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August 25, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



665 



Farquhar's Christmas Lily. 



(LUlum PblUppense, awanletl pold m«Klal by Massachusetts Horticultural Society. 

 See pa§re 520. isbue for August 11.) 



them to seedlings. His flowers were al- 

 most as large as gloxinias, and spikes 

 were in great demand for house decora- 

 tion. 



J. B. Dow, of Beverly Farms, is per- 

 haps the best known florist in that sec- 

 tion. He does a large business among 

 the cottagers. One house here was de- 

 voted to Black Hamburg grape. Mel- 

 ons were noted in two houses, Rocky 

 Ford being chiefly grown. Boses, carna- 

 tions, violets and chrysanthemums de- 

 ceive some attention and a roomy house 

 is used for growing and storing hydran- 

 geas, of which many are loaned in sum- 

 mer and others boarded in winter. A 

 fine summer trade in cut flowers is done 

 here, annuals and perennials being 

 largely grown. Phloxes are a special 

 feature, as indeed they are at all the 

 numerous North Shore estates. Time 

 would not permit of a visit to other 

 establishments in this increasingly popu- 

 lar section. 



Various Notes. 



I'rowp* (ts arc good for tlie coming ex- 

 liibition of the Chrysanthemum Society 

 "f America in Boston. President Her- 

 I'lngton has appointed a committee of five 

 '0 assist the members of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society in caring for 

 "xhibits. with William Nicholson as chair- 

 man. 



Alexander Montgomery is confined to 

 • K'd with a severe attack of malaria, from 

 \vhich his many friends wish him a speedy 

 recovery. 



Superintendent Pettigrew, of the park 

 •'system, was kept very busy the past week 

 showing numerous park superintendents 

 his domains. His visitors hailed from as 

 far away as San Francisco. 



Members of the Independent Co-opera- 

 tive Flower Market hope to be able to 

 move into their new quarters under Music 

 flail early in October. 



Wax Bros, have been showing a splen- 

 did lot of white gladioli and nymphseas 

 in their windows the past week. 



Hoffmann keepg a very attractive store 

 on Massachusetts avenue. The green- 

 houses at Mount Auburn aie also much 

 ii^^oved since he took possession of 

 them. W. N. Craio. 



THE YOUNGEST FLORIST. 



The notes publislicd in recent issues 

 with regard to the youngest florists own- 

 ing and managing businesses have re- 

 sulted in a number of communications 

 being received on the subject and it de- 

 velops that there are a large number of 

 men in their early twenties who are con- 

 ducting good sized establishments. 



Attention is called to Andrew D. 

 Austin, of Milwaukee, who is 25 years 

 of age and owns and manages an fstab- 

 lishmpnt of 40,000 square feet of glass, 

 basing an additional 8,000 feet owned 

 by Lis father. The elder Austin was a 

 vegetable grower and the young man 

 was brought up in the business. When 

 he was 18 years of age lie Ixcame a part- 

 ner and at 21 built 13,000 fe'^t of glass 

 of Lis own. Since then he has added 

 27,00C feet and leased his father's place. 

 Two years ago he started to grow car- 

 nations, sweet peas and bedding plants 

 in a small way, and has been so suc- 

 cessful that he has dropped vegetables 

 entirely and the entire place will be this 

 season devoted to carnations, sweet peas, 

 lilies, tulips and other bulbous stock and 

 bedding plants. 



Another enterprising youug man who is 

 just starting in the business is Edward 

 I?uch, of Richmond, Ind. He is 24 years 

 of age. He was brought up in the business 

 and is now building two greenhouses 

 which will l)e planted to carnations for 

 the wholesale market. He has an excel- 

 lent piece of land upon wliich lie can ex- 



tend his establishment as his business 

 grows. 



Max Engclmann, of Pittsfield, Mass., . 

 lias not yet become 21, but has been in 

 the business three years. He made his 

 start in 1901 with a house 15x85 feet, 

 after having two years' experience in 

 the employ of a local florist. In the 

 sprinfy of 1903 he was joined by his 

 father, mIio had no experience in the 

 business, and the firm has since been 

 under the name of R. Engelmann & 

 Son, but under the management of the 

 latter. They now Iiave 6,000 square feet 

 of glass, built by their own hands. They 

 grow roses, carnations, mums and vio- 

 lets and are doing a nice retail business. 

 They made their start under adverse ; 

 circumstances, the coal strike making 

 the first winter a most diflicult one, and 

 last winter the thermometer went down 

 to 38 degrees below zero. Pittsfield is a > 

 city of 25,000 inhabitants with eight 

 florists. , 



The Ley Brothers, of Washington, . 

 D. C.^ sons of John H. Ley^ are 22 and ; 

 23 years of age respectively. They have 

 for some time conducted a retail store 

 in Washington and since their father's ■ 

 death have taken over an establishment ; 

 of about 15,000 feet of glass at Lang- 

 don, which they are devoting to Boston . ■ 

 and Piersoni ferns, adiantums, etc., with 

 two houses of carnations and one of 

 roses and chrysanthemums. The estab- 

 lishment has been a money loser for sev- , 

 eral of Washington 's leading florists, so 

 that the young men understand that they 

 are undertaking a large contract, but 

 they are doing all the work themselves 

 and have put the place in first-class or- 

 der and have every prospect of making 

 the establishment one of the most suc- 

 cessful in the vicinity. 



NAME OF VINE. 



I enclose a branch of a vine of which 

 I would like to know the name. Tt was 

 found in the woods and seems to do best 

 growing among brush piles. The root is 

 composed of a string of small tubers re- 

 sembling potatoes. Planted in a partial- 

 ly shaded situation near the house, it 

 makes a very pretty vine, and the blos- 

 soms are very fragrant. No one about 

 ht>re can name it, and I should be pleased 

 to know what it is. A. W. T. 



The vino is Apios tuberosa (Moench). 

 a widely distributed plant of the legu- 

 minous order, which has often attracted 

 the attention of botanists because of its 

 ]>ossibilities of development as a food 

 plant. A few years ago tlie writer re- 

 ceived an order from an investigator in 

 Prague. Bohemia, for a quantity of apios 

 tubers to be planted there to tost its 

 availability. The tubers were sent but 

 the overcautious government officials 

 there, fearing insect pests, perhaps, would 

 not allow them to be unpacked, so they 

 were returned to Chicago. The apios is 

 popularly called ground nut and wild 

 bean. The names tuberous-rooted wis- 

 taria and micmac potato are also applied 

 to it. The tubers are very nutritious 

 when baked. J. HiggIns. 



RocKFORD, III.— Sullivan & Slagle, a 

 partnership fortned by two well known 

 florists, are building three large green- 

 houses opposite West Side cemetery. Tbe 

 firm is having considerable trouble in 

 procuring a water supply, being' outside 

 the city limits. The city council ordered 

 an extension of the water mains to the 

 groenhAuses, but the mayor interposed 

 his veto. 



