No order I took among my customers was complete unless it contained Enchantress cuttings. True, the monetary consideration played a large part; but outside of that, I felt enthusiastic about the Enchantress myself. Consciously or unconsciously, I had arrived at the conclusion that here was a factor that would go a good way toward the uplift of floriculture in our country. I felt that I was one of the men exerting themselves toward that uplift. Business has other compensations than the profits that one counts in money; there is a genuine satisfaction in doing part of the constructive work in the growth of an industry. The Enchantress variety, with but very rare exceptions, has proved a profitable investment to every grower everywhere. The few exceptions at the time were among the smaller growers who never grew any varieties profitably. In the long run, such failures did not count.
White Sports
Like the Lawson, the Enchantress soon began to show its sporting proclivities. A few years after its introduction, there appeared several white sports in various sections of the country. F. R. Pierson, of Tarrytown, N. Y., had one of a creamy shade. Mr. Benson, of Denver, Col., had one of a pure white. So did Thomas Browne, of Greenfield, Mich., and the late A. C. Canfield, of Springfield, Ill. White Enchantress, like the original variety, was greatly in demand the first year, and for a few years thereafter; so much so that the demand was far in excess of the supply.
Rose Pink Enchantress
About 1904 another sport of the Enchantress appeared. It was a beautiful shade of pink; and it was I who had the privilege of christening it Rose Pink Enchantress, a name by which it became known to the trade. The Rose Pink Enchantress first made its appearance upon B. Schroeter's place in Detroit, Mich. Mr. Schroeter spoke to me about it a year or two prior to its introduction. He was not quite sure whether or not he would put it on the market at all, but if he decided to disseminate it he would give me a chance at it. One day in December, 1904, I received a letter in Philadelphia from Mr. Schroeter to the effect that he had decided to put Rose Pink Enchantress on the market, that his stock was rather limited, and that if I intended to handle it to advise him immediately, as another house was after it.
Certainly I wasn't going to let any such opportunity slip through my fingers. Acting on my first impulse, I wrote an advertisement for the trade papers, setting forth to the best of my ability the various good points about the variety, as well as the advantages of growing an Enchantress of a much deeper color than the original. Then a thought flashed through my mind which made me change my first intention. A sport of Enchantress in a limited quantity should sell readily without especial advertising. In fact, I calculated, it would be really a question whether Mr. Schroeter could supply enough cuttings to meet the demand. So instead of advertising it broadcast, I decided to write a few letters to growers who I knew would be interested, in view of the great success they had made with the original Enchantress. I enlisted the services of my daughter in making copies of the letter that I concocted. She had aspirations at the time toward a college education; and I told her half jestingly that Rose Pink Enchantress was going to send her to college. It did.
I sent a number of these letters out, and the answers came promptly. To be sure, they wanted it. One grower, Thomas Joy of Nashville, wrote me to put him down for one thousand, and that should I come across any good sports of Enchantress to be sure to bear him in mind.
