10 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 3, 1909. 



Establishment o( Charles P. Mueller, 'Wichita, Kan. 



" When out in Calif uriiia in February, 

 1908, 1 visitetl Fred Hafferty, a florist in 

 Santa A}ia, who has some nice green- 

 liouses, grows a great quantity of plu- 

 niosus in lath liouses, and has a general 

 line of cut flowers and plants. He had 

 some Easter lily bulbs out in the field 

 and said he grew them without the lily 

 disease. His plants, which, by the way, 

 were then about four to five inches high, 

 looked very healthy. He called my at- 

 tention to a new corporation, just or- 

 ganized, the Santa Ana Easter Lily Co., 

 whose sole object was to grow lily bulbs 

 for the trade. 



' ' The next day I visited the farm, or 

 ranch, as they call it, of the Santa Ana 

 Easter Lily Co., about three miles west of 

 Santa Ana, or about twenty-five miles in 

 a southeasterly direction from Los An- 

 geles. Mr. Metcalf, the vice-president 

 and general manager, took us in hand 

 and showed us about the grounds. He 

 had a large force of men and teams at 

 work grading, as there everything must 

 be brought to a level for irrigating. 

 About 100,000 lily bulbs they claimed to 

 have then planted out for a beginning. 

 Mr. Metcalf also made the claim that 

 they would grow their bulbs without the 

 lily disease; anything showing the least 

 sign of it would be exterminated. I de- 

 cided to give them a trial, so placed an 

 order for 1,000, but will say that I am 

 somewhat disappointed with the result. 

 We planted and treated them strictly ac- 

 cording to Mr. Metcalf 's directions, but, 

 as above stated, lost about half entirely. 

 We are enough interested, however, so 

 that we shall give them another trial this 

 year. ' ' 



It is stated that other lots of these 

 bulbs have been sold in the trade and 

 flowered with good success this season. 



GLIMPSES OF MUELLER'S PLACE. 



In November, 1908, when Charles P. 

 Mueller, of Wichita, Kan., held a recep- 

 tion at his greenhouses, photographs were 

 taken of several different parts of the es- 

 tablishment. Three of the photographs are 

 here reproduced. The terra cotta building, 

 of which a front view is presented, con- 

 tains the office and shipping room. An- 

 other illustration shows a carnation 

 house, which measures 30x152 feet and is 

 stocked with about 10,000 plants. In the 

 other greenhouse which is here pictured, 

 there is a smilax bed in the center, with 

 benches of Asparagus Sprengeri on each 

 side and baskets of Boston ferns and 

 Sprengeri suspended from the sashbars. 



Mr. Mueller's houses are located about 

 half a mile from the end of the car line. 



On the ocfa.-ion of the reception referred 

 to, special ears were chartered to handle 

 the crowds, and carriages were run from 

 the end of the car line. During the day 

 several thousand persons visited the 

 plant. As seen in the pictures, the men 

 wore a uniform apron and cap. Every- 

 thing was in apple-pie order, and the 

 general impression was one of up-to-date- 

 ness and thrift. 



C. H. Conger, manager of the plant, is 

 a Cincinnati, O., boy, and is the son of 

 J. T. Conger, of Hartwell, O. He took 

 charge of the plant last September. 



During January a severe wind storm 

 struck the place. A gale of sixty-five 

 miles per. hour made the houses sway and 

 buck like a bronco. Over 200 lights were 

 broken. It was necessary to get fence 

 wire and anchor the houses down to pre- 

 vent much greater loss. It required quick 

 and energetic work to save the plant 

 from total destruction. 



Mr. Mueller conducts a retail store in 

 Wichita, located at 145 North Main 

 street, and he is doing a fine business. 



HAIL LOSSES HEAVY. 



May made a new record with the Flo- 

 rists' Hail Association for the payment 

 of losses. Between May 5 and May 29 

 the sum of $11,085.81 was disbursed, the 

 following being the payments: 



Samuel R. Fanlknor. Omaha. Neb | 166.60 



K. A. Barnhart. Clinton, Mo 40.50 



E. J. Larimer, llerrln, ill $ 18.41 



Henry Meyers, Council BluBfs, la 37.90 



John R. Elder, Sioux City, la 2S7.80 



K. J. Olsau. Ames, la 75.70 



(Jeorge Sorrenson, Florence, Neb 19.50 



Wm. Stolba Floral Co., Cedar Rapids, 



la 15.61 



M. K. Bishop, Sioux City, la 21.00 



Wm. Goos, Davenport, la 6.30 



■Tohn T. Temple, Davenport. la 100.24 



Hess & Swoboda, Omaha, Nob 2,209.13 



Blackman Bros., Nevada. la 156.76 



A. Woerner, Cljoton. Mo 10.64 



Chas. Ederer, Omaha, Neb 1,627..5() 



Herman Roth, Lafayette, Ind 293.34 



John Steldle, St. Louis, Mo 21.25 



Hagerman & Carter, Oklahoma City. 



Okla 77.83 



Paul B. Floth, Omaha, Neb 547.96 



Paul Paulsen, Omaha, Neb 557.25 



.T. E. Mathewson. Sheboygan, Wis 200.78 



F. Keuchenmelster, Wichita, Kan.... 12.58 



Rudolph Koeppen, Springfield. Mo 17.60 



The Stiles Co., Oklahoma City, Okla. 1,818.60 



J. Hart Temple, Olathe, Kan 7.55 



Pioneer Floral Co., Springfield Mo 92.50 



Geo. Zlmmer, Omaha, Neb 269.50 



Palmer's Greenhouses, Cherokee, la.... 43.85 



Mary Bliss, McPherson, Kan 11.40 



J. H. Reams, Council Bluffs, la 82.25 



J. W. & W. E. Arnold, Omaha, Neb.. 206.02 



A. Grofert. Kalamazoo, Mich 77.00 



Fred Kelsel, Lafayette, Ind 12.53 



Richard Frow, St. Louis, Mo 11.55 



Greenville Bros., Omaha, Neb 315.14 



John R. Lomas. Dallas. Tex 18.40 



Hagerman & Carter, Oklahoma City, 



Okla 914.10 



B. Jacobs, Canton, 111 82.99 



Fred Dorner. Lafayette, Ind 520.49 



Chas. A. Slmonson, McPherson, Kan... 15.50 



B. T. Schilling, Lafayette, Ind 34.10 



T. C. Hemphill. Wichita. Kan .30.98 



G. A. Thomas, Sioux Falls, S. D 28.28 



Total 111085.81 



Blackman Bros., Nevada, la., write. 

 May 26: "We certainly feel thankful 

 that we were insured — and still more 



Shipping Room and Office of C. P. Mueller, Wichita, Kan. 



