924 CUT-FLOWER INDUSTRY 



CUT-FLOWER INDUSTRY 



differ but little in the various flower markets, the 

 grades are not yet uniform. However, this ultimately 

 will be brought about through the Florists' Telegraph 

 Delivery Association, an organization which enables a 

 resident of San Francisco, for example, to have an 

 order filled and delivered at an address in Boston, 

 Montreal, Baltimore or elsewhere. The American 

 Rose Society adopted the following grades for tea and 

 hybrid tea roses: 9, 12, 15, 18, 24 inches of stem. Of 

 course the flowers must be good to accord with this 

 standard. American Beauty is graded : Specials, above 

 38 inches; fancy, 32 to 36 inches; extras, 24 to 32 

 inches; firsts, 13 to 23 inches; seconds, 8 to 13 inches; 

 thirds all under 8 inches. On the Chicago market this 

 variety is graded into specials, 36-, 30-, 24-, 20-, 18- 

 and 12-inch stems. Carnations on the New York mar- 

 ket are usually graded into 

 fancies, extras and firsts. 

 Fancies are all perfect 

 blooms, from 2% to 3J^ 

 inches in diameter, with 

 straight stems 16 to 24 

 inches or more in length. 

 Extras are those blooms 

 which fall short in one or 

 the other of the above re- 

 quirements . Firsts com- 

 prise all merchantable flow- 

 ers which do not pass as 

 extras or fancies. During 

 the grading, all the leaves 

 from the lower 6 inches are 

 stripped off as well as any 

 side shoots in the axils of 

 the remaining leaves. 

 Chrysanthemums are 

 classed as small, medium, 

 fancy and special. What- 

 ever the grades used in 

 any market, it is impor- 

 tant that they be definite, 

 and that the grower use 

 care in grading his own 

 products. 



The present methods of 

 the growers in disposing of 



their flowers to the retail florists are as follows: The 

 large wholesale growers maintain wholesale stores of 

 their own, dealing with the retailers direct and conduct- 

 ing a shipping trade. The growers at a distance from 

 the city market usually consign to the wholesale com- 

 mission florist whose field is as broad as that of the 

 wholesale grower. These two classes of florists keep in 

 close touch with their customers, even those at a dis- 

 tance, by the ordinary means of communication and in 

 some cases by traveling representatives. The smaller 

 growers living close to a large city adopt any one of 

 five methods, that is, (1) form a cooperative associa- 

 tion with an expert salesman to sell the flowers; (2) 

 organize a flower-market and operate a flower-stand; 

 (3) consign the flowers to a commission florist; (4) 

 supply certain retailers regularly; (5) operate their 

 own retail stores. The particular method to be adopted 

 in any individual case depends upon the local condi- 

 tions and the business ability of the grower. The 

 grower-specialist usually will find it more remunera- 

 tive to arrange with retailers better able to dispose of 

 his high-class product. 



The development of the methods of packing and 

 handling flowers has been a great factor in the busi- 

 ness. In the old days flowers were brought to market, 

 or as was more often the case, the retailers went to 

 the growers and carried them into the city in market- 

 baskets. They were delivered to the customers in the 

 same way. When flowers were to be shipped, which 

 was seldom, any convenient box was adapted to the 



1159. Carnations packed for shipment. 



purpose. At present the florists employ wooden and 

 folding paper boxes for different classes of trade. These 

 are in various sizes adapted to the kind of flower to 

 be packed and to the quality shipped. Furthermore, 

 the package is clean, light, strong and entirely in keep- 

 ing with the goods. The perfection of the railway and 

 express service has facilitated the delivery of flowers 

 to the consignee. Not only has this enabled growers to 

 get their flowers to the city, but has made it possible 

 for florists over the country to secure flowers when they 

 do not have a sufficient supply. The great wholesale 

 flower business of Chicago is built in a large measure 

 upon the demand of florists in towns and cities over the 

 vast territory extending from Winnipeg to the Gulf 

 of Mexico, and from the Alleghanies to the Rockies. 

 The packages now used to carry the flowers to the 

 wholesale market are either 

 return or gift boxes; the 

 former, are strong wooden 

 boxes with a hinged lid 12 

 to 16 inches wide and 5 to 

 6 feet long. These pack- 

 ages are returned to the 

 grower. Some do not find 

 it profitable or possible to 

 have shipping - boxes or 

 -crates returned and must 

 use gift boxes which may 

 be of wood or heavy paper. 

 The common box used by 

 the wholesalers in shipping 

 flowers to distant customers 

 when the package must be 

 handled many times, is the 

 light wooden box. This is 

 made of thin wood, J^-inch 

 ends and J^-inch tops, bot- 

 toms and sides, with two 

 interior cleats to hold the 

 flowers down. These boxes 

 are made in sizes 4 to 8 

 inches deep, 12 to 16 inches 

 wide, and 36 to 50 inches 

 or more long. The boxes 

 are first lined with paper, 

 usually four to eight thick- 

 nesses of newspapers, according to the season. Then a 

 layer of waxed paper is put in. Roses, whether on 

 their way into or out of the wholesale market, are sel- 

 dom bunched. Carnations, when shipped out or when 

 sent in by a wholesale grower to his own store, are 

 usually not bunched, but growers who sell 'through 

 the commission florist should bunch the flowers as it 

 facilitates handling when the flowers arrive on the 

 market. Sweet peas, violets and similar flowers are 

 always bunched. The number of flowers in a bunch 

 will depend upon the requirements of the market. 

 Usually sweet pea bunches contain twenty-five; vio- 

 lets, fifty or one hundred; peonies, thirteen; and car- 

 nations, twenty-five flowers. The bunches of violets 

 are encircled by a rim of twenty to thirty leaves and the 

 combination must be attractively done if even the 

 best flowers are to bring a good price. Sweet peas are 

 bunched without foliage, while most flowers bear their 

 natural foliage. 



Long-stem flowers, such as roses and carnations, 

 when not tied in bunches, are packed one by one in 

 rows across the width of the box, beginning at one end. 

 The first row rests upon a pillow made of a roll of paper, 

 and each succeeding row is separated from the preced- 

 ing row by a strip of wax paper. This continues until 

 five rows have been put in each end of the box. Five 

 or six rows of flowers in each end constitute a layer. 

 The flowers of each layer are covered with a sheet of 

 wax paper, and the packing goes on until the box is 

 filled; but only four to six layers should be put in a box. 



