The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 5, 1899, Page 24

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1899. EXPERTS SAY THIS CALIFORNIA CARNATION SURPASSES THE FAMOUS $30,000 LAWSON It Is Called the Hannah Hobert and Has Been Sent East to Contest Against the Cham- 1 0CO00000000000000WO0000 Fancy a Flower Worth $80,000, Yet That I What the Fe- mous Mrs. Thomas Lawson Carnation Recently Sold for, and Experts Say That the Purchager Will Double His pions at the Philadelphia Carnation Exhibit %ooooooooooooooooooooooo ¢ Two Carnations, the Hannah Ho- bert and the Ethel Crocker, Have dJust Been Bred in San Francisco, and the Producer Says He Would Not Take for Either of Money. C0000000000000 QU 20000000000C 000000000 0000000000000 BOSTON, Jan. 19.—The far-famed Lawson carnation has been ° sold for $30,000. The purchaser is Thomas F. Lawson, a financier well known in this city and New York, and in honor of whose wife the wonderful plant was named. Mr. Galvin, who bred the flower, announces that he has accepted the offer made by Mr. Lawson, and that in future the flower will blossom solely for the public gardens of the city of Boston, that be- ing one of the conditions of the sale. 3 When the beauty of the carnation .first became known Harlow N. Higginbotham, the Chicago millionaire, offered $6,000 for the plant, and a little later a New York florist offered $15,000 for the flower. OSTON has her Lawson carna- tion which sold for $30,000 very recently, but San Francisco has a carnation, almost ready for the marker, whicl. the owner declares he would not exchange for $30,000. He says confidently that he expects to get a great deal more for it. It's a very beautiful flower, and wiil be exhibited for the first time next month at the National Carnation Society’s Exhibition in Phila lphia. Several specimens of this flower were sent on to Chicago last year and placed in the Carnation Society’s Exhibition, just to give them an idea what the flower w-~ like. Of course the flowers could not be shown to the best advant- age on account « the distance and the di“erence in climcte. Here is what the Cernation Soclety, in its report, said about the fic or: Perhaps the most extraordinary feature of this exhibition was the arrival of a large case of blooms in excellent condition from John H. Sievers of San Francisco. Not only did the flowers arrive in excel- lent condition for the opening day (the fourth after picking), but some samples of Hannah Hobert among. the dozen others represented in_the collection, hdd_ flowers of a deep pink shade and larger and finer than anything we remember to have seen in the way of carna- tions. The Boston carnation measured three and one-half inches and the San Fran- cisco carnation measured four and one- half inches. Why, then, did not the San Francisco carnation receive the first place? Mr. Sievers exp'a’ ed it tals way: “It is because the Istance from San Francisco to where the exhibition was held made it impossible for us to enter the competition and comply with the rules of the society. Our flowers had to be cut before maturity to travel the four and one-half days. It is impos- sible to carry blooming plants such a distance and keep them in good con- dition. The rules of the society re- quire fifty flower cut and blooming plants. We could not do it. “But we shall be in the coming ex- hibition in Philadelphia next month. The secretary liked the looks of our flowers which I sent te Chicago last year. He has taken our cuttings of ten varieties and grown them for us in the East.” a3 ° This Month, § [} SCIENTIFIC FLOWER-BREEDING THAT © IS BEATING SCIENTIFIC HORSE- 9 $30,000 BREEDING IN PROFITS. S Them. : ©o marry them to get the good qualitles of both. “I take this one and take away all the pollen and destroy the anthers. Then I replace the pollen with that from the other flower. That makes two distinct _parents for the seeds which form. When these seeds grow they make the new seedlings.” “But suppose the seedlings get the The Ethel Grocker, the Beautiful New Garnation Now Being Raised in San Francisco. New York prices, nor one-third of New York prices, either. “We cannot supply the demand for the Hannah Hobert here in San Fran- cisco at $2 a dozen. The Mrs. Lawson is having a boom. It is a fad, and fad- dists must have it at any price. The Hannah Hobert nor the Ethel Crocker nor any of our carnations have been boomed—yet.” “How can a flow—any flower—be worth $30,000?" “Just the same as real estate may be worth $1000 a foot—because it will bring it. Carnations and roses are staples in flowers. Every rose-grower is trying to grow a certain red rose. Whoever succeeds will make a fortune. The “Thomas Lawson” was a good invest- ment and will pay, because the stock more than doubles every year, and it is a thoroughbred flower.” “A thoroughbred?” ” “Yes. Fine flowers are not fine flow- ers by chance. It all depends upon the parents we choose. “Any one can hybridize fidwers and get new specles. To get fine results it The Mrs. Thomas Lawson Carnation. bad instead of the good qualities of their parents?” “Throw them away.” “Many?"” “No. We know the breed of every flower we have, and keep its pedigree, 80 know what to expect when we marry certain families.” ' “How do you know which to choose?” “Ah, that is the whole secret. It is all in the choosing.” “Sort of Vicar of Wakefield mar- riages.” “Never take two out of the same fam- ily or of near kin. It always degener- ates the flowers. “I have been working specially with carnations for thirty years, and this greenhouse of seedlings and cuttings is the result. All this time I have been working for a definite object, and at last I have it—this rose-pink carnation, the Hannah Hobert. It is a fine bearer, its color is perfect, the leaves are well set, it is as large'if not larger than any other carnation. You can see it has a perfume of its own.” It is a beauty, a deep, clean rose pink, The Hannah Hobert Carnation. 000000000000 0000000000C000000000020 ing; some of the colors, again, like the opaque effects from an amateur's palette. Foer color, here is the oddest. Did you ever see a purple cow? The flower Mr. Severs held up was a perfect mauve, and most extraordinary. After the novelty wore off it might be felt to be beautiful. “It is a seedling, and s0 may not be of value. The cuttings may bloom quite differently.” “Then you cannot depend upon seed- lings?” “‘Seedlings are ‘sports’ and may turn out badly. Only a cutting of a cutting can show a fixed species. It cannot change and remains the same size and color within slight variations.” “But you know the ‘Mrs. Lawson' measured three and a half inches last year. Now it is said to be up to six and a half inches.” “Did you ever roll a snowball?” Mr. Continued on Page Thirty-two. 000000000000000000 TURF WINNINGS. Continued from Page Twenty-twa. Isaac rode Firenzi all over the track, and finally fell off the mare, after passing the wire several lengths behind Tea Tray, the ‘winner. He admitted having drunk a glass of milk punch just before the race egan. ‘When the great Domino finished abso- lutely last in the American Derby at Comparison Between Boston's Prize Carnation, the Mrs. Thomas Lawson and the N‘eW San Francisco Carnation, the Hanna, Hobert, Which Will Be Sent East This Month to Compete With It in the Philadelphia Carnation Exhi- bition. “And will you ask $30,000 for your Hannah Hobert?” “It is not in the market.” “Would you not take $30,000 for it?"” “It is worth more to us than to any one else, and we will control it our- selves.” “And the Ethel Crocker carnation?” “‘Our agent in New York has it for sale now, and says it will bring more than the Mrs. Thomas Lawson.” “But you cannot get the prices in San Francisco that they do in New York?” “No; San Franciscans will not pay takes study and experience to choose the right flowers for marriage.” “Even California flowers cannot stand divorce, then?” ‘Yes, they can, for you might say it is the divorce which makes the new species. That is just what we do—dl- vorce a flower from itself and marry it to another.” “For instance.” “Here is a pink carnation which has good strong stems. There is a red one which is a good bloomer but bobs about and cannot hold up its head. And we holding its head up as a queen should. But it is only one. There is the Ethel Crocker, quite as flne, though a _trifle smaller, and a light pink; the Helen Dean, a light pink; the John Carbone, a voluptuous old gold, with vermillion; the Dr. Tevis, a flaming scarlet; the Iris Paul, a perfectly pure white, be- sides enough samples of others to make an armful. Such blooms and such a study to get lost in! Some of the flowers with a “clean” color, as the artists say, a color which shines as a Rubens paint- R a R SR R e e R R R R DD DS PP PO CU SOOI GOSN + + + + + This monastery, one of several, is on the apex of an impregnable rock, 170 feet above the ground. All that Is known about them is that the monks and wandering friars of the middle ages found sanctuary here when first the crescent and the scimitar ran red with Christian blood. The monastery of St. Stephano is the largest of the seyen blocks which now remain of twenty of the rarest monuments of “human in- genuity, and entrance to it is gained by g steep and winding path among the rocks. All the rest are absolutely devoid of access save by the net or rope or a swinging ladder. With the exception of St. Stephano ladies are rigorously excluded from mounting to the monaster- fes. Visitors to the monks’ abode announce their presence by shouting until some one far above looks out, and lets the net, which is worked by a windlass, come down. HE village of KXalambaka— which formed practically the starting pointof the late Graeco- Turkish war—lies nestled among the wilderness of rocks and stones which lie at the feet of Meteora, the most wonderful cliffs in the world. They are conglomerate in formation and rise in detached masses sheer up from the Plain of Thessaly. In appearance they suggest the col- umns of seme gigantic temple. which has long since tumbled into ruins. and the wonderful handiwork of nature here set forth has been crowned by the no less wonderful work of man. By what strange means the first cun- ning archi’~cts of these airy perches succeeded in reaching the scene of their labors is a matter wreathed in mystery. The cliffs are far too smooth and per- pendicular for any man to climb by hand and foot, and history guards Jjealously the secret of the monasteries. All that is known about them is that the monks and wanderin friars of the Middle Ages found sanctuary here when first the crescent and the scimitar ran red with Christian blood. The monastery of St. Stephano is the largest of the seven blocks which now remain of twenty of the rarest monu- ments of human ingenuity, and en- trance to it is gained by a steep and winding path among the rocks. All the rest are absolutely devold of agcess 7 itors to the monks' LIVE IN @ MONASTERY HIGH IN AR AR AR A AR RS A R AR et AR SR R R RS TR SR T R ILT S T T T D L PP PP save by the net and rope or a swinging ladder. With the exception of St. Stephano ladies are rigorously excluded from mounting to the monasteries. Vis- abode announce their presence by shouting until some- one far above looks out, and lets the net, which is worked by a windlass, come down. The sensation of the ascent I found on visiting the place myself (writes a special artist-correspondent of the Daily Graphic) was distinctly novel. Seated on the ground in the center of the net the meshes were one by one looped on to a large iron hood. As the rope became taut, the cords pressed uncomfortably hard upon points of one’s body, and .s there was a strong wind blowing, it swung to and fro and bumped {ts human appendage against the cliff. The rope, as it slowly wound on the drum up in the monas- tery, kinked occasionally, and the jerk gave one the impression that the rick- ety concern war giving way. The journey through the air ended safely, however, on a platform 170 feet above the ground, and the monks promptly extricated their visitor from the entangling mesh. The place was distinctl, dark and draughty, and there were .1any winding passages and steps various | Washington Park, Chicago, in 183, the surprise at his inglorious defeat was not 80 great as the hollow victory of Rey el Santa Anita. There were a few, however, who were confident that he would win, and, actln% under the advice of Trainer Harry McDonald, a _party of Cincinnati plungers, including Johnny Payne and “Kid"” Shaw, placed $1500 on the horse at odds ranging from 40 to 60 to 1. The California horse made a show of his fleld and wa@ running away at the finish six lengths to the good. On the same day old Peytonia won at odds of 250 to 1, but carried only a few pikers’ bets. R R R R R R R THE dIR. + to stumble over before the room was reached in which the Abbot sat and waited the arrival of his visitor. His delicately cut features. his gentle voice and stately bearing were only what one would expect of a man whose life had been spent in a place so far above the world, amid such lofty surroundings. A young monk, with bare feet, en- téered the room noiselessly and handed round small cups of Turkish coffee and a cigarette, and seated with these beside one on the divan beneath the window, one could en- joy to the full the glorious view of the plain spread out like a map be- low, with the gleaming snow peaks of the Pindos Mountains in the dis- tance. Then followed a long ramble through the wainscoted dormitories of the monks—the rock-floored re- fectory, the richly decorated chapel, and the little graveyard whichsloped away from it down to the very edge of the precipice. It was with many a pleasant recollection of the monks of Meteora that.we finally bade them good-by ere they pushed us off from their landing stage and launched us once more into s .ace. —_—— Long hair on a man is very apt to cover a multitude of cranky ideas. . 23 The Mrs. Thomas Lawson Garna- tion, Recently Sold in Boston for $30,000. From a Photograph.