12 THE PRINCIPLES OF FLORICULTURE 



and palm specialists. This led to a wonderful improve- 

 ment in the quality of flowers produced, and there is little 

 call in the market for inferior grades. Many large Amer- 

 ican flower-producers are managing their business on a 

 departmental scale. There are wholesale and retail 

 departments, palm, carnation, orchid, rose, chrysanthe- 

 mum and bedding plant departments, each in charge of 

 a specialist in growing that particular crop. 



12. Demand for better quality in flowers and plants ; 

 also for novelties. The buy ing-public has had its influ- 

 ence in producing a better quality of florists' products. 

 It demanded not alone a better quality, but something 

 out of the ordinary as well. People tired of roses, carna- 

 tions, violets and bulbous-stock continually. The early 

 j>art of the twentieth century witnessed a remarkable 

 interest in orchids. The commercial man had to meet 

 the demand for these flowers. Twelve years ago an orchid 

 was rarely seen outside private or park conservatories. 

 It was considered impossible to grow them with financial 

 success. To-day nearly every up-to-date retail-grower 

 has his section of orchids, and every large, floricultural 

 center, its orchid specialist. Likewise for years it was 

 considered impossible to secure satisfactory results from 

 sweet peas under glass. The growth was weak, there 

 were few flowers, and they were usually short-stemmed. 

 The introduction of new strains and the careful study of 

 cultural conditions has made this crop an important one 

 to the florist and one which is immensely popular with 

 the buying public. The forcing of hardy, herbaceous 

 perennials, antirrhinums and delphiniums for examples, 

 also the forcing of hardy shrubs and other rarer stock, has 

 furnished the flower-grower with a wonderful range of 

 the more unusual plants. 



