June 12 



TheWjeekly Florists* Review. 



69 



A Corner in the New Store of Mr. J. N. Kidd, St. Joseph, Mo. 



fifty cents or a dollar?" Or perhaps 

 they will tell you that they are not 

 ready to decide just yet, they want to 

 consult some of the rest of the family 

 before they will leave their order, and 

 that is the last you ever hear from them. 



I have in mind a little incident which 

 happened one day which perhaps would 

 not be out of place to tell here. A 

 woman came in one day and wanted 

 an elegant pillow with the word "hus- 

 band ' ' engraved on it. She mentioned 

 some of the flowers she wanted it com- 

 posed of, which were roses, carnations, 

 violets, lily of the valley and other flow- 

 ers, and when she was asked about what 

 price she wanted to pay she said, ' ' Oh, 

 I guess 75 cents ought to buy a pretty 

 good one, hadn't it?" I believe she left 

 an order for a $7.00 one before fhe went 

 out. 



How many times a day do we hear 

 the question asked, "Are these fresh?" 

 It seems some days as if nine-tenths of 

 the people purchasing cut flowers ask 

 this question, and how much it will 

 make you feel like swearing when a cus- 

 tomer will come in for perhaps a dozen 

 roses and you will pick out a dozen of 

 the best you have in stock and when 

 you are about to put them in a box 

 "she will say, "Oh, I don't think I like 

 them, they do not look frejh," when per- 

 haps they have not been in tlie store 

 over half an hour. You will do your 

 best to look pleasant and try to con- 

 vince her they just "a me in from the 

 greenhouse, but then they will doulit your 

 word and tell you that they will have 

 some other kind of flowers or tlint they 

 will look elsewhere. 



Then we have the customer who will 

 ask if all the diff'erent color Lawson 

 carnations are the same price, and the 

 one who will ask the price of white .Tack 

 roses a dozen, and the one who will ask 

 if we keep rain plants, meaning umbrella 

 plants, etc. Now I do not want to 

 have you think tliat the majority of cus- 

 tomers are of this type, for they are not, 

 for there are customers come in who know 

 just what they want and how much thcv 

 want to pay. Tliese are the ones it is 

 a pleasure to wait on and the ones you 

 trv hanl to suit. 



THE FUTURE. 



The cause of the scarcity of really 

 good roses and carnations in summer is 

 that we are trying to grow them under 

 unnatural conditions, and when, with the 

 aid of science, we can create in the rose 

 and carnation house atmospheric condi- 

 tions similar to those obtained in Novem- 

 ber, the problem will be solved. 



As florists have few opportunities ano 

 little time to devote to scientific pursuits, 

 the florists of the future will by con- 

 certed action demand and obtain from 

 the federal and state government a modi- 

 i-um of that friendly recognition, encour- 

 agement and scientific aid so liberally be- 

 stowed. _on many other industries with 

 far less claim to the infantile title. 



We have within our boundaries nearly 

 all the conditions of temperature and 

 altitudes necessary for the successful cul- 

 ture of nearly every plant suitable for 

 florists' use and if the government would 

 extend a little scientific aid along these 

 lines we might successfully raise such 

 plants as azaleas, lilies and all sorts of 

 bulbous stock for winter forcing. 



We require no protection. With the 

 newer and more perfect methods of pre- 

 serving our cut and rapid ocean transit 

 we have confidence in our ability to com- 

 pete successfully with the European 

 even in his own market. 



I am not so satisfied that the demand 

 for roses and carnations during summer 

 will ever be such as to warrant the nec- 

 essary large outlay if we adopt the re- 

 frigerating plan. It is just possible that 

 the public taste in flowers may undergo 

 a change and we may have to cater to a 

 more esthetic taste in the future than 

 in the past. At present roses and carna- 

 tions are used almost to the exclusion of 

 all other flowers, and while admitting 

 that they are the essence of beauty, they 

 are liable to be overdone and to become 

 nauseating to the cultured mind, for 

 ' ' spring would be unpleasant weather, if 

 we had nothing else but spring." 



If tlie public taste demamls a more 

 varied bill of fare we have a long list 

 to select from. In the European markets 

 we can see daily displays of heaths, dios- 

 mas, ixoras, rondeletias, orchids of all 

 descriptions, and a host of others which 



are only conspicuous by their absence in 

 the American market. The American 

 florist is brainy enough to create the fa- 

 cilities for growing almost anything the 

 public may demand, and in his march up- 

 ward and onward he will surmount every 

 obstacle in his endeavor to reach the 

 goal, RiBES. 



The article under this heading pub- 

 lished in the "Review" of May 22nd, 

 page 909, certainly provides food for 

 thought regarding the possibilities of 

 the business of cut-flower growing in 

 the future, but to some of us hesitating 

 souls does it not appear to be possibilities 

 only, rather than probabilities. 



It is granted that at times during the 

 summer season in many of our markets 

 there is a decided scarcity of good flow- 

 ers, and it is frequently almost impossi- 

 ble to get roses or carnations at that 

 season of such quality as would pass mus- 

 ter in the winter. But is it not also true 

 that with the growth of the summer vaca- 

 tion habit there is a corresponding de- 

 crease in the demand for good flowers, 

 this decrease in demand being so marked 

 in some places that we find the retail 

 men seriously considering whether it 

 would not be good policy to close their 

 stores entirely for a few weeks in sum- 

 mer, and to join with the general public 

 in the enjoyment of a well-earned vaca- 

 tion. 



That it is possible to regulate the tem- 

 perature of a greenhouse by artificial 

 means I am quite willing to admit, but 

 that sterilized air will prove equally 

 beneficial for vegetable growth with the 

 pure natural air of the country, is by 

 no means clear to me as yet. Then there 

 is that very important question of ex- 

 pense, it being a well-known fact that 

 prominent capitalists are few and far 

 Ijetween in the ranks of the growers, for 

 while we do hear of some lights of the 

 retail trade and a favored few among 

 the bondholders of the commission busi- 

 ness that indulge in frequent trips to 

 Europe, yet we are more likely to find 

 the growers scratching around in the 

 sun during the beautiful days of June, 

 July and August, and wondering whether 

 the last coal strike will indicate a rise 

 of more than $2.00 per ton the following 

 winter. 



But putting jest aside, it does not ap- 

 pear to the writer that the trade in sum- 

 mer will warrant such an outlay, for 

 appliances of the character indicated in 

 the Review run into money very rapidly. 



The matter of shading, is, however, one 

 that deserves more consideration, for up 

 to the present time it is hard to find any 

 substance that is entirely satisfactory, 

 from the fact that the perfect material 

 for this purpose must be cheap, easy to 

 apply, easy to remove when the sun loses 

 power, and yet not washing off with 

 every rain, else the time occupied in 

 applying it will more than oft'set the sav- 

 ing in original cost. 



I have not tested an alum wash for this 

 purpose, but this substance being solu- 

 ble In water it would seem that it should 

 be mixed with something else to give 

 the wash more substance or body, and 

 also to make it reasonably weather proof. 

 There would doubtless be a market for 

 a preparation of this character, for the 

 large majority of growers require more 

 or less of shading material each season, 

 and would be glad to buv a reliable prep- 

 wation. W. H, Taplin, 



