December 21, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



307 



larly interested in red carnations, I am 

 glad to say that we have quite proven to 

 the craft throughout the country that 

 Victory is the safest to invest in, and the 

 number of orders received for it thus 

 far is proof of its popularity. 



But I am not here to blow my own 

 horn. I am here to tell you how 1 think 

 our fellow craftsmen throughout the 

 country were able to achieve such great 

 success in getting so many exhibitors, so 

 many workers, and also in succeeding so 

 well in interesting the public, which you 

 will all concede is an important factor 

 and absolutely necessary to make a show 

 a success and to make work a pleasure. 

 By the way, I must mention here that I 

 cannot tell you about all the shows, 

 for it would take too long, but as I hap- 

 pened to spend two days in Chicago, and 

 that being a large city, conditions can 

 be compared with ours here, I will tell 

 you principally what I learned in Chi- 

 cago. Although the same harmony existed 

 in all other cities among all the craft, 

 growers, retailers, wholesalers, nursery- 

 men, private gardeners, etc., it seemed to 

 me that their first thought was the ulti- 

 mate success of the show. The success 

 of the show was held above all personal 

 feeling which may arise through compe- 

 tition. In Chicago, such gentlemen as 

 Messrs. Vaughan, Hauswirth, Lange, As- 

 mus, Samuelson, Kanst, Wienhoeber, 

 Frey, Wittbold, Rudd, Wietor, Poehl- 

 mann, Deamud, McKellar, all the city 

 park superintendents and a great many 

 other men in every branch of the profes- 

 sion did not hesitate to give me inter- 

 views in the short time that I had while 

 there. 



At Chicago, I noticed that the leading 

 retailers had booths, and no doubt more 

 of them would have been represented if 

 they could have secured space. These 

 booths were one of the leading attrac- 

 tions at the show, and each retailer had 

 a sign prominently placed near his ex- 

 hibit. The signs were uniform through- 

 out the hall. As the attendance was very 

 large and was made up of the best peo- 

 I)le in Chicago, it surely must have been 

 a valuable advertisement for the retail- 

 ers. I noticed that there were no pre- 

 miums given for retailers' booth ex- 

 hibits. 



Owing to the fact that my real inter- 

 est in our profession was aroused only 

 a few years ago, I cannot, as you see, go 

 back very far into the past records and 

 achievements of the New York florists. 

 A good many of our members deserve 

 praise for their liberal exhibits at the 

 club meetings and at the different flower 

 shows held under various auspices. I 

 think that if the matter of being repre- 

 sented at our flower shows were to be put 

 up to the retailers of this city in the 

 proper way, they would see their advan- 

 tage and would co-operate with us to 

 enable us to have a grand show. The 

 reason I refer to this is because retailers 

 in New York in the past did not care to 

 take part in our flower shows. If I un- 

 derstand it right a certain large depart- 

 ment store offered a large amount of 

 money in premiums if the New York Flo- 

 rists ' Club would endorse their exhibi- 

 tion, and, also, I understand it, the club 

 felt that in order to protect the retailers 

 they should refuse that offer, and did so. 

 I think that the retailers have no right 

 to expect us to refuse another such of- 

 fer, and I believe that they should come 

 to the front and help us. Surely it is 

 important that we have a flower show, 

 and when we put it up to the retailers 



Chrysanthemum President Roosevelt. 



and they refuse, then our conscience need 

 not trouble us if we accept department 

 store offers. I feel very positive that 

 there are enough enterprising florists 

 who, if they could be reasonably con- 

 vinced that the management would so 

 advertise the show that it would bring 

 out Father Knickerbocker and his whole 

 family, they would not hesitate a mo- 

 ment to co-operate with us. I may be 

 wrong in my ideas; however, I see no 

 harm in bringing this matter up now, 

 and I hope that all of you present feel 

 the same as I do when I say that dis- 

 cussion on the subject would do a lot 

 of good. If I am wrong, I am willing 

 to admit it and am always willing to 

 abide by the wishes of the majority. As 

 J said before, my interest has only been 

 aroused a short time, since I realized that 

 it is to my interest to try to master my 

 profession as I intend to stick to it. 

 1 want to ask whether an attempt has 

 ever been made to interest some of our 

 wealthy philanthropists in our cause to 

 secure a Horticultural hall; also why does 

 not the daily press help us, in flower 

 show times especially, for they do print 

 occasionally ridiculous stories connected 

 with our profession, such as $20,000 and 

 $30,000 for carnations and $750,000 for 

 a retail wholesale flower store. In 

 Chicago all the newspapers devoted col- 

 umns to flower show news, and Mr. Budd 

 tells me that some of the leading editors 

 are members of their society and also help 

 finance the society and give premiums. 

 They do all these things besides giving 

 plenty of space in their columns, and it 

 is so in other large cities. Why can 't we 

 accomplish the same? We have V)rilliant 

 men in our city in every line, in the 



growing, the wholesale, the retail, among 

 the seedsmen, nurserymen, private gar- 

 deners, supply men, etc. 



It seems to me that we in this city and 

 vicinity ought to be the leaders in all 

 things pertaining to horticulture. I 

 think that if the members will work in 

 harmony and give all an equal chance, we 

 could not fail to have a great flower 

 show. All we ask is a fair field and no 

 favors. It would soon put us in the lea<l, 

 where we ought to be. There is no doubt 

 that we have had much success in the 

 past years in this club, but with better 

 co-operation we could attain much greater 

 success in the future. 



ALOYSIA CITRIODORA. 



This charming old plant, generally 

 known as the scented verbena, makes a 

 grand subject for cultivating in tubs for 

 decorating the grounds in summer, pro- 

 viding room can be found to keep it safe 

 from frost during winter. The finest 

 plants I have ever seen are at Lockinge, 

 and they are perfect pyramids, from 

 fourteen to fifteen feet high, growing in 

 tubs two feet six inches square. These 

 must have been a grand sight during the 

 past summer, as nearly every point flow- 

 ered. The specimens are thirteen years 

 old. I also noticed several fine standards 

 with five-foot stems. Mr. Fyfe grows a 

 large number of plants in tubs for stand- 

 ing about the grounds in summer, the 

 charming position of Lockinge lending 

 itself admirably to this kind of garden- 

 ing. — Gardeners' Magazii.o. 



Saltford's Violet Book mailed "by the 

 Review on receipt of 25 cents. 



