330 



H K T 1 C L' L T U R E 



March 20, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



SatabUtked br WlUlam J. Btawar* la UM 



Vol. XXXI 



March 20, 1920 



No. 12 



PCBUSHBD WEEKLY BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonahire Street, Boston, Maaa. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 

 Telephone Fort BUI a6M 



ADVERTISING BATES: 



Per Inch, M Ipohee to pace W^M 



IMiaeaBt on Contract* tor ooneeentlTa laeartlaaa, aa fallowa; 



One moath (4 times), S per cent.; three maatha (II Mmaa), 10 

 pm oent.; six month* (26 time*), SO per ceat.; one jrear <B2 time*), 

 M per eent. 



Pave and half page epaoe, not ean*ee«tlTa» rate* aa applieatlon. 



SUBSCRIPTION BATES: 



Oaa Tear, In advance, (1.00; To Forelsa Conntrle*, 92.00; To 

 Canada, $1.A0. 



Iktered ■■ lecand-clasi matter December 8, 1004, it the Foit Office 

 at BoitoD, Mau., under tbe Act of ConereM ot March 3, 1887. 



It is with pleasure that we note In the Florists' 

 Free HoKTurLTruK regarding Mr. Z. D. Blackistone's 



flowers Exchange a reply to the recent editorial in 

 suggestion about the giving away of flowers to 

 push business. We are very glad to have such matters 

 threshed out in the trade press, for it is in this way that 

 different opinions are obtained and beneficial results 

 achieved. We have no desire to force home our particu- 

 lar individual opinions. All that we are doing is in the in- 

 terests of the trade at large. The writer of the Florists' 

 Exchange excellent article asks: "Is it not far wiser to 

 distribute the flowers gratis than to hold them back and 

 see them wither, fade and disintegrate, especially when 

 every such gift can carry potential publicity that is very 

 likely to bring future profitable sales?" 



It is right here that the nub of the matter is to be found. 

 Does the wholesale giving away of flowers promote pub- 

 licity and so bring profitable sales? If it is true, well and 

 good. It would almost pay the growers to raise flowers 

 for the particular purpose of giving them away, and a glut 

 in the market might be a blessing in disguise. We still 

 adhere to the opinion, however, that the free distribution 

 of florists' stock to people who can just as well afford to 

 buy flowers is a mistake. We believe that it gives a false 

 impression that flowers are easily raised or produced at 

 small cost, and that florists make undue profits from their 

 business. There is already a tendency to look at the in- 

 dustry in this way. The public knows how easy it is to 

 grow flowers out of doors in summer, and doesn't realize 

 that there is a great difference when it comes to growing 

 them under glass in winter. Wouldn't the public appre- 

 ciate florists' flowers much more if they understood the 

 true facts better? 



It the flowers should be disposed ot at a special sale, 

 properly advertised, and at a very low price, no one would 

 object, and it would leave a better impression than a free 

 distribution advertised to the same extent. It certainly 

 does cheapen the florists' business to have the public get 

 the idea that flowers are raised in much greater quanti- 

 ties than can be sold. We inevitably hear the remark, 

 "Let them put the price low enough and we will buy them." 



It seems to us, therefore, that special sales rather than 



gratuitous distribution is for the best interest of the busi- 

 ness. Not only will they take care ot the surplus, but they 

 will induce buying by people who have not been in the 

 habit of carrying flowers home. 



Now this doesn't mean that the flowers should be left 

 to wither, fade and disintegrate if they can't be marketed. 

 A waste Is certainly to he deplored. By all means let the 

 surplus not otherwise taken care of be given away to 

 hospitals and churches, or better still, in the poorer sec- 

 tions of the city through the settlement workers. There 

 are many florists who can remember the days in New York 

 when great quantities ot faded flowers were swept up and 

 carted away to the river. Ot course, this sort of thing is 

 inexcusable. Let the flowers be used for charity, but do 

 not make this a subject for publicity with the expectation 

 that it is going to create a greater demand and so bring 

 about profltable sales. 



Perhaps we are wrong. Perhaps the plan can b^ worked 

 out in one place and not in another, but in any event we 

 believe that it should have careful consideration from all 

 sides before it is added to the many good publicity schemes 

 now under way. 



Boston's big show the coming week will be one 



Orchids of the most remarkable ever staged in this 

 country. While it will contain many impor- 

 tant features, the orchids will naturally be the center ot 

 attraction. This will be true not only because of the 

 lavish way in which they are to be shown, but also on ac- 

 count of the great pains given to the staging of them. It 

 is pleasant to find that the interest in orchids remains un- 

 abated and that both private and commercial growers re- 

 tain their enthusiasm in spite of the ruling ot the Federal 

 Horticultural Board at Washington, which makes the im- 

 portation of these plants impossible. Indeed, some ot the 

 commercial men see nothing to be feared from this ruling. 



Frank J. Delansky, for example, the famous orchid 

 specialist of Lynn, Mass., believes, we understand, that 

 orchids can be grown so successfully from seed in this 

 country as to meet all demands commercially. In fact, he 

 sees a tremendous development of commercial orchid grow- 

 ing. At the same time he no doubt is congratulating him- 

 self on having been fortunate enough to bring in several 

 hundred orchids ot different kinds just before Quarantine 

 ?,7 went into effect. 



The ofl5cials of the Missouri Botanical Garden concede 

 that orchid growing is yet in its infancy in America, but 

 they also insist that the Federal Horticultural Board has 

 given the orchid grower some extremely difllcult problems 

 to solve. This is because Cattleyas of the Labiata type 

 deteriorate under artificial cultivation, according to long 

 experience. In any event it has been the custom in the 

 past to make periodical importations in great quantities 

 in order to maintain the supply. Now it takes five years 

 to grow these plants from seed, and in the meantime prices 

 must necessarily run high. Moreover, it is a question just 

 how many growers will feel like making the necessary in- 

 vestment with the possibility that within the five years' 

 limit the Horticultural Board may voluntarily rescind its 

 action or have its rulings overturned. 



If the order holds, florists no doubt will take up other 

 types, and a considerable increase can be obtained by 

 division. Private growers suffer especially from the ex- 

 clusion order and greatly resent this order, because of the 

 almost total absence ot danger from plant pests in orchid 

 importations. Still orchid collections will he extended so 

 far as possible, and it is hoped that this country in the 

 future can build up collections equal to those abroad. Some 

 of the latter, indeed, suffered badly during the war, among 

 the best of those in Belgium being destroyed. 



