CUT-FLOWER INDUSTRY 



CUTTINGS 



925 



Over the stems in the center are placed eight to ten 

 thicknesses of well-saturated newspapers, after which 

 cleats are nailed in place. This will prevent the flowers 

 from becoming disarranged in shipping. When differ- 

 ent grades of roses are to be packed in the same box, 

 the specials are placed in first unless shipment has a 

 long distance to travel, when two or three rows of the 

 cheap, short grades should go next the end of the 

 box because of danger of injury to the flowers. Each 

 grade is separated from the next by sheets of tissue 

 paper and the different grades are filled in until the 

 short lengths complete the box. It should be a general 

 rule to pack white flowers in the top of the box. Every 

 box should contain a statement of the contents for the 

 information of the recipient. No icing is usually needed 

 in winter, but in warm weather the foliage of roses 

 may be sprinkled with water or chipped ice. Carna- 

 tions are cooled by lumps of ice wrapped in wet news- 

 papers and placed between the cleats of the boxes. 

 Violets are preserved by wrapping the stems in soft 

 tissue paper and dipping this in cool water. Sweet 

 pea stems are wrapped in wet cotton w r ool, great care 

 is being taken to prevent wetting the blooms. 



In the early days of the cut-flower business, the 

 grower retailed his own flowers. He found time to 

 propagate the plants, tend the furnace, grow the crops, 

 cut the blooms, make floral designs and, if necessary, 

 pack and ship his product. The rapid growth of the 

 cities, making it impossible for the florist to conduct 

 his business near the centers of trade, led to the retail 

 florist. This man, having no glass, could open a flower- 

 stand or store in the most favorable locations, giving 

 it his entire time. The present-day flower stores are 

 the achievements of his skill and industry in develop- 

 ing the art side of the florist business. 



The changing demands. 



The uses to which cut-flowers are put have changed. 

 Forty years ago the taste was for formal designs. The 

 flowers were picked with short stems, and in the case 

 of carnations only the open buds were cut, while the 

 remaining buds on the stem were allowed to develop. 

 These flowers were wired to wooden sticks for basket 

 work or to broom-corn straws for bouquets. The details 

 for making the formal pieces of that time will be found 

 in Henderson's "Practical Floriculture." That the 

 florists of that day enjoyed a good trade is seen in the 

 fact that on New Year's Day, 1867, one New York 

 firm sold $6,000 worth of flowers, and it was estimated 

 that the total sales in the city amounted to $50,000. 

 The same authority estimates the annual sales of flowers 

 in New York at $400,000 and in Boston $200,000. 

 Probably the sales of the whole country did not exceed 

 $1,000,000. Often $200 or $300 were spent for flowers 

 for a reception, and the spending of $1,500 for a similar 

 purpose, as well as a $6,000 church decoration, were 

 then the highest achievements of the profession. 



The public taste of the present day is for loose, 

 artistic arrangements of long-stemmed flowers. The 

 popular funeral emblems are forms of the wreath which 

 are either made of one kind of flowers or of a great 

 variety of material. Flat sprays and bunches of flowers, 

 and palm (sago) leaves tied with ribbon are also com- 

 monly used. House decorations consist of vases of 

 long-stemmed flowers. Roses, carnations, chrysanthe- 

 mums, peonies and gladioli are suitable for this pur- 

 pose. Table decorations for dinner are also made of 

 long-stemmed flowers in vases, with some placed on 

 the cloth with ferns or asparagus. Bridal bouquets are 

 arranged often in shower effects by means of narrow 

 ribbon. A remarkable advance has been made in the 

 use of ribbon. Instead of the florist going to the nearest 

 drygoods store for the ribbon he needed, the present- 

 day florist carries his own supply of specially prepared 

 ribbon. As soon as a new shade of color appears in 

 roses, a new ribbon is manufactured to match the 



color. The accessories now required to conduct a 

 successful florist business are numerous, requiring a 

 considerable outlay of money; and the trade in this 

 class of floral supplies is a very large one. Every large 

 city now has its supply houses. The kinds of flowers 

 used throughout the United States and Canada vary 

 very little and this is confined to varieties rather than 

 species. The growth of the cut-flower business in 

 Canada also has been rapid, and artificial boundaries 

 have not divided the florists of the two countries. A 

 good book on cut-flower culture is "How to Grow Cut- 

 Flowers," by M. A. Hunt. There are no works on the 

 handling of cut-flowers. On the use and arrangement 

 of flowers, the best literature is found in the current 

 trade papers. Among the foreign works which may 

 prove helpful are "Floral Decoration," by Felton; 

 "The Book of Cut-Flowers," by R. P. Brotherston; 

 and the German special journal, "Die Bindekunst." 



A. C. BEAL. 



CUTTINGS, PROPAGATION BY. A cutting is the 

 gardener's name for a piece of stem, root, rootstock 

 or leaf, which, if cut off and planted under suitable con- 

 ditions, will form new roots and buds, reproducing the 

 parent plant. 



The word cutting, when unrestricted, is given to 

 parts of the stem; a part or the whole of the leaf, when 

 so used, is called a leaf-cutting; a piece of root or root- 

 stock is called a root-cutting. The scales of some bul- 

 bous plants, as of the lily, can also be used as cuttings. 

 A cion used in grafting might be called a cutting which 

 unites and grows on another plant. Plants secured by 

 division or layering are provided with roots before they 

 are detached from the parent plants, and, therefore, 

 are not properly cuttings. There are intermediate 

 states between these different categories, however, so 

 that hard-and-fast definitions do not hold. 



1160. Section of propagating-bed. Shows four pipes 

 beneath, the door in the side, and the frame cover. 



The practice of propagating by means of cuttings, 

 together with the discussion of the reasons, results and 

 bearings, constitutes a department of horticultural 

 knowledge that has been denominated cuttage, as the 

 practices, reasons and philosophy of tilling have been 

 called tillage. 



Multiplication by cuttings is a form of bud-propa- 

 gation in contradistinction to sexual reproduction, i.e., 



