136 



HORTICULTURE 



February 3, 1906 



the benches a long time in advance 

 does not prevail very generally, and 

 beyond insuring a thorough mixing by 

 frequent turning, there is not much to 

 be gained by it. Where soil piles are 

 wet through by frequent rains, there 

 is a constant change going on and the 

 component parts are blended by the 

 rotting or fermentation; but where 

 the pile is dry, the mass is inert. We 

 are compelled to use manure with cau- 

 tion, because age does not seem to 

 render it harmless to the same extent 

 that it does in sections visited by fre- 

 quent rains. 



Before beginning our planting we 

 shade the house heavily with mud, 

 ■close all ventilation and wet down the 

 walks and under the benches. When 

 all is ready the plants are brought 

 from the field with all the soil that 

 ■will cling to them and transferred to 

 the bench as quickly as possible. The 

 house is kept absolutely without 

 ventilation for the first two or three 

 days, and the plants are frequently 

 syringed. The walks and the ground 

 under the benches are kept drenched 

 and everything possible done to pre- 

 vent wilting. As soon as it seems safe, 

 a little ventilation is given, generally 

 starting at night, and the shade gradu- 

 ally removed. Within ten days the 

 house is having full light and ventila- 

 tion. As the plants grow and produce 

 blooms, it becomes apparent that the 

 stems are not as long or as heavy as 

 produced by the same varieties in east- 

 ern sections. The flowers are apt to 

 come more nearly up to the standard 

 than the stems. This tendency of the 

 stem is so pronounced that, individual- 

 ly, I now make it a rule not to buy 

 any novelty, no matter how attractive, 

 unless it has a decidedly strong stem. 

 The bright sun seems to produce high 

 color in the flower, though some of the 

 pinks fade badly unless shaded. 



Among Colorado growers there 

 seems to be a disposition to try the 

 promising new sorts, as they are am- 

 bitious to have the best. Those whose 

 business it is to disseminate new va- 

 rieties will, I hope, pardon me for call- 

 ing their attention to a few facts. Our 

 section is so remote that not many 

 of us can spare the time or the money 

 ;to inspect new varieties before dis- 

 semination, and we must depend large- 

 ly upon what you say in your adver- 

 tisements. A great many letters of a 

 semi-confidential nature are written by 

 you to induce sales — letters intended 

 to put you in close personal relations 

 with the grower. The confidence thus 

 engendered in the western goose and 

 the crop of golden eggs is one whose 

 loss you would deplore. You may have 

 the fullest faith in a resurrection after 

 death, but if you once kill this valu- 

 able goose it will stay dead a long 

 time. Study carefully then the special 

 needs of this section, and be sure you 

 have a good reason before you urge a 

 purchase. When you have made a 

 sale, bear in mind that the journey is 

 a long one, and that when first potted, 

 a rooted cutting in the Rockies has a 

 hard struggle for existence. It is use- 

 less to ship cuttings to that section 

 unless they are well rooted, and extra 

 care should be taken to see that they 

 do not dry out in transit. Show a 

 disposition to advance our interests as 

 well as your own, and you will find 

 that we are an appreciative lot. 



I think that but two carnations have 

 come to us in recent years that have 



demonstrated their ability to produce 

 good flowers with strong stems in sat- 

 isfactory quantities as grown by the 

 average florist. These two are Mrs. 

 Thomas W. Lawson and Enchantress, 

 and the florists of the Rocky Mountain 

 region all take off their hats to Peter 

 Fisher. White Lawson is just as sat- 

 isfactory as the original pink, but the 

 short stem early in the season is an 

 objection to both. Harlowarden has 

 been quite satisfactory, but the de- 

 mand for that color is small. Fiancee 

 has proved a wonderfully fine grower 

 and blooms freely, but she has been 

 on one protracted "bust" since Oc- 

 tober, and unless she mends her ways 

 we will refuse to give her lodging next . 

 year. 



The region we are considering in- 

 cludes an area about as large as ninety 

 states the size of Massachusetts, yet 

 the latter has nearly twice a many 

 people and six times as much glass 

 within her borders as are contained in 

 all this vast region. Denver is now 

 but forty-two years old, and is about 

 one-third the size of Boston; Salt Lake 

 is about the size of Springfield; Butte 

 and Pueblo about as large as Holyoke; 

 Colorado Springs and Ogden will com- 

 pare with Fitchburg, while Cheyenne, 

 Wyoming, Helena and Great Falls in 

 Montana, Leadville and Cripple Creek 

 in Colorado, are in size between such 

 cities as Pittsfield and Newburyport in 

 this State. By the census of 1900, 

 there were only twenty-two cities and 

 towns in the Rocky Mountains with 

 a population of 5000 or over, while 

 Massachusetts had nearly eighty in the 

 list. 



The last census showed that Colo- 

 rado had more than two-thirds of the 

 glass in the mountain region, and 

 since then two or three important 

 places have been erected. Important 

 additions have also been made at Salt 

 Lake and at Butte. Small establish- 

 ments with from one to five thousand 

 feet of glass have been started at many 

 points in the mountains, and I look 

 for a still further increase in places of 

 that kind. A town of two or three 

 thousand inhabitants, with small min- 

 ing camps tributary to it and within 

 easy access by rail, may very well offer 

 inducements to the young man looking 

 for an opportunity to start in a small 

 way. 



At present in our own establishment 

 in Denver, we have ledger accounts with 

 more than a thousand people scattered 

 all over the mountain country. There 

 is hardly a day in the year that we do 

 not send retail orders to places from 

 three to five hundred miles distant; 

 and on holidays, especially before 

 Memorial Day, these express packages 

 go out literally by the wagon load. 

 Oftentimes these orders come in by 

 telephone from some mining camp 

 hundreds of miles away on the opposite 

 side of the mountains. We must be in 

 a position to know as far as possible 

 the financial standing of the people 

 scattered over this wide area, and keep 

 the information so readily accessible 

 that we can look up a man's credit 

 while he holds the long distance tele- 

 phone at so much per minute. This is 

 made possible by index cards, which 

 show at a glance what experience, if 

 any, we have had, and also the reports 

 as to credit received from other 

 sources. 



This long distance business will 

 eventually be reduced by the establish- 



ment of small places, such as I have 

 just referred to. But a wise man 

 changes his methods with changing 

 conditions, and we hope to then sell 

 enough in other ways to offset this 

 loss. At any rate, we will always wel- 

 come any man who comes among us 

 and demonstrates his ability to suc- 

 ceed by honorable methods. 



There is no wholesale commission 

 house within the region we are dis- 

 cussing. Two or three earnest at- 

 tempts have been made in that direc- 

 tion, but they have all failed. 



Some flowers are shipped into our 

 territory from outside. Kansas City 

 sends a very limited amount to New 

 Mexico, while Minneapolis and St. 

 Paul ship rather largely to Montana. 

 Ten years ago Chicago found a good 

 market in Denver, but that time is 

 past. Our real competition comes from 

 Council Bluffs, half way between Den- 

 ver and Chicago. Without any direct 

 information, I am inclined to think 

 the long distance trade of that point 

 is gradually being secured by Colorado 

 florists, who have the advantage of the 

 shorter haul; and that Council Bluffs 

 is finding not only compensation, but 

 increased demand in markets nearer 

 home, just as I have predicted must 

 happen to us in Colorado, in our turn. 

 We trust we may be able to meet the 

 changing situation with like success. 



I think a wrong impression prevails 

 concerning the prices we obtain. In 

 Denver they will average fairly well 

 with prices in eastern cities. We are 

 never compelled to accept the very 

 low prices that sometimes obtain at 

 eastern points, but at holiday seasons 

 our highest prices are decidedly lower 

 than your highest prices. 



Fairy tales are told of miners with 

 suddenly acquired wealth who spend 

 their money lavishly; but in such cases 

 they are apt to patronize those places 

 that carry their stock in bottles instead 

 of vases. A few drinks often create a 

 temporary disregard of expense and a 

 fondness for bright colors, but this is 

 not the result of climate, and the effect 

 is no more noticeable in Denver or 

 Butte than it is in Boston or Chicago. 



As a general thing, the man who has 

 acquired wealth by his own labor does 

 not spend his money freely for lux- 

 uries; neither is he apt to consider 

 flowers as necessities. It is generally 

 the second wealthy generation who con- 

 sider our products necessary to their 

 existence, and as our country is new, 

 we must wait for time to bring this 

 class of customers. In the meantime, 

 we make up for their lack by the ab- 

 sence of the extremely poor. Abject 

 poverty and destitution are rare in the 

 mountain regions. 



The February issue of Suburban 

 Life is a beautiful product of the 

 printer's art. The Mt. Pleasant Press 

 of Harrisburg, Pa., are noted all over 

 the country for their perfection in 

 magazine making, and, therefore, when 

 Suburban Life last month announced 

 that these printers had been secured 

 beginning with the next issue, the 

 February number was looked for with 

 great interest. It can in no way fail 

 to delight its readers. The beautiful 

 hand-set type and the abundance of 

 half tones, admirably executed, go to 

 make up a perfect periodical. With 

 this issue, the magazine has been con- 

 siderably enlarged and is more general 

 in its tone. It contains a wealth of 

 practical and entertaining features. 



