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The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Apuil 18, 1907. 



1- 



examples of so much abortive Avork 

 placed there by politicians wrongly oc- 

 cupying these ])08ition8, earing little 

 about the work beyond its remuneration, 

 and too frequently devoid of the knowl- 

 edge necessary to equip them for even 

 the most rudimentary Avork of this 

 nature. 



It is true that the total eradication 

 or even amelioration of all the ilia that 

 the pursuit of the florist business is sub- 

 ject to, is not contemplated by the most 

 enthusiastic champions of florists ' clubs, 

 for if that were possible, then uninter- 

 rupted success and perfect tranquillity 

 in our chosen work might be purchas- 

 able by the mere payment of our annual 

 dues in these societies. 



Some Local Evidence. 



If tlie power and influences of or- 

 ganizations were devoid of proof, or at 

 all lacking in confirmation, I might with 

 perfect propriety point to even one of 

 many examples of it that could be 

 found in the history of our club. On 

 the occasion I refer to it was not neces- 

 sary to lose any time in working up sen- 

 timent to attain the end desired. We 

 were already organized and the neces- 

 sary spirit of kindness toward each 

 other was there, on top of it, as it were, 

 and the occasion only was needed to 

 give a practical demonstration of it. 



It was less than two years ago that 

 one of our members was about to erect 

 a fine store and office building; we con- 

 sidered that the accomplishment of that 

 enterprising project would stand as a 

 monument to the floral industry, and 

 that, locally, it would be an illustrative 

 testimonial of the great possibilities 

 open to others thus engaged, and that 

 the dignity of the calling would be 

 forcibly impressed upon the public by 

 witnessing such an achievement. 



The club accordingly took full charge 

 of the ceremonies attending the laying 

 of the cornerstone, July 1:9, 190.5. It 

 afl'ords me great pleasure to say that 

 on that occasion nearly every member 

 of the chib was present and shared with 

 our fellow member the great enjoyment 

 of the unusual, but important event. 

 This demonstration of unselfish com- 

 munity of interests, I should not hesi- 

 tate to declare, never had a parallel in 

 the history of trade organizations, and 

 the emulation by other clubs of the cor- 

 dial spirit shown by the members on 

 that occasion would add immensely to 

 the value of clubs in general. 



About two years ago a florists' club 

 was organized in a near-by city. At that 

 time there was jealousy, distrust and 

 much vindictiveness among the florists 

 there, and at first it was thought useless 

 to attempt organization, so deep-seated 

 and openl;- pronounced was the general 

 discord. However, a few of the more 

 progressive and broad-minded undertook 

 the formidable and apparently hopeless 

 task, and were much encouraged by a 

 timely visit of the Detroit Club in a 

 body to the scene of their efforts, and 

 soon thereafter an organization was 

 effected which has already accomplished 

 much good work. One of their meet- 

 ings and exhibitions, held a month ago, 

 was so successful that it required two 

 columns of the trade papers to describe 

 the many valuable and entertaining fea- 

 tures of it. and it is needless to say 

 that none of the members any longer 

 questions tl»e value of the florists' clubs. 



A national flower show was recently 

 projected by the S. A. F. and a guar- 



antee fund was required. Immediately 

 upon the announcement of the enterprise 

 guarantors came forward with subscrip- 

 tions amounting to over $8,000 ; the 

 total amount required, $10,000, is almost 

 in sight, and the names of all the guar- 

 antors can be invariably found in the 

 florists ' clubs ' memberships throughout 

 the country. Again, the result of or- 

 ganization. 



In the state of Illinois at the present 

 time the florists' organizations are se- 

 curing an appropriation of $15,000 for 

 experimental purposes in their direct in- 

 terests. Individual efforts could not se- 

 cure one dollar for the same purpose. 

 Many similar cases may be related cov- 

 ering examples of the clubs' successful 

 work throughout the whole country, all 

 confirmatory of their great vakie. 



Importance of Attending Meetings. 



A large attendance at the meetings 

 is not only necessary to bring out the 

 greatest usefulness of a club, but is 

 really essential to its very existence. 

 The frequency of attendance at the 

 meetings will serve each time to further 

 extend the acquaintance and cement the 

 mutual friendship, inspiring an inter- 

 change of almost implicit confidence in 

 the total membership, and when a time 

 arises calling for the prompt action of 

 a united body of men, no time need be 

 lost by a campaign of education along 

 lines of our duty as intelligent, progres- 

 sive and enterprising florists. 



True, it may sometimes call for some 

 individual sacrifice to maintain this high 

 code of worthy practice in our club, as 

 on occasions when the evening program 

 does not appear attractive. The essay 

 to be read treats, perhaps, of a subject 

 in which the florist is not vitally inter- 

 ested, and he is accordingly prompted 

 to remain away. Don't do it. Come to 

 the meeting, and by your presence, if 

 not by your participation or even pass- 

 ing interest in the discussion, give en- 

 couragement to the essayist who has 

 himself given hours to the preparation 

 of his article for the benefit of all who 

 may hear it. 



I contend that it is really impossible 

 for the florists to meet continuously, as 

 they do in their club rooms, without ac- 

 quiring a far better understanding of 

 each other, which often ripens into deep- 

 est friendship. It is a great mistake to 

 think that your monetary support of the 

 club will secure for either yourself or 

 the society the full measure of benefit 

 that it is possible to receive by your 

 l>rompt and regular attendance at the 

 meetings. I would rather witness the 

 presence of a full membership at the 

 meetings than the payment by each 

 absent member of a fee equal to the 

 total amount of his yearly dues. For 

 what benefit would the money thus 

 secured be, if we did not have inter- 

 ested members, to appropriate properly 

 the club funds for the most advantage- 

 ous furtherance of its purposes? The 

 power and influence of a united and 

 enthusiastic membership is lost, when a 

 weakness is unwittingly engendered by 

 the apathy of its members who fail to 

 attend the meetings regularly or even 

 frequently. 



It is generally noticeable that those 

 who are prone to stay away from the 

 meetings are the ones who stand most in 

 need of the benefits that the club can 

 impart to them. The full measure of a 

 club's value cannot be brought about 

 without a complete representation of the 



membership at the meetings. However 

 unattractive the program of the evening 

 may be, if the members present are fully 

 representative of the club's strength, 

 the mere assembling of them for par- 

 ticipation in the proceedings cannot fail 

 to further strengthen the good fellow- 

 ship among the members, and I hope the 

 time is not far distant when the real 

 significance of our organizations will be 

 so universally recognized that any one 

 engaged in the business, even as an em- 

 ployee, will be very reluctant to ac- 

 knowledge that he is not a member of 

 both the local club and the Society of 

 American Florists. All florists truly de- 

 voted to the advancement of the busi- 

 ness should hope and work for a greater 

 number of florists ' clubs in this country, 

 and should materially aid them to still 

 greater increase their value to the trade, 

 as unquestionably all work of this char- 

 acter contributes essentially to the dig- 

 nity of our profession and the commer- 

 cial importance of it. 



In conclusion I wish to congratulate 

 the Detroit Florists' Club upon its many 

 achievements during its brief history of 

 nine years. And the most important of 

 our club's attributes, I believe, is the 

 feeling of extraordinary good fellowship 

 that exists always between us, and per- 

 mits us to carry to a successful issue 

 whatever we undertake. 



THE WHITE FLY AGAIN. 



Have they discovered anything that 

 will kill the white fly? I would be grate- 

 ful for a good remedy. Utica. 



This little insect repeatedly has been 

 written up in the columns of the Keview. 

 Fumigation with tobacco in any form is 

 futile and as for liquid forms of nico- 

 tine, it is impossible to cover every part 

 of a plant. The simple and effectual use 

 of hydrocyanic acid gas seems the only 

 sure destroyer of this troublesome 

 creature. Many florists are afraid to 

 liberate this gas in their houses, having 

 read of some losses. The formula here 

 recommended is perfectly safe, will in- 

 jure no plant and is death to all 

 creatures that have lungs. Scale or 

 mealy bug it has no effect on. The 

 formula is largely based on Wm. Scott 's 

 many experiments. Here is what he 

 has found best: One pint of water; one 

 pint of sulphuric acid. Place these two 

 in a stone jar. One-gallon jars are good. 

 The acid will eat through tin, galvanized 

 iron or fiber vessels. At sunset put into 

 each jar you use two and one-half ounces 

 of cyanide of potassium. The combina- 

 tion of the cyanide with the acid gen- 

 erates a deadly gas which stops the work 

 of lungs, but is harmless to the vegetable 

 kingdom. This quantity is for every 

 1,000 cubic feet of atmosphere in the 

 house; keep the house closed all night. 



Don't think you can improve on this 

 by doubling the quantities and making 

 one jar do for 2,000 cubic feet of at- 

 mosphere. That would be a mistake. 

 Equalize the gas as much as possible 

 through the house. To find out the cubic 

 feet of atmosphere in a house may seem 

 a little troublesome, yet it is simple. 

 Find out how many superficial feet there 

 are in the gable end of your house and 

 multiply this by its length and you have 

 the cubic amount. 



There is one point left. This gas will 

 kill all fully developed insects, but it 

 will not kill the eggs, so the dose must 

 be repeated two weeks after the first to 



