December 14, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



235 



not one of them whom we would wish 

 to see in your place. We fully appre- 

 ciate the sacrifice that you have made to 

 attend our meetings regularly, and the 

 ability which you have displayed in pre- 

 siding over them. As a small token of 

 our esteem we wish you to accept this 

 bouquet of floral gems (handing him a 

 bunch of fancy carnations) in which we 

 have been careful to place a few blos- 

 soms of Prosperity. 



President Neville was unable to find 

 words with which to respond. 



SAMUEL HENSHAW. 



The last of thirteen, three score years 

 and ten, and good for many years to 

 eome, Samuel Henshaw is a well pre- 

 served and interesting personality. At a 

 notable dinner not a score of years ago 

 thirteen of the leading lights of the 

 horticulture of that day sat down. They 

 were all men who left their impress on 

 the trade and indeed on all time. Peter 

 Henderson was one, founder of the busi- 

 ness which bears his name. Another was 

 John Henderson, his brother, of Flush- 

 ing, L. I.; James Taplin, whose brother 

 at Detroit is one of the oldest florists; 

 James Murkland, with Wm. Elliott for 

 many years, and Wm. Elliott himself, 

 the head of the Dey street seed house 

 now continued on Pulton street by his 

 sons; Wm. Davidson, with Peter Hender- 

 son, who assisted in the completion of 

 the Dictionary of Gardening; Wm. Ben- 

 nett, of Flatbush; Thos. Tate, of Staten 

 Island; Water Reid, the wholesale flor- 

 ist; Isaac Buchanan, the first of the 

 Astoria growers; Wm. Wilson, of As- 

 toria, and W. S. Cottam, the landscape 

 architect, of Yonkers; these were present 

 with Mr. Henshaw that night and all are 

 gone save "the youngest man of his 

 generation," whose temperate living and 

 sunny nature have caused him to grow 

 youthful in spirit while he is growing 

 old in years. 



Samuel Henshaw. 



Samuel Henshaw was born at Man- 

 chester, England, nearly eighty years ago 

 and learned his gardening under his 

 father, one of the thorough plantsmen 

 of that day. He came to America in 

 1868 with a ripe experience, taking 

 charge of the Green estate on Staten 

 Island, where he remained for twenty- 

 one years. In 1890 he began his work as 

 a landscape gardener, spending five years 

 in the development of the New York 



Wreath of Boxwood Sprays. 



Botanical Garden. He laid out the 

 grounds of the new Columbia University 

 and in doing so safely moved two Eng- 

 lish yews over 100 years old, with balls 

 of earth each weighing fifty-five tons. 

 These now occupy the court of honor in 

 front of Low Library. Mr. Henshaw laid 

 out many of the fine estates near New 

 York and some in other sections, and is 

 now retired, living on Staten Island close 

 to the scene of his early labors and in 

 the enjoyment of a green old age with 

 the conveniences of a well earned com- 

 petence. He is in touch with everything 

 horticultural, a constant attendant at the 

 meetings and exhibitions of the Ameri- 

 can Institute, and a great traveler, only 

 recently having visited Europe and the 

 West Indies. J. Austin Shaw. 



BOXWOOD WREATHS. 



Boxwood has come into favor with 

 many of the leading retail florists and 

 is used in large quantities by some who 

 have reputations for turning out work 

 of the very highest character. It is used 

 for all sorts of purposes; its dark green 

 lich foliage combines nicely with almost 

 any flower, and it is used for filling 

 in baskets and boxes of flowers as well 

 as in making up designs. A leading 

 Chicago retailer sends out many wreaths 

 made entirely of boxwood, with a ribbon, 

 and others in which flowers are used, 

 principally at the point of attaching a 

 ribbon. 



The accompanying illustration is a 

 wreath made by a Pittsburg retailer. He 

 used in it three pounds of boxwood 



sprays at 15 cents per pound. It took 

 thirty minutes' time, for which he 

 charged 50 cents; two yards of ribbon 

 at 25 cents per yard, an 18-inch wire 

 frame costing 20 cents, and 25 cents' 

 worth of tin foil, moss and twine. The 

 wreath then stood him $1.90 and he sold 

 it for $8. A decoration of flowers with 

 the ribbon would add much to its ap- 

 pearance and would increase the cost 

 accordingly. 



Boxwood sprays have become a very 

 popular decorative evergreen for Christ- 

 mas and its use for work, such as 

 wreaths for cemetery purposes, is be- 

 ing rapidly extended. It is very endur- 

 ing and stands the atmospheric condi- 

 tions and exposure outdoors longer than 

 any other green. It is used largely with 

 immortelles in balls, wreaths and garlands 

 for home and ball room deccrations. 

 Combined with statice, boxwood is espe- 

 cially effective, and the ingenuity of any 

 practical cut flower worker will suggest 

 many other combinations which will 

 make boxwood a source of profit. 



The boxwood sprays come from Vir- 

 ginia and are usually shipped in barrels 

 or boxes. The eastern trade was the 

 first to handle them, at 18 cents per 

 pound, which left only a fair margin of 

 profit, but when leading western retail- 

 ers wanted supplies the eastern whole- 

 salers thought that any money taken out 

 of the western communities was pure 

 profit and they made the price 15 cents 

 per pound on good-size orders. This 

 has established the rate which now pre- 

 vails in Pittsburg, Chicago and other 

 western centers. It leaves the wholesaler 

 not much for his trouble. 



