388 



HOETICULTURE 



October 19, 1918 



Greenhouses are allowed but only 25 

 per cent of the coal of pre-war times 

 where flowers alone are grown, and 

 must devote halt their space to food 

 crops to secure 50 per cent coal. Cut 

 flowers realize at least double pre-war 

 prices at wholesale. At a recent fair 

 for war relief, fifty thousand dollars' 

 worth of flowers alone were sold, and 

 people buy flowers hungrily and great 

 numbers are needed for the comfort 

 of the army of sick and wounded men. 

 Many less flowers are raised than 

 before the war as all possible land 

 there is needed for food crops, but the 

 Royal Horticultural Society continues 

 to hold fine fortnightly shows; the 

 National Rose. Sweet Pea, Carnation 

 and other societies still hold their an- 

 nual exhibitions and give some pecuni- 

 ary rewards in spite of transportation 

 and other restrictions. 



We in America are apt to be over 

 optimistic or the reverse; in otir 

 financial markets there are wild 

 booms and heavy slumps from time to 

 time. We get into the same mood 

 horticulturally at times. We are re- 

 stricted 50 per cent in our coal supply 

 which means we have double what our 

 Britlgh cousins have, but of course our 

 climate is more severe here, and by 

 the way our Canadian cousins are 

 allowed more coal than we are. If the 

 advice of men like Bernard Baruch 

 was considered, all florists would be 

 put out of business on short notice. 

 He classes them as purely non-essen- 

 tials, but our Government decrees 

 otherwise. There are Six Billion Dol- 

 lars' worth of so-called non-essential 

 industries, which are not really neces- 

 sary to the winning of the war, not in- 

 cluding the liquor business. If the 

 hundreds of thousands who had fol- 

 lowed these callings were forthwith 

 put out of business, it would seriously 

 affect the sales of Liberty Bonds and 

 contributions to relief work. It would 

 be something like Socialism to put this 

 army of men and women out of busi- 

 ness and the Government does not 

 favor any such policy. 



Our small florists are fully taken 

 care of, our large ones can cut down 

 with a minimum of loss or changes to 

 cooler crops; the grower of a variety 

 of crops with a medium establishment 

 who has to curtail his area one-half 

 with overhead charges but little re- 

 duced will be in the least enviable 

 position, but we must all accept the 

 Government order as cheerfully as we 

 can, knowing that when the war is 

 won we can go back to our former 

 standard. A large number of our 

 growers here planted more heavily of 

 tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce than 

 ever before, and the market reports 



show here, as they do abroad, that 

 prices have averaged good and there 

 have been no glut periods this year. 

 Every commercial grower should plan 

 to raise some food crops. All can 

 also secure additional coal for devot- 

 ing space to vegetable plants for sale 

 in the spring. 



The number of retail stores must 

 be reduced to a war basis; with de- 

 creased production half of these may 

 well be given up for a .time. In Bos- 

 ton the two wholesale markets should 

 merge as a war measure, as should 

 have been done long ago. There should 

 also be a curtailing of wholesale 

 houses to meet the decreased output 

 of flowers. On private estates there 

 will be many greenhouses closed en- 

 tirely the coming winter. That is as 

 is should be and practically all others 

 will be cut down one-half. It would 

 he far better to let the coal go to the 

 commercial men rather than green- 

 houses on private estates; the former 

 depend upon greenhouse sales for a 

 livelihood. It is hoped that collections 

 of rare and choice plants can be all 

 saved on the private estates, (and I 

 wish our Government had allowed 100 

 per cent fuel for orchids and valu- 

 able plants as in England). This 

 should be possible, as wood can 

 be utilized to augment coal sup- 

 plies in many cases. Greenhouses are 

 comfortable working places for us in 

 winter, but it will not be a great hard- 

 ship to give them up for a winter or 

 two if it will relieve fuel for more vital 

 war needs. There are but few green- 

 house employees who cannot secure 

 other work temporarily as lucrative as 

 the salaries they have been obtaining. 

 Where we will secure our greenhouse 

 men after the war is a minor matter 

 for the future to settle. We will need 

 to train more of such men than in the 

 past is my opinion. 



I have said that florists should give 

 more space and attention to food 

 crops especially in houses which are 

 unoccupied in center. In these, in 

 early Spring, tomatoes, cucumbers, 

 beans, lettuce, radishes, beets, peas, 

 spinach and other paying crops can be 

 raised in addition to vegetable plants; 

 if this is done, florists are far more 

 likely to be well treated when they 

 apply for another year's coal distri- 

 bution. On private estates, there is 

 absolutely no excuse for clinging to 

 flowers entirely and ignoring veget- 

 ables. Even old houses can be made 

 to produce certain vegetables of good 

 quality. Not only must gardeners pro- 

 duce what food they can under glass, 

 but even with reduced man power 

 they can equal or increase their out- 

 door supplies by adopting up-to-date 



methods of culture and utilizing more 

 labor-saving tools. Practically all em- 

 ployers will be willing to severely re- 

 duce work on ornamental horticulture 

 temporarily to allow of more energy 

 and effort in producing vegetables, 

 fruits, cereals and animals (Including 

 poultry) for food. It matters not if 

 production cost will exceed market 

 price of the same goods. The man or 

 woman who preaches about not grow- 

 ing crops because they can buy them 

 cheaper at the store are the best possi- 

 ble pro-Germans. We want more food 

 at home to relieve congested railroads, 

 and every pound or bushel F. O. B. 

 the kitchen door is a direct gain. 



Man power is scarce and will be 

 more so. We must utilize boys more; 

 they are procurable and if given a 

 fair show will help considerable, at 

 least they have done so in my own 

 particular case. Don't expect boys to 

 do work as speedily and as efficiently 

 as men, but treat them decently, pay 

 fairly and they will prove a decided 

 asset. Some of us are prejudiced 

 against the employment of women and 

 girls but we are going to need them 

 and very soon, and the quicker we 

 shake off old foolish prejudices the 

 better. On commercial establish- 

 ments they have proven their value 

 and they can do so on private estates 

 also, so give them a fair trial! 



While I consider increased food pro- 

 duction the greatest aid that the mem- 

 bers of our club and our calling can 

 give in aiding to win the war, there 

 are other ways in which we can give 

 effective assistance. One is in giving 

 advice freely to the great numbers of 

 war gardeners who need our help. 

 Another is to assist deserving chari- 

 ties with flowers and plants whenever 

 possible. Then again there are some 

 of us who are financially unable to pur- 

 chase a Liberty Bond. Help the Red 

 Cross, Y. M. C. A. and other deserving 

 war relief associations. We must con- 

 tribute to the limit of our financial 

 ability, realizing that all we have 

 really belongs to our Government and 

 that we must give and give until it 

 hurts to do so, then we won't mind it 

 at all. 



Wages in our profession cannot ad- 

 vance as they have done in certain 

 other industries. Our brave boys are 

 willing to risk their lives for Thirty 

 Dollars per month, yet tens of 

 thousands of highly paid artisans and 

 mechanics earning good money have 

 gone on strike and tried to tie up cer- 

 tain industries. It is comforting to 

 know that at last our President has 

 called a halt on these hold-ups and 

 given the men a work or fight choice. 

 It is fitting that these chronic strikers 



