I •' 



526 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Januaby 26. 1905. 



iveness. Then came Enchantress and 

 now Lady Bountiful and Fiancee. There- 

 fore it looks to me from now on it is, 

 reasonable to expect a new wonder about 

 every year. 



'\^^lile we cannot all raise a wonder, 

 each individual member of this society 

 can take some share of the credit for 

 what has been done in advancing the car- 

 nation in general, for you support the 

 society and the society enthuses and 

 stimulates the hybridizer to keep peg- 

 ging away. 



That gentleman is now having some 

 valuable help from the sportive tenden- 

 cies of what were at one time his seed- 

 lings, but now good standard varieties. 

 The Mrs. Lawson, for instance, has giv- 

 en us the White Lawson. There is no 

 question but what- this variety, now 

 thoroughly fixed, will become a valuable 

 standard. It originated in two or three 

 different establishments,, and I believe 

 each one of them is conceded to be iden- 

 tical with the other. It was a good 

 thing for the trade when the owners of 

 these several sports got together and 

 agreed on one name for all of them. 



There are several other sports which I 

 believe identical in every respect with 

 each other, now being registered with the 

 society under different names. This 

 should be stopped, as it only causes con- 

 fusion to the trade in general. 



A matter that has been discussed pro 

 and con in our past conventions is one 

 relative to judging seedlings at various 

 seasons and another one regarding the 

 best month in which to hold our annual 

 exhibition. Both of these are worthy of 

 our consideration. I wish to offer a few 

 suggestions along these lines. 



I would like to have the society go on 



could be induced to take the matter up. 

 If there were an exhibition it would 

 enable us to see the new carnations in 

 the fall as well as at our own grand 

 show later in the season, without any ex- 

 tra expense to the American Carnation 

 Society. "We could offer our certificates 

 there, which might be termed fall 

 certificates, and also collect an entry fee 

 the same as usual. This in a measure 

 would cover the part relative to judging 

 seedlings at different seasons and be a 

 great benefit to both introducer and buy- 

 er of a new variety as ^ell as to the 

 trade in general. And then we need not 

 be so particular as to the date for our 

 own exhibition. 



Here is another suggestion. If a cer- 

 tain grower has a new carnation for dis- 

 tribution to the trade, give him the 

 chance of receiving our endorsement, or 

 otherwise, of its commercial value, by 

 applying to our president for a commit- 

 tee of judges or practical growers to 

 visit his establishment and inspect the 

 variety growing, say two or three times 

 during the season. The committee could 

 consist of three good men living in his, 

 the grower 's, vicinity. I believe this plan 

 is followed by the New York Florists' 

 Club. It woiUd be just as easy to get 

 the committees for this purpose as it is 

 for the American Chrysanthemum Society 

 to secure its several committees to meet 

 every Saturday for two or three months. 



One feature of the carnation plant we 

 can congratulate ourselves upon more 

 than any other, I believe, is the healthi- 

 ness of the acknowledged present-day 

 standard varieties. We do not hear so 

 much about stem-rot. bacteria, rust, etc., 

 as we did four or five years ago. The 

 reason for this I lay to the fact that thef 



Carnation White Lawson Exhibited by Breitmeyer's Sons. 



record as favoring an annual ail-Ameri- 

 can flower show to be held in November 

 and in a different city each year. I be- 

 lieve the time is ripe for it. Perhaps 

 the Society of American Florists or the 

 World's Fair Flower Show Association 



hybridist has refrained from using for 

 crossing purposes varieties that are sub- 

 ject to those diseases and, again, to our 

 semi-indoor mode of culture, early plant- 

 ing, which I recommended in my essay 

 at the Buffalo meeting. 



The nrices ' obtained for carnation 

 blooms the past few years have hardly 

 kept pace with tbe improvement and the 

 quality of them. When we held our con- 

 vention in this city seven years ago, 

 fancy ■ carnations were bringing 8 cents 

 at the holidays and obcasiolially higher 

 prices were heard of. The best varieties 

 at that time we-e Jubilee, Mayor Pin- 

 gree, Mrs. McBirney and Mrs. Geo. M. 

 Bradt. The same prices were realized 

 this season for improved varieties that 

 were better grown, but the years between 

 rarely saw. the top figures,, and yet the 

 cost of production is much higher. The 

 reason -for this ^tate of affairs is no 

 doubt due to over-production, but when 

 you take into consideration that there are 

 a million more plants grown in this vicin- 

 ity alone, producing about fourteen mil- 

 lion a year more blooms for this, the Chi- 

 cago market, we can hardly be surprised 

 at the non-advancement of the price- 

 Still, I doubt if we have much reason to 

 complain, for during that period we have 

 had no panic in the business world and 

 no serious slump in flowerdom and the 

 prospects for the future, I think, are en- 

 couraging. Personally I think we are on 

 the eve of an unusually prosperous era 

 and I trust the carnationists will reap 

 their share of the benefits. 



Since we last met in Chicago, we 'have 

 been to Phiteflelphia, Buffalo and Balti- 

 more, each bne of these cities approxim- 

 ately a thousand miles from the western 

 carnation belt, making it very difficult 

 for growers in that vicinity to make cred- 

 itable showings. In the years following 

 the convention mentioned we went to In- 

 dianapolis, Brooklyn, Detroit and now 

 Chicago. This is as it should be. Now 

 let us go east again, the midddle east, or 

 even enter new fields, as I believe great 

 benefits are derived by our socie^ in 

 spreading the knowledge of our work and 

 showing the products of our skill in any 

 city within a reasonable shipping dis- 

 tance of a carnation center. 



The growth of the carnation's popular- 

 ity among all classes of people should be 

 very gratifying to us, and still I believe 

 it to be only in its infancy. One thing 

 more than all others that wilj, I am sure, 

 increase this popularity in the future, is 

 that grand body, the Carnation League 

 of America, with three million members, 

 each wearing a carnation on each January 

 29 as a tribute to the memory of our be- 

 loved I>resident McKinley. 



We shall soon hear the report of the 

 judges of the present exhibition. Some 

 of us will be disappointed ; others will ex- 

 perience those thrills of joy which victory 

 brings. If you are a new exhibitor and 

 are beaten, do not be discouraged. Take 

 your defeat with good grace, find out if 

 possible the weak points of your exhibit 

 and return home with a determination to 

 overcome them next year. 



Before concluding, I beg of you, one 

 and all, to attend the sessions and stay 

 with them until each one is over, help us 

 to get through with what business we 

 have and make this convention what it 

 ought to be, the greatest yet. After the 

 sessions are over there will be plenty of 

 time to explode your otherwise pent-up 

 enthusiasm. That your Chicago friends 

 will be with you and stay with you to th^ 

 end is a foregone conclusion. Now to 

 business. 



At the conclusion of the pfesident's 

 address Secretary Herr read the report 

 of the judges, as follows: 



The Awards. 



The following are the awards i» class 



