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20 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBBS 5, 1916. 



AIiONa THE HUDSON. 



There has been a great deal heard of 

 late with regard to the decadence of the 

 violet-growing industry along the Hud- 

 son. Bad news travels fast and, like 

 the snowball rolling downhill, it grows 

 as it goes. "The conditions among the 

 growers in the Ehinebeck and Bed 

 Hook district are not nearly so bad as 

 has been reported. 



It is quite true that the profits in 

 the last few years have not been so 

 great as they were in the earlier days 

 of the violet industry; it also is true 

 that some of the growers have dropped 

 violets and are growing sweet peas or 

 carnations. But the number who have 

 changed crops, really is not important; 

 it is doubtful if it represents so much 

 as ten per cent of the glass area in 

 that district. There has been some 

 renting to new growers on the part of 

 those who have tired of the business, 

 but the changes in the violet district 

 probably are not so numerous as the 

 changes in the trade at large through 

 the country; most of those who started 

 have succeeded and are still at it. 



It has been a not uncommon experi- 

 ence for a man to have his greatest suc- 

 cess in his first years of violet growing, 

 but there are many whose crops are 

 better today than when they started 

 in the business. The principal cause 

 of trouble has been the spot disease, 

 commonly called leaf spot or black 

 spot, though the circular spots are whit- 

 ish with concentric rings of a darker 

 shade. The root rot has been a much 

 less serious menace. Some years there 

 also has been much trouble with a blue- 

 black grub that eats the roots of the 

 plants, in some cases destroying forty 

 per cent of the plants in a house, but 

 its ravages have not been severe this 

 season. The district as a whole may 

 fairly be said to have healthier plants 

 than in any of the last few years. 

 There is less of the spot and there is 

 every indication that the yield this sea- 

 son will be larger than in any of the 

 last two or three years. 



This much may be admitted, how- 

 ever: The picking will be light for 

 several weeks of the early season. The 

 spring was wet and it was impossible 

 to handle the soil and plants. Conse- 

 quently the houses were not planted as 

 early as usual and the picking season 

 will be a little late. When it once is 

 in full swing there should be violets 

 enough for everyone, and good violets. 



Rhinebeck violets now are sold in 

 quantity all over that part of the 

 United States east of the Mississippi, 

 and in many cases Chicago wholesalers 

 ship them long distances into the north, 

 west and south. 



The illustration on this page shows 

 one of the typical uncomplaining grow- 



ers of the Rhinebeck section, Melvin 

 Bishop, standing in one of his two 

 houses of violets. The photograph was 

 made September 10. Mr. Bishop's crop 

 is sold in Chicago, by the E. C. Amling 

 Co. Last season he shipped 350,000. 

 He has been in the business many 

 years, first as an employee, then as a 

 partner with J. C. Hamlin and later in 

 business for his individual account. He 

 does not believe the violet-growing in- 

 dustry is in other than a most pros- 

 perous condition and those who visit 

 his establishment will agree that all the 

 indications of contentment are there. 



VIOLETS IN OOLDFEAMES. 



Kindly let me know the best way of 

 growing violets in a coldframe. I 

 planted some in a coldframe this year 

 and they are doing well. Is it neces- 

 sary to take cuttings for next season, 

 or will the old plants do for another 

 year! M. N. — Ind. 



You can either take runners and root 

 them in sandy loam, or, as many pre- 

 fer, divide the old clumps, trimming 

 back the leaves and roots and planting 

 in flats. Later, the plants can be set 

 out in nursery rows and planted in the 

 frames in August if doubles are grown, 

 or in October if singles. The singles 

 do better if left exposed until they have 

 had one or two moderate freezings to 

 check their leaf growth. The old clumps 

 would not do if left unmoved another 

 year. A thorough preparation of the 

 soil in the frames, with plenty of well 

 rotted cow or horse manure added, is 

 necessary to grow good violets. 



C. W. 



TO STABT AEAUCABIA SEEDS. 



Please inform us how to germinate 

 Araucaria excelsa seeds. 



F. M. — Minn. 



Araucaria seeds should be planted in 

 shallow pans or boxes which have good 

 drainage, and the compost should be 

 a rather light, sandy soil. The seeds 

 should be covered to a depth of one- 

 half inch, the soil made level and 

 pressed down moderately firm. Then 

 place the pans ,or boxes on a bench in 

 a greenhouse with a temperature of 

 about 55 degrees, and keep the soil 

 moist, but not sodden. W. H. T. 



VEGETABLES AND 

 FRUITS DEPARTMENT] 



HMlililillllliililllll^^ 

 VEGETABLE GBOWEBS' MEETING. 



Officers Elected. 



At the concluding session of the 

 ninth annual convention of the Vege- 

 table Growers' Association of America, 

 held in Chicago, September 26 to 29, 

 officers for 1917 were nominated with- 

 out opposition and elected unanimously. 

 They were: 



President — Howard W. Selby, Phila- 

 delphia. 



Vice-president — H. M. Thompson, Ar- 

 lington, Mass. 



Secretary — S. W. Severance, Louis- 

 ville, Ky. 



Treasurer — Eugene Davis, Grand 

 Rapids, Mich. 



A Highly Successful Meeting. 



It is possible other organizations 

 have held as successful conventions as 

 this one, but it certainly set a new 

 mark for the vegetable growers. There 

 was not one thing wrong with it from 

 beginning to end except the weather of 

 the day chosen for the automobile tour 

 of visits with luncheon at Morton 

 Grove; this upset the plans more or less, 

 but it did not dampen anyone's ardor, 

 for there were exactly 598 on the expe- 

 dition. 



The vegetable growers are not talka- 

 tive, like the numerous college profes- 

 sors and other specialists who addressed 

 them, but the informal round-table dis- 

 cussions brought out a quite general re- 

 port of experiences and expression of 

 opinion on subjects related to growing 

 and marketing vegetables. A portion of 

 the discussion concerned work under 

 glass, but as the chairman remarked at 

 one session, "that is important to the 

 few, but most of those here are fiot en- 

 gaged on that scale; they grow their 

 crops in the open and have entirely dif- 

 ferent problems." 



Closing Sessions. 



It would be doubtful if a creditable 

 number of people of any trade other 

 than the vegetable growers' could be 



Melvin Bishop In One of His Violet Houses at Rhinebeck, N. Y. 



