38 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



June 3, 1902. 



Marshall, McMahon, down to Buist, 

 Landreth, Meehan, and others. In like 

 manner the Bostonians cherish an equal- 

 ly ancient and eminent Golden Scroll 

 blazoned with such names as Endicott, 

 Faneuil, Fessenden, Kenriek, Breck, 

 Hovey, Wilder, Manning, Olmsted, Hun- 

 newell, and dozens of others of notable 

 importance in their contributions to the 

 art of gardening in the New "World. 



In seeking for the causes which pro- 

 duced the present proud pre-eminence 

 of Boston in gardening we naturally at- 

 tach much importance to her Horticul- 

 tural Society, established in 1829, two 

 years later than our own organization. 

 While McMahon of Philadelphia, pub- 

 lished the first American book on garden- 

 ing in 1806, Boston had the first periodi- 

 cal that treated on gardening extensive- 

 ly, ' ' The New England Farmer, ' ' which 

 was edited by Fessenden and Breck, and 

 led up to the formation of the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society, which in 

 turn influenced the founding of the Mt. 

 Auburn Cemetery — the first in America 

 in the modern style, as distinguished 

 from the old-fashioned church yards. 

 Then for thirty odd years from 1835 

 to 1868 we see Hovey 's Magazine flour- 

 ishing and shedding a great influence 

 in the community just as Meehan 's 

 Monthly did here, from 1859 to the 

 present time. The character and stand- 

 ing of the men in the Boston Society 

 have always been of the highest order 

 also, and the effect of these influences 

 on the modern community is quite ap- 

 parent and most gratifying to contem- 

 plate. 



These reflections are the result of a 

 recent visit to Boston, and my only ex- 

 cuse for troubling you with them is to 

 remind you that each and every one of 

 us has to strive to do his share in keep- 

 ing the light burning, however small 

 the faggot he brings. The mere facts 

 or most of them you knew before, and 

 I do not pretend to teach — only to re- 

 mind you — and my experience is that it 

 is reminding we all need more than 

 teaching. 



BUSINESS METHODS FOR BUSY 

 FLORISTS. 



Many concerns in other lines of busi- 

 ness keep a ' ' charity account, ' ' into 

 which are posted such items of expense 

 or outlay as are purely charitable, in- 

 cluding gifts to colleges, churches and 

 kindred institutions, donations to street 

 fairs, conventions, secret orders, etc., etc., 

 in almost endless number, which are 

 daily solicited in the larger cities. By 

 some these are considered part of the 

 legitimate expense of a business, just 

 as much as advertising, taxes, street 

 and lawn improvements, etc., all of which 

 tend in a general way to keep your 

 name before the pubUo and in that way 

 help to advertise you and your busi- 

 ness. With this kind of charitable giv- 

 ing I am not going to argue. It may 

 be all right, and it may be and often 

 is, overdone. 



The "charity account" which the 

 average florist should keep is altogether 

 of a difi:erent nature and can be more 

 properly Termed ' ' The Beggars ' Ac- 

 count. " The pitiable objcerwho stops 

 you on the street corner for ' ' a dime for 

 something to eat," is reminded by the 

 average individual to "go to work and 



earn your dime." The beggar in up- 

 to-date clothes who asks for flowers and 

 plants because "I tell all my friends 

 to come here, ' ' or because ' ' I bought 

 our church flowers here last Easter," 

 is apt to be treated more politely. But 

 between the two choose the street beg- 

 gar on whom to bestow your alms, for 

 you may never see him again, while your 

 other friend (?) will come again and 

 again and bring others to be treated 

 in the same manner because you are so 

 liberal. 



I don't know why it is, but it ap- 

 pears to me that the florists are 

 "worked" more than any other class 

 of business men, and just because they 

 allow themselves to be "worked" the 

 "beggars' account" increases more rap- 

 idly than their income. People who 

 would never think of asking their grocer 

 for a cookie, their butcher for a bone 

 or their druggist for a pill, will go to 

 the florist and demand five or ten dol- 

 lars' worth of goods for nothing. Who 

 would think of going to a flour mill 

 and asking for a bag of flour because 

 you purchased some for the church fair? 

 Still they come to the florist asking for 

 much because they or their friends pur- 

 chased a little in the dim and shadowy 

 past. 



And this form of a "hold up" is not 

 practiced by the poor, by those who 

 cannot afford to buy your products, but 

 by the well to do, by those who ride 

 in their own carriages and live in lux- 

 ury. Everyone knows such individuals 

 and has been "worked" by them. If 

 you have not been or are just starting 

 into business make a firm resolve never 

 to accede to their demands and one big 

 account will never have to be opened 

 in your ledger. If you have been a 

 victim of such ' ' hold ups ' ' and circum- 

 stances are such that you will be again, 

 commence at once to keep an accurate 

 record of such gifts and you will be 

 appalled at the aggregate amount at 

 the end of the year. It will be so large 

 that you will devise some means for cur- 

 tailing the "Beggars' Account" at 

 once. In many concerns it would add 5 

 per cent or more to the annual income. 

 If an employe should steal that much 

 you would have him in jail at once. 



I do not counsel economy to the point 

 of penuriousness. This is a liberal age 

 and small allowances and concessions 

 judiciously made may bring you hun- 

 dreds of dollars in return. If you have 

 flowers that will spoil or a surplus when 

 trade is dull, a nice box with your com- 

 pliments to some of your best customers 

 or to some prospective customers will not 

 be amiss, though it would be well to 

 keep an accurate record of such gifts. 

 Hospitals, asylums, orphanages, churches, 

 etc., can also be remembered at such 

 times, never forgetting, however, to en- 

 close your business card with each lot. 



But in whatever way you distribute 

 your surplus stock keep an accurate rec- 

 ord of it, so that at the end of the year 

 you may know where it has gone and 

 what it has produced in income. The 

 success or failure of your business de- 

 pends upon the size of your income and 

 the "Beggars' Account" only represents 

 a dead loss. It may be and is advis- 

 able at times to give discounts in order 

 to encourage future trade, and liberality 

 in any line of business may lead to 

 good sales, but outright gifts to habit- 

 ual beggars should be discountenanced 

 and "cut out." System. 



A BUDGET OF QUESTIONS. 



This budget of questions was sent 

 with the request that they be answered 

 quick, from M. W. W. 



No. 1. Give culture of Margaret car- 

 nations from seed to have in bloom by 

 May 1st. 



No. 2. Also say when to root petunias 

 to have them in bloom in 3-inch pots by 

 May 1st. 



No. 3. Also verbenas for same time, 

 and gloxinias from bulbs, same time. 



May 1st seems to be a great day in the 

 district where M. W. W. does business. 

 But as these questions have been re- 

 ferred to me I can only do my best. 



No. 1. The Margaret carnation is 

 usually treated as an annual and is sel- 

 dom or never seen in bloom either in- 

 side or outside by May 1st. To get 

 them in bloom that early you would 

 have to sow the seed in July, grow them 

 in pots during fall and winter in a cold 

 frame until February when you could 

 bring them in the house and with a 

 night temperature of 45 to 50 degrees 

 they should be in flower by May 1st. 



No. 2. Petunias are easily in flower at 

 the date so frequently mentioned. You 

 can either take cuttings from plants 

 growing outside in Octocer, or lift care- 

 fully and cut back these plants, when 

 you will get good cuttings during Janu- 

 ary and February, and if grown on with 

 liberal pot room will be well in flower 

 early. The petunia is a plant that wants 

 no stunting, or it will rust. It is worth 

 growing from seed, and that's all. 



No. 3. The questioner does not say 

 whether the verbenas are from seed or 

 cuttings. If the former then sow end 

 of January, and if you must have them 

 in bloom at the date noted then give 

 them a light, warm bench. But you had 

 much better have a thrifty young plant 

 that would not be in flower till middle of 

 May. 



No. 3. Section 2. Gloxinias are more 

 used as summer plants for the conserva- 

 tory, although one of the very best 

 house plants. We don't usually start 

 the bulbs till middle of March, but if 

 wanted in bloom as early as May 1st, 

 they should be started early in January. 



M. vV. W. must have read Tennyson's 

 beautiful verses: 



"I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, 



I'm to be Queen of the May." 



WiLLLiM Scott. 



THE FUTURE. 



Editor Florists' Keview: Your re- 

 marks in a recent issue on this subject 

 will furnish food for thought to many 

 a cut flower grower, who is trying to 

 solve just that problem of providing 

 first-class flowers in July and August. 

 Really good American Beauty roses 

 would be worth more in August than 

 they are at present in January, but 

 how to get them, "ah, there's the rub." 

 The problem of growing roses and car- 

 nations specially fine all summer will 

 in all probability be solved in time by 

 the appliances you speak of, and of 

 course the growers who first get such ap- 

 pliances into successful working opera- 

 tion will be the men who will make 

 money. This is only as it should be, 

 since wealth is the result of progress. 



The idea of shading the glass with 

 ahim to keep out heat while admitting 

 light is new to me, and will be valuable 

 if it will work satisfactorily. It is to 

 be hoped that many of your readers will 

 experiment with this and report results. 



