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30 



The Florists^ Review 



Fbbbdabt 12, 1920 



prompted the campaign originally, the 

 use of flowers more generally, which 

 will continue to grow more and more, 

 provided we all give it the moral and 

 financial support to which it is justly 

 entitled. 



Campaign Just Begun. 



Ask yourself this question: Would 

 you like to see the national campaign 

 abandoned? The answer will determine 

 whether you should link up to it locally 

 or not. We have only begun to see its 

 possibilities, and the flower industry as 

 a whole will develop only as the men do 

 who get behind this movement, cor- 

 responding to the support they give it. 



Your own success will depend upon 

 the continuity of copy patterned after 

 the lines of the national campaign, but 

 using your own firm name in place of 

 the Society of American Florists. Our 

 secretary's office can provide you with 

 material aid by way of electrotypes, 

 etc., in connection with copy in na- 

 tional magazines which are fitted for 

 newspaper tie-ups. 



The more use you make of this copy 

 the more your business will show re- 

 sults, as the double contact of national 

 magazines plus local newspapers gives 

 you the double advantage of publicity, 

 and backed up by fresh flowers and 

 good service you are bound to succeed. 



S4!t\S^WWlX?/.j;^SA;i^i^4lXS^liS^ 



WORTH OF WATER 



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OVERHEAD lEEIGATION. 



Water's Part in Plant Growth. 



Water has at least four functions in 

 the growth of plants. It is a powerful 

 solvent of plant foods; thousands of 

 dollars' worth of costly fertilizer are 

 wasted every year because of a lack of 

 suflScient moisture to make the elements 

 in them available for plant food. Water 

 acts as a vehicle carrying soluble plant 

 food from the soil through every portion 

 of the plant for assimilation, much as 

 the blood in the animal carries to every 

 tissue and organ the nutriment needed. 

 Water not only serves as a solvent and 

 a carrier, but it also holds in solution 

 organic acids, more powerful solvents 

 than water alone. It is essential to the 

 life of friendly bacteria, without which 

 plants cannot thrive. It is a plant food 

 in itself, both as a compound and in 

 its decomposed state, as hydrogen and 

 oxygen, elements which are also used 

 by the plant in the formation of new 

 compounds, such as cellulose, sugar, oils, 

 starch, etc. Hydrogen and oxygen form 

 about fifteen per cent of the dry matter 

 of plants and are almost entirely de- 

 rived from water. Water also plays an 

 important part in the fixation in the 

 plant of carbon, which forms about 

 fifty per cent of the dry matter and 

 is derived from the carbon dioxide of 

 the air. 



Water maintains the condition of 

 highest activity in plant cells, enabling 

 them to bear up large clusters of bloom 

 or fruit. An absence of water will 

 cause these plant cells to shrink and 

 the plant will wilt and droop under 

 its own weight. 



The composition of plants in them- 

 selves is from sixty to ninety per cent 

 water and the formation of the dry 

 matter requires many times its weight 

 in water, the greater part of which 

 is then exhaled by the leaves in the 

 process of transpiration. Some plants 

 exhale their own weight of water dur- 

 ing twenty-four hours of hot, dry 

 weather. It is estimated that an oak 

 tree with 10,000 leaves exhales 123 

 tons of water in the five months in 

 which it is in leaf. 



Thus we see the vast importance of 



The address dellyered by B. R. White, of the 

 Skiiuier Irrigation Co., Troy, 0., at the conyen- 

 tion of the Tenneaoee State Florists' AssAciation, 

 at KnoXTlU*. T«Ba., Februarj 6. 



water in the processes of plant growth. 

 Is it any wonder that scientific writers 

 and practical horticulturists are paus- 

 ing in their discussion of such vital 

 subjects as seeds, fertilizers, soil condi- 

 tions, microorganisms, bugs and germs, 

 however important these things may be, 

 and are giving due consideration to 

 that one element of soil fertility, with- 

 out which all the rest are unavailable? 

 No problem in connection with in- 

 tensive growing has received greater 

 attention or has made more rapid strides 

 than that of irrigation. Irrigation has 

 been practiced extensively in various 

 parts of the world for thousands of 

 years. However, the obstacles to ir- 

 rigation among intensive growers in 

 the eastern half of our country have 

 been so numerous as to make their use 

 of irrigation a comparatively recent en- 

 terprise. 



Overliead Watering Practicable. 



The flooding and ditch methods of ir- 

 rigation, which are so frequently used 

 in the arid sections of our country, 

 have not been practical among inten- 

 sive commercial growers and it was 

 not until overhead methods of irriga- 

 tion were adopted that any proper form 

 was available for them. When overhead 

 irrigation, as a system, was first put 

 on the market it met with c«nsiderable 

 prejudice, and in almost every new lo- 

 cality where it was tried and on almost 

 every crop it encountered an objection 

 which resulted from experience with 

 the earlier forms of overhead irriga- 

 tion, such as the use of a hose or of 

 heavy circular sprays. 



No more than ten years ago a man 

 who tried overhead irrigation was con- 

 sidered more or less of an adventurer, 

 but it was gradually found that some 

 methods of overhead watering were 

 more successful than others and this led 

 to the conclusion that overhead irriga- 

 tion in itself was not disastrous, but 

 that the methods which had been used 

 were faulty and if water could be ap- 

 plied from overhead in a proper way, 

 the results would not only be satisfac- 

 tory, but would be superior to any other 

 method of watering obtainable and 

 would be profitable to the commercial 

 grower* 



Must Be Light and Uniform. 



In the development of a satisfactory 

 system of overhead irrigation, it was 



discovered that first of* all a uniform 

 watering was essential, but this of itself 

 is a problem not difficult to solve. It 

 was next found that watering in a 

 light form was necessary and that the 

 stream must be broken up into a fine, 

 gentle spray. The results of this were 

 that injury to the plant from, bruising 

 was avoided and the ground was main- 

 tained in a porous condition, thus 

 eliminating packing and caking of the 

 soil. 



It was found that the injury to ^ 

 crop, which was presumed to be a re- 

 sult of the application of moisture to 

 the leaf or bloom, came in reality from 

 the injury of the foliage or the bloom 

 because of a too heavy application of 

 water. Also, if a stream were reduced 

 to a point where its chill was lost as it 

 passed through the air, it became pos- 

 sible to use cold water satisfactorily 

 and without detriment to the growing 

 crop. The ground does not require 

 leveling or grading, since the irrigation 

 lines conform readily to uneven ground. 



There are three essentials to a suc- 

 cessful watering system. The first is a 

 system under the control of the opera- 

 tor which will give a uniform distribu- 

 tion with a fine, gentle spray, and which 

 will promote rather than injure the 

 growth of a plant. 



The second essential is a suitable 

 crop. Any crop which would at any 

 time be benefited by rain can be bene- 

 fited by the intelligent and proper use 

 of irrigation. 



The third and chief essential is brains 

 or good judgment on the part of the 

 user. 



MODERN SAIJISMAKSHIP, 



[The address of Mrs. Edith Ooetz, ChatU- 

 nooga, Tenn., at the annual meeting of the 

 Tenneasee State Florists' Association, at Knox- 

 vllle, February 5.] 



To be "modem," the first essential 

 is an attractively arranged store. Of 

 course it is impossible to keep the work- 

 room of your shop clean, but the front 

 should always be neat and attractively 

 arranged. The iceboxes should be filled 

 with good stock, if it can h^ obtained, 

 and each vase plainly mark|^d. These 

 essentials must be cared for before suc- 

 cessful salesmanship begins. 



Your customers should be greeted 

 with a smile or "Good morning." If 

 you are busy when they enter, their 

 presence should be acknowledged with 

 a nod and the information that you will 

 wait on them as soon as possible. Fifty 

 per cent of your sales can be made with- 

 out showing any stock or photographs. 

 A suggestion is what most customers 

 want and if you can show a knowledge 

 of your stock and an interest in your 

 customer, your sale is easily made. The 

 order should be plainly copied and, if 

 the item is charged, the address and all 

 other information should be plainly 

 shown on the ticket. The customer 

 should always be asked if he wishes to 

 pay for the purchase. Many charges 

 could be avoided if this question were 

 asked. 



Modern salesmanship goes further 

 than a sale or the copying of the order; 

 the package should be neatly packed 

 and attractively tied, and delivered in 

 the same condition. No sale is complete 

 until the flowers are received and the 

 recipient is pleased. 



Thank your customer, ask if there is 

 anything else he or she needs and re- 

 quest that the customer call again. 



