

-.«*;.. ';;«• ""tl 7,'r«p'j.." "^^^wii-im^ 



612 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



August 10, 1906. 



Conn., on August 4, spent a very enjoy- 

 able day. Great improvements were 

 noted in all departments since the time 

 of the previous visit on this fine new 

 estate. In the greenhouses three houses 

 of single-stem chrysanthemums were in 

 grand shape and should be strongly in 

 evidence at the New York and Boston 

 shows. Among the new sorts Mrs. W. Duck- 

 liam looked exceptionally Avell, also Emily 

 Alileham, Mile. Jeannie Nonin, Mrs. 

 J. A. Miller and others. Among the older 

 sorts W. Duckham, Henry Barnes and 

 many more were looking fine. Carna- 

 tions liave been housed five weeks and 

 were growing nicely, as were roses. Two 

 divisions of grapes were carrying their 

 first crop of finely finished fruit. Black 

 Hamburg and Muscat of Alexandria were 

 mostly grown. Two other divisions were 

 occupied by nectarines and peaches. 

 Quite a few orchids are being grown. A 

 batdi of calanthes looked extra well. 



The formal garden contained a good 

 selection of tender and herbaceous 

 plants, wliich made a capital showing. 

 Numerous bay trees and hydrangeas in 

 tubs are used for piazza decoration. 

 Other features inspected were a new rock 

 garden, vegetable garden aud a general 

 utility garden, where flowers for cutting 

 and early vegetables are grown. Thomas 

 W. Head, the superintendent, had every- 

 thing in good condition. The committee 

 was generously entertained by Mrs. Mor- 

 ton F. Plant, in the unavoidable ab- 

 sence i)f Commodore Plant. 



Exhibition. 



The first of the weekly shows to be 

 lield during August provided an inter- 

 esting exhibition on August 5. Peren- 

 nial phloxes and herbaceous plants were 

 quite extensively shown. For the for- 

 mer H. A. Stevens Co. and Blue Hill 

 Nurseries took prizes in the order named. 

 Quality of spikes was not up to the 

 average, the date set being too late. 

 George Hollis also made a display of 

 phloxes. Blue Hill Nurseries were eas- 

 ily first for thirty varieties of herba- 

 ceous flowers, Bay State Nurseries be- 

 ing second. Each of these exhibitors 

 also made large honorary displays of 

 hardy flowers, an extensive collection also 

 coming from Harvard Botanic Gardens, 

 Kobert Cameron, gardener, and filling 

 three large tables. 



Mrs. L. Towle had a collection of 

 dahlias in eighty-four varieties and Jo- 

 seph Thorpe thirty varieties of sweet 

 j)eas. Mrs. E. M. Gill had a general dis- 

 ])lay of seasonable flowers. The Blue 

 Hill Nurseries received first-class certifi- 

 cates for the new Tritonias (Monbre- 

 tias) Germanica and Geo. Davidson. Fruit 

 and vegetables were largely shown and 

 the Mycological Society had a nice lot of 

 mushrooms. 



Death of J. S. Richards. 



Jolm Salter Richards, better known to 

 many in Brookline as ' ' Uncle Dick. ' ' 

 died on August 3 at the age of 94. He 

 was believed to be the oldest florist in 

 Massachusetts, if not in the country, and 

 with only his pet parrot, Tommy, to keep 

 him company had lived in a little, old- 

 fashioned, white house with green blinds 

 near the entrance to the Country Club 

 grounds in Brookline. 



His history was an eventful one. Born 

 at Cullompton, Devonshire, England, on 

 June 10, 1811, he came to America while 

 quite young. As a youth he drove for 

 tlie widow of Alexander Hamilton in 

 New York. He knew the first Cornelius 



Vanderbilt when the latter was a poor 

 ferryman. Coming to Boston he served 

 as coachman for a time, but catching 

 the gold fever went to California in 1850. 

 Returning to New York he was employed 

 for some time by the banking firm of 

 Burgoyne & Co. 



In 1855 he returned to Boston with 

 $4,200 in twenty-dollar gold pieces in 

 a canvas belt strapped to his waist. He 

 went to Brookline and purchased four 

 acres of land on which he made his 

 home the rest of his life. For many 

 years he grew flowers, plants and vegeta- 

 bles for the Boston market and for a 

 period of over twenty years was a reg- 

 ular exhibitor at the exhibitions in Hor- 

 ticultural hall, receiving numerous pre- 

 miums, some for varieties of flowers of 

 his own raising. 



Since 1859 the parrot. Tommy, had 

 been his inseparable friend. One of his 

 last requests was that the bird should 

 share the same grave with him. His 

 wish was complied with, the parrot be- 

 ing chloroformed an hour before the 

 funeral and was lowered into the same 

 grave with its master. A large num- 

 ber of people attended the funeral on 

 August 7. W. N. Craig. 



RETAILERS' ADVERTISING. 



DENVER. 



The Market. 



The summer quietness now existing is 

 bare of interesting facts, although there 

 have been several funerals demanding 

 quantities of flowers and, as stock is 

 plentiful and not expensive, this busi- 

 ness is received with much satisfaction. 



The supply of carnations has short- 

 ened considerably and those arriving are 

 not of very good quality, with the ex- 

 ception of White Lawson. Prices range 

 from $1 to $3 for the better grades. The 

 better grades of Brides and Maids are 

 scarce, Chatenay being more in evidence 

 and of good quality. Roses from young 

 stock are beginning to make an appear- 

 ance, although as yet they have no length 

 of stem. American Beauty roses are 

 not over-plentiful, the demand consum- 

 ing the supply coming in. The quality is 

 excellent and prices have been firm. Sweet 

 peas are still plentiful but are getting 

 shorter stemmed. Early varieties of asters 

 are now seen in fairly large quantities 

 and of fair quality. Gladioli and dahlias 

 are also on the market. 



Various Notes. 



The recent visitors were C. Frauenf el- 

 der, Chicago; W. P. Kyle, of Kenni- 

 cott Bros. Co., Chicago; A. Elkon, of 

 the Botanical Decorating Co., Chicago; 

 W. H. Woemer, of Omaha, calling on the 

 trade with florists' wire designs. 



J. A Valentine and B. E. Gillis, of the 

 Park Floral Co., left Sunday for the 

 cast, intending to visit several of the 

 eastern cities before arriving at Wash- 

 ington for the convention. They expect 

 to be gone three weeks. 



Miss G. E. Page has returned from her 

 vacation to California. E. S. K. 



Utica, N. V. — George Boyce had ;'. 

 nice specimen of Cereus grandiflorus ii; 

 bloom one night recently and made quite 

 an advertisement of it by inviting hi3 

 customers and others to his greenhouses 

 to see the evn -interesting flower. The 

 ' ' function ' ' was given considerable space 

 in the local papers, one of them noting 

 that the night blooming cei-eus "resem- 

 bles a cactus." 



Keep A-Pushing. 



One step won't take you very far; 



You've sot to keep on walking. 

 One word won't tell folks all you are; 



You've sot to keep on talking. 

 One Inch won't make you very tall; 



You've Bot to keep on growing. 

 One little "ad." won't do It all; 



You've got to keep 'em going. 



— Saturday t^ening Post. 



The retail florists everywhere are tak- 

 ing an increased interest in the subject 

 of advertising cut flowers and plants. 

 The reproduction of a number of retail- 

 ers ' advertisements in a recent issue of 

 the Review has brought to the editor's 

 desk a large number of clippings of ad- 

 vertisements used by other retailers. A 

 few of these are reproduced on the op- 

 posite page in this issue. Some are dis- 

 tinctly good and will afford other retail- 

 ers an idea which they can use to their 

 own advantage. Any of these advertise- 

 ments is better than none at all, although 

 to the view of the professional advertis- 

 ing man those which do not quote a 

 price would not be considered as strong 

 as they might otherwise be. However, 

 Murtfeld, whose card is as small and in- 

 conspicuous as any in the lot, writes that 

 its publication once a week in the lead- 

 ing paper of Minneapolis has resulted in 

 a distinct increase in his trade. 



An illustration is always a desirable 

 feature of an advertisement, particularly 

 where the space occupied is not large, 

 but the principal endeavor should be 

 after attracting the eye of the reader, to 

 convince him that here is offered some- 

 thing desirable which is not beyond the 

 reader's means. The great advance of 

 the flower business must be di^e to the 

 increasing use of flowers by people of 

 moderate means. Few retailers have 

 patronage among the raulti-millionaries. 

 Most of us must look to the common peo- 

 ple for our business, and these are the 

 ones whom we should seek to disabuse of 

 the idea that flowers are an expensive 

 luxury. And they are the ones most 

 susceptible to the influence of advertise- 

 ments. 



GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. 



The weather is very unfavorable to 

 the handling of flowers, and business ex- 

 cept occasional spurts of funeral work, 

 is practically dead. 



Mr. Melis, on Jefferson avenue, will 

 build a carnation house. He is this sea- 

 son running the greenhouses himself; 

 last year it was on shares with Frank 

 Strong. 



The Grand Rapids Floral Co. is build- 

 ing a residence for Will Hannah. 



Geo. F. Crabb is recovering from an 

 attack of appendicitis. 



Clarence Hills is putting in a new style 

 of cement bench. G. F. C. 



JfiLWAUKEE, Wis. — The store of A. B. 

 Loofbourow, 376 Grove street, was bur- 

 glarized August 5. The store was ran- 

 sacked and $30 stolen from the cash 

 register. 



McKeesport, Pa. — Those persons who 

 were concerned in the recent raid on the 

 greenhouse of the McKeesport Floral 

 Co., which raid came about through a 

 practical joke, and who entered into an 

 agreement ^ith McKeesport Floral Co. to 

 make a settlement, each to pay his share 

 of the damage, amounting to about $200 

 in all, have been released from all re- 

 sponsibility. 



