18 



The Florists^ Review 



July 12, 1917. 



S. A. F. FOR NEW INSURANCE. 



President Kerr Names Committee. 



The spring of 1917 was recorded by 

 florists of the central states as a season 

 during which the elements, in the guise 

 of tornadoes and cyclones, set a record 

 for destruction of greenhouses and 

 stock. The cyclone which struck New- 

 castle, Ind., March 11, resulting in a 

 complete wreck of the Benthey range 

 of 110,000 square feet and severe dam- 

 age to the Lynch and other establish- 

 ments, was followed March 23 by a tor- 

 nado at New Albany, Ind., by the 

 furor of which one of the growers, An- 

 ders Rasmussen, was reported to have 

 suffered a loss of $80,000. Then came 

 the episode of wind and hail at Mat- 

 toon, 111., May 26, in which A. D. King 

 was the heaviest loser with $30,000. 



Wind storms of other years took their 

 toll and then became matters of mem- 

 ory, but it seems that to last spring's 

 work" of the angered elements there 

 will be dedicated a monument, a monu- 

 ment in the form of a wind storm in- 

 surance for florists. For amid the 

 wreckage of the Indiana ranges was 

 born the movement on behalf of wind 

 storm, or cyclone, insurance, and during 

 the months since that time the agi- 

 tators have done much in interesting 

 their state leaders in the formation of 

 an association or company to insure 

 growers against losses by storm, with 

 risks such as growers have and with 

 premiums such as growers can pay. 



To Report at New York. 



Although the Indiana association of 

 florists has already prepared a consti- 

 tution and by-laws for an insurance 

 organization of this character, and has 

 even submitted the plan to the Florists' 

 Hail Association, with the idea of 

 having that body include wind storm 

 policies with its policies covering dam- 

 age by hail, it is probable that the 

 actual shaping of the new insurance 

 association will be under the auspices 

 of the S. A. F. That the S. A. F. now 

 is championing the idea is seen in the 

 appointment by President Kerr of an 

 insurance committee, whose duty it 

 shall be to study the proposition, inves- 

 tigate the policies offered by the va- 

 rious companies and report its finding 

 at the convention in August. The com- 

 mitteemen are E. G. Hill, of Eichmond, 

 Ind.; J. F. Ammann, of Edwardsville, 

 HI., and Anders Easmussen, of New 

 Albany, Ind. The last-named has been 

 the hardest worker in behalf of the 

 new insurance, probably for the reason 

 that he does not want other florists to 

 suffer as he did March 23, when, in less 

 than five minutes, a tornado blotted out 

 the work of a lifetime. 



COL. GREEN WEDS. 



Announcement is made of the mar- 

 riage of Col. E. H. E. Green and Miss 

 Mabel E. Harlow at Highland Park, 111., 

 July 10. 



Col. Green's chief claim to fame is 

 that he is the son of the late Hetty 

 Green and heir to her millions, but to 

 many florists he is known as the one 

 man who ever seriously proposed a trust 

 in the florists' business. Col. Green 

 established the Green Floral Co., with a 

 fine range for cut flower production, at 

 Dallas, Tex., while engaged in operat- 

 ing a railroad there. As with many 

 another rich man, for a time the flower 



business served him splendidly as a 

 hobby and he mingled much with flo- 

 rists. This was just at the close of the 

 era of trust formation and Col. Green 

 thought he saw in the large corporation 

 idea the way to control gluts by the 

 diversion of the output as required, with 

 consequent large legitimate profits. To 

 the owners of several large cut flower 

 establishments in the middle west he 

 proposed the creation of a corporation 

 to buy in and operate the principal 

 ranges. At the time The Eeview ex- 

 pressed the opinion that a cash offer 

 might well be considered by anyone 

 approached, but that a proposition to 

 sell for stock in the trust would better 

 be declined. This was based on the be- 

 lief that the florists' business is not sus- 

 ceptible to the same rules of manage- 

 ment as are manufacturing enterprises 

 dealing with non-perishables and it was 

 accepted as sound advice and the idea 

 was abandoned by its promoter, with 

 some reluctance he said. 



Col. Green is 48 years of age. He 

 had been referred to as America's most 

 sought bachelor and he has the quality 

 of making a friend and well-wisher of 

 every man he meets. 



INSURANCE FOR EMPLOYEES. 



A. N. PieTSoi\, Inc., Protects Men. 



An action which is believed to be 

 unique in the florists' business was 

 taken by A. N. Pierson, Inc., Cromwell, 

 Conn., July 5, when each of the corpor- 

 ation's employees, numbering between 

 500 and 600, was presented with a life 

 insurance policy. 



The insurance was secured by a 

 blanket contract made by the Pierson 

 corporation with the Travelers Insur- 

 ance Co., of Hartford, Conn. It pro- 

 vides for $500 of insurance for each 

 employee who has completed one year 

 of service at Cromwell Gardens, and an 

 additional $100 for each year until the 

 maximum of $1,500 is reached. A dis- 



ability clause provides that in case any 

 employee is permanently prevented 

 from working he shall receive the prin- 

 cipal amount, either in a lump sum or 

 in installments. 



The corporation pays the premiums on 

 the insurance, but each employee re- 

 ceives an individual certificate assur- 

 ing him that his family will be taken 

 care of in case of mishap to him. This 

 should give each employee a comfort- 

 able feeling. 



A Large Establishment. 



Cromwell Gardens are located in the 

 Connecticut river valley, two miles from 

 Middleton, Conn., and consist of more 

 than 300 acres. The corporation has 

 more than 800,000 feet of glass on the 

 place and the balance of the acreage is 

 devoted to growing nursery stock. Be- 

 sides, it has an extensive business in 

 landscape gardening. The place is a 

 Mecca for trade pilgrims from all parts 

 of the country. 



A. N. Pierson, Inc., is owned by An- 

 drew N. Pierson and his son, Wallace R. 

 Pierson. That father and son have the 

 interests of their employees at heart is 

 shown by their action in buying the in- 

 surance, which must call for the ex- 

 penditure of a considerable sum annu- 

 ally. 



FLORIST HAS OWN COAL MINE. 



Florists who are now wondering 

 about their coal supply for next winter 

 have good reason to be envious of Fred 

 W. Arnold, Cambridge, O. Mr. Arnold 

 has discovered that there is coal under 

 his 20-acre establishment and will open 

 it and have his own coal mined. 



Although Cambridge is in the center 

 of a large coal mining district, florists 

 there are having the same trouble as 

 those elsewhere — shortage in supply 

 and high prices. These conditions de- 

 termined Mr. Arnold to open his mine 

 and become independent of the oper- 

 ators, the unions and the railroads. 



ODEN LCTrER^-A- KEADEEi6 



ROT OF IRIS ROOTS. 



I disagree with C. W. that shallow 

 planting is a remedy for the rot of iris 

 roots. In the first place, I do not be- 

 lieve it should be called root rot, but 

 crown rot; the plants rot at the crown, 

 and the tops drop off the roots. 



Some irises are so badly affected by 

 this rot tliat it is not profitable to grow 

 them. Maori King is a good example of 

 this, and there are a few other good 

 varieties, when judged by their flowers 

 only, which are difficult to grow with 

 any degree of success. 



If an iris grower selects the right 

 soil and a sunny location, he will elimi- 

 nate much of this rot evil; and I might 

 add that barnyard manure should be 

 given a wide berth. One severe winter 

 when there was little snow to protect 

 the plants I mulched them with strawy 

 manure, and the following spring many 

 of them died from this rot. I have 

 noticed this trouble only with the Ger- 



man, intermediate and dwarf, bearded 

 varieties. 



Iris germanica will grow well when 

 planted shallowly, often when simply 

 dropped on the ground. I dig a shallow 

 trench, perpendicular on one side, and 

 place the irises against the perpendicu- 

 lar side at the same depth they grew in 

 the nursery. If planted deeply all the 

 new plants naturally will form at the 

 surface, the same as the shallowly 

 planted ones. Just because an iris is 

 planted too deeply it docs not follow 

 that it will continue to grow that way. 



I liave never seen Iris honorabilis 

 ailing from crown rot, and if deep plant- 

 ing causes crown rot, as C. W. says, why 

 should it not attack this variety in the 

 same way it does others? I grow irises 

 by the acre, and if I could escape crown 

 rot by shallow planting what an easy 

 task I would have! I believe that soil, 

 location and variety are the determin- 

 ing factors. Willis E. Fryer. 



