April 16, 190S. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



{3 



Establishment of Davidson Floral Co^ Holdrese, Neb. 



Peirce Bros, are finding their new auto 

 delivery wagon a great help at this busy 

 season. It has made ^ as muc h as 100 

 miles per day and has carried loads to 

 Lowell, Worcester and other cities. Its 

 capacity is 400 pots and it can do the 

 work of four double-horse teams. 



William Sim's talk on sweet pea cul- 

 ture under glass will be the chief attrac- 

 tion at the meeting of the Gardeners' 

 and Florists' Club April 21. There will 

 be numerous exhibits and a record at- 

 tendance for an April meeting is ex- 

 pected. 



Some of the finest single violets now 

 arriving at the markets are from Edward 

 Winkler, of Wakefield; William Sim, Wil- 

 liam Spillsbury and A. W. Kidder. 



Preparations for the spring show of 

 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 in 1909 are already being made. It is 

 planned to have this eclipse all its pre- 

 decessors. A very unique feature will be 

 a Japanese garden to be constructed and 

 planted by Farquhar & Co. 



Vernon T. Sherwood, formerly with W. 

 W. Edgar & Co., is now with A. Leuthy 

 & Co., Roslindale, as grower. 



W. N. Craig. 



ON NEBRASKA'S PLAINS. 



The rate at which the trade is grow- 

 ing in the great west is shown by the 

 experience of the Davidson Floral Co., at 

 Holdrege, Neb., whose establishment is 

 pictured in the accompanying illustra- 

 tions. It should be borne in mind that 

 Holdrege is a town of only 5,000 in- 

 habitants — a thousand families. 



' ' We started July 1, 1906, ' ' says W. E. 

 Davidson, *'by putting up the house now 

 used for roses,, smilax, etc., together with 

 a small office and a shed and boiler-room. 

 But within five months of the time we 

 started we found that business was so 

 much ahead of our supply that we set 

 about making plans for three more 

 houses, one plant house, one carnation 

 house and one violet house. These we 

 completed June 1, 1907. Then again, last 

 July, in order to take care of the con- 

 tinually increasing business, we set about 

 to tear down the old office and erejct a 

 new one 22x32 feet. ' ' 



The illustration of the exterior shows 

 the office and store and a partial view of 

 the greenhouses. It shows only the rose 

 and violet houses; there is a carnation 

 house 29x100, also a plant house 10x100, 

 not in view, behind the store. The houses 

 are all of modern type, Moninger con- 

 struction, iron posts and supports, iron 



pipes and fittings for benches, heated 

 with hot water. 



The office and store are well built and 

 conveniently arranged. Steel ceiling and 

 walls are a feature, with hardwood floor 

 and fixtures. In the basement there is a 

 workroom, and the necessary facilities for 

 storing stock. Store and greenhouses are 

 lighted by electricity. 



The officers of the company are: Presi- 

 dent, F. A. Davidson; secretary and 

 treasurer, W. E. Davidson. H. E. Fisher 

 is the active manager. 



* ' Take it as a whole, ' ' says Mr. David- 

 son, "we have not a large plant, but we 

 can say without boasting that we have as 

 thoroughly modern and as well equipped 

 a plant as can be found anywhere. Espe- 

 cially do we pride ourselves on the con- 

 dition in which it is kept, for you will 

 , find everything from one end to the other 

 in a perfectly orderly and cleanly condi- 

 tion. Under the management of Mr. 

 Fisher we are growing as fine stock of 

 the leading varieties as one can wish for. 

 Especially is our carnation house a fine 

 sight, with eveiy plant doing its best. 

 We are growing Enchantress, Lawson, 

 Victory, Harlowarden, Queen Louise, Bos- 

 ton Market, also a few Winsor and 

 Aristocrat. ' ' 



THE DEATH ROLL, 



F. P. Davis. 



Franklin Pierce Davis, one of the most 

 prominent men in Mobile, Ala., and 

 widely known all over the state, died 

 suddenly at his home in Summerville, a 

 suburb, shortly after 3 o'clock on the 

 afternoon of April 6, death being due to 

 indigestion. His sudden end followed 

 only two weeks after that of his brother 

 J. Bradford Davis. ' 



Colonel Davis had suffered from indi- 

 gestion frequently during the last year, 

 but was never seriously ill from it. Sun- 

 day he felt slightly indisposed and called 

 a doctor, who examined him with reas- 

 suring remarks. While his wife sat at 

 his bedside, her hands on his forehead, 

 the next afternoon, he suddenly fell back 

 dead. 



He was born in Mobile and for many 

 years was manager of the Mobile Com- 

 press Co., later moving to Summerville, 

 where he engaged in the florists' busi- 

 ness. His range of glass was the largest 

 in the city and one of the largest in the 

 south. 



He was twice married, his first wife 

 being Corinne Cluis, daughter of a Mo- 

 bilian, and to this union six children 

 were born and survive him. 



In 1894 he married Corinne Irwin, 

 eldest daughter of Colonel Lee Irwin, 

 and one child was bom from this union 

 Lee Irwin Davis. ' 



Mr. Kaber. 



The death of Mr. Kaber, the senior 

 partner in the Kaber Co., of La Porte, 

 Ind., is reported. 



Theodore E. Horn. 



Theodore E. Horn, son of Julius and 

 Anna W. Horn, died at Arlington 

 Heights, Mass., April 11. He was 22 

 years of age. Julius Horn is the gar- 

 dener on the well-known Shaw estate. 



Ferdinand Bendt 



Ferdinand Bendt, of Newark, N. J,, 

 one of the old-time florists there, died 

 April 11 of typhoid fever. His wife is 

 ill with spinal meningitis and cannot 

 long survive him. 



Store of Davidson Floral Co., Holdrege, Neb. 



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