E. G. Hill (and of him I will have a little more to say later) offered his services to help out Mr. Nelson by rooting the cuttings in Richmond. Quite a number of smaller growers were willing to risk the unrooted cuttings. We felt more encouraged. Unfortunately the variety refused to respond to the most expert treatment and proved a failure in the end. Those who succeeded with part of the stock found it to be a very meritorious variety, and what was most surprising to us, its behavior during the next few seasons was splendid. It rooted well, and produced excellent blooms throughout the Winter months.
My experience with the Nelson variety had for the time being knocked my enthusiasm into the proverbial cocked hat. The failure of the Carnation was later easily explained. In his eagerness to finish the new range of greenhouses, Mr. Nelson killed the goose that laid the golden egg. By neglecting to lift the plants from the field in the proper time (he left them out in the field late into October), he impaired their vitality, and the cuttings would not root.
Acquaintance with the Sage of Indiana
My acquaintance with E. G. Hill dates back to 1898 when I first met him at a Chicago show. I had often heard of Mr. Hill before (and who in the trade has not?) and it was my pleasure now to meet the Sage of Indiana face to face. Mr. Hill possesses many charming qualities, chief of which is that of making a stranger perfectly at ease and avoiding any semblance of superiority which might embarrass him. He has the faculty of putting himself on a level with his visitor, a faculty that might to good advantage be studied and emulated by many a man who has achieved much less in life than has Mr. Hill. And by achievement I do not mean only in the matter of worldly goods. To be sure, Mr. Hill has not failed in that respect either. Mr. Hill in the first place is a man who thoroughly knows his business. In the world of horticulture he will ever be known as one of its chief exponents. His contributions toward the improvement of the flower are well known to all. Some of the best Chrysanthemums, standards of today, are the results of his painstaking efforts and intelligent selection. The best Carnations of a generation ago, such as Flora Hill, Armazindi, Jubilee, Triumph, and others, are to be credited to Mr. Hill. The Richmond Rose is still a standard of today among red Roses, and his recent introductions of Sunburst and Ophelia need not be dwelt upon at length here. It is true the last two varieties are foreign Roses; but it was E. G. Hill who brought them to this side, tested their merit, and gave them to the Rose lovers of this country. It often takes a keen eye to see a good thing. Mr. Hill is endowed with that particular faculty. He knows a good thing when he sees it.
Sarah A. Hill, the Woman Horticulturist
About a year after this first meeting I had the pleasure of being introduced to Mr. E. G. Hill's family. A highly interesting family it is. Mrs. Hill, a kindly intelligent woman, who upon many occasions has bade me welcome and given me the hospitality of her home, his two interesting daughters, both happily married, Flora to Fred H. Lemon and Mary to Earl Mann, Joe Hill who is proving himself a fitting inheritor of the mantle of his father, and Miss Sarah Hill, his sister, constitute his household. Miss Sarah Hill is perhaps the best known woman horticulturist in the country. Her knowledge of floriculture is remarkable. It is generally known that Miss Sarah Hill has been to her brother as able an assistant as any man could possibly wish for. Her handwriting, in the days before typewriting came into general use, was familiar to almost every florist in the country; nor was it the handwriting alone, but a certain characteristic quality in the substance of the letters that made letters from the E. G. Hill Company just a little different from
