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HORTICULTURE 



May U, 1907 



Equipment and Organization of a Modern Horticultural Establishment 



Paper Read by J. Otto Thilow, Before the Florist Club of Philadelphia. 



The consideration of this subject 

 lends nioie interest when we compare 

 the aggressive modern establishments 

 of the present time with those of thir- 

 ty or more years ago. Then, in the 

 absence of the enticing catalog and 

 the undreamed of trade papers, the 

 growers' chief aim was to have a full 

 supply of salable plants in bloom at 

 the opening of the spring season. 



The stock consisted of all the then 

 known varieties of every species of 

 bedding, basket and ornamental plants. 

 The florist's market was any point 

 that he could reach. The beast which 

 showed the greatest amount of en- 

 durance was nitched to the market 

 wagon, and the assistant or son, 

 daughter, or even the wife was as- 

 signed to the task of visiting the 

 neighboring towns with a load of 

 plants in bloom. This method ended 

 with the spring months, and the left- 

 over stock was either advertised at 

 bargain prices in the local papers, or 

 thrown away, as surplus. 



The growers who were adjacent to 

 cities, were represented in the markets, 

 occupying one or more stalls with the 

 most attractive stock. At the close 

 of the season the general routine of 

 work followed, that of planting out 

 and caring for the stock plants and 

 blooming stuff for the following win- 

 ter months. The equipment of these' 

 establishments was varied, as a great- 

 er variety of plants could be found 

 in the collections of the florists of 

 those days than now. The organiza- 

 tion was modest, yet complete, as the 

 florist and his family constituted the 

 faculty, with extra help if neded. The 

 duty of _ each was to understand 

 the general routine of work from the 

 office to the stoke-hole, the system 

 requiring every one to work for the 

 one aim, that every available' corner 

 be filled with attractive stock and in 

 bloom for the spring season. 



The florist of the early and even the 

 present day, has always found the 

 wife an important factor in the or- 

 ganization, her judgment and ever un- 

 tiring interest is indispensable, she 

 has been the helpmeet and always 

 will be as long as her interest in 

 horticulture continues; woman's in- 

 fluence contributes almost altogether 

 to the remarkable demand of the pres- 

 ent day. Due credit is not given her 

 for what she has accomplished; she 

 is to-day pre-eminent back of the 

 counter in florist shop, and deeply in- 

 terested in the work of the greenhouse 

 establishment. Woman was the first 

 to give us a treatise in horticulture 

 in this country; this honor fell upon 

 Mrs. Logan, a florist of Charleston, S. 

 C. This she did at the age of seventy 

 years, in the year 1772. 



In referring to the horticultural es- 

 tablishments of the early days, I would 

 not pretend to say that they were 

 not active and lucrative for the 

 growers. Many of the veteran florists 

 were known to you, some of them 

 living to-day who enjoyed their years 

 of toil with good prices for their 

 product. Tbere are establishments 

 existing to-day with modern methods, 

 which pursued the routine above men- 



tioned, but keeping pace with the 

 changes demanded by the advance in 

 commercial horticulture, they have 

 branched out as specialists and are 

 classed and known as such in the 

 trade. 



It has been noticeable that certain 

 stocks were best suited to certain lo- 

 calities, and to these the growers con- 

 centrated their efforts to the greatest 

 improvements of such stock. This 

 method has met with general success, 

 inducing constant extension and en- 

 largement of facilities, demanding 

 modern construction, heating, ventilat- 

 ing, simple and economical methods 

 of handling and shipijing. This condi- 

 tion seems to have asserted itself 

 within the last twenty years, and has 

 advanced the interest and the growth 

 of the business in general, in that 

 the growers depend on each other for 

 special stocks, hence the florist of the 

 present time is retail in general stock, 

 and wholesale in special stock. 



Their dealings have become recip- 

 rocal, the trade papers have entered 

 upon the field, and all seem to be 

 doing a thriving business, and through 

 this medium the enterprising florists 

 know more of each other and the skill 

 of those in special lines. From my 

 own limited observations, I can say 

 but little of other large and aggressive 

 horticultural establishments except 

 the one with which I have been con- 

 nected for the past quarter century, 

 an establishment which is keeping 

 pace wiih the increasing demand, 

 largely through their own catalog and 

 the influence of horticultural maga- 

 zines and rural home publications 

 v/hich are creating an intense taste 

 among the plant and flower-loving 

 people of our country. And what is 

 true of the department offering the 

 subjects for this paper, is true of other 

 aggressive establishments of this 

 country — that organization must be 

 commenstu-ate with modern equip- 

 ment; so with your suffrage I beg to 

 point with pardonable pride to the 

 plant department of Henry A. Dreer, 

 Inc., at Riverton, N. J., under the 

 able management of J. D. Eisele, the 

 vice-president of the company. 1 

 therefore make bold to ask, with the 

 advance and increase in each branch 

 of this department, may we not 

 modestly assume it to be among the 

 modern establishments in equipment 

 and organization? 



The trend in recent years has been 

 very decided in the attention given to 

 perennials and many works have been 

 published, treating entirely on the old- 

 fashioned or hardy garden. The ama- 

 teurs seem to enter into this line with 

 new zeal year after year, so that this 

 department has grown to the enormous 

 extent of 2000 varieties, requiring forty 

 acres to perpetuate the stock. The in- 

 terest in aquatics is a development 

 of the past twelve years, and has ex- 

 tended from this country to Europe. 

 Fully six acres are now devoted to 

 this branch and many of the best in- 

 troductions of recent years are of 

 American origin. Twenty years ago 

 it was considered a bold plunge to 

 devote one house, 12x100, to ferns. 

 Since 1898 over one acre is given to 

 these, and fully a quarter million are 



in readiness for immediate market, 

 and one and a half million are handled 

 every season. 



Palms are the leading decorative 

 plant. From the owner of the con- 

 servatory to the occupant of a flat 

 embellished by a fire escape, the palm 

 has a place, and is essential in the col- 

 lection of plants for home adornment. 

 These alone occupy four acres of glass. 

 Seeds of the important varieties are 

 imported from their native haunts, 

 the niost prominent being the kentia. 

 These are sown in batches of from 

 75 to 100 bushels at one time. Other 

 varieties are used in proportion. The 

 palm industry with that of the fern, is 

 practically a development of the past 

 twenty years. 



The dahlia which was somewhat 

 obsolete for a number of years, has 

 been resurrected, and many new varie- 

 ties and new types have been intro- 

 duced. Ten years ago less than 6,000 

 constituted the stock, 75,000 in 1904, 

 and now the enormous number of 

 300,000 is necessary to meet the de- 

 mand, requiring 50 acres for maintain- 

 ing the stock. The demand for the 

 ever popular azalea is still on the in- 

 crease, ranging from 150 plants im- 

 ported in 1S70 to the present require- 

 ment of 60.000. Roses for outdoor 

 planting are among the very important 

 of spring stock, and have made the 

 most marked increase of from 6,000 

 eight years ago, to 200,000 the present 

 requirement. 



Enumerating the above is only to 

 show the advancement made in com- 

 mercial horticivlture along the line of 

 specialties, much other of the varied 

 stock is grown in proportion to the 

 demand. To harbor and maintain an 

 equipment of such magnitude, exten- 

 sive glass and open area is necessary, 

 besides many accessories with which 

 to carry it thi-ough from season to sea- 

 son, viz.: a glass area of from seven 

 to eight acres of modern construction 

 in greater part. Boiler capacity of 

 850 H. P., which consume 3,000 tons 

 of coal per annum. Water capacity 

 for all used, 300,000 gallons per day. 

 A fumigating house of special con- 

 struction as required by the State 

 laws, tor hydro cyanic-acid gas, for 

 safeguarding against even an incipi- 

 ent presence of scale. A complete 

 machine shop, operated by steam 

 power, for repairing and constructing, 

 and supplied with saw-table for cut- 

 ting lumber to required sizes lor 

 cases and crates for shipments, also 

 a carpenter shop in constant operation. 

 A cold storage area for storing stock 

 for winter and early spring shipment 

 to southern jioints. Experimental 

 grounds for the thorough testing of 

 new varieties of plants of foreign and 

 home production. A supply depart- 

 ment which is under control of one 

 v/ho knows the value of preventing 

 waste. All supplies, from office sta- 

 tionery, tools for machine shop, and 

 every utensil needed in, under glass 

 and open ground, to the most minute 

 item, are guarded with vigilant ex- 

 actness, replenished before exhausted, 

 and distributed only as needed and 

 upon orders, the working force of this 

 establishment being 150 jnen, among 

 whom are twenty order clerks, and 



