October 10, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



- •■ ■ .J _. ■> • . •■'•/,' '■- ■'■■ ' "( • ; 



n 



polite way, that while it wants their 

 business, and is willing to give them the 

 service, it cannot afford to and will not 

 deliver a bill of goods under $2 to any 

 point where it is necessary to pay car- 

 fare, unless the carfare is added to the 

 price of the goods. This, in my judg- 

 ment, is a step in the right direction, 

 and while I believe in every man run- 

 ning his own business, I do not think 

 he would make a mistake in following 

 this example. Every sound-minded store- 

 keeper is well aware of the fact that the 

 existing competition in our business is 

 bringing not only this service but dol- 

 lars and cents to his door every day, 

 and it would be suicide for him to dis- 

 courage us in our efforts. Is not 10 or 

 15 cents' worth of carfare a small mat- 

 ter to you, Mr. Storekeeper, if you 

 want an accommodation and want it 

 quickly ? 



The OuUook for the Wholesaleri. 



To make a long story short, allow me 

 to say that the wholesalers have to be 

 and are a hustling class of men, who are 

 willing to work night and day for re- 

 sults, and who have been doing it for a 

 number of years. Today they are com- 

 mencing to see light aheaci; the grower 

 and storekeeper alike are slowly grasp- 

 ing the fact that the wholesaler is a 

 better man than they had given bini 

 credit for. They have had a Idok at his 

 brighter and better side and are profit- 

 ing in more ways than one by his ef- 

 forts. The sun is rising for him ; 1 will 

 not say in the east, but just as surely 

 as the sun must rise somewhere, so surely 

 will the middleman, continue to advance. 



Our business is in its infancy, and 

 while it is so, why not bring it up in the 

 way it should go? We can never form 

 a Philadelphia florists' protective asso- 

 ciation, after our experience of one year 

 ago, but we can show our fellow business 

 men, both wholesale and retail, that we 

 are willing and ready to meet them half- 

 way on any proposition that will be for 

 the mutual good and advancement of 

 our profession, or that will in any way 

 make this rough road, which the florist 

 must travel, more smooth. 



THE SPENCER SWEET PEAS. 



It is quite certain that no sweet pea 

 ever created more interest than has re- 

 sulted from the introduction of Countess 

 Spencer, for not only was the variety 

 of itself a marked advance, but it seems 

 to have been imbued with a sportive 

 character all its own, and we now have 

 Spencers of many colors, the one trouble 

 being that several European firms have 

 sent out practically identical Spencer 

 sports under different names, so that 

 some confusion has resulted. 



Two Spencer sports of special inter- 

 est originated with L. C. Routzahn, of 

 Arroyo Grande, Cal., and are now being 

 exploited by W. Atlee Burpee & Co., 

 Philadelphia, in their own proficient way, 

 prior to distribution to the trade. One 

 is a pure white and is called Burpee's 

 White Spencer. It is unquestionably a 

 magnificent variety, white seeded and 

 true to the type. The large, waved 

 flowers are borne three and four to the 

 stem and are uniformly well placed. The 

 other variety is Burpee's Primrose Spen- 

 cer, as good in all respects and equal 

 in depth and richness of color to The 

 Hon. Mrs. E. Kenyon, which, of course, 

 it outranks in form and size. 



Lester L. iviorse gives these two vari- 

 eties a splendid sendoff, the white espe- 

 cially, which he says excels all other 



Sweet Pea Burpee's Primrose Speocer. 



whites. Mr. Burpee liimself says: 

 ' ' From examination of Etta Dyke and 

 Purity as grown in England the past 

 summer we should not be surprised if 

 these and Burpee's White Spencer (all 

 of similar origin) would prove to be 

 identical. This remains to be proven 

 when they can be thoroughly tested 

 side by side in 1908." In this connec- 

 tion the following, written by a London 

 seedsman for the Horticultural Adver- 

 tiser, will be of interest: 



' ' There are some good Spencer breaks 

 in the States, for I have before nie as 

 I write blooms of deep mauve, light 

 mauve, lavender, white, magenta, and 

 cream Spencers grown from seed sent 

 me by a well-known American. I have 

 seen similar things in home gardens, but 

 certainly not finer types. 



"I have seen a good many white 

 breaks from Countess Spencer, but cer- 

 tainly none to surpass this American se- 

 lection, which will probably be sent out 

 this coming season. To all intents and 

 purposes it is synonymoifs with Bread- 

 more 's Etta A.yke, which will appear 

 shortly. At Reading, Breadmore's stock 

 w-as quite fixed, but the flowers were very 

 impure, being greenish, and not com- 

 parable with the blooms I have now he- 

 fore me. These open with a greenisii 



edge, winch very soon fades, leaving the 

 flowers quite dead white. 



"This White Spencer seems to take 

 more time to develop than most sorts, 

 but when cut with two flowers open, 

 and finished in water, it is glorious. Much 

 as I love Dorothy Eckford, this true 

 White Spencer is assuredly delightful. 

 It is more waved than any other Spen- 

 cer, large, and although not so leathery 

 as D. Eckford, it is still very good. 



"I have no hesitation in saving that 

 the White Spencer, or, as it "^is to be 

 known on this side, Etta Dyke, is going 

 to be one of, if not the, leading varieties 

 tor 1908. It has created much excite- 

 ment wherever I have shown it, and 

 a friend in Victoria, B. ('.. tells me that 

 his White Spencers fairly made people 

 gape. However, one need go carefully 

 when buying stock, as there are manv 

 different lots about. 



"It is curious that while a number 

 of growers may get a break, all ap- 

 parently the same, yet when comparisons 

 are made, one may prove to be brighter, 

 larger, or more vigorous. It is so with 

 John Ingman, TTiere were many who 

 found a rosy carmine among their Count- 

 ess Spencers, but they were not all the 

 same although the color was practically 



