42 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dbcbmbek 1G, 1909. 



OBITUARY. 



William K. Harris. 



William K. Harris passed peacefully 

 away at his home in West Philadelphia 

 at 10 a. m., Monday, December 13, after 

 a long illness. A devoted husband and 

 father, a warm friend, a skilful grower, 

 an able man of business, he is mourned 

 by all who knew and loved him. Self- 

 made, earnest, hard-working, farseeing, 

 of the highest integrity, William K. Har- 

 ris represented what is best in the world 

 of flowers. A florist for forty-two years, 

 a leader in his profession, with a reputa- 

 tion far wider than local, his loss will 

 be keenly felt by many and his memory 

 will be cherished in their hearts for 

 years to come. 



William K. Harris was born in Phila- 

 delphia March 10, 1838. His father, li 

 seafaring man, apprenticed him at the 

 age of 7 to a New Jersey farmer, who 

 treated him harshly. The boy ran^ away 

 when 9 years old, returning to Philadel- 

 phia, where he worked for Kobert Dunk, 

 a basket-maker and florist. He became a 

 good basket-maker and continued with 

 his employer for many years. Plants 

 were at that time only a side issue, serv- 

 ing to keep the wolf from the door. As 

 the boy grew into a man his love for 

 plants increased. April 1, ,1867, he com- 

 menced business as a florist in a small 

 way, with the greenhouses of William 

 Hobson, a botanist, at Tifty-flfth street 

 and Darby road. Here Mr. Harris grew 



grew was grown well. When competition 

 brought down the price of geraniums, 

 other things were tried. For years a 

 house of Stevia serrata was grown for 

 Christmas. Eoses were tried, but with 

 the exception of some wonderfully suc- 

 cessful Jacqueminots, they did not do 

 well and were dropped. William K, Har- 

 ris never fooled with crops that did not 

 pay. Another objection to the roses was 

 that they stayed too long in the houses, 

 Mr. Harris liked to clear up a house 

 quickly, then follow with another crop. 

 Pandanus Veitchii was a great money- 

 maker; so were rubbers. He was a 

 pioneer with the branching type. Then 

 came the lilies, an opportunity quickly 

 grasped. The story of the hit made by 

 Lilium Harrisii is well known all over 

 the country. The chrysanthemums, too, 

 gave him a splendid field. Ivory, Miss 

 Minnie Wanamaker, Mrs. Frank Thom- 

 son, Miss Florence Harris, Our Dear 

 Friend, are a few of the best known 

 productions of his camel 's^hair brush. 



April 1, 1891, Mr. Harris moved to 

 his present place at Fifty-fifth street 

 and Springfield avenue, where he erected 

 the first houses of his present fine range. 

 Two of these houses are of plate glass. 

 They made a stir when they were built; 

 in fact, they are still believed to be the 

 only commercial plate glass houses in the 

 country. Everyone gave Mr. Harris 

 credit for being 'extraordinarily pros- 

 perous. He at' once rose to the front 

 rank among the growers. As a matter 

 of fact, these plate glass houses were not 



William K. Harris. 



geraniums, fuchsias and heliotropes in 

 pots for sale in the spring — not ordi- 

 nary stock, but of such fine quality that, 

 when Eobert Buist saw them, he said it 

 was odd that the best geranium grower 

 in the country was a basket-maker. 

 Basket-making was still kept up, grad- 

 ually giving way to plants and flowers. 

 Mr. Harris was a keen observer and 

 progressive. He soon had the best va- 

 rieties of geraniums and other flowering 

 plants in quantity. Everything that he 



the expensive luxury people supposed. A 

 lull in the market enabled Mr. Harris 

 to buy this plate glass at a low figure. 

 Under its flawless panes he has colored 

 Pandanus Veitchii and fruited Otaheite 

 oranges in a way to excite the admira- 

 tion of the critics. Mr. Harris' saga- 

 city and skill in rotating crops is shown 

 in his management of the shamrock. 

 These little Irish favorites were sown, 

 grown and sold in increasing quantities 

 each year, just in time to make room for 



the final pre-Easter spread of azaleas, 

 hydrangeas, genistas, spiraeas and other 

 flowering stock, for which he is famouf<. 

 Many other things might be mentioned, 

 the great specimen bougainvilleas and 

 the sport named after himself, the ferns 

 of Boston type, the daffodils, primulas, 

 buttercups. Enough h5s been written t() 

 show what Mr. Harris has done and 

 wherein lay his success. May it inspire 

 others to labor faithfully to elevate our 

 flower business standard. 



Mr. Harris has been president of the 

 Philadelphia Florists' Club and of the 

 Philadelphia Wholesale Flower Market. 

 He wrote verses, loved bowling and 

 thoroughly enjoyed social gatherings. He 

 is survived by a widow, two daughters 

 and one son, William K. Harris, Jr., who 

 with his brother-in-law, Mark B. Mills, 

 •have for many years lightened his busi- 

 ness cares. Phil. 

 John H. Myers. 



John H, Myers, a member of the well- 

 known firm of Myers Bros., of Altoona, 

 Pa., died December 8, as a result of 

 drinking 5, large quantity of sulphuric 

 acid, which he mistook for "medicine that 

 was near by. He was removed, in an un- 

 conscious condition to the Altooiia hos- 

 pital, where he died within a few hours. 



William S. Phelps. 



W. S. Phelps, for about seven years 

 senior member of the firm of W. S. 

 Phelps & Sons, South Framinghani, 

 Mass., died December 6 at the age of 

 78 years. The plant at one time operated 

 by the deceased is now in the hands of 

 Lemoine Bros. Mr. Phelps grew carna- 

 tions and chrysanthemums and forced 

 large quantities of bulbous stock while 

 in the business. 



Sewall Fisher. 



Sewall Fisher, one of the pioneer 

 hybridizers of carnations, well known to 

 the trade fifteen to twenty years ago, 

 died in Boston, at the home of his daugh- 

 ter, December 5, in his seventy-sixth 

 year. The deceased gentleman located 

 in Framingham, near the present plant 

 of William Nicholson, in 1869, and dur- 

 ing the late eighties and early nineties 

 raised and introduced quite a number of 

 seedling carnations. Among these were: 

 Crystal, white; Mary Fisher, variegated; 

 Saxon, scarlet; Seber, crimson; Mrs. 

 Fisher, whue, one of the most popular 

 of its color for several years, a fine out- 

 door bloomer and still grown in some 

 places. It is doubtful if any carnation 

 gave a greater number of flowers, al- 

 though many were in those days sold as 

 shorts. Florence, scarlet, was much es 

 teemed for several years, while Anna 

 Webb was the leading crimson of its day 

 and twenty years ago, with Grace Wilder, 

 Silver Spray, Heinze's White, Portin, 

 Tidal Wave and Astoria, was the variety 

 mostly in evidence, 



Mr, Fisher retired from business somi^ 

 years ago and, while living quietly in 

 Boston, was a frequent visitor at the 

 various exhibitions in Horticultural hall 

 He was a member of the Massachusetts 

 Horticultural Society and keenly inter- 

 ested in flowers, particularly carnations, 

 until the last. The interment was at 

 Edgell Grove cemetery, Framingliam, De- 

 cember 6, when a number in the trado 

 among others gathered to pay the de- 

 ceased their last tribute of esteem. 



W. N. Craig. 



The Eeviev^t sends Scott's Florists' 

 Manual postpaid for $5. 



