^ ■ :.,■.,«. 



:«^^VJ%^>c : 



iS§S**^* 



'^m-'-A. 



""mm-- 



WAITING FOR THE 



TRAIN AT ALVIN 



To the little Texas town of Alvin the trade's interest attaches once a year 

 in May, as the center of the district whence come, zvithin a few days, many 

 carloads of jasmine buds, distributed to florists all over the country. This 

 article gives a glimpse of the jasmine industry. 



W-^-4~r 



T is believed that the first 

 commercial grower of jas- 

 mine buds in Texas was 

 M. V. Wright, one of the 

 earlier Houston florists. 

 His field was located at 

 Alvin, probably to take ad- 

 vantage of the unusually 

 heavy dews that place has 

 in the early spring. His 

 field was planted about 1887 and con- 

 sisted entirely of the variety Gardenia 

 jasminoides (6. florida, Linn.). 



About three years later Major George 

 W. Durant, who died only a few months 

 ago, planted about double tlii^ Wright 

 acreage, in a larger variety,' to which 

 the name grandiflora wais applied. 



In 1894 C. W. Benson planted an acre- 

 age somewhat larger than the Wright 

 field and these three fields constituted 

 the total of the Texas acreage for sev- 

 eral years thereafter. 



Fifty Acres Now. 



At the present time there are about 

 fifty acres devoted to this crop at Alvin 

 and vicinity, most of the business being 

 done by about ten firms, all of whom 

 have other interests, as the jasmine crop 

 is one which occupies their energies only 

 a part of the year, the shipments cover- 

 ing no more than four weeks, frequently 

 less than three, and principally center- 

 ing before Memorial day. 



The accompanying illustration is re- 

 produced from a photograph made at the 

 railroad station at Alvin on the evening 

 of May 25 and shows a scene typical of 

 the shipping season. At the moment 

 the camera was used there were twenty- 

 two express trucks lined up for the 



northbound train, each truck piled high, 

 the shipment consisting practically all 

 of jasmine buds for the Meqaorial day 

 trade of florists all over the northern 

 half of the United States. Early in the 

 history of the business the Alvin ship- 

 pers obtained "general special" (now 

 second-class) express rates, the only cut 

 flowers to which this concession ever 

 was made. 



Alvln's AdTantages. 



Just why Alvin has become the cape 

 jasmine center of the country is not ap- 

 parent, as there are many other places 

 which possess all the apparent requi- 

 sites of soil and climate, but Alvin, lo- 

 cated only an hour by rail south of Hous- 

 ton, enjoys all that great railroad cen- 

 ter's advantages in transpoHation. 

 There are seventeen railroad lines ra- 

 diating from Houston, with through ex- 

 press car service to all the principal 

 markets. 



In the beginning the shippers of cape 

 jasmine buds sent their crop to whole- 

 sale commission florists in thfi larger 

 cities of the north, but they found the 

 method uncertain. In the beginning it 

 worked well, but as the greenhouse busi- 

 ness developed the jasmine shippers 

 with increasing frequency hit heavily 

 stocked markets. In such conditions the 

 jasmine shippers suffered: As they are 

 heard from only a few days in the year, 

 their shipments, highly prized in time 

 of scarcity, in time of glut were almost 

 sure to be set aside for the pushing of 

 the flowers of growers who ship through 

 a greater portion of the year. It was 

 neither unnatural nor open to criticism, 

 but it resulted in the jasmines 



sometimes failing to realize express 

 charges' and in forcing the Alvin ship- 

 pers to sell direct to the trade. This 

 they have been doing for some years, 

 long enough to have established connec- 

 tions with retail florists all over the 

 country, and only surplus stock is sent 

 to commission houses. 



Alvin, rather nearer the Gulf than to 

 Houston, has a rich soil and an early 

 spring. The bulk of the crop is reason- 

 ably sure to make the northern .Memo- 

 rial day — were it not the industry would 

 disappear, as the prices received after 

 May 30 seldom are high enough to make 

 the crop profitable. 



Varieties Orown. 



The cape jasmine is Gardenia jas- 

 minoides, Ellis, which Bailey msJces 

 synonymous with G. florida, Linn., by 

 which name the Alvin growers know it. 

 Bailey thinks grandiflora belongs in the 

 group with G. florida vars. major and 

 majestica. Of grandiflora an Alvin 

 grower, C. W. Benson, says: "I am 

 sure this is the variety found in Asifi 

 about the. middle of the last century by 

 Fortune, and named for him, Fortunei, 

 Hort. (Fortuniana, Lindl.). Why this 

 variety has become more popular among 

 florists than G. florida is an enigma, ex- 

 cept that the season of Fortuuei usually 

 hits Memorial day trade more closely 

 than G. florida. But there are seasons 

 when G. florida should be used and is 

 needed to help out on a late crop of 

 Fortuneit^' 



"If I were a florist doing business in 

 northern states," continues Mr. Ben- 

 son, "I should consider well grown G. 

 florida blooms preferable to Fortunei, 



A Maytime Scene Ai the Railroad Station at Alvin, Tex.; Jasmloet Going North. 



»■ ■ ^ ■ 



^ * - — --- ■■ - — 



