Chicago a Quarter of a Century Ago and Today
It is very interesting to call up in review the Chicago of twenty-five years ago, for contrast with the Chicago of today. Twenty-five years ago, Chicago played but an insignificant part in the world of horticulture. Boston was the source whence Roses came for the Chicago market. I had often seen packages at Gallagher's or Rajsik's (two men no longer in existence), that had come from Boston. I can recall how I often wondered why Chicago could not take care of its own Rose supply. There were already enough stores at that time to warrant some enterprise in that direction. And while I was thinking about these things, I little dreamed what was in store for Chicago. The mammoth greenhouses that now cover acres upon acres of ground in various sections in the vicinity of Chicago would have been a revelation to any man of that time possessed of the most flighty imagination. Who would ever have thought of the enormous greenhouses in Morton Grove—those belonging to the Poehlmann Brothers Company? Enormous is the only word by which one could properly estimate the size of the place. It is the largest establishment of its kind in the world. There Roses are grown, not by the thousands, but by the hundreds of thousands. Carnations are grown in similar numbers; Lily of the Valley in great quantities, orchids, bulbous stock of all sorts. It would take an able statistician indeed to estimate the quantity produced on that wonderful place. Not content with cut flowers alone, the Poehlmann Brothers saw an opening for foliage and blooming plants, and great quantities of these are likewise being grown with marked success.
To August Poehlmann, perhaps, more than to any member of the family, the credit is due for launching this great enterprise. Mr. Poehlmann once told me the whole story of the beginning and development of his business; and while I do not wish to go into many details, though it is a story that would read almost like a fairy tale, it is enough to say that this extraordinarily energetic man, still in his early forties, demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt what grit and determination and the ability to see an opportunity when it presents itself can accomplish. I need not say much about the general equipment of this establishment, for I am quite sure that most of my readers have visited the place, and have seen things for themselves. To those who have not, I would suggest that they do so at an early opportunity, for a visit to the place of Poehlmann Brothers is a horticultural education of considerable value.
Peter Reinberg is another instance of what ingenuity and determination can accomplish. I do not know the history of Mr. Reinberg's early business career, though I have been told that it had a modest beginning. Mr. Reinberg at first, according to reports, centered his attention upon the products of a truck farm, bringing his vegetables into town and disposing of them to the best advantage wherever he could find a market. The idea soon came to him that Chicago presented a splendid field for cut flowers, and that cut flowers ought to be more profitable than vegetables to the man who grew them. Here is an instance where a man wedded action with thought; and a greenhouse plant of immense proportions soon sprang up upon the site of his former truck farm. This was enlarged from time to time, until Mr. Reinberg's place came to rank among the largest in the world.
Bassett & Washburn, who have but recently demolished their immense establishment and rebuilt it upon a new site, present additional examples of the spirit of Chicago enterprise. Their new place, although I have not yet visited it, is said to be one of the largest and best equipped establishments of the kind. Since Bassett & Washburn never do things by halves, it goes without saying that their new establishment is producing most excellent stock. The history of the business development of this firm is interesting. Mr. Bassett, a prosperous printer, became interested in floriculture a number of years ago when his own gardener on his
