AUGUST 23, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



341 



W. F. Kasting, Vice-President-Elect Society of American Florists. 



AMERICAN FLORICULTURE. 



Retrospective and Prospective. 



By B. T. Galloway, U. S. Depaklmknt of 

 Agriculture. 



It is sixteen years since tlie Society of 

 American Florists was organized, and 

 during this comparatively shiort period 

 ctianges have tal<en place which viewed 

 collectively have had a marked effect on 

 the welfare of every member. The daily 

 happenings in our lives, whether it be at 

 home or in business, come to us in such 

 a way as to make little conscious im- 

 pression. They nevertheless moki us and 

 direct us. and for this reason it is wise 

 to pause once in a while and look back 

 on the aggregate results in order to be 

 able to more intelligently guide our fu- 

 ture course. With this object in view we 

 invite your attention to some of the more 

 important events of the past century 

 as affecting the development of the flor- 

 ists' business, hoping that such a review, 

 brief as it must necessarily be, will help 

 toward a better understanuing of what 

 must be done in the future to keep flori- 

 culture in the front rank of horticultural 

 pursuits. 



A hundred years ago floriculture as we 

 now understand if was practically un- 

 known in this country. Here and there 

 were pioneers who in addition to follow- 

 ing various horticultural pursuits, i ad 

 some attention to the cultiv.atinn of 

 flowers. The early work, however, was 

 carried on more for the purpose of grati- 

 fying a love for the beautiful than to 



reap pecuniary benefit. From the earli- 

 est times gardening has been a favorite 

 pastime, and long before there was any 

 thing like a commercial tendency to the 

 work interest was kept up in it through 

 an inherent desire to come into contact 

 with nature. 



Naturally the beginning of the work 

 here was associated with the develop- 

 ment of certain cities. The greater pirt 

 of the wealth of the country was col- 

 lected at such places, ana better oppi:)r- 

 tunities were thus afforded for the de- 

 velopment of such an industry as the one 

 we have Lmder consideration. The cily 

 of Philadelphia was early favored in this 

 respect, and for this reason and also on 

 account of its comparatively mi'.d cli- 

 mate it attracted gardeners and others 

 interested in horticultural work from all 

 parts of the world. Boston and New 

 York were also early centers of floricul- 

 tural work, and many of the first pio- 

 neers made their start at these places. 



The rigorous climate of the New World 

 necessarily required that special atten- 

 tion be given to the use of glass houses 

 for the growth of many plants, and thus 

 was early set in motion the forces which 

 have had so much to do with the success- 

 ful growth of the work here. The early 

 greenhouses were necessarily crude af- 

 fairs, but they served their purpose and 

 were the links which made better work 

 possible. In most cases only the ildes 

 and ends of the greenhouses were of 

 glass, the glass being in very small 

 panes, set in heavy frames of wood. 

 Heating was for the most part efrec;ed 



by means of hot air, carried into or 

 through the houses by bricks or other 

 similar devices. Such were the majority 

 of the houses erected up to about 1S25. 

 when thi_Te began to appear a more 

 marked interest in architectural effects 

 and improvements in other directions 

 The demand for plants, flowers, and 

 seeds was rapidly increasing at this time 

 largely owing to the more settled condi- 

 tion of the country, which afforded men 

 of wealth an opportunity to turn their 

 attention to the beautifying of home 

 grounds and public parks. 



Throughout the development of floii- 

 culture and other branches of horticul- 

 ture in this country, home adornment or 

 amateur work preceded the commercial 

 It is a fact that whenever the cultivation 

 of flowers as a means to the adornment 

 of the home or to public parks and other 

 places is encouraged there soon arises a 

 sufficient demand for flowers to warrant 

 the investment of money in growing 

 them tor commercial purposes. Horti- 

 cultural societies and other allied orga- 

 nizations have, therefore, plaved an 

 important part in the development of 

 commercial work. It is often through 

 their efforts that interest is aroused and 

 stimulated until eventually a whole com- 

 munity feels the benefit. 



The early development of floriculture 

 IS so intimately connected with other 

 horticultural industries, such as the sell- 

 ing of seeds, plants, and flowers that it 

 IS difficult to separate one branch from 

 the other and follow the development it 

 any one alone. The selling of seed was 

 naturally an early-established industry 

 but years elapsed before the seed seller 

 ^und it worth while to handle flowers 

 By IMO, however, there was considerable 

 demanfi not only for flowers, but for 

 plants also, and to meet this numerous 

 establishments sprang up at various 

 places. Thus we read in one of the cur- 

 rent horticultural Journals that "Boston 

 and vicinity is making considerable pro- 

 gress in floriculture. The establishment of 

 a public garden in connection with a con- 

 servatory IS having a tendency to diffuse 

 a taste for plants." At this time (1S4J) 

 there were a number of important estab- 

 lishments near Boston, New York and 

 1 hiladelphia, and there were consider- 

 aljle areas of glass, devoted largely to 

 the growing of camellias, azaleas rhodo- 

 dendrons, fuchsias, pelargoniums, and to 

 some extent roses. 



The introduction at about this time of 

 hot water heating into greenhouse con- 

 struction, gave a decided impetus to the 

 work and progress along many lines was 

 rapid For the next ten years floricul- 

 ture flourished. The rose was rapidly 

 coming into use and the cut flower busi- 

 ness was growing. In 1852 a horticul- 

 tural writer in Hovey's Magazine says: 

 Many establishments containing green- 

 houses and forcing beds, more especially 

 for the production of flowers for bou- 

 quets, have sprung up in the upper part 



?n A,V"J°'^ S"^-" Reference is made 

 to Mr. I. Dunlap. of Harlem, and the 

 immense quantity of flowers particularly 

 roses and violets, that he grew for his 

 New lork store on Broadway. In an- 

 other place it is mentioned as a matter 

 worthy of note that one store in New 

 iork has disposed of several hundred 

 •'""'Yvf Y°^-^^ °* P'ants and flowers dur- 

 ing the holiday trade. 



By 1S60 the business had developed con- 

 siderable importance. Stores in a num- 

 ber of cities were beginning to more and 

 more make plants and cut flowers a 

 specialty. The rose continued to grow 

 rapidly in importance, and various bulb- 

 ous plants, such as gladiolus, Japan lil- 

 IJ^U ?^- ^V^^ receiving marked atten- 

 tion. Greenhouse construction had kept 

 pace with other improvements, and com- 

 paratively well-lighted, well-heated, and 

 well-ventilated structures were tkking 

 the place of sash roof houses, in which 

 wood predominated and good light and 



By this time the rose, as a flower for 

 bouquets and other purposes, was begin- 

 ning to supersede the camellia. Little 

 attention was given to growing the rose 



