April 20 , 1895 . 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
637 
illustration shows the manner in which the flowers 
are produced in a dense cluster close to the apex of 
the stem and appear terminal. The plants are 
usually grown in pots, kept in the cooler end of the 
Cattleya house close to the glass, and well supplied 
with moisture during the growing season, both at 
the roots and in the atmosphere. 
-- — - 
CONFESSIONS OF AN 
AMATEUR. . 
I have often thought the florists' trade one really 
worthy the attention of a gentleman—there is some¬ 
thing refining about it, to say nothing of the immense 
profits. I have thought, too, that a man of my 
calibre might elevate the business ; I mentioned this 
to a Rose grower of my acquaintance, but be seemed 
to think I was more likely to depress it—in fact, he 
For example, I went into a Carnation house one day, 
and noticing it was excessively hot I asked Mr. Cut¬ 
tings, the proprietor, whether it was the usual tem¬ 
perature. He said, “ Oh no, it's just about time I 
put a crack of air on.” I said, “ On what ? ” and he 
answered, with come surprise, " On the house, of 
course.’’ Well, I watched him, for what a crack of 
air was I couldn't imagine, it sounded like a nautical 
term, and I assure you, upon my word, he didn’t do 
a thing except wind up a very stiff wheel at one end 
of the house. 
I found the same difficulty in their plant descrip¬ 
tions. I am (or rather, I was) much interested in 
Chrysanthemums, feeling sure they would be very 
remunerative, for all you have to do is to cut a 
plant up into slips, stick them into dirt, and grow 
them on. The greatest trouble I had with them was 
to train them to one stalk, which Mr. Cuttings said 
in the neck, too.” This seemed really insulting, 
particularly as Mrs. Smithkins is one of our society 
leaders, and I was simply amazed when Mr. Grafts, 
another florist, remarked contemptuously, “ None of 
that Smithkins type has any constitution, and 
they’re eat up with rust. When do you strike 
Smithkins?” I said indignantly, "Gentlemen, 
what would you strike for ?’’ and they answered in 
chorus, “ Why, for exhibition blooms only—no 
earthly use for anything else.” It gradually 
dawned upon me that they were speaking of the 
flower, not the individual, but until I became 
familiar with plant names I had several similar 
shocks. What was I to think w r hen Mr. 
Cuttings informed me that Miss Tompkins was a 
heavy feeder, that Mrs. Smith needed bone, that 
Colonel Jinks was liable to be crooked, and that Dr. 
Fourthly had a tendency to go blind ? I can not 
Dendrobium Jamesianum. 
said something unpleasant about running it into the 
ground. Strange to observe the narrowness of some 
minds ! I did not, however, make up my mind 
suddenly to embark in this business. My own 
interests (Sharps, Flattes & Co., real estate and 
loans), were quite absorbing, but I spent my leisure 
in my garden,and gleaned much information from the 
horticultural departments of the daily papers. When 
I read of the lady who made $17,000 from Violets 
one winter (all grown in frames, which she attended 
to in her leisure moments), I was fired with emula¬ 
tion, and the description of the De Billion wedding, 
which called for 143.000 Roses, 11,000 Lilies, and 
44,000 yards of Smilax, using the entire crop from 
Boston to Denver, made me feel that there was still 
room for a really conscientious grower. I began, 
about this time, to visit all the commercial growers 
I could, note-book in hand, and I must own they 
were very willing to impart information, only, un¬ 
fortunately, they used such very singular language 
that I found great difficulty in understanding them. 
was the way to produce the finest flowers. He told 
me to stop the buds, and as the only means of 
stopping them, so far as I knew, was to remove them 
entirely, I cut the tops off all my plants. One 
would think this was sufficient stop for any plant, 
but those miserable Chrysanthemums, instead of 
restricting themselves to one big flower on top, 
immediately began to throw out weak little branches 
all down the stem, and before I realised what had 
happened my single stem plants were all bushes. 
This was discouraging, so I gave up any idea of 
prize Chrysanthemums that year, and determined to 
study them closely at the November shows. Mr. 
Cuttings and his friends were very kind here, but 
their manner of imparting information was very 
singular. I was making notes on an immense 
sandy-hued blossom which had attracted my wife’s 
attention, chiefly from its strong resemblance to 
Herr Ruffanthumpski, the distinguished pianist, 
when Mr. Cuttings remarked, abruptly, " Mrs. 
Lafayette Smithkins is too leggy for me, and weak 
help thinking this style of naming is overdone, 
though of course there are occasions where it seems 
advisable, as in the case of my new set, to be sent 
out next year (J. Robinson Sharps, Mrs. J. Robinson 
Sharps, Miss Ianthe Sharps, and Master Beddgelert 
Sharps). 
My studies among the trade resulted in the 
building of a block of modern houses, and the 
selection of a staff of employees. My greatest 
difficulty was in securing a foreman—of course I 
intended to supervise the entire place myself, but 
still a working foreman seemed a necessity. The 
first man selected for the place only stayed two 
days, owing to an unfortunate difficulty with Mrs. 
Robinson Sharps and the cook. It was the opinion 
of the latter that the foreman, not being expected to 
work as steadily as the other men, might very well 
attend to the vegetables and other errands for the 
house, and of course Mrs. Sharps coincided with the 
cook. The foreman, however, didn't; in fact he 
was really unpleasant, and, asserting that he was no 
