The Advancement In Floriculture 



By H. B. 



There is no phase of horticultural work that has ad- 

 vanced as rapidly as floriculture and become of greater 

 importance. Not many years ago, floriculture was spoken 

 of as a trade, but today it is rapidly advancing to the 

 status of a profession and is being designated as such. 

 The florist of today must be a skilled man well educated 

 along the lines of his work. 



There is no vocation calling for greater or more varied 

 ability than floriculture. The successful man of today 

 must not only know how to produce the wares that he 

 is selling, but must also know how to arrange them artis- 

 tically. It is on this latter point that many fail and get 

 little more than a living out of their business. 



The florist must know something about construction 

 so that he cannot only build to the best advantage but 

 also can keep up repairs and keep all parts in perfect 

 working condition. Above all he must know plants and 

 their requirements in order to keep the output of his 

 establishment at the maximum in both quantity and 

 •quality. He must be both painstaking r.nd conscientious, 

 for it is on the careful handling of small details that his 

 success depends. 



Fifty years ago there were few commercial florist 

 establishments in the country and the output was quite 

 small. Today the value of the flower crop is around 

 S40.C00,000. The number of greenhouse ranges has 

 increased to over 10,500, and the area covered by this 

 glass to over 105.000,000 square feet or over 2,400 acres. 



This rapid advance has been partly due to the im- 

 proved methods in construction and heating. The small, 

 narrow, sash-covered, flue heated house has given place 

 t(i the large steam or water heated range in which better 

 and cheaper flowers may be produced. The production 

 of better and cheaper flowers has done more than any 

 other one thing to popularize the work and change the 

 -American people into a flower loving nation. With the 

 advances along these lines has come the use of large 

 <|uantities of flowering plants in the decoration of door 

 yards and estates as well as public parks. 



As the demand for flowers increased, the desire for 

 novelties also increased with the result that a new field 

 opened up for the florist. Many men today are spend- 

 ing considerable time and large amounts of money in the 

 l)roduction of new varieties of plants. This production 

 of new flowers not only keeps up the interest of the 

 flower-buyer, but of the florist himself. Every up-to- 

 <late grower should be continually searching for new 

 things to please the fancy of his customers. It is to such 

 men that the florist owes the beautiful flowers that are 

 grown in the greenhouse of today. Such men can be 

 nothing less than a source of inspiration. The willing- 

 ness of such men to impart their hard earned informa- 

 tion to others has made the American florist essentially 

 difl^erent from his foreign brethren and has done won- 

 <lers in the development of the profession. 



Methods of culture have also changed considerably. 

 Pot culture has in many cases given way to bench cul- 

 ture. Xew crops such as sweet peas. Antirrhinums and 

 others have been added to the list of greenhouse jilants. 

 In many cases the size of flowers has been increased, the 

 form varied and the range of colors enlarged. 



The advance of the profession lias also been shown 

 by the demand for research and instruction in floricul- 

 ture in our great universities. \\'ork has been taken up 



Dorner. 



at Cornell, Xew Jersey, Massachusetts and Illinois. 

 These institutions will, no doubt, rapidly be followed 

 by others until every State having large floricultural in- 

 terests will be offering instruction in these lines and 

 carrying on experimental work for the benefit of the 

 florist. The latter has been made necessary l^y the fact 

 that the problems confronting the florist are becoming 

 more and more complex and require scientific methods 

 for their solution. 



Much money is now being spent by these institutions 

 in building up glass ranges for floricultural research and 

 instruction. Illinois heads the list with about 28,000 

 square feet devoted to these lines. Illinois is also the 

 only institution oft'ering a course leading to the profes- 

 sional degree of Bachelor of Science in Floriculture. 



Much has been said, at various times, as to the value 

 of a college training in floriculture, but it will have to be 

 admitted that the man with a thorough grounding in the 

 rudiments of the work has much better chances for rapid 

 advancement than the old-time apprentice. The man 

 with a knowledge of the structure and requirements of 

 plants, of soils, of fertilizers and their uses, of business 

 management and the many other requirements of the suc- 

 cessful florist, is surely better equipped to make a suc- 

 cess of his chosen work. 



The greatest criticism of college work comes from a 

 lack of understanding of the aims of the university. Xo 

 university guarantees to turn out finished florists, but 

 merely attempts to prepare its graduates to do better 

 and, in a shorter time, do the work on which the old- 

 time florist spent half of his life before he reached the 

 pinnacle of his success. The graduate in floriculture, as 

 in all other professional lines, must expect to begin at 

 the bottom and advance only as he proves his worth. 



It is logical to suppose that to the florist's son, who 

 expects to follow his father's profession, the training is 

 as valuable as an agricultural training would be to the 

 man who expects to return to the farm. To the student 

 to whom this is a new line of work there are three types 

 of positions open. 



To the graduate the most tempting openings are those 

 on commercial places. Here he must expect to begin at 

 the bottom and gradually work his way up to a position 

 of trust. He must make his employer's business his own 

 and work just as hard as if he were the owner himself. 



The second group consists of positions in research 

 and instruction in educational institutions. With the 

 rapid advance of floricultural education, more and more 

 men are required to fill the positions. As this is a new 

 line of work, advancement is likely to be rapid for those 

 who make good. The third group consists of positions 

 in public parks and on private estates. 



The floricultural profession is no longer in a trial 

 state. Flowers which were a luxury thirty years ago are 

 becoming necessities. The American Xation is becoming 

 a flower-loving nation, and its people are demanding 

 more in quantity, quality and variety. The florist will 

 ever be a busy man, for there is no jjrofession where 

 the duties are more exacting or where the pleasures of 

 watching development are greater. 



The good work of the world is done either in i)ure and 

 unvexed instinct of duty; or else, and better, it is cheer- 

 ful and helpful doing of what the hand finds to do, in 

 surety that at the evening time whatsoever is right the 

 Master will irive. — Riiskiii. 



