HORTICULTURE 



VoL XXXI 



FEBRUARY 28, 1920 



No. 9 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



It seems to me that a plan which is 

 being tried out in Canada might well 

 be adopted by different florists' clubs 

 in the states. The florists' organiza- 

 tions in Hamilton and Toronto have 

 made an exchange arrangement by 

 which members from each club visit 

 the other club and give short talks on 

 practical matters. At the last meet- 

 ing of the Toronto Wholesale Florists' 

 Club, for example, Edward Gale of 

 Hamilton, was present and showed his 

 method of making a wreath, all the 

 work being done, from the mossing to 

 the completing of the design. Mr. Gale 

 used roses, sweet peas, freesias and 

 violets, and showed remarkable skill in 

 wiring the flowers and making up the 

 piece. There is much that can be 

 learned by demonstrations of this sort, 

 and I think it would help to increase 

 the attendance at club meetings it a 

 program to include such demonstra- 

 tions could be announced ahead. 



It seems to me too, that many of the 

 seed houses could save considerable 

 money if they would go over their 

 mailing lists and eliminate duplica- 

 tion. As It is now, many people re- 

 ceive two and sometimes three or four 

 catalogues from the same flrm. With 

 catalogues at the present price, this is 

 an expensive waste. Moreover, the im- 

 pression made upon the recipients of 

 the catalogues is not of the best, for 

 the impression is created that the firm 

 is not very businesslike. Often the mis- 

 take occurs because of slightly differ- 

 ent initials, but few lists are so exten- 

 sive that they could not be revised so 

 as to avoid much wastage. 



It will be interesting to follow the 

 market for Easter Lilies this year. At 

 the present time there seems to be in 

 sight between 125,000 and 150,000 lilies 

 for the Boston market, and the normal 

 supply for this market has previously 

 been close to 500,000; in other words, 

 we have roughly speaking about one- 

 third the supply of previous years. 

 How this average holds for other mar- 

 kets I am unable to say, but will ven- 

 ture to predict that it is not much 



different. Now the price of lilies this 

 year will go about three times higher 

 than during normal years. Instead of 

 being around 12c. it will be nearer 35c. 

 The probabilities are that all good 

 stock will sell at wholesale at 35c. per 

 flower or bud; some short stock and 

 the bulk of inferior grades will of 

 course go lower. It is expected that 

 the demand will be sufficient to clean 

 up everything offered at this price. 



Pot roses for Easter are showing up 

 in fine shape, the supply will be fair 

 and of excellent quality, and this ap- 

 plies also to Hydrangeas. From all in- 

 dications now, the storenian will have 

 a very complete line of pot plants of 

 Al quality and at prices that will per- 

 mit him to clean everything out that 

 is in sight. 



George H. Peterson of Fairlawn, 

 X. J., a noted rose specialist is re- 

 ported to have purchased a property 

 at St. Petersburg, Fla., and will prob- 

 ably be heard from by and by with 

 things of rosy interest from that 

 earthly winter paradise — where north- 

 em denizens of Uncle Sam's domains 

 hope to spend their days of leisure — ■ 

 when the rush of money making has 

 ceased and the morning dews and 

 rosy fingers of the fairies set them to 

 dreaming of the sunkist sunny south. 



All indications are that there will 

 be another short crop of geraniums 

 this spring, and it is too bad that this 

 is the case but so many things have 

 combined to cut down the supply that 

 we are sure to fall very short of the 

 demand. The heavy rains and severe 

 weather last fall made it impossible for 

 .the geranium propagator to get any- 

 where near a normal strike. The stock 

 was short to begin with, and the only 

 way I can see out of the matter is for 

 geranium growers to forget the high 

 prices that he can get for plants this 

 spring, and hold back enough so that 

 he can propagate heavier the coming 

 season. At the price that geranium 

 stock will bring now, ranging any- 

 where from 25c. to 35c. retail, there Is 

 a satisfactory margin in this crop. 

 Look out for a good supply of stock 

 plants of Poitevine, Ricard and Nutt in 

 particular. 



Tliere has been more or less said 

 the past season regarding violets and 

 why we don't have the same large 

 quantities of blooms sent into the mar- 

 ket. Something has gone wrong with 

 the violet as a cut fiower proposition. 

 Even with the small quantity of stock 

 coming in from the time the season 

 opened up until just before Valentine 

 Day, the price was low, altogether too 

 low, for this to be a profitable crop. 

 The grower cannot sell his violet 

 blooms for $1, $1.50 or $2.00 per 100 

 and make his salt, and if the market 

 is going to stay around that figure the 

 result will simply be fewer violets, and 

 that means practically none if they are 

 cut down very much from what is com- 

 ing into the Boston market just now. 

 Take, for instance, Mr. Sim, who for 

 years has been one of the largest grow- 

 ers in the East. For the past few 

 years he has gradually cut down, and 

 he told me a few days ago that next 

 year he would not grow one violet 

 plant. Why? Simply because they 

 are not a paying proposition. 



I hope that the catalogue of the 

 State Nursery and Seed Co. of Helena, 

 Montana, goes to the ofBce of Mr. 

 Childs at Flowerfield, N. Y., for cer- 

 tainly Mr. Childs would be greatly 

 gratified to find the front cover given 

 over largely to a reproduction of Gold- 

 en Glow, the plant which he put into 

 popularity years ago. 



It seems that Golden Glow has been 

 made the official flower of the city of 

 Helena, and that It is grown. In tre- 

 mendous quantities in that state. The 

 pictirre which the State Nursery and 

 Seed Co. are using is an excellent one, 

 presenting a great mass of color with 

 the face of a pretty little girl framed 

 by the yellow blossoms. 



It is seldom that a better lot of 

 Cineraria are seen than has been 

 offered in the various plant markets 

 this season. From all sections we 

 hear the same story, that the quality is 

 excellent and it is also pleasing to note 

 that they are bringing a good price. A 

 few years ago the Cineraria crop was 

 not anything to figure on the profit 

 side of the ledger. Nice big plants in 

 6 and 7-inch pots were sold at whole- 

 sale at around 50c., sometimes even 



