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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



AuQDST 24, 1911. 



culties to be surmounted and obstaclee 

 to be conquered in order to avoid the 

 delays incidental to the customs regu- 

 lations imposed by both governments. 



The Trade in Cut Flowers. 



It must be clear to the mind of any 

 man wha may investigate the trade in 

 cut flowers between the United States 

 and Canada covering a period of five 

 years ending June 30, 1910, that we 

 have little to lose by placing flowers 

 on the free list, as the following table 

 will show: 1. 



1 .*. ■ /f ' *j Sold • Bougrht 



to from 



Canada Canada 



1906 $3496.00 $5929.00 



190T 2550.00- 5128.00 



190S 1784.00 2192.00 



1909 3568.00 3721.00 



1910 8856.00 4308.00 



$20254.00 $21278.00 



These figures show only a small 

 business done in cut flowers. It is to 

 be remembered, however, that imports 

 and exports of nursery stock, decora- 

 tive plants, orchids, etc., are much 

 larger. 



A Quotation from President Taft. 



I believe there is a strong sentiment 

 in this society in favor of closer rela- 



natural products without an obstruct- 

 ing or prohibitory tarififf" 



Therefore, Mr. President, I am in 

 favor of this question being submitted 

 to the convention for consideration, 

 and would suggest that, after a rea- 

 sonable time has been given to debatje, 

 the matter be referred to the proper 

 committee of the Society of American 

 Florists, with instruction^ to prosecute 

 further negotiations with the Canadian 

 florists so that the prohibitory tariff 

 may be removed. 



I believe it will not materially 

 change the price of any article on our 

 list, but instead will open the way for 

 a larger and more profitable inter- 

 course between the producers of plants 

 and flowers in this country and their 

 brethren in Canada. 



THE PRIVATE GABDENEB. 



[A paper by William Duckbam, of Madl- 

 Kon, N. J., read before the Society of 

 American Florists, In convention at Balti- 

 more, August 15 to 18, 1911.] 



I was much surprised and pleased to 

 receive from your secretary an invita- 

 tion to Tead a paper on the subject of 

 "The Gardener." I am also glad to 

 note that your society has honored my 



Albert G. Fiedler. 



(Souvenir Committee.) 



tions. We all know this sentiment is 

 strong throughout the land, as proved 

 by the vote of both houses of Congress 

 at the present session. The President 

 of the United States, in a message to 

 Congress recently, stated the follow- 

 ing: "We have reached a stage in our 

 own development that calls for a 

 statesmanlike and broad view of our 

 future economic status and its require- 

 ments. Ought we not, then, to ar- 

 range a commercial agreement with 

 Canada, if we can, by which we shall 

 have direct access to her supply of 



profession — the first time, I believe, in 

 the history of your organization that 

 it has been directly and distinctly rec- 

 ognized. This may partly account for 

 the lack of interest of the gardeners 

 in your society and their failure to be- 

 come members in large numbers. Not 

 to my knowledge has there been a gen- 

 eral appeal to the gardeners to join 

 the S. A. P. 



For some reason or other only a few 

 gardeners hold membership in the S. A. 

 F., although the idea prevailing in the 

 minds of some, that they are not want- 



ed, is erroneous. Fundamentally the sor 

 ciety is a trade organization, and the 

 mere addition of "Ornamental Horti- 

 culturists" to the society's title h&s 

 added but few members. 



The national flower shows held in the 

 past have been well supported by the 

 gardeners, and their exhibits have been 

 much appreciated by your society. 

 These exhibitions should be well sup- 

 ported by every one in the allied trades 

 and professions in which we are so 

 much interested, and I trust that many 

 such exhibitions will be held in the 

 future. 



Gardeners Who Became Florists. 



The relation between the private gar- 

 dener and the florist is intimate, and is 

 easily traced, for yoU have only to look 

 in any direction and you will find some 

 of the most successful florists of this 

 country who have graduated from the 

 ranks of private gardeners. It is not 

 my intention to enumerate all of them, 

 any more than it is to omit any names, 

 but a few come to my mind who start- 

 ed their careers as private gardeners, 

 and such training as they then received 

 is admitted by them to have always 

 been a help to them in their business. 



Their names, as they come to me at 

 this time, are J. N. May, E. G. Hill> 

 J. K. M. L. Farquhar, Thomas Boland, 

 Peter Fisher, F. L. Atkins, A. T. Bod- 

 dington and C. H. Totty, and, unless I 

 am mistaken, the late Peter Henderson 

 started his career as a private gardener 

 and perhaps gave more and better ad- 

 vice to young men than any one else, 

 and many today, whether florists or 

 gardeners, owe to him a large measure 

 of their success, and all over this broad 

 land his influence is still felt. 



The private gardener has done his 

 part in the development and advance- 

 ment of this country, both directly and 

 indirectly, for, in looking after an es- 

 tate, he generally takes a keen delight 

 in having his place well kept, growing, 

 and producing flowers, vegetables and 

 fruits, and endeavoring to have all this 

 a little better than his neighbor. Then, 

 again, where there are places of this 

 kind the community in general and the 

 trade benefit by it. I have never yet 

 heard any one say that he did not love 

 flowers, no matter how much he might 

 dislike some other things, and those- 

 who can not have a large garden can 

 at least imitate those of larger propor- 

 tions; therefore I claim the work of 

 the gardener has a most refining and 

 broadening influence in every locality, 

 and has done much toward making this- 

 a better land and a better world. 



Lack of Interest in Hybridizing. 



Though the private gardener has done 

 much for horticulture, there remains 

 much he could do, and I refer to the 

 most interesting branch of hybridizing. 

 Something has been done, I admit, but 

 in my opinion he has neglected his op- 

 portunities. The cause of all this I am 

 unable to explain, but it occurs to me 

 that the most of it can be laid to in- 

 difference or lack of interest, for surely 

 a number of gardeners have the time 

 and conveniences and it can not be said 

 he does not know how. There might 

 have been some excuse for this some 

 twenty or thirty years ago, but condi- 

 tions have greatly changed since then. 

 I do not mean by this that gardeners 

 are any better today, but there are 

 many more large estates where oppor- 

 tunities present themselves that were- 



.!aiSi^ 



