152 AMERICAN CARNATION CULTURE. 



her of each sold annually, based on the above values, would be, of 



Roses 100,000,000 



Carnations 100,000,000 



Violets 75,000,000 



Total 275,000,000 



"The retail value of the plants sold is placed at $10,000,000. 

 Taking the plant trade as a whole and the country in the aggre- 

 gate, the average-sized pot used is estimated to be 3 inches, and 

 the average retail price 10 cents per pot This means that there 

 are no less thari 100,000,000 plants sold every year. 



To handle this business in its entirety requires probably an 

 average of not less than one man for every 1,500 square feet of 

 glass, or 20,000 men. 



"My carnations burst more than usual. What's the matter?" 

 The calyxes of carnations are a fibrous fabric, easily torn length- 

 wine and are developed before the petals, which are vascular and 

 of. rapid growth, requiring an active circulation and the stimulus 

 of heat and light to lengthen their claws and lift them out of 

 their calyxes formed of fibers, feebly joined, and easily ruptured. 



Nothing will dignify the floral profession more than a gen- 

 eral knowledge of botany. Every man that aspires to be a florist 

 should understand the general history of the plants he grows, 

 their anatomy, physiology and pathology. Florists need not 

 be botanists in the technical sense of the term. If they were, they 

 would likely not be practical florists. The florist deals in aesthetics, 

 his stock in trade are the "Smiles ot Nature," his humble vocation 

 keeps him sordid, he is compelled to rake muck piles for grains 

 of gold, and to measure a good carnation by the amount of money 

 it can make him. 



Some varieties of carnations produce flowers with thin and 

 feebly organized petals which soon wilt after they are cut. There 

 has been no system devised to scale the keeping qualities of 

 a carnations bloom, nor does this feature in new carnations enter 

 into the roster of their many alleged vices or virtues. 



