134 



HORT1CU LTURE 



August 1, 1908 



Roses from a Retailer's View 



BY. J. F. SULLIVAN. 

 i irst Installment of This Paper was Published in Our Issue 



Retailers view with pleasurable 

 gratitude the powerful agency of the 

 flower shows in the development of the 

 rose, anil the maintenance of its 

 popularity. In the early days of the 

 rise and progress of this flower in- 

 dustrially speaking, the retailers were 

 more conspicuous for their zeal in 

 using these shows as mediums to 

 strengthen their individual work in 

 behalf of the Rose than they are at 

 the present day, and the retailers are 

 forced to admit the increasingly active 

 participation in these events by the 

 enterprising rose growers, and grate- 

 fully acknowledge the great good they 

 are doing of a most permanent 

 character. 



Novelties Called For. 

 At the same time the retailers de- 

 plore the seeming indifference of many 

 growers in the important matter of 

 providing them with more of the 

 novelties in roses, the necessity for 

 which is most apparent So pro- 

 nounced and general is this interest, 

 and indeed eagerness of the rose 

 patrons to satisfy their delights in 

 new varieties, that I venture to say 

 that were some of the once favorite 

 roses that are now relegated almost 

 to oblivion, and which the so called 

 up-to-date grower of these times 

 would disdain to grow, resurrected, 

 they would find a ready market and 

 many warm appreciative friends 

 among rose enthusiasts. As an ex- 

 ample I might cite the case of old 

 Bon Silene which is now grown in 

 some quarters and is meeting with an 

 encouraging demand. And in con- 

 Bldering the adoption of varieties to 

 meet this changing taste of the people, 

 It is well to remember, that it is not 

 size alone that constitutes the chief 

 element in a beautiful and most ac- 

 ceptable rose, as is clearly and con- 

 stantly shown by even the most fas- 

 tidious patrons of the retail stores 

 while making their selection. The 

 public are craving for novelty — some- 

 thing different from the monotonous 

 few varieties that greet them on their 

 recurring visits to the floral store. 

 Any of the older varieties are suffici- 

 ently attractive to the casual buyer, 

 but the steady patrons who are our 

 most valuable ones, must be shown 

 something new to hold their con- 

 tinued and increasing interest in our 

 chief commodity. As an evidence of 

 this tendency on the part of a large 

 portion of the flower lovers, for 

 variety and novelties, witness the in- 

 creasing interest shown by them the 

 last two or three years in the dainty 

 Pompon and Anemone chrysanthe- 

 mums, and often by identically the 

 same persons who formerly sought the 

 largest specimens of that flower at 

 the time obtainable. Even the now 

 commonly grown Crimson Rambler, 

 is frequently used in most impor- 

 tant social functions for its decor- 

 ative effect in preference to the con- 

 cededly more beautiful varieties, sim- 

 ply because, for the time being, this 



rose carried with it the element of 

 novelty. 



If rose growers who are devoted to 

 the production of cut blooms alone be- 

 lieve, as they evidently do, that a list 

 of a half dozen varieties of the same 

 embracing merely the primary colors, 

 will, even if ever so well grown and 

 beautiful, satisfy the exacting taste 

 and aesthetic inclination of the flower 

 loving public, T would ask how can 

 they reconcile such a theory with the 

 most palpable contradiction of it 

 when we consider the marvelous ex- 

 pansion of the rose plant industry as 

 shown by the firms issuing catalogues. 

 Many of these will tell you that they 

 enjoy the continuous patronage of 

 their old customers chiefly by the lat- 

 ter's intense interest in the newer 

 varieties of roses as they are annually 

 offered. 



Growers Must Take Initiative. 

 But the experimenting must be the 

 burden, if we may call it, of the 

 growers. They must take the initia- 

 tive steps. The retailers, zealous as 

 they are, cannot offer to the public a 

 variety having only an imaginary ex- 

 istence or merely prospective value. 

 To the timid but perhaps well meaning 

 grower I would say, try out the new 

 varieties giving promise of a good 

 future; give them a fair and honest 

 trial without prejudice, not as we too 

 frequently see growers half heartedly 

 assigning the most unfavorable spot 

 in their greenhouse to a few dozen 

 plants of a novelty and thereafter 

 being daily disturbed with suspicions 

 that the stranger among the pet varie- 

 ties is only another fake and after a 

 brief experience seeming only too will- 

 ing to denounce it. As an illustration 

 of the respective attitudes of the re- 

 tailers and many growers I will cite 

 the case of the Killarney rose, a va- 

 riety the superior merits of which are 

 now universally conceded. Witness 

 its struggle for the recognition de- 

 served. 



Killarney's Struggle. 



Soon after the Killarney's intro- 

 duction In this country about nine 

 years ago. a few growers experimented 

 with it in a limited way. The keen, 

 well trained eyes of the retailers who 

 by chance came into possession of the 

 cut blooms recognized instinctively 

 their rare beauty and prospective value 

 and true to the enterprising methods 

 that had already gained for them a 

 big rose trade, they soon acquainted 

 their customers with the distinctive 

 finished beauty of the novelty, the 

 supply of which was as yet. limited. 

 The increasing popularity of this 

 variety and the consequent demand 

 for it kept much in advance of the 

 supply, which fortunately improved 

 rapidly in the hands of but a few 

 growers. Retailers everywhere urged 

 more growers to plant it. The latter, 

 nevertheless were distrustful, and per- 

 sistently refused to give it a fair 

 trial and in this case, as in many 

 others totally ignored the advice of the 

 man behind the counter. One grower 

 would say that it was too short stem- 

 med, another called it a cropper, and 



of April 11, 1908. 



another thought it a shy bloomer. A 

 few wise ones thought that we had 

 too many pink varieties, but in the 

 meantime a few real wise ones — 

 growers and retailers alike — were 

 doing a big business in Killarney 

 roses and incidentally advancing the 

 popularity of the Queen of Flowers 

 and aiding floriculture generally. 



Needs of the Summer Trade. 

 The grower's indifference to the con- 

 stant pleadings of the retailers to 

 awaken to the importance of growing 

 varieties that would be particularly 

 available in the warm summer season, 

 has delayed inexcusably the full devel- 

 opment of the lucrative trade for both 

 grower and dealer that is attainable 

 during this period. The present grow- 

 ers cannot justify their lethargy in the 

 past in this respect by the absence in 

 commerce, as they allege, of such 

 varieties as will by their productive- 

 ness, color and quality commend them 

 for the purpose named. 



The retailers often wonder when 

 contemplating the indisputably proud 

 and exclusive position the rose holds 

 in the hearts and minds of the people 

 —what would be the extent of the com- 

 mercial importance and increased 

 popularity of the Queen of Flowers 

 were it not for its present prohibitory 

 price to the masses, which operates to 

 its disadvantage, commercially speak- 

 ing. With that barrier removed ap- 

 pear to them visions of acres of glass 

 being annually added to the existing 

 large area now devoted to its culture, 

 and the additions of thousands of flor- 

 ists engaged in this healthful and prof- 

 itable industry, and viewing the vast 

 strides made by hybridizers in recent 

 years, may we not reasonably expect 

 "that a type of roses can yet be brought 

 out which in addition to the quality 

 of the flowers will also be suf- 

 ficiently productive to allow them to 

 be sold at a price that will place 

 them in the hands of the masses, and 

 their popularity thus extended to the 

 full gratification of every lover of the 

 rose. And this blessing may be the 

 same process be extended to the multi- 

 tude of homes where out door cul- 

 ture of the rose is possible were the 

 suitable varieties available. 

 Advertise. 

 The exploitation of our wares being 

 essentially a commodity of luxury, 

 calls for our very best efforts to im- 

 press the public with their beauty, and 

 the multiplicity of their uses. We 

 must show our finest, and encourage 

 tlic admiration and consequent use of 

 them. We must advertise — the day is 

 upon us to employ "printers ink;" our 

 stores and stock must be made famil- 

 iar with the people; we must acquaint 

 the daily press w ith the current news 

 concerning the rose — its development; 

 its beauty and increasing popularity, 

 and indeed it is a sad truth we 

 are forced to admit, that of all the 

 mattei recently appearing in the daily 

 press and monthly periodicals, col- 

 umns, yes pages of it, relating to the 

 rose either culturally or descriptive 

 and eulogistic of it as the Queen of 



