74 



HANDBOOK OF CONNECTICUT AGRICULTURE. 



enterprise of the professional florist ; and while the rich may 

 have their jewels and picture galleries, the poor have equal 

 loveliness within their reach through the modern develop- 

 ment of the florist's art. 



And it is no disparagement to the professional florist to 

 say that some of the most beautiful flowers are grown by the 

 amateur. Nature is ready with her kind responses to all who 

 take the trouble to seek her treasures, and many who grow 

 flowers in the State solely for the joy they find in the recre- 

 ation, accomplish as much in the revelation of beauty as those 

 who give their lives to the work. 



It would be invidious to name but a few of the many suc- 

 cessful florists, and impossible to name them all, but one may 

 be mentioned who has, by great skill and industry, created 

 the largest plant in New England Mr. Pierson of Crom- 

 well ; any visitor will be more than repaid by a visit to his 

 wholesale establishment, and see there how flowers are grown 

 and packed for distribution to every part of the country, while 

 on the other hand, the carnations pictured in this book were 

 grown in a small house, and yet can vie with any raised any- 

 where. They were grown by Mr. Arthur Brandegee of Ber- 

 lin, who grows flowers only because he loves them, and are 

 not surpassed in beauty by the product of any professional 

 florist. 



To give some idea of the enormous magnitude of the 

 business done by A. N. Pierson it may be stated that in the 

 year 1900, of the staple flowers roses, carnations, bunches 

 of lily of the valley, and violets the sales reached about 

 three millions. Of roses alone there were 1,154,012, and the 

 cash returns exceeded $120,000. There are an average num- 

 ber of one hundred and twenty-five men employed, and the 

 amount paid for labor was about $56,000. The establishment 

 is the main stay of Cromwell, and the generosity and good 

 citizenship of Mr. Pierson is felt throughout the town, while 

 the rapidity of the growth of the business proves not only 



