^•'' 



12 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Skmembkk 12, 1007. 



chickea niauure and three-fourths good 

 loam and keepiug it under cover, turning 

 it over at intervals to allow aecess of air, 

 until ready to use it, would be in accord- 

 ance with the principles as laid down by 

 Dr. Voelker and Messrs. Laws and Gil- 

 bert, experts in this class of work. 



By sowing it in the fall, either broad- 

 <'ast or in hills or drills, and plowing it 

 under, there would be no loss of its most 

 valuable constituents, nitrogen, phos- 

 I>horic acid and potash, which by this 

 process would be in an assimilable form 

 l>y spring. RiBKS. 



THE DEATH ROLL. 



Flint Kennicott. 



Flint Kennicott died as he had lived 

 a good share of his life — in the market, 

 rt was at about 11:30 Monday morning, 

 September 9, that he was mounting the 

 ^teps from the barber shop in the base- 

 ment at 22 Randolph street when he was 

 ivercome and sank to the sidewalk. An 

 t.nbulance was summoned and he re- 

 f lined consciousness suflSciently to ask 

 lo be taken to his firm's store, at 48 

 Wabash, but by the time he had reached 

 there he was again fainting and was 

 carried to St, Luke's hospital, where he 

 breathed his last in a few moments. An 

 inquest was held and the cause of death 

 decided to be an organic disease of the 

 heart, 



Mr. Kennicott was president of tlie 

 Kennicott Bros, Co, and the dean of the 

 wholesalers in the Chicago cut flower 

 market. He was the first man to rely 

 for a livelihood wholly upon wholesaling 

 cut flowers on a commission basis, and 

 had been actively and continuously en- 

 gaged in the business longer than any 

 other man in the market. To his fore- 

 sight and enterprise, as much as to any 

 other factor, was due the early develop- 

 ment of the Chicago wholesale market — 

 Hnd in his later years he kept' in step 

 with its progress, though health had 

 l)een failing for some time and his activ- 

 ity was much lessened by his implacable 

 foe, rheumatism, 



Mr. Kennicott was the youngest son 

 of the late Dr. John A, Kennicott, a 

 pioneer settler of Illinois, He was born 

 fifty-nine years ago, at the family home 

 at The Grove, near DesPlaines, 111, In 

 his youth he followed the profession of 

 an actor, and old-timers remember him 

 well as playing "The Two Orphans," 

 with Katie Putnam, in which the two 

 made a great success, appearing all over 

 the United States, Mr, Kennicott 's old- 

 est brother, Amaza, who died at The 

 Grove April 7, 1907, was probably the 

 pioneer in tho growing of outdoor flow- 

 ers for the Chicago market. He had been 

 engaged in this for so many years that 

 at the date of his death the exact date 

 of the first sales had been lost. About 

 1880 he induced his brother, Flint, to 

 join him in opening a retail flower store 

 on Wabash avenue, A little later, ap- 

 preciating the opportunities which lay 

 before a wholesale flower store in Chi- 

 cago, they started wholesaling at 27 

 Washington street, in a basement where 

 the Marshall Field building now stands. 

 Amaza Kennicott withdrew after a time, 

 but Flint continued to give his whole 

 time and attention to the business from 

 that day. The vicissitudes were many, 

 but the record of the house was kept 

 •without blemish and since its incorpora- 

 tion, about ten years ago, it has had the 

 smoothest of sailins;, with Mr, Kennicott 

 MS prf»8ident, G, H. Pieser as secretary 



and K, K. Pieser as treasurer. Mr. Ken- 

 nicott, of course, through his many years 

 of connection with the trade, had a wide 

 circle of acquaintances and it was al- 

 ways a pleasure to have him tell of the 

 days when the flower business was in 

 embryo. His memory of men and events 

 was of the clearest in spite of his fail- 

 ing physical i»owers. He had the con- 

 fidence and respect of all who knew him 

 either personally or by reputation, for 

 his acts always were in accord with jus- 

 tice and his judgments tempered by con- 

 sideration for others. He leaves a wid- 

 ow, two unmarried daughters and a son. 

 The funeral was held at Graceland 

 chapel at 1 o'clock on the afternoon of 



Flint Kenokott* 



September 11, a large number being 

 present and the floral display elaborate. 

 The Chicago Florists' Club, of which 

 Mr, Kennicott was an old member, at- 

 tended in a body, »? a mark of respect 

 all the wholesale cut flower houses in the 

 Chicago market closing during the hour 

 in which the funeral services were held. 

 Interment was at Arlington Heights, 

 beside the body of his brother and part- 

 ner, Amaza, who had preceded him to 

 this last resting place by only five 

 months, Mr. Kennicott had not had a 

 photograph taken in many years. The 

 one appearing herewith was printed in 

 the initial number of the Revibw, Decem- 

 ber 2, 1897, and is his latest portrait. 



THE FUTURE OF THE DAHLIA. 



The dahlia, so long a favorite flower 

 with many flprists, has certainly attained 

 a popularity undreamed of by those who 

 first undertook the culture of the dahlia. 

 The question of its future will doubtless 

 also engage the closest attention of the 

 specialists who champion the cause of 

 this most showy group of plants. 



Already in some quarters we perceive 

 signs of a strong movement against the 

 present race of cactus dahlias, a move- 

 ment which is antagonistic to formal 

 types and conventional designs. This 

 new tendency will sooner or later chal- 

 lenge the very existence of the stiff, 

 formal type of cactus dahlias, and varie- 

 ties which are at present regarded as 



representative of the best of the exhibi- 

 tion type, will be disregarded. Although 

 cactus dahlias are largely used, often as 

 cut flowers for large vases, yet the ar- 

 rival of a better type for decorative pur- 

 j)oses will rapidly displace them from 

 their position. 



The single dahlias, some of which are 

 most refined in appearance and dainty 

 in coloring, arc still a specialty with a 

 few leading growers. New varieties are 

 (juietly being added to the group year by 

 year, and when the tide turns in favor 

 of this useful type many will be sur- 

 I)rised at the beauty and charm of the 

 varieties which have been added of late. 

 That the tide will turn strongly in their 

 favor there is no doubt, for as the pop- 

 ular fancy tires of the stiff, pointed 

 glories of the cactus group, they will be 

 impelled to return to the graceful dim- 

 j)licity of the singles. And what a user 

 ful section they are, valuable for cut- 

 ting, light in formation, and easy to ar- 

 range, as they possess long, stiff stems, 

 and go well with their own foliage, or 

 branching sprays of late summer and 

 autumn leaves. 



But one may, perhaps, be pardoned 

 for stating that with the new peony 

 flowered section lies, to a large extent, 

 the future of the dahlia. But such a 

 statement will be realized sooner or 

 later, for even at this time they are 

 filling a large part of the dahlia talk, 

 both in England and on the continent. 

 In them we see the results of the ebbing 

 tide of formality, stereotyped design, 

 regularity of petal. The newcomers, with 

 their pleasing, loosely arranged petals, 

 irregularity of form, and their absolute 

 disregard of the conventional florists' 

 types, to which may be added the nat- 

 ural beauty of the golden centers, will 

 assuredly come to the front, — P, S. Hay 

 ward in the Gardeners' Magazine. 



CONNECTED HOUSES. 



[A paper by George Robinson, of Outreinout, 

 Que., read before the Canadian Horticultural 

 AHsoclatlon, In conyentlon at London, Ont., Aiv 

 >f>i8t 29, 1907.] 



The first consideration in constructing, 

 maintaining and running a commercial 

 establishment is economy, and the con- 

 nected house style is certainly to be rec- 

 ommended in this respect, for several 

 reasons. First among these is economy in 

 land investment. This is a great con- 

 sideration, especially among florists in 

 (dose proximity to a city where land is 

 quickly becoming too valuable for flo- 

 rists' uses. The connected style of green- 

 houses will allow the florist the use of 

 practically every foot of land, thereby 

 realizing the same amount of produce 

 from two-thirds the amount of land re- 

 quired to erect separate houses. 



There is a great saving in cost of con- 

 struction and up-keep. The sides of 

 greenhouses are costly to erect and are a 

 source of expense forever afterward. This 

 is the part of a house where decay sets 

 in, and they have to be renewed fre- 

 quently — not to mention houses getting 

 out of shape and glass loosening all over 

 the roof, to be lifted out some fine, cold, 

 windy night, A stronger construction i» 

 obtained in block houses at less expense 

 for foundations, and the wider the block 

 naturally the greater the 8a>'ing in con- 

 struction and maintenance. 



There is also a great saving in fuel, 

 in favor of connected over separate 

 houses. Houses in blocks twenty feet 

 wide require ten runs of steam pipes to 

 maintain a rose temperature in our local- 

 ity, in the province of Quebec; if sepfl- 



