^? 



JANJUBY 24, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



701 



some introducers have made fame and 

 fortune; others have lost the confidence 

 of the trade by their too sanguine ex- 

 pectations from their pet introductions, 

 or from lack of experience, or want of 

 business morality. Be that as it may, 

 the carnation has gained a prominept 

 pinnacle in commercial floriculture, from 

 which may it never lose its prestige. 



From year to year new varieties will 

 come forward. Whether better than 

 those of the present day, time alone will 

 tell. What is new today will be old to- 

 morrow, and the older varieties, like the 

 growers of today, will pass into obliidon, 

 and in their place will rise a generation 

 that we earnestly hope will be no dis- 

 credit to their forefathers. 



Carnation Mabelle, Grown by H. Weber & Sons Co., Oakland, Md. 



have made any special effort at the 

 rooted cutting business. 



Nor are these investments confined to 

 the older and more thickly settled por- 

 tions. But away out in the west, where 

 distance has no meaning, in that country 

 of so much wealth and future prosperity, 

 we find floral establishments, like mush- 

 rooms, springing up, not as in the past 

 with us pioneers in the business, who 

 with limited capital, had to do most of 

 our own building, and not much of it at 

 a time. But like everything else in that 

 country with ample capital to back enter- 

 prise, modern establishments are spring- 

 ing into existence, and in these, too, the 

 carnation holds a place of prominence. 



Effect of tbe Convention. 



The far-reaching stimulus, the eftect 

 which this meeting will have on the car- 

 nation as a commercial product, will be 

 enjoyed directly by all growers and deal- 

 ers, both large and small. 



To those who have never before at- 

 tended a meeting of this society the 

 exhibition has been a revelation. It has 

 awakened in them a new ambition; sup- 

 plied food for thought and action. Edu- 

 cational in its scope, attractive in ar- 

 rangement, effective in its object, it will 

 have done more to popularize the carna- 

 tion than any other method we could 

 have employed. So much from this point 

 of view. 



Changes in Cultural Methods. 



Not only has the style of our build- 

 ings, their construction and operation 

 undergone changes to meet the ever- 

 increasing demand, but our cultural 

 methods have also kept pace with the 

 necessities of the day. Local conditions, 

 here as well as elsewhere, have their 

 influence. Sections have a demand for 

 color or quality that is not felt in 

 others. Yet go where you will, be it the 

 cosmopolitan city or the rural hamlet, 

 the carnation is the popular flower with 

 the people at large. True it is, that no 

 special effort has been made to introduce 

 new carnations of Canadian origin. Up 

 to the present our growers have devoted 



their energies to growing for commercial 

 bloom alone; but that we are not back- 

 ward, where new varieties are concerned, 

 you will find evidenced when you visit 

 the leading growers. To Canadians be- 

 long' the honor of first recognizing the 

 merits of some of the leading commer- 

 cial varieties which have held a place 

 more profitable than many that have 

 been heralded forth with glowing de- 

 scription and brilliant pen pictures of 

 the fabulous returns to be made by in- 

 vesting in them. But, alas, how often 

 have our expectations been realized of 

 "getting rich quick" from these in- 

 vestments ? 



If we were to go over the list of intro- 

 ductions of from five to ten years ago 

 how many would we find occupying any- 

 thing like a prominent place with the 

 trade? I venture you can count them on 

 less than the fingers of one hand. 



New varieties have come and gone; 



AMERICAN SORTS IN EUROPE. 



[A paper by C. Engelman, of Saffron Walden, 

 England, read before the American Carnation 

 Society at the Toronto Convention.] 



Winter-flowering carnations already 

 were grown for the English markets some 

 thirty years ago. The first were French 

 varieties, and as the demand for choice 

 flowers increased, new kinds were raised, 

 some of which enjoyed great popularity 

 for a number of years and, though in 

 size and length of stems they could not 

 be compared with the present day carna- 

 tion, in color, fragrance and productive- 

 ness, they left little to be desired. 



The American Invasion. 



The first carnations of American origin 

 were introduced into ^England about fif- 

 teen years ago, and as I am told by one 

 of the first importers, turned out to be 

 ratlier a disappointment. Of later varie- 

 ties, Daybreak was already grown in con- 

 siderable quantity. However, it was not 

 until the 30,000-dollar Lawson made its 

 appearance that the boom began. 



Even then there were but few growers 

 who understood the cultivation of the di- 

 vine flower and I am afraid Mr. Fisher 

 would not have recognized his own child 

 had he seen it in some of the English 

 greenhouses. There were a few, though, 

 that did the trick, and their produce 

 made handsome prices in Covent Garden 

 market. This, of course, was the best 

 means of popularizing the flower, for the 

 English florist is as much after the 

 £ s. d. as his American cousin is after 

 the dollar. There was money in growing 



H. Wehex & Soni Co.'s Carnation Toreador. 



(Seedltn? of and hoped-to-be successor to Prosperity.) 



