross has only 

 been a resident here a short time, and 

 cannot imagine any reason for the act. 



Springfield, Mass. — ^Three thousand 

 rose bushes are being set out this spring 

 in Forest park, in the rose garden 

 started last year under the charge of 

 Marshall Headle. 



Portland, Me. — At a meeting, April 

 19, at the grange hall at Stroudwater, 

 the florists of Portland and vicinity 

 elected the following as officers of the 

 organization they are forming: Presi- 

 dent, L. C. Goddard; vice-president, 

 Mrs. Blanche Newcomb; secretary, 

 W. C. Sawyer; treasurer. Miss Marion 

 E. McGunigle. 



Wakefield, Mass.— Charles C. Ball has 

 at length reached an agreement with 

 the board of selectmen and the muni- 

 cipal light board in regard to the 

 amount to be paid by the city as dam- 

 ages for the injury done Mr. Ball's 

 plants in his greenhouses, at the corner 

 of Yale and North avenues, by escaping 

 gas. The sum agreed upon is $1,800. 

 The light department some weeks ago 

 found the city was liable, and since 

 that time the selectmen and Mr. Ball 

 have been trying to agree on a fair 

 figure for damages without taking the 

 case into court. 



Hartford, Conn. — As the purchase of 

 the property of John Coombs at the 

 corner of Maple avenue and Benton 

 street as a site for one of the new 

 high schools was approved at the re- 

 cent election, it became necessary for 

 Mr. Coombs to secure new land for 

 his greenhouses. He has purchased 

 twelve acres on South street adjoining 

 Goodwin park, now unimproved, for 

 between $15,000 and $20,000. On this 

 land Mr. Coombs will erect the new 

 house he planned to build on the prop- 

 erty the city is purchasing, and rebuild 

 the houses moved from the old site. 

 If Mr. Coombs does not need the whole 

 twelve acres for greenhouses, he may 

 open part of the tract for residential 

 purposes. He will keep the old ranges 

 on both sides of Benton street, to which 

 the one he is moving was an auxiliary. 

 The sum which Mr. Coombs will re- 

 ceive from the city is $40,000. 



Phil Interviews John Walker. 



[It chanced that, March 18, John Walker, of 

 Youngstown, O., revielted the scenes of his youth. 

 Mr. Walker talked so entertainingly of bis expe- 

 riences that it would be a loss not to repeat them. 

 Some things have been purposely omitted, in the 

 belief that Mr. Walker -would prefer it so, and 

 others, let us hope only a few, may not have 

 been recorded on memory's tablet. — Phil.] 



I commenced work [so relates John 

 Walker] when a barefooted lad of 12 

 years, for Lemuel and Charles D. Ball, 

 then doing business as Ball Bros., at 

 Tacony, This was in 1872. Ball Bros, 

 grew a general line of soft-wooded 

 plants and several specialties. Lem- 

 uel Ball was extremely particular 

 about the neatness of his houses. My 

 first duty was to sweep the place. If 

 I left a little piece- of a 3 -inch pot 

 under the table, or any small bit of 

 rubbish, Lemuel Ball would say, 

 "Johnnie, sweep that house over 

 again," and I did it. Charles D. Ball 

 was most particular to dress neatly, 

 but I do not think I have ever seen 

 anyone else so particular about the 

 neatness of the greenhouses as Lemuel 

 Ball. This was a great advantage to 

 me, for as a boy I learned habits of 

 greenhouse cleanliness that were of 

 great value to me afterward. 



Lemuel Ball was greatly interested 

 in dracsenas, marantas and the like. 

 He searched the catalogues for new 

 varieties and when he found one that 

 pleased his fancy, he sent for it, so 

 that gradually quite a collection was 

 acquired. From it I learned the dif- 

 ferent varieties and their habits in a 

 practical way, not easily forgotten. 

 One's memory is keen at that age and 

 every plant carefully noted can easily 

 be remembered. It is far, far more 

 difficult to remember plants now; you 

 see them, admire them and usually for- 

 get them. The other day I saw a plant 

 I had not seen or thought about for 

 thirty years, but I recognized it in- 

 stantly and in a moment remembered 

 its name. It was one of the cleroden- 

 drons. 



A Trio of Hard Workers. 



One of my duties at Ball Bros.' was 

 to take the flowers in on the early train 

 to Pennock Bros., who were then on 

 Twelfth street. In this way I got to 

 know some of the leading men in the 

 business. They were hard workers at 

 Pennock Bros.' Abram L. Pennock de- 

 voted about one-third of his time to 

 the flower store, the rest going to his 

 other interests. Thomas Cartledge 

 gave about 105 per cent of his time; 

 Thomas was a worker. John Westcott 

 gave about ninety-five per cent of his 

 time; Johnnie liked to go fishing once 

 in a while. 



The two Assembly balls and the 

 Orpheus Club concert were the big 

 flower events of the Philadelphia sea- 

 son in those days, when all the flow- 

 ers in Philadelphia and many from New 

 York were used. Thomas Cartledge 

 would always let Lemuel Ball know the 

 dates of these affairs well in advance, 

 so as to have as many flowers as pos- 

 sible for them. Ball Bros, forced lily 

 of the valley in 8-inch pots in those 

 days and got $1.50 a dozen wholesale 

 for the flowers. They were retailed 

 at $3 a dozen. 



Didn't Like the Soap Business. 



In 1878 Ball Bros, went into the 

 soap business and I went with them. 

 Their greenhouses were pulled down 



