418 



CURRANT 



able if scalded for a few minutes in boiling water, and 

 then transferred to fresh water for cooking. It is much 

 esteemed by those who hare learned to use it, and is 

 credited with medicinal qualities of value in bowel and 

 throat affections. The plants are exempt from attacks 

 of the Currant worm. Fred W. Card. 



CCSCUTA (origin of name obscure) Conioh uldcere 

 Dodder. A genus of degenerate parasitic twiners, 

 l)earing clusters ot sill ill tN 1 In \ lu li illt s inini ils, 

 with very slemli ill It ill iik 



attached to the li i i 



The seeds fall t<.tl i n ., 



Ass 



, the ' 



root dies and th 

 find a host, the ] 1 

 weedy places ^ 

 the Clover Doddi i 

 mon species (( o 

 shown in Pig. 617 



CUSTAED APPLE Species of l.i «/ 



CUT-FLOWEE INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED 

 STATES. Fiftj years ago it would not hive been pos 

 sible to purchase Cut-flowers during the winter season 

 in any of the large cities of this country. Today there 

 is scarcely a village of 2,000 to 3,000 population that does 

 not boast of its florist, whose revenues are largely aug- 

 mented by the sale of Cut-flowers. Millions of dollars 

 are invested in the cultivation and sale of Cut-flowers in 

 the neighborhood of the large cities of the United States. 

 The growth and evolution of the business has been very 

 rapid in the past 25 years. From 1860 to 1875 the ca- 

 mellia was the most valued of all Cut -flowers, either for 

 personal adornment or bouquets, as much as $1, $2 and 

 even $3 having been obtained for a single flower at the 

 holiday season. At the present time they are almost 

 forgotten, and are only to be found in private collections 

 and in the south, where the plants will live out during 

 the winter season. The principal flowers forced at that 

 time, in addition to the camellia, were daphne, bou- 

 vardia, abutilon, nasturtium, callas, sweet alyssum, 

 poinsettia, carnations and a few LaMarque, Bon Silene 

 and Safrano jroses. The taste was for set designs. All 

 flowers were picked with short stems, or none at all, only 

 the open portions of cluster flowers being taken, and the 

 buds left to open. These small pieces were bound with 

 wire to wooden sticks for basket work or to broom corn 

 straws for making into bouquets. The popular table de- 

 sign was called a pyramid. It consisted of a number of 

 bouquets each with one camellia in the center and a 

 single row of smaller flowers around, backed up with 

 lycopodium green. The smaller bouquets were then 

 arranged in a wire frame, the sticks on which they were 

 made serving to hold them in the desired position. The 

 top of the pyramid was a bouquet with a calla lily in 

 the center. These table pieces frequently cost from 

 $35 to $75, and sometimes $100 was asked for a particu- 

 larly fine design. The small bouquets were distributed 

 to the guests at the close of the entertainment. 



Only small quantities of roses were forced for winter 

 cutting at 'this time, a few florists in Boston and New 

 York being engaged in their cultivation in the same 

 houses with other flowers. Competition and a demand 

 for better buds, together with the good prices obtained 

 for the best, caused growers to give the " queen of flowers" 

 more attention, and the result was that the rose steadily 

 grew in favor and people began to wonder what they 

 saw in the camellia to admire. A demand for larger 

 roses than the small Teas resulted in a trial of some of the 

 Hybrid Reraontants. General Jacqueminot was found 

 to force well and soon became a great favorite, bringing 

 from $1 to $2 a bud for the first cutting. The beau- 

 tiful yellow Marechal Niel was also forced. The flow- 

 ers sold well, but it was scarcely prolific enough to be 

 profitable, and the advent of the yellow Tea Perle des 

 Jardins, an Everbloomer, very prolific and of easy culti- 

 vation, soon drove it from the market. The next rose 

 sensation, and the most important addition that has been 



CUT -FLOWERS 



made to American forcing roses even i 

 was the introduction of the fatlifrii 

 beautiful variety, which spraiiL- i' ■ 



jwiththettower-buyingpul.il 

 able by the growers, who, by < m 

 incentive of the high prices nali 1 



% y^^m^^ 



617. Dodder, 

 viningon its host- 

 Cuscuta Gronovii. 



soon elevated the standard of cut roses to a higher level, 

 and attracted new capital to what had now become a 

 thriving and lucrative business. While so famous in it- 

 self. Catherine Mermet wiU, however, probably be longer 

 remembered as the parent of those truly grand Teas 

 now so universally grown, the Bride and Bridesmaid, 

 the standard pink and white roses of to-day. Many vari- 

 eties for which special claims were made have been in- 

 troduced from time to time, but, for the most part, they 

 have proved vexatious and expensive experiments. 

 Next to the Catherine Mermet in importance is the 

 Ani' ri -mi T^( :n;tv f^Tine. Ferdinand Jamin),the finest of 

 allt'i. ' I ■ I .s. The introduction of this variety 

 1.\ 1 I I: I hirs, of Washington, produced a great 



stii- .:. I I . Fine as it appeared at first, how- 



evi r, 11: ;il ii 1 .!■ 1 . Inpment surprised even the most san- 

 guine, anil to-day it stands unrivaled as the most profit- 

 able and at the same time the most popular with the 

 wealthy classes of flower-buyers. 



While the development of the rose was taking place, 

 the carnation, ever popular, was receiving tlie attention 

 of the breeder, and new varieties showing great im- 

 provement in form, color and productiveness were in- 

 troduced annually. It was soon found that roses and 

 carnations did not give best results when grown together 

 in the same house. They required different treatment. 

 Roses thrive better in a warmer atmosphere than car- 

 nations. Different forms of greenhouse structures were 

 also found necessary. The original means of heating was 

 by brick furnaces and flues. Hot water and steam gen- 

 erated in iron boilers and distributed through pipes, 

 although more expensive to Install, were found much 

 more efilcient, and withal the most economical plan. 



In the early growth of the business the grower was 

 also the retailer. The rapidly increasing demand, how- 

 ever, ushered in the middle man or retail florist, who re- 

 lieved the grower of his stock as soon as it was ready 



