Beats The World. That was the headline for a major story in 1900 concerning Springfield, Ohio and roses. Subtitle was: “Springfield, Ohio, has the Largest Rosery this Side of Heaven.”

 By 1919, Springfield was home to thirty-three greenhouses that produced, shipped and sold locally more roses than any other city in the world, hence the name-City of Roses.

 Let’s go along with Logan County’s retired auditor, C. D. Campbell as he and his wife toured the Good & Reese Company’s Champion Greenhouses in late 1900.

 “One day recently while in Springfield, the writer and his better half, having a few hours between trains, thought the time might be pleasantly spent visiting the greenhouses whose plants we had seen so extensively advertised, and during our ramble ran against a big surprise.”

 By the time Mr. and Mrs. Campbell found themselves in Springfield and surrounded by greenery, the city had been known for at least a decade as the Champion City. Manufacturing of agricultural implements in Springfield surpassed that of all Europe. Springfield also produced Governors, Speakers of the House, Generals, Colonels, Congressmen, Judges, etc.

 It was felt by some that Springfield was also home to the most wretched railroad accommodations, being the easiest place in the world for a man to get on the wrong train, day or night. On the other hand, the city was known to have some of the finest homes in the state including the home of the dead-Fern Cliff Cemetery. (That appeared to be a personal opinion of Mr. Campbell’s.)

 Following the couple we find them: “taking the South Limestone street cars to the southern part of the city and calling at the office of Reese and Good.” (This is the only time we have found the name in reverse-it is always known as Good and Reese.)

   “Under the guidance of Mr. and Mrs. Good, we spent a couple of hours interested in one of the finest lectures on flower growing that was an education of itself. We were astounded to learn that this firm grows and ships more rose bushes than any other firm in the world.”

 The Goods not only showed the Campbells the process of starting rose slips, but also geraniums, carnations, palms, ferns, rubber plants, chrysanthemums, asparagus, azaleas, colias, caladiums, and other plants.

  At the time the Campbells visited, the firm had about five acres under glass with warm beds. One large glass house was devoted to the development of rose bushes to be cut into slips. These bushes were referred to as “wood”.  Another glass house held the beds of sand in which the slips were planted. It is said that the men working in this house could plant a slip a second. A third house was devoted to potting up the rooted slips. Potted plants that had sufficiently rooted were then taken to the main greenhouse for filling orders. A special sale could net the purchaser twenty rose bushes for a dollar.

 With their vast amount of land and greenhouses, Good and Reese could raise two million rose bushes each year. Still, this was not enough to fill orders, so they bought some 150,000 bushes from other nurseries in the area. Some seasons found 800 varieties being dealt with, a usual amount much lower at about 350. The most popular varieties included American Beauty, La France and The Marechal Neil.

 The three brothers, J.M., Frank and Harry Good started in this business some ten years before the Campbell’s visit. They had bought out another firm whose mail orders netted $1,300. a year. With their financial and growing know-how, they were taking in that much daily. A lot of it had to do with their liberal advertising. Newspapers and magazines across the country and around the world in that time period can be found to hold their ads.

 In busy seasons they employed 150 people, spend an average of $30,000 on advertising and pay for postage up to $35,000 a year.

 An example of just how popular Good & Reese was can be seen in a “one day” mail delivery to the business. 25,000 letters were received. They employed sixty people in the mailing department and it took them two weeks to fill the orders.

 Mr. and Mrs. Campbell made their visit to the greenhouses in late October of 1900. It was during a “dull” period. Mr. Campbell noted that the employees and owners were pleasantly “accommodating, courteous and entertaining”. However, it was noted that during the busy season, “woe to the ‘visitor’ who came in for a tour”. All hands would be on deck, full of roses in the City of Roses.

Contact Connie at

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or

 Box 61, Medway, OH 45341

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