This section is from the book "The Gardener's Monthly And Horticulturist V28", by Thomas Meehan. See also: Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.
Mr. Dreer exhibited a fine collection of these very good bedding plants. They are still confined to red and carmine colors.
Mayor Smith, in welcoming the florists, referred to the fact that there were more people owning homes of their own in Philadelphia than in any other city of the world; they had therefore more interest in ornamenting their grounds than in cities where most of the people were simply tenants. In this way he accounted for the general diffusion of pretty gardens which so much attracted the attention of visitors.
Artisans are great buyers of these. President Thorp said that sales were much interfered with through the labor troubles of last spring.
Dingee & Conard Co. made an exhibit of an immense number of varieties, and the manager of the company, Antoine Mintzer, gave a list of those which in the firm's experience they had found the best kinds to grow.
Mr. Craig's essay was regarded as one of the most valuable in the convention, yet it provoked a discussion, in which it was evident no general conclusion could be reached on the cause and cure of fungus attacks.
Among these the strongest recommended were very old kinds, which led Mr. Meehan to remark that wearing out of varieties did not seem to apply to the rose.
Denys Zirngiebel exhibited some very dwarf asters that were also very prolific, and the florists seemed to regard them with great favor for summer blooming.
In Mr. Blanc's collection was a plant of this remarkably beautiful agave. It is of a very compact growth, and the broad white edges to the leaves give it a very peculiar appearance.
Orchids are very much in demand for the more expensive styles of cut flower work. Seibrecht & Wadley, of New Rochelle, had a collection showing how deservedly this class may be prized.
It so happens that when some conventions have been held in Philadelphia, there has been a "hot wave" over the whole country; but the conventionists declare the place they meet in, to be the " hottest place in the Union." When the Florists met in Philadelphia, recently, they pronounced it the coolest place in the Union. Let the Texans take heart. They may yet get the convention there.
This will be held on the 9th, 10th, nth and 12th of November, and promises to be one of the greatest exhibitions ever seen in Philadelphia; great efforts are being made by the best growers to have something nice.
 
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