CHAPTER XIV 



FLOWERS 



EVERY city in the United States affords an opportunity 

 for flower gardening and nurseries, but a study must be 

 made of the market in order to know what is best to raise 

 and where to raise it. 



The choice of crops depends on the popular taste. The 

 flowers which are now in greatest demand are the rose, 

 carnation, violet, and chrysanthemum. 



Near every large city there are hundreds of florists with 

 glass houses, some covering twenty acres or more. There 

 were over 2000 acres of flower land under glass reported at 

 the last census. As almost all industries to-day are spe- 

 cialized, so is floriculture ; in one place we see ten acres of 

 glass given over to the rose, in another thousands of dollars 

 devoted to the carnation or the violet, while one grower in 

 Queens, Long Island, has 75,000 square feet of glass for 

 carnations. 



The specialist who devotes his thoughts and energies to 

 raising one flower can produce better results than if he 

 raised a variety. He has only one crop to market, and can 

 do it more successfully than with a number of crops. If he 

 raises enough to make himself a factor in the market, he 

 can sell direct instead of sending his product to a commis- 

 sion man, thereby receiving better prices. 



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