HORTICULTURE 



Vol. XXXII 



AUGUST 7, 1920 



No. 6 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



The July UiiUetln of the S. A. F. 

 gives the full program for the Annual 

 Convention to be held in Cleveland 

 August 17-19, and there is no doubt 

 that the delegate who goes there with 

 the intention of getting all that there 

 is In the way of business will have 

 plenty to attend to. Quite often we 

 hear a brother florist say that he 

 doesn't take in the conventions, be- 

 cause it is only a trip for a good time 

 and he cau have a good time in his 

 own way without going a great dis- 

 tance and traveling in the heat, and a 

 few other reasons thrown In for good 

 measure, but any florist who stays 

 away from a conveutiou because he 

 thinks it is only a good time is making 

 a mistake. We can all make the con- 

 vention whatever we want it to be. If 

 we want a trip and don't want to 

 bother ourselves much about business, 

 there is nothing to stop us from attend- 

 ing the convention, seeing the country 

 and having an enjoyable time among 

 men of our own kind; but if you wan' 

 to know what the S. A. F. is doing for 

 every florist, and want to help in your 

 j^fay to make the S. A. P. strong and 

 able to accomplish more, go to these 

 conventions and you will And them 

 mighty interesting. The meetings are 

 full of business and there is plenty of 

 opportunity to spend one's time at 

 these meetings where good discussions 

 are brought out and solid business 

 transacted. Just read over the pro- 

 gram and you will become convinced 

 that the conventions nowadays are 

 business affairs and planned for the 

 object of good for all In the industry. 



I notice that there is a discussion 

 planned on the second day of the con- 

 vention on "A Standard Grading for 

 Roses." This subject has come up a 

 number of times without making a 

 great deal of headway, but I believe 

 there would be a lot of good accom- 

 plished if a standard grading could be 

 accomplished. One grower after an- 

 other uses his pet way of gradiner his 

 stock and naming his different grades, 

 with the result that the buyer outside 

 of the market is unable to know with 

 any degree of certainty what the grade 

 of roses will be when he orders from 



tliebo different names. Fancy, Kxlra 

 Fancy, No. 1 and No. 2 and other ways 

 of specifying of a like nature are very 

 Indefinite. Personally I believe that 

 the method adopted by a number of 

 Boston growers is the nearest correct 

 that is to be had. It is either a No. 9 

 or 9 inch, meaning a rose with a 9- 

 Inch stem, and so on. 12. 15 and 18- 

 Inch. The out of town buyer would 

 know with this system what length 

 of stem to expect. I think it would 

 be a great help to everyone if a stand- 

 ard grade could be adopted. 



Another discussion set for Wednes- 

 day. "Is Uniformity in Prices Possi- 

 ble?" should be a very interesting 

 topic and there is room for a lot of 

 deep thought. If any satisfactory ar- 

 rangement can be brought about 

 whereby prices may be a little more 

 uniform than at the present, it Is going 

 to accomplish a lot of good for every, 

 single person in the business, and 

 there is no reason in the world why 

 this cannot be done. That will be a 

 matter for consideration by the Na- 

 tional Flower Growers' Association. 



Under Notes and Comments on Page 

 165 of the July S. A. F. Bulletin is a 

 very interesting article containing a 

 recommendation by Prof. L. C. Corbett. 

 Horticulturist in charge of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture. It hints upon 

 a subject that is vital to everyone; 

 namely, coal, and in this case brings 

 out the particular point of efficiency in 

 heating. Prof. Corbett states that "the 

 greenhouse men in general are on the 

 average getting something like 50 to 60 

 per cent efficiency out of the fuel which 

 they use," and as he states, this Is an 

 indirect way of stating the handicap 

 under which the florist is working. He 

 recommends that a study be made of 

 this subject, learning what particular 

 kind of fuel, boiler, arrangement of 

 heating pipes, etc., are the best for effi- 

 ciency in heating. If something can 

 be worked out along these lines. It will 

 be of tremendous benefit to all green- 

 house owners. 



-Vdviuice orders fur .Mr. Slruul's yel- 

 low carnation, Maine Sunshine, have 

 l)een so heavy, that It is very evident 

 that be will have to lay bis plans care- 

 fully in order to produce cuttings suffi- 

 cient to take care of the call, and Mr. 

 Strout evidently means to be in such 

 shape this coming winter that he can 

 fill all orders and In good season. A 

 new house has been erected in which 

 ihis carnation will be planted. Plans 

 are laid for heavy propagation, and 

 judging from present indications, 150,- 

 000 cuttings will not cover the demand. 

 It is surprising the way this carnation 

 has been received. Not only the city 

 stores, but the outlying towns are call- 

 ing for it and continue to call for it, 

 even into August. It certainly is a fine 

 warm weather variety, as well as the 

 rest of the season. I saw it the last of 

 July and it still had beautiful color 

 and Rood size; in fact, fully as large 

 as Benora at that time, and we all 

 know how well Benora does in warm 

 weather. Mr. Strout is going to carry 

 over an old bench of Maine Sunshine, 

 also Ivaddie, for propagating purposes, 

 and this old stock was in fine shape. 

 The cool nights In that section of New 

 England are of great advantage cer- 

 tainly, as his carnations were in better 

 shape than what one can see further 

 South. 



Mr. Strout also has a fine block of 

 cyclamen, all grown in cold frames out 

 of doors, running from five-inch Into 

 six. seven and eight-inch pans. I was 

 surprised to see cyclamen grown on 

 this place, but I can tell you that they 

 were mighty well done and will be 

 welcomed by the stores In his section 

 of the country. 



The market seems waiting for 

 gladioli and the first offerings were 

 seized upon quickly. Apparently the 

 public is just as eager for these flow- 

 ers as ever, and they show disposition 

 to seek out the newer varieties. Mr. 

 E. A. Woods of Newtonville. Mass., had 

 some very early glads which he forced 

 in frames. I saw some extra good 

 specimens in the store of Henry Penn 

 of Boston. Probably this plan of forc- 

 ing bnlbs in cold frames would hardly 

 pay on a large scale, but it seems to be 

 profitable in a small way. 



