222 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



July 17, 1902. 



times even when it occurs in normal num- 

 bers tliis eurcuiio destroj-s entire crops, 

 particularly in small gardens. With the 

 approach of cool weather the beetles dis- 

 appear. 



The rose curculio may readily be known 

 by its red thorax and elytra and black 

 ventral surface, snout and legs. In east- 

 ern specimens the colors are as indicated, 

 Ijut westward, in Colorado, individuals 

 are found in which the greater part of 

 the head is red, including most of the 

 antennae or "feelers" and the legs. 

 The form of the insect is well illustrated 

 by the figure. The rostrum, or snout, 

 is very long, nearly a third of the length 

 of the entire l)ody. and the antennae are 

 slender, witli a well-marked three-jointed 

 chib. The length, exclusive of the snout, 

 is a little less than a fourth of an inch. 



Although this species is well distrib- 

 uted from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 it is found much more abundantly 

 in the Northwest, and its injuries appear 

 to be confined to that region west of the 

 Mississippi valley. In the eastern states 

 it seems to be noted only on wild rose. 

 The insect is known to occur in New 

 York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Dis- 

 trict of Columbia, Tennes.see, Missouri, 

 Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Wyoming, 

 North Dakota. Utah, Idaho, Colorado, 

 New Slexico. Montana, Washington, Ore- 

 gon, California, and in Canada, North- 

 west Territory, Vancouver Island and 

 elsewhere in British Columbia. 



BUSINESS METHODS FOR BUSY 

 FLORISTS. 



The roae curculio — (Rhynclntes bicolon— 



;i. female beetle: b, claw: c. female in outline 



from .side: a. c. enlarg-ed: b, tnore enlarged. 



(Prom Chittenden, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



The beetles are frequently seen with 

 their long snouts buried deep in rosebuds, 

 and they seem also to cut the stem or in- 

 jure the bud at the thin portion of the 

 stalk below the calyx. The bud after- 

 ward drops off and dies. Within the sev- 

 ered bud, according to the late Dr. Otto 

 Lugger, the young mature. 



In ordinary cases of attack these bee- 

 tles can be controlled by hand picking 

 and jarring them from the bushes onto 

 inverted umbrellas or curculio catchers, 

 but when they occur in unusual numbers 

 this must be practiced frequently, since 

 though every beetle seen is destroyed one 

 day, an equal number may appear a day 

 or two later. In this respect the insect 

 resembles the ordinary rose-chafer. 



The habit of the beetle, which it pos- 

 sesses in common with other cureulios, 

 of dropping to the grountl when dis- 

 turbed, renders its capture comparatively 

 easy. When the insects occur in other 

 plants than bushes bearing berries or on 

 roses soon to be picked, they can be de- 

 stroyed by spraj-ing with Paris Green at 

 the rate of about a pound to 150 gallons 

 of water. F. 11. Chittenden, 



Assistant Entomologist U. S. Department 



of Agriculture. 



VIII. 



Sundry Expense:. 



This subject covers a multitude of 

 items necessary to keep the wheels of 

 business in running ord<>r, and may be 

 divided into two general groups. 



First, fixed expenses, or those which 

 can be anticipated and must be provided 

 for or the business will become bank- 

 rupt. 



Second, contingent expense;;, wliich 

 from their very nature cannot be antici- 

 pated and which \-ary from season to 

 season and year to year, according to the 

 climatic and other conditions and be- 

 coming necessary when least expected. 



In the first group we find wages, which 

 is at all times the largest and most im- 

 portant expense item in the business. If 

 labor could be measured by so many 

 horsepower, each day the same, as we 

 gauge the capacity of a machine, we 

 could pretty nearly tell what each rose 

 would cost before w-e grew it. But along 

 with the brute force necessary to plant 

 and water our stock tliere must be brains 

 to direct and ability to think, and for 

 these important adjuncts to labor the 

 wise business man will always be willing 

 to pay. 



The "cheapest" help is oftentimes the 

 most expensive. How many of us have 

 learned this to our sorrow and cost. The 

 finest plants are sometimes ruined by a 

 single day's inattention or overattentiou. 

 A working foreman is necessary in every 

 place, no matter how small. He should 

 have a thorough knowledge of growing 

 stock and an ability to command men. 

 Success or failure will lie largely depend- 

 ent upon his ability. But skilled men 

 under him are necessary for the fullest 

 measure of success. A system of promo- 

 tion in the ranks is productive of the 

 best results. Once let the idea be firmly 

 established in a young man 's mind that 

 he must work out his own promotion and 

 that there are always good positions 

 awaiting him as soon as he is able to fill 

 them, and that moment you have a valu- 

 able man in your employ. 



Wages should be paid in proportion to 

 results, and these can only be determined 

 individually. Experience is a good teach- 

 er, but many a young man with four 

 pounds, more or less, of live, active 

 "gray matfer" under his hat crown and 

 a few months ' experience, is worth 

 more than the gray-haired veteran with 

 many years' experience who does what 

 he is told and works for his weekly wage 

 and 6 o'clock. 



Not many months ago a friend of mine 

 lost a valuable foreman, who left him 

 after six or eight years of service to ac- 

 cept a more lucrative position. Another 

 foreman was imported from a distant 

 state, who after several months' trial 

 with varying results was considei'ed in- 

 competent and dismissed. In the employ 

 of this friend for five or six years was 

 a young man who had worked along 

 steadily, doing everything well which had 

 been assigned him. using his brains at all 

 times to grow- good stock at a minimum 

 expense. On the dismissal of the last 

 foreman this young man was placed in 

 charge and has developed into the best 

 foreman the place has ever had, and has 

 the reputation of being the best all-round 

 grower in the state. The business was 



never so flourishing, Ihe help never so 

 well contented and satisfied. 



Occasional promotion all along the line 

 keejis e\'ery one doing his best. E^ery 

 one is |)aid according to his ability and 

 the laggards and grumlilers have all been 

 "laid ofl'. " While i do not know the fig- 

 ures, I venture to say that the labor bill 

 for the year is proportionately less than 

 ever before. "'The laborer is worthy of 

 his hire" in every line of business, and 

 the more frequently ])ay day conies 

 around the more contented your help will 

 be. A uniform custom of paying each 

 SatiiKlay night will be found very satis- 

 fying to yourself and help. If you pay 

 by check, your check is a receipt in itself 

 and will be generally found satisfactory 

 all around. If you pay with currency 

 take a receipt from each one. Have 

 vouchers made out in a form similar to 

 the following: 



rime B Bays 

 Amt. SlO.OO 



Received ,f johw jokes 



Tsm DOI.I.ABS. for wa^es for 



week fnding JPJTE 7, 1902. js per 



margin hereof. james adams. 



Don "t work your help overtime unless 

 you pay them for it, and when tht'y lose 

 time deduct it from their wages. In- 

 sist on promptness in arriving and be 

 equally prompt in their quitting at night. 

 As some Sunday work is necessary in the 

 florist business, divide the force into 

 squads to take turns in doing the neces- 

 sary work. Don't allow beer or intoxi- 

 cants on the place and dismiss a man 

 promptly for intoxication. I am not so 

 temperate but that I can see pleasure in 

 a friendly glass, but a man whose bniin 

 is muddled by drink cannot do good work 

 and a few prompt dismissals for I rank- 

 enness will have a most wholesome re- 

 straint on any would-be guzzler. 



The next important item of expense is 

 fuel. Upon 3'our jiroximity to coal mines, 

 water, transportation, sawmills, et"., will 

 depend in a great measure the kin 1 of 

 fuel to use. I will not discuss th'3 kinJ 

 of fuel, or boilers or flues, steam or h^-t 

 water, but will leave that to experts in 

 that line. But every one will a.jree with 

 me that the kind that will pv i.luce the 

 best result at the least exjiense is Ihe 

 kind for him to use. Keep an accurate 

 record of the cjuantity and cost from 

 year to year. 



I recently visited a growe-, one of the 

 leaders in his line, and one of the m"St 

 successful in the business. He turned to 

 his record and told me the amount of 

 coal consumed each year and the cost of 

 the same from the time when he em 

 barked in the business. Another record 

 showed the number of square feet of 

 glass in the plant each season and the 

 comparative cost of heating, whil-j still 

 another showed the total sabs for each 

 year and the percentage of ;o.>t of fuel 

 to the sales. In the other it^nis of ex- 

 pense he had the same reconls. 



On the other hand, I once visited a 

 grower who had quite an ext-jn'.ivo estab- 

 lishment and a large and growini; trad''. 

 Reverting to the subject of fu3l he said 

 soft coal was so expensive that season 

 that he had used pine slabs from a near- 

 by mill to save expense. At the end .^f 

 the season I asked him the comparative 

 cost, as I thought of using wood ano.lier 

 season. He said he hadn't figured it 



