12 



The Florists^ Review 



JULT 17. 1919. 



or nearly all, of their carnations from 

 the eastern market. When the middle 

 western fellows woke up to the grow- 

 ing game, the eastern growers gave them 

 "the merry ha! ha!" That same old 

 "It can't be done" was on the job 

 there, and the same old reason, ' ' No one 

 ever has," played around their front 

 door, too, but take a look at the condi- 

 tion there today. Friends, they buried 

 that I 'It can't be done" stufl^ or else 

 sent it down here. Anyway, it's here. 

 Let's give it to the ax, or send it to 

 California, and get in the "We'll do it" 

 class. 



Let me tell you something; write it 

 down on your calendar or put it in the 

 "sanctum sanctorum," but I have a 

 little bee in my bonnet that some day 

 I hope to see delivered to Texas florists, 

 as well as to those of other states within 

 a reasonable distance, choice roses and 

 carnations twelve months in the year. 

 That sounds big, doesn't itf But look 

 out now; don't let that "It can't be 

 done * ' get on the job, for it can be done 

 and for every reason anyone will give 

 me why it can't be done, I'll give him 

 three why it can. 



Conditions Favor Olieapneas. 



We have all the natural elements re- 

 quired to grow flowers, and with these 

 at hand we can produce at least forty 

 per cent cheaper than elsewhere. But 

 this last statement has been our great- 

 est drawback. We wanted to produce 

 100 per cent cheaper, and have kept 

 cheap production in the limelight too 

 long. Most of us have tried to pro- 

 duce good stock with makeshift equip- 

 ment, and then blamed it on the 

 bloomin' climate when we had to place 

 an order for regular shipments for our 

 requirements, and never gave a thought 

 to how long the man we placed the 

 order with could take care of it if he 

 wasn't any better equipped to grow it 

 than we were. We nave to get away 

 from cheap construction and hoping 

 the weather man will be good to us. 



I am glad to say that in recent years 

 much progress has been made in con- 

 struction and equipment, but we need 

 much more of it. Let's stop trying to 

 grow good mums under canvas and 

 praying for frost not to get them; it 

 fails nine seasons out of ten. As good 

 mums can be grown here as any other 

 place, and have been. Then why waste 

 time and energy trying to grow them 

 9o much cheaper than the man in the 

 north from whom you will have to buy 

 them the nine times you failf 



Weather an Aid. 



I stated that we can grow most things 

 forty per cent cheaper. It is a fact. If 

 one first equips himself properly, he can 

 accomplish as good results as anyone 

 on half the- price. There are worlds 

 of stock, good staple stuff, which we can 

 grow outside to perfection and which 

 can't be so grown elsewhere. We have 

 more sunshine during the time of year 

 when stock is scarce and at its highest 

 price, than any other section of the 

 country. This is a fact, and will stand 

 investigation. Last, but not least, stock 

 of the most staple kinds produces and 

 matures to perfection more rapidly here 

 than in moat places, thereby giving us 

 considerably more return from our glass 

 than other sections. 



At present, Texas florists are produc- 

 ing a large quantity of stock, but much 

 of it is wasted or sacrificed at a ridicu- 



lously low price, principally on account 

 of lack of marketing facilities. A great 

 deal of this stock is grown on places 

 constructed to supply their own needs 

 only. Often for short periods they have 

 a glut of some stock, which results in a 

 bargain sale, not owing to a disposition 

 to cut under or take advantage of the 

 other fellow, but just because the 

 florist hates to see good stock go on the 

 dump. He hasn't sufBcient stock to go 

 to the extra expense of advertising it 

 to others in the trade, for by the time 

 his ads got to working, his surplus would 

 be gone and things back to normal. So 

 often has this been done that a great 

 many of you have at some time said or 

 heard said, "You can't depend on good 

 stuff in Texas. ' ' 



Two Needa of Texas. 



There are two things badly needed in 

 Texas. One is an up-to-date commis- 

 sion house, preferably centrally located, 

 one which would have the hearty coop- 

 eration of every florist in the state. 

 How easy to dispose of all your sur- 

 plus by sending it to this house, which 

 would know at all times where it could 

 be immediately placed! We would not 

 only concentrate all the surplus stock 

 of the state at one place, so that it could 

 be readily distributed to those in need 

 of it,- but it would not be in operation 

 long before our northern friends would 

 be consigning stock for distribution, 

 giving us a splendid market to look to 

 at all times in case of need. 



The other need is more commercial 

 glass. At present, compared with the 

 great volume of stock sold through re- 

 tail channels, there are scarcely any 

 wholesale establishments, and I cannot 

 see why, unless it is because of that 

 pesky ' ' It can 't be done. " It is a duty 

 we Texas florists owe to ourselves to 

 make every effort to induce the erection 

 of more glass for wholesale purposes, 

 because the stock can be grown here 

 and it is needless to state the great 

 chance for disposal if once it is grown. 



When Tou Build, Build WelL 



Before closing, I wish to make a few 

 suggestions which I think are vital to 

 the success of the industry in this state. 

 Don't build a greenhouse without equip- 

 ping it with plenty of heat. You may 



not need it but once in two or three 

 vears, but when you do, you need it 

 badly. 



Don't build without proper ventila- 

 tion. Be sure of a good water supply 

 and the right kind of water. 



Grade the land on which you build to 

 assure its always being high and dry. 



I think a safe rule to follow would be 

 to build your houses and equip them as 

 if you were expecting a winter tempera- 

 ture of 20 degrees below zero. This ap- 

 plies to any section of the state. Severe 

 freezes do not come often, I know, and 

 are not of long duration, but they do 

 come and, if you are not prepared, your 

 hands are tied, and more than likely you 

 lose nights of sleep and ultimately a 

 whole year's profit, enough to properly 

 heat the place as required two or three 

 times. Forget that idea of cheap con- 

 struction because you are in the sunny 

 south. Jack Frost does come, and we 

 have long droughts and again we have 

 worlds of rain. Prepare yourself for 

 all these. If you do, and have a fair 

 knowledge of growing flowers, I say to 

 you, you can grow anything you want. 



Let me give you a little example of 

 how ridiculous it is for us to go on in 

 our makeshift way of growing stock 

 and then blaming failure on the climate. 

 I know of Big commercial places in Chi- 

 cago — I said Big, and spell it with a big 

 B because they are so large that they 

 have to haul their soil for miles and 

 miles and use so much they haul it in 

 trainloads. They use double- A glass on 

 their b^mses, they have steel construc- 

 tion, they have the best boilers money 

 can buy, their houses are always well 

 painted and puttied, they have the best 

 ventilating apparatus on the market, 

 they pay the top-notch prices for the 

 best growers, they have up-to-date 

 watering equipment. What is the re- 

 sult of all this apparent expense? I 

 will tell you. They have good stock to 

 sell; they always have, and always will 

 have it. And you never hear them com- 

 plain of climatic conditions, yet they 

 have more dark days in December, 

 January and February than we have 

 in the whole year. So my final appeal 

 to you, brother florists, is to boost for 

 more well equipped places and lend a 

 ready hand to encourage those striving 

 to make Texas a flower-producing state. 



J «OBLMtLmJfltti«iy«4LM2MyM^^ 



MOTT-LY MUSINGS 



ALBANY CLUB OUTING. 



The annual outing of the Albany Flo- 

 rists' Club was held Thursday, July 10, 

 at the home of Fred Goldring, Font 

 Grove Farm, Slingerlands, N. Y. It was, 

 as usual, an enjoyable affair. 



After a tour of the greenhouses and 

 grounds, a business meeting of the club 

 was held, followed by an informal talk. 

 It was the general opinion that stock, 

 both of plants and cut flowers, will 

 maintain the higher scale of prices now 

 recognized, especially referring to 

 orchids. 



Congratulatory reference was made 

 to the fiftieth wedding anniversary of 

 Mr. and Mrs. Ansel D. Carpenter, of 

 Cohoes, N. Y., celebrated July 7, which 

 was attended by over 100 friends, in- 



cluding a representation from the Al- 

 bany Florists' Club, of which Mr. Car- 

 penter is a leading member. A happy 

 incident was the presentation to the 

 worthy couple of a silver loving cup hy 

 John Sambrook, of Troy, in the name 

 of several fellow craftsmen, as a token 

 of their esteem. 



Mr. Carpenter, responding, credited 

 his good wife with the success they had 

 attained, her little lean-to greenhouse 

 being the origin of what is now one of 

 the most up-to-date retail establisli' 

 ments in New York "state. The store, by 

 the way, is ably managed by A. D. Car- 

 penter, Jr., who is an apt pupil of his 

 father. 



This reference elicited a remark from 

 a member: "Like father, like son, 



A 



