The Weekly Florists' Review. 



December 2, 1897 



CHRYSANTHEMUM NOTES. 



Do chrj-santheimnns pay? Man)' a man 

 is just now figuring up his returns and 

 on his face is a look of anxious thought. 

 Competent judges declare that never be- 

 fore in {he histon,- of the New York mar- 

 ket did good flowers wholesale at so low 

 a figure; lo to 12 cents was a good aver- 

 age price; deduct from this commission 

 and expressage then ask again: Do 



will pay him all right and he knows it. 

 But the wholesale grower will tell j-ou 

 the business is yellow, yellow as a non- 

 descript cur and not a tinge of the 

 Klondike article about it, and on every 

 hand one hears the same remark: "Next 

 vear we shall consideratjly reduce our 

 number of plants." 



Ever\' little while we hear that the 

 people are getting tired of the big flowers 



Growing Chrysanthemums in Boxes. 



chryanthemums pay? Ask me some- 

 thing else. Of course the retail florist 

 with his local trade has a better chance of 

 getting a higher figure. He knows what 

 his average' consumption is and grows to 

 meet his demand and nearly always one 

 or two weddingsjust about that time will 

 clean off his surplus. Chrysanthenmms 



and that more money could be made by 

 not disbudding, but growing long sprays 

 of flowers. This season has shown that 

 it was not the big flower but the big 

 price that the public kicked at. Grace- 

 ful sprays with a dozen flowers on a stem 

 may appeal to the aesthetic soul but they 

 never touched his pocketbook for they 



did not pay the expressage. The glut of 

 medium to small flowers that have filled 

 the market all through the season ruled 

 prices and made an)- reasonable return 

 utter))- impossible. Some one has said 

 this is an age of mediocrity. Is it going 

 to apply to the florists' trade also ? 



The lesson w-e should take to heart 

 from the experiences of this year is, first 

 and foremost economy in production. 

 The illustration will give the reader an 

 idea of a cheap and easy method of rais- 

 ing good flowers with a minimum of 

 labor. The box is 4 feet long, 10 inches 

 wide and 5 inches deep, made of common 

 hemlock boards, taking for each box 18 

 feet of lumber 5x1. This can be bought 

 sawn into the proper lengths and w-ith 

 cost of nailing together will only aver- 

 age about 20 cents. If the boxes are 

 stored away in a dry- place after they are 

 done with and given any reasonable 

 amount of care, they are good for three or 

 four seasons without any patching up to 

 speak of. The advantages of such a box 

 are that it is e'asv to handle, does not re- 

 quire anv more attention as to watering 

 than a bench would, can be moved at 

 any time to any place desired and will 

 accommodate five plants of any variety 

 and six of close grow-ing kinds like 

 Philadelphia or Helen Bloodgood. Each 

 plant can be stopped so as to grow two 

 good flow-ers and if size is not a desider- 

 atum three could be taken just as well as 

 not. 



Stock Plants. 



The florist is hampered for room as a 

 rule. Everything is clamoring for space 

 and in consequence too often his stock 

 plants are thrown under the benches to 

 grow if they will. If they don't, "well, 

 voung plants are cheap in the spring," 

 and the business rushes on. The best 

 wav is to strike the strongest suckers you 

 can find right away. Just a few of each 

 kind and as soon as they are in fit condi- 

 tion plant out in a bencli in a cool house. 

 Stopped once or twice they will give an 

 abundance of healthy cuttings in the new 

 vear that will be much more vigorous 

 and which will root more quickly than 

 any that can be got from old stools at 

 that time. 



Whv, oh w-hv is it brother florists, that 

 the average "mum" cutting one buys or 

 sees in January and February is such a 

 miserable, insignificant looking little ob- 

 ject ? Get good healthy cuttings above 

 everything, even though you don't get 

 quite so many. If the "nunn" were not 

 the hardy, naturally vigorous plant it is, 

 the record of failures in successful cul- 

 ture would be enormous. As it is, rust, 

 blight and other diseases are increasing, 



