, ■,-^,,^ ■ ;s^;;;rvgjiy»7r,i ; .,i;j^jp,, ^ V;JT=. ;- 



Apbil 20, 1905. 



The Weekly Horists^ Review^ 



13J3 



stem and foliage, and well worth trying. 



The two largest varieties of the year 

 are Mrs. A. J. Miller and J, H. Doyle, 

 and they are both truly enormous when 

 caught right, on the crown bud. The 

 first named gave a flower 7x7 inches in 

 a 6-inch pot, with practically no feed- 

 ing. The color of Miller is a terra 

 cotta shading to brown, not so striking, 

 but its immense size makes it of great 

 value in a collection of varieties. It 

 needs no staking really, for it is one of 

 the strongest growers I ever saw. J. H. 

 Doyle is also very dwarf and strong, and 

 makes a splendid pot plant. The color 

 of this variety is a warm terra cotta 

 shading towards a Lawson pink color on 

 later buds. Another year, with this va- 

 riety widely distributed, we can tell bet- 

 ter as to its future, but I believe it will 

 become a standard among the exhibition 

 kinds. A peculiarity of this variety is 

 the fact that the foliage is pale when 

 the plant is in the early stages of growth 

 but this disappears as the plant gathers 

 strength, and does not by any means in- 

 dictate a delicate constitution. 



Dora Stevenf .is a lovely color; old 

 rose perhaps expresses it best. This va- 

 riety makes immense solid foliage, like 

 cabbage leaves, and I would recommend 

 pot culture to check its exuberance in 

 this direction. Dora Stevens will grow 

 with any one in any place. Varietieg of 

 this character should not be fed too 

 highly with nitrogenous food, or the re- 

 sulting growth is too soft and sappy. 



The Reds. 



Bedd are represented in the novelties 

 by Merstham B«d, J. H. Silsbury 

 and Henry Perkins, neither of which 

 shows specially noteworthy characteris- 

 tics. Merstham Bed is closely approach- 

 ing to red. "What are commonly called 

 reds are, of course, strictly speaking, 

 crimson, the red chrysanthemum not hav- 

 ing yet put in its appearance. Merstham 

 Bed is very dwarf, and though it will 

 not compare in size with Maynell or 

 Wright, it shows up for all that it is 

 worth with a broad reflexing petal. Sils- 

 bury and Perkins both show more or less 

 bronze in their make-up when taken on 

 the crown bud, and the late flowers, while 

 wonderfully bright, do not have the nec- 

 essary size for exhibition. 



These constitute the best of the new 

 varieties so far as I have seen them. 

 I would include Brighthurst in the pinks, 

 one of Elmer D. Smith's seedlings, and 

 very well shown at our last fall exhibi- 

 tion by Peter Duff. It escaped my mind 

 when reviewing the pinks a moment ago. 

 It has a good dwarf habit, and every 

 flower comes good. 



Progress in Mums. 



Some of the pessimists seem to think 

 that we are not showing the progress in 

 new types in the chrysanthemum tnat is 

 shown in other flowers. They are greatly 

 mistaken, since actual measurements 

 show a large increase in size during the 

 past ten years, and most assuredly the 

 graceful Japanese section as seen today 

 never presented such diversity of form 

 and color even five years ago. But even 

 if we were merely holding our own in re- 

 gard to size and color, new varieties are 

 all the time necessary, because the old 

 ones will run out; even the peerless Wm. 

 Duckham will have its day, and then 

 pass out as the cycle moves along. A 

 variety newly introduced, while full of 

 the seedling vigor, may by very careful 

 handling be held in good shape for some 



J. A. Valentine. 



years, but eventually the inevitable decay 

 comes and the plant passes out. The 

 man, the tree, the flower, all have their 

 periods of growth, manhood, old age and 

 oblivion. The future holds niuch in store 

 for the chrysanthemum, and the interest 

 of the world in general in our autumn 

 queen is increasing by leaps and bounds. 

 Last year there were more exhibitions 

 held than ever before, and many of 

 them were financial successes for the first 

 time in their existence. The chrysanthe- 

 mum has come to stay, fellow craftsmen, 

 and I for one propose to stay right 

 with it. 



MEN OF THE WEST. 



Is there something about the pure air, 

 the clear sky and the high altitudes of 

 the great west which exerts an influence 

 upon the character of man? Certain is 

 it that out of the west come many whose 

 personal attributes are in keeping with 

 the natural environments of their lives, 

 clean-minded, clear-headed, low-voiced 

 gentlemen, temperate in all things, but 

 imbued with the spirit of progress, in- 

 flexible of purpose but with a keen sense 

 of the rights of others and a respect 

 for opinions which may differ from their 

 own. Such men live in the regard of 

 their neighbors and when they journey 

 from home are ever-welcome visitors. 



Of the many members in the west who 



honor our craft none is more widely 

 known or highly esteemed, west or east, 

 than J. A. Valentine, of Denver, presi- 

 dent of the Park Floral Co. and of the 

 Colorado Society of Floriculturists. Mr. 

 Valentine was bom in Iowa in 1859, and 

 with the exception of a short period dur- 

 ing his boyhood, which was spent in 

 Massachusetts, he has all his life lived 

 in the west. He graduated from the 

 law school at the Iowa University when 

 he was 21 years old, and immediately 

 following that went into railroad work, 

 having had some slight previous ex- 

 perience in civil engineering. He was 

 with the Burlington the most of the time 

 during the next seven years, although a 

 portion of that time was spent with the 

 Chicago & Northwestern in Iowa and tho 

 Northern Pacific in Montana. In 1887, 

 owing to the continued ill-health of 

 Mrs. Valentine, he gave up railroad work 

 and located in Denver. The only work 

 of that character he has undertaken since 

 then was the construction, and for a time 

 the management, of a little suburban 

 railroad running from Denver to Berke- 

 ley Lake, Colo. 



Mr. Valentine's connection with the 

 florists' business, as in the cases of so 

 many others who are now leaders in the 

 trade, came about more or Jess by acci- 

 dent. To his friends it is a familiar 

 story but to fellow-travelers en route to a 



