Profits of Carnation Growing 



that back of the wealth of spicy blooms there lies the same old foundation of 

 the spade, the digging fork, the shovel and the hoe, with brawny hands and 

 arms and stout hearts to wield them. He that would have gold must dig for 

 it ; and he who would grow flowers will get no more for the asking than would 

 the gold digger. 



Profits of Carnation Growing 



It is not my purpose to embody in this work any definite estimates of 

 the profits that may pertain to commercial carnation culture. To the theorist, 

 there is no more agreeable occupation than estimating beforehand the prob- 

 able profits of any venture he may be about to engage in. Some one has said 

 that "figures don't lie!" I would change this axiom into: "Figures are 

 always made to lie, when future profits are computed upon the workings of 

 a new venture." 



If you ask, "Is it a profitable business?" I will reply, "Yes, if properly 

 conducted;" but will say further, that I know of no calling that requires 

 closer attention, or more constant personal application, than that of the com- 

 mercial florist. Like the housemaid's task, his work is never done. Week- 

 day and Sunday, workday and holiday, by sunlight or lamplight, his factory 

 is running every full day of twenty-four hours. His employees may gauge 

 their day's work by ten hours, or less, or more ; but his responsibilities never 

 for a moment cease. And the florist endures all this upon a margin of profit that 

 affords him, in a well-managed business, sufficient only to educate his family 

 and start them on life's pathway upon but a modest footing, unless he has 

 been fortunate enough to have located on the margin of some large city, 

 and purchased sufficient real estate, the rise in value of which has brought 

 him riches. 



Commercial gain should not be the sole and determining factor of inter- 

 est to the successful florist. The mere sordid pursuit of wealth ill befits an 

 art in which so many possibilities are wrapped. While the carnation enthu- 

 siast's life may not be one of ease, and while in winter there are blizzards, 

 snowdrifts and ice, entailing upon him hard labor that rends his muscles and 

 sorely tries his patience for all that, his calling has its compensations. Who 

 among the craft will deny the pleasures of that most enjoyable time just 

 before the holidays when the richness of the floral harvest is at full tide? 

 While the fiercest gales of winter are wildly battling the drifting snows 

 against the glass, underneath the crystal roofs there is the coloring of spring- 

 time ; and the broad expanse of royal blooms, redolent with the spicy odors of 

 the tropics, are waving with a quiet beauty peculiarly their own, suggesting 



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