Commercial Gardening 



deal with the owners of private establishments. Each genus is dealt 

 with amongst the "Plants and Flowers" in Vol. II. 



The Hardy -plant Trade. Of late years the trade in hardy plants 

 has assumed almost gigantic proportions. Not only are large quantities 

 of hardy herbaceous perennials actually sent to the various markets for 

 sale packed in various ways and sold as "roots", but a still larger trade 

 is done through the post, by means of exhibitions, and by advertising 

 in the papers. Owing to the cost of erecting glasshouses, the cost of 

 fuel, and other items of expense many private people have discarded glass 

 altogether, or the newer generation has not taken a fancy to it owing 

 to the trouble and expense. To such, the hardy herbaceous perennials, 

 and hardy annuals and biennials, naturally appeal with great force. 

 There is no need to have glasshouses of any description to grow these 

 plants, and even a cold frame can be dispensed with; and yet a mag- 

 nificent display may be secured by a judicious selection of plants that will 

 flourish in the open air in most parts of the kingdom without any artificial 

 protection. This being the case, it is not to be wondered at that a large 

 trade has sprung up in these plants, and something like three or four 

 thousand different species are now dealt in by various growers, some of 

 whom hold valuable stocks of the best-selling kinds, while others cater for 

 a select group of plant connoisseurs and botanical establishments. 



The grower of hardy plants, as a rule, does not go to market, and 

 his methods of business .are quite different from those of the market 

 grower. He relies very largely for his sales upon his catalogues (which 

 are often works of art), upon exhibitions in all parts of the kingdom, 

 and upon judicious advertising, very much in the same way as the 

 seedsman and bulb merchant do. Thousands of people now interested 

 in gardening will gladly pay a reasonable price for a plant in which 

 they are interested, and they will visit flower shows and exhibitions in 

 the hope of seeing something new, or something they would like to have 

 in their collection. The hardy-plantsmen, therefore, who make a practice 

 of displaying their specialities at the various exhibitions up and down 

 the country stand an excellent chance of making new customers if they 

 exhibit really choice and well-grown stuff', and set it up with all the 

 art of window dressing. The old style of jumbling plants up "anyhow" 

 at an exhibition is no longer sufficient. The exhibitor adopts various 

 devices, and when space permits he makes miniature herbaceous borders, 

 rock gardens, water gardens, and he arranges his goods in such an 

 artistic way that the would-be purchaser is at once captivated, and longs 

 to produce a similar floral picture in his own garden. This naturally leads 

 not only to the sale of plants, but also to the engagement of landscapemen, 

 who know how to turn a piece of waste land into a smiling flower garden. 

 Many firms now make a speciality of laying out gardens artistically and 

 naturally, and although some amateurs try their untrained hands at the 

 business, they generally have to call in the aid of the man who knows his 

 plants and their nature and uses by everyday intercourse and experience. 



