CUT FLOWERS FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS 87 



them in where Easter comes along in April, for that is in time, but where 

 a small florist can not give them that heat you mentioned, it is no plant 

 for him. Take the small florist, he will buy just a few hundred bulbs. 

 And you take 200 Formosum bulbs; he can not tell, and you can not tell, 

 how many plants you are going to get in for Easter. You might be lucky 

 enough to get them all in, but personally I believe that you might have 

 them from seven feet high to an inch high, that has been my experience 

 with them. 



Mr. Frey: I do not believe that it pays a small grower to monkey 

 with them. The last few years I had Harrisii there were very few plants 

 that were not diseased. Of course there are a number of good ones. You 

 m:iy have had a good grade of bulbs. You may not get the same grade 

 of bulbs the next year. 



The Chairman: The next paper is by Mr. Green of J^'emont on the 

 subject of "Cut Flowers for the Summer Months." 



CUT FLOWERS FOR THE SUMMER MONTHS. 

 C. H. Green, Fremont. 



Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: When I got into this subject 

 I found it was a big one. and in a paper that is given in a short time here 

 it must naturally be a great deal like the blue sky, it must cover everything 

 and really touch nothing. 



So I have prepared a iTaper along the lines that I thought would be 

 the most desirable and tried to cover the ground as best I could. 



It is rather peculiar, but none the less true, that the average retail 

 florist has more difficulty in filling his orders for cut flowers during the 

 summer months when flowers are supposedly plentiful everywhere than 

 at any other season of the year. During the last half of June and through 

 July and August when the two great staples, roses and carnations are 

 practically out of commission the constant demand must be supplied with 

 other stock. 



True the demand is not so great as during the rest of the year, but 

 what there is, must be taken care of. This demand must be met princi- 

 pally with stock grown outside of greenhouses. It must be in constant 

 supply, and of a nature that will keep without wilting until it has served 

 its purpose. Near the great wholesale supply centers, there are of course 

 specialists, who grow summer stock and of whom it can always be ob- 

 tained, but what we are interested in, is how to produce it at home and 

 keep down our wholesale bills. There is no general rule to follow as to 

 what to grov/ and how. We must each figure out the needs of our own 

 particular case. I could not tell you what you would find most profitable, 

 but will give you a brief outline of my own methods and experience. 



Asters are without doubt the most important of all the summer flow- 

 ers. I might say everbody grows asters. We plant our main crop 

 in the open field, but last summer the best flowers we cut were from 



