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FBBBUARY 24, 1910. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



Charles L. Washburn, President Illinois State Florists' Association. 



THE ILLINOIS ASSOCIATION, 



With a man at its head of such large 

 interests as those of C. L. Washburn, the 

 Illinois State Florists' Association ap- 

 pears to be prepared for a good season's 

 work. The association will ask the state 

 legislature to make up to it the sum 

 withheld when the last biennial appro- 

 priation was made. The asking then 

 was for $35,000, which the legislature cut 

 down to $16,000. This time the asso- 

 ciation will ask for $54,000, the same 

 asking- as last session except that the de- 

 duction is added. 



Charles L. Washburn is a member of 

 practically all the trade societies, but 

 haa fought shy of office in any of them, 

 although .frequently urged to permit the 

 use of his name. He laughingly asserts 

 that he was not aware of what was go- 

 ing on at Champaign the day he was 

 elected president of the Illinois State 

 Florists' Association, but since the elec- 

 tion was unanimous and he has much 

 interest in the work for floriculture now 

 being conducted at the state experiment 

 station, he will put into the administra- 

 tion of aflfairs the same energy he ap- 

 plies to all his business activities. 



Mr. Washburn will be 52 years of age 

 February 27. The early years of his life 

 were devoted to lumbering, some years 

 liaving been spent in logging in the 

 woods, and later in the wholesale and 

 retail lumber trade. It was in 1884 that 

 Mr. Washburn married Kate Basseti, the 

 only child of O. P. Bassett, with whom 

 in 1893 he formed a partnership under 

 the firm name of Bassett & Washburn. 

 1 hey then started building greenhouses 

 on a large scale at Hinsdale, growing cut 

 flowers for the Chicago market. This 

 was one of the pioneers of the large es- 



tablishments in the Chicago territory and 

 soon was famous over a wide range of 

 country. They blazed the war for a 

 large number of improvements in green- 

 house building, cultural and marketing 

 methods which are now taken as a mat- 

 ter of course by the trade. The firm of 

 Bassett & Washburn commenced to sell 

 their cut flowers undef their own name 

 in 1895 and has continued to do so unin- 

 terruptedly ever since. The specialty of 

 the firm is the shipping trade. Al- 

 though it has not been generally known, 

 Mr. Washburn bought out Mr. Bassett 's 

 interest in the firm some four years ago, 

 the agreement being that the business 



shoukl continue under the old firm name. 

 Mrs. Washburn died in 1902. She left 

 one child, Edgar B. Washburn, who 

 since his graduation from the University 

 of Wisconsin has-been associated in the 

 business with his father. 



President Washburn has announced 

 that he will reappoint as members of the 

 advisory board for the state experimen- 

 tal station, J. C. Vaughan, of Chicago, 

 and W. N. Eudd, of Morgan Park. The 

 other members of the board are the 

 president, the secretary and the treas- 

 urer of the association. 



One of the things which Mr. Wash- 

 burn hopes to see accomplished during 

 his term of office is the establishing of 

 some uniform grades for cut flowers. 

 For this purpose his predecessor appoint- 

 ed a committee consisting of C. L. 

 Washburn, H. E. Smith and C. M. 

 Dickinson. The president being ex- 

 officio member of all committees, Mr. 

 Washburn intends to appoint some one 

 else in his own place on the committee. 

 If it is possible for the association to se- 

 cure the adoption of some standard 

 grades for cut stock, especially roses, it 

 will enable both buyers and wholesalers 

 to deal with greater certainty. 



WHY NOT PEORIA NEXT? 



The selection of Charles Loveridge as 

 vice-president of the Illinois State Flo 

 rists' Association leads to the suggestion 

 of Peoria as the scene of the next conven 

 tion, in February, 1911. Peoria is the 

 second city in Illinois — quite a metropolis 

 by comparison with the meeting place of 

 1910 — with excellent hotels and other ac- 

 commodations. The determination of the 

 next place of meeting rests with the ex- 

 ecutive committee of the association and, 

 since the organization has now set tlie 

 fashion of entertaining itself, there is ni» 

 need to wait for an invitation. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a snapshot of Vice-President Loveridge in 

 one of his houses of White Perfection, 

 made December 30, 1909. 



HaKtford, Conn. — Vincent H. Olm 

 sted, foreman for John Coombs, was in 

 jured recently' while decorating the 

 Thomaston Opera House. He was se- 

 verely cut about the face. The ladder 

 on. -which he was working fell with him 

 and struck and broke a chandelier and 

 he was cut by the broken glass. 



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Charles Loveridget Vice-preiident lUionis State Florists' Association. 



