December 17, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



15 



OLDEST KANSAS FLORIST. 



Eeferring to the note regarding A. 

 Whitcomb in the Review of December 

 10, R. J. Groves, of Atchison, says he 

 thinks he can claim to be the oldest 

 florist in Kansas, as he antedates Mr. 

 Whitcomb by four years. Mr. Groves 

 went into the greenhouse business in 

 Atchison in March, 1865, so that he has 

 spent almost forty-four years in the 

 trade at that place. He says there, were 

 three florists then in the business in Kan- 

 sas, in 1865, all located at Leavenworth. 

 They AA'ere Messrs. Putman, Compeer and 

 Hawthorne, none of whom remain. 



WILLIAM DOWNS. 



William Downs, the new president of 

 the Gardeners' and Florists' Club of 

 Boston, is an Englishman by birth, hav- 

 ing first seen the light in a hamlet of 

 South Lincolnshire in 1861. When a boy 

 of 12 years, he left home to work in a 

 general merchandise store, where he 

 stayed three years. Finding that an 

 indoor life did not agree with him, he 

 next found employment in the garden of 

 a country clergyman, one who, like so 

 many others of his calling in Great 

 Britain, was his own gardener, and an 

 able one. After spending two and one- 

 half years in this place, Mr. Downs next 

 moved to another place where there was 

 some glass and general all-around work, 

 and here he spent three years. His next 

 move was to a place in Derbyshire, where 

 another three years were spent in the 

 kitchen^ and pleasure gardens and lawn 

 makings 



From Derbyshire the next move was to 

 the estate of R. Hornsby, the great agri- 

 cultural implement maker of Grantham, 

 Lincolnshire. Greenhouses here were a 

 leading feature, there being seventeen in 

 all, of which seven were graperies, three 

 peach houses, three forcing houses and 

 the balance plant houses. On this place 

 he stayed until he had advanced to the 

 position of foreman, when he moved to 

 Balrath Barry, County Meath, Ireland, 

 as foreman. "The leading features here 

 were a fine conservatory, extensive bed- 

 ding and five acres of herbaceous garden. 

 After spending two years here, the place 

 was closed, owing to the death of the 

 owner, and Mr. Downs went back to Eng- 

 land and took a position as fruit fore- 

 man with the redoubtable Richard Gil- 

 bert, of Boughley House, near Stamford. 

 Mr. Gilbert was one of the most notable 

 fruit and vegetable growers in Great 

 Britain, and many who were his assist- 

 ants now occupy good positions in Great 

 Britain and America. 



From Boughley Mr. Downs came to 

 the United States and accepted an offer 

 to manage orange properties in Florida. 

 Four and one-half years there was suf- 

 ficient to seriously undermine hia health, 

 so he determined to return to his old 

 profession. Returning to Massachusetts, 

 he took a position as foreman with E. O. 

 Orpet, of South Lancaster. After work- 

 ing there two seasons, he left to take 

 charge of the estate of Mrs. Julia M. 

 Dumaresq, Chestnut Hill, Mass., where 

 he has now been for twelve years. 



Mr. Downs, since his connection with 

 the Gardeners' and Florists' Club, has 

 been an earnest worker, being elected 

 vice-president a year ago. In him the 

 club will find an energetic, broad-minded 

 and progressive worker. Outside of his 

 horticultural affi]iations, Mr. Downs is 

 past chancelloriind treasurer in Newton 

 Lodge K, of P., also representative to 



William Downs. 



the Grand Lodge and president for the 

 third successive year of the Kingsle> 

 Working Men's Club, of Chestnut Hill. 

 Mr. Downs is married, but has no family. 

 The home over which Mrs. Downs pre- 

 sides is one of the finest equipped it has 

 been the privilege of the writer to see, 

 a model for owners of other large estates. 



W. N. Craig. , 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



Less flowers are now coming into the 

 market, but demand is not so good as 

 could be wished. Many growers are 

 holding back their crops for Christmas, 

 as is customary. A much more cheerful 

 feeling pervades the trade than a year 

 ago, when hopes of a good market were 

 slim. Present indicritions are that busi- 

 ness will exceed that of 1907, although 

 there are no expectations of any fancy 

 prices. Roses, which were fairly plenti- 

 ful, have been reduced somewhat on ac- 

 count of colder weather. Beauties, Kil- 

 larneys and Richmonds remain the three 

 leaders. Carnations are bringing rather 

 better prices, but whites promise to be in 

 oversupply. The finest whites coming are 

 White Perfection. Among every-day 

 whites, Queen remains the leader. 



Violets are not abundant, but there 

 promises to be a good Christmas supply. 

 Bulbous stock includes quite a few Trum- 

 pet Major narcissi; some Golden Spurs 

 are also promised for Christmas. Poin- 

 settias are not yet selling in a cut state. 

 Lilies and callas are each quiet. "Valley 

 sells fairly well. There is now a good 

 supply of Cypripedium insigne, and 

 among cattleyas Percivaliana and Tri- 



anse are in evidence. Gardenias continue 

 rather scarce. 



There is a quickened trade in pot 

 plants and dealers in Christmtis greenery 

 are busy. Their advance orders indicate 

 a much heavier trade than a year ago. 

 Both holly and mistletoe arriving are of 

 good quality. 



Club Meetins. 



The big attendance at the regular 

 monthly meeting December 15 attested 

 the keen interest taken by the member- 

 ship in the contest for officers. The 

 greatest good humor, however, prevailed 

 throughout. Eber Holmes withdrew as 

 a presidential candidate. The tellers 

 were D. Finlayson, George Shield, C. J. 

 O'Brien, F. W. Fletcher, Thos. Pegler 

 and W. E. Fischer. The balloting was 

 on the Australian system and resulted as 

 follows: 



For president — Wm. Downs, 90; F. E. 

 Palmer, 57. 



For vice-president — J. W. Duncan, 75; 

 W. J. Kennedy, 66. 



For secretary— W. N. Craig, 133. 



For treasurer — Edward Hatch, 130. 



For members executive committee — R. 

 Cameron, 100; Peter Fisher, 100; J. 

 Farquhar, 78; Peter Miller, 86, 



Each of the new officers made short 

 addresses. Three new members were 

 elected. 



There was as usual an attractive floral 

 display on the exhibition tablea W. N. 

 Craig had a collection of zonal gera- 

 niums, including such varieties as Paul 

 Crampel, Reformator, J. M. Barry; 

 Maxine Kovalevski, Ian Maclaren, Emile 

 Zola, Duke of Bedford and others, and 

 was given a report of merit for superior 

 culture. M. A. Patten had Sarah Nichol- 

 son and Genevieve. Thomas Westwood 



