2'he I^lower Trade of JVeif Tork. 359 



The Flower Trade of New York. 



Cultiviition of t'lants Under Glaus — Moto the Retail Trade is Supplied, 



[SECOND ARTICLE.] 



THE raising of flowers and plants under glass is first in importance in the con- 

 sideration of the flower trade of New York. The outdoor culture, although 

 important when considered in its relation to the trade, is the producing element, but 

 the hot-houses are the source from which springs the great flower business of the coun- 

 try. The capital invested in these hot-house nurseries is very large, and new enter- 

 prises are in progress in all of our city suburbs. 



The first consideration of a nurseryman is a greenhouse ; for it is in these structures 

 under glass where all of his choicest plants are propagated and matured. These 

 houses are, in some cases, of great size and of the most careful construction. Many 

 of the smaller nurseries have only one house, and from this humble beginning they 

 rise and increase until an acre or more of ground is covered with glass. The Allen 

 nursery has a series of glass-houses one hundred and thirty-five feet square. The 

 Siebrecht nursery at Astoria has eleven houses on its grounds, twenty by one hun- 

 dred feet each, and there are other establishments of almost equal capacity around it, 



The A.llen Mot-houses. 



At most of the more important nurseries there are houses devoted to the culture 

 of various kinds of plants. For instance, the camellia is always given a section ; and 

 others devoted to winter flowering roses ; plants of ornamental foliage, such as the 

 ferns, clocassia, fancy-leafed caladium, the leaf of which resembles Japanese charac- 

 ters ; the cactus and banana ; and carnations. 



There is an entire house on Mr. Allen's grounds devoted to the cultivation of car- 

 nation for winter flowering, and, later in the season, to the forcing of a new series of 

 the same variety of plants for spring sales. The smilax is at present in great demand, 

 and one house, which appears to be given up entirely to its cultivation, contains 

 between six and seven thousand plants, or strings as they are popularly called. As 

 each of these strings is worth half a dollar, the income from the house may be readily 

 calculated. 



Of the roses, the finer sorts only are cultivated for winter flowering, while the great 

 mass of mixed plants are propagated from slips, for the wholesale spring trade. 

 Heliotropes, geraniums, English violet, pansies and a score or more of familiar flowers 

 are also cultivated in difi'erent sections and are in demand during the season. Later, 

 all of these plants, with the exception of some raised from seed, are brought in train- 

 ing for early spring sales. It is not, however, the plants which have flowered during 

 the winter which are sold, for they exhaust themselves, and slips and younger plants 

 are brought forward for the purpose. These houses are all heated by hot water appa- 

 ratus, which is a great improvement over the old-fashioned furnace. 



The Siebrecht Greenhouses. 



These houses at Astoria are probably as complete in their appointments as any on 



, Long Island. There are, as stated above, eleven houses in all, which during the fall 



and winter season are all filled to their utmost capacity. Three houses are devoted 



to the cultivation of the Bonsseline and tea roses alone. They embrace between six 



and ten varieties, and are most desirable for baskets and bouquets. One house is 



