772 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



APRIL at. 1902. 



were given. It ^vill save you :it least 

 two-tliirrls of tlie watering and you will 

 find that watering each plant separately 

 will do more good than to water the 

 whole patch with the hose or lawn sprink- 

 Igj. ' A. F. J. Bal-k. 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOVELTIES. 



At this season of the year when the 

 grower is stocking up with such new 

 things as he thinks may be usetul to him 

 in his business, it is well to remember 

 that to give a variety a true, lair test, 

 one should buy a sufScient number of 

 plants. It is a common practice and a 

 very Wrong one, 1 think, to buy from 

 three to six plants of a new variety, and 

 increai=e them by topping and rooting 

 everv small growth that can be got. 

 When this is done the vitality of that 

 particular sort is impaired to such an 

 extent that instead of making a good 

 growth and producing large, perfect 

 flowers, the product is of very mediocre 

 quality indeed, compared with standard 

 varieties growing in the same house, 

 and which were not propagated to death, 

 because there was any quantity of stock 

 on hand to work from. 



Then we hear the usual talk of the 

 robbers who sent out so and so, when 

 "thev knew it didn't amount to any- 

 thing Miglit as well put their hands in 

 vour pocket," and so on. Many a beauti- 

 ful variety is discarded just simply on 

 account of this practice, and it is a prac- 

 tice that the introducer is sometimes 

 guiltv of also, ,iu<Jging by the quality of 

 the young stock that is occasionally re- 

 ceived. . . 



When we receive a new variety we 

 make no attempt to increase the stock, 

 because we figure out that the introducer 

 has probaDly done about as much increas- 

 ino- as the'clant will conveniently per- 

 mi" for one year, if the variety is a 

 choice one and the demand consequently 

 brisk. The best plan is to grow a new 

 variety the first year as well as you can. 

 Then "if it is satisfactory it can be in- 

 creased a hundred fold for next season 

 with satisfaction to every one. 



Novelties we must have, particularly 

 tho=e who wish to figure as exhibitors, 

 and if the purely commercial grower 

 would increase his list of varieties con- 

 siderably, I believe it would do much 

 to relieve the glut of the eternal Robin- 

 sons and Bonnaffons that annually oc- 

 curs in the fall. The fact that the Chrys- 

 anthemum feoeiety is holding an exhi- 

 bition this year in conjunction with the 

 Horticultural Society of Chicago should 

 encourage the growers in the Middle 

 States to stock up more on the newer 

 kinds, in anticipation of the extra de- 

 mand that an exhibition always brings 

 in its train, and in anticipation of car- 

 ryincr off a few prizes, also. In judging, 

 aU tlings being otherwise equal, a new- 

 variety will get a decision over aji old 

 one every time. , . „ . * ™<. 



One of the most pleasing things to me 

 is to note the increase of good pink vari- 

 eties as compared with a few years ago. 

 Morel has been queen in this class for so 

 long that it is a pleasure to note m ad- 

 dition Lady Harriet, Mrs. Barkley, Mrs. 

 Coombes, Mrs. Chamberlain, A. J. Bal- 

 four, Yanariva and others, gmng a 

 good range of color in light and dark 

 Ihades. and stretching over the entire sea- 

 son. Any one of these varieties is good 

 enough to grow commercially >° quantity 

 as will as being of service to the exhibi- 

 tor. 



Mr= George Jlileham is another pink 

 coming to us with a great reputation 

 from Europe, on the style of Mrs. Bark- 

 ley, but with a longer petal. Bentley 

 may also prove a valuable addition m 

 this class as it seems to be a very vig- 

 orous grower. 



New whites are numerous, possibly too 

 much so, as this class is already well 

 filled. Florence Molyneaux is classed as 

 an enormous incurved. Princess AUce 

 de Monaco is also an incurved of the 

 purest possible white. These two vari- 

 eties are Japanese Incurved, strictly 

 speaking. Mme. E. Cadbury is an im- 

 mense flower with a very broad petal. 

 It is a o-ood grower and seems to be 

 worth watching. ^Miss Alice Byron is 

 another beautiful white, though at 

 present rather deUcate in constitution. 

 It is perhaps somewhat soft to ship, 

 and must not be left too long on the 

 plant or it will show an eye, but it is 

 well worth trying. 



In yellows, J. R. Upton, an Austraban 

 variety, is fine as a light yellow, but 

 stock "seems hard to procure. Miss Jes- 

 i:ie Cottee, a golden yellow sport from 

 Etoile de Lyon, will probably be found 

 useful to those exhibitors who used to 

 grow the parent variety to perfection. 

 Etoile de Lyon used to be considered 

 coarse by some growers, but there was 

 never any question regarding its size 

 if well done. 



I recommended Kate Broomhead \;^ery 

 hitrhly in these pages last spring and it 

 certainly fulfilled all its promises. It 

 is indis"pensable as a bronze, its only 

 fault being that if cut with too long 

 a stem it does not take up the water as 

 well as it might. 



In the crimsons, H. J. Jones seems to 

 stand alone, owing to its immense size 

 and the fact that it docs not burn. Daz- 

 zler, a new European variety, seems 

 much thought of. It is /■laimed that 

 this variety is the most brilliantly col- 

 ored of all the crimsons. Another 

 year's trial will better determine its 

 merits or otherwise. 



The exhibitor has not only got to keep 

 up with the band wagon in the proces- 

 sion of new varieties, but he has got to 

 keep a little ahead of it, if he is to keep 

 on top. We hear a good deal about the 

 decadence of the mum, yet the money 

 spent in importing new varieties from 

 other countries alone is enormous, with- 

 out taking into account any of our own 

 product. , , ,. 



For the commercial man who believes 

 in the early varieties, the yellow sport 

 of Glory of the Pacific (which I note 

 has been named Cremo) may prove ac- 

 ceptable. I have not seen the flower 

 personally, but it seems to me that there 

 is a place for it alongside its pink and 

 white progenitors. A yellow that, 

 while it can hardly be classed as a nov- 

 citv is almost unknown among the aver- 

 age' growers, is Robert Halliday. It is 

 fcarly coming in about October 15th, and 

 will" be found generally a satisfactory 

 variety to grow. Bkian Bonu. 



First and foremost in the business is 

 the record of expenses, but for conven- 

 ience we will pass that for the time and 

 address ourselves to the record of our 

 output. A florist establishment can be 

 likened to a manufacturing industry, 

 where labor, skill and knowledge are the 

 raw materials from which the finished 

 products are evolved. Every florist, no 

 matter how large or small his establish- 

 ment, should keep a record of stock 

 crown in each house and range of houses. 

 In order to do this systematically and 

 promptly he should secure a record book. 

 Various forms have been used, but for 

 economy and simplicity a "daily cash 

 record book" which I have seen and used 

 is the handiest I know of. Each page 

 contains thirty-one lines, one for each 

 day of the month, ruled transversely 

 with ten or twelve columns for dollars 

 and cents. (See section of this book re- 

 produced herewith in type.) Every sec- 



BUSINESS METHODS FOR BUSY 



FLORISTS. 



No. 2. 



In our former article we pointed out 

 the necessity for systematic methods m 

 conducting a business. In this and suc- 

 ceeding articles we shall offer such prac- 

 tical suggestions as a twenty years ex- 

 perience" in this and kindred lines may 

 have developed. 



ond column is numbered consecutively 

 from 1, each number to correspond with 

 the number of the house which it repre- 

 sents, and each house, no matter how 

 small, should receive a corresponding 

 number in the book. 



In the first column mark the daily out- 

 put of the house, in the second the value 

 or price obtained for same. If the house 

 is planted to carnations or roses, mums 

 or violets, the record is easily kept. If 

 the place is a commercial establishment 

 each house will be in charge of some par- 

 ticular man, and he should be held to a 

 strict accounting for the product of the 

 bouse. Each cut should be carefully re- 

 corded on slips or tabs, and at the end 

 of the day bo permanently recorded in 

 the record book. 



The exact value of the individual cut 

 cannot always be definitely known, but 

 can at least be approximated. The total 

 sales for the day from all houses can be 

 extended in a separate columa at the 

 end of the last numbered column. The 

 total monthly sales for each house can 

 be easily determined by adding each ver- 

 tical column separately at the end of the 

 month, and the sum of these totals 

 should equal the sum of the daily totals, 

 thus proving your work. 



If pot plants are grown in any of the 

 houses, and are shifted from house to 

 house, as Easter stock often is, the rec- 

 ord can be kept of the time they were 

 in each house, and when finally sold dis- 

 tribution of proper amounts can be made 

 to each house in proportion to time, 

 labor, heat, etc., in each. If you wish to 

 carry the system still further, the labor 

 bestowed upon each house can be record- 

 ed daily and the fuel bill apportioned at 

 the end of the month, or oftener, if de- 

 sired. . 

 In some large concerns the exact 

 amount of fuel consumed each twenty- 

 four hours is accurately recorded. These 

 daily records are in use in many coiicerns, 

 vari'ed to suit the convenience or desires 

 of individual firms. To all such these 

 suggestions may not have any special 

 value But many good firms, some em- 

 plovincr a great many hands and having 

 a daily output running into thousands 

 of dollars, have no systematic record of 

 their output. To all these and to the 



