24 



The Rorists^ Review 



Fbbbdabt 26, 1020 



this plant, which may safely be termed 

 the most easily grown and best selling 

 in commerce today. A new house built 

 last summer especially to carry plants 

 for seed purposes is at this time a most 

 interesting sight and, as my pilot 

 pointed out with the eye of an expert, 

 selecting the various desirable colors 

 with the beautiful tints and markings, 

 it is easy to see why this strain excels 

 the famous Wandsbek, which is the 

 original type. Three special self colors 

 are Salmon King, white; Christmas 

 Cheer, white with pink eye, and a lovely 

 lavender tint. There are other shades, 

 every one attractive. The rococo type 

 is developing some lovely forms, Fairy 

 Queen, Victoria and a crimson, all large 

 flowers, heavily fringed. Double-formed 

 flowers of the giganteum type are quite 

 frequent; the stems stand up boldly, in 

 contrast to the Belgian type, which is 

 squatty and bushy. 



Begonias vie with cyclamens in order 

 of rank. Prominent are Glory of Cin- 

 cinnati, Melior (considered the hand- 

 somest), Mrs. J. A. Peterson and, last 

 but not least, Peerless. The plants were 

 seen that had made the trip to the car- 

 nation exhibition in Chicago and a 



round of other towns. One would never 

 have known they had ever left the 

 bench upon which they were growing; 

 in fact, the hardy character of the plant 

 is established and each year the retailer 

 who handles any to grow on finds the 

 task easier. 



French hydrangeas and crimson ram- 

 bler roses for Easter are receiving atten- 

 tion. The first batch of cyclamens in 

 2-inch pots, growing in a temperature of 

 55 degrees at night, will consequently 

 be sturdy and healthy. 



Confidence in the future of blooming 

 plants is seen in the fact that pandanus, 

 Adiantum Farleyense and Asplenium 

 Nidus-avis, for which this place has for 

 several years been noted, will be seen 

 no more here, if present conditions con- 

 tinue. Mr. Peterson said, "We believe 

 a great impetus will be given to the 

 sale of such plants as cinerarias and 

 primulas, to be followed with bedding 

 out stock, owing to the dearth of cut 

 flowers and the increasing demand, such 

 as the trade has never seen. Let it 

 come. ' ' 



Mr. Peterson, accompanied by Mrs. 

 Peterson, are making a trip south, with 

 a short stay in Florida. W. M. 



QUESTION INCBEASED DEMAND. 



As Cause of Shortage. 



I have been called to account in sev- 

 eral quarters for the claim I have been 

 making that incr'^t'.sed demand is more 

 responsible for the existing shortage of 

 flowers than any ether single item. If 

 I am wrong, there certainly must be a 

 way to find it out My object has been 

 to get the growers all over the country 

 to think of this matter and to investi- 

 gate their local conditions to see if 

 they do not warrant greater production. 

 If their conclusions are otherwise than 

 mine, then there is basis for question 

 of my assertion. 



For myself, I hnvc made a deeper 

 investigation of the subject and am 

 still of the same opinion; that is, that if 

 next winter is not to be a repetition 

 of this one, the growers will have to 

 produce more stock. I have made it 

 a point to consult men who are in a po- 

 sition to know the facts in the case and 

 they thoroughly agree with me that, 

 aside from carnations, there are per- 

 haps as many plants being forced for 

 cut bloom? this winter as there ever 

 were before. 



Is Weather Responsible? 



Take the district in which I live, for 

 example. My attention has been called 

 to the fact that several large growers 

 have not the same amount of stock 

 to draw from as formerly. Upon in- 

 vestigation I find that this is even more 

 than offset by additions in other places. 

 This being the fact, the only possible 

 reason for the existing shortage — aside 

 from that which I advance, namely, 

 increased demand — is the unfavorable 

 weather conditions. 



We will admit that the weather has 

 been trying. But if there are as many 

 plants being forced, this could not be 



responsible for the shortage in itself, 

 for not a wholesale house throughout 

 the entire countrj' is doing anything 

 but taking orders, in a great many cases 

 subject to procuring stock, and simply 

 filling the orders on hand. 



Take Philadelphia, for instance, a 

 city in which it used to be possible, 

 on the shortest notice, to go into any 

 of the wholesale houses and secure any 

 amount of stock desired. I mean by 

 this, the commission men had the stock 

 on hand; a telegram or telephone mes- 

 sage was all that was necessary. Bead 

 Phil's news letter in The Review any 

 week and see what the conditions are 

 now. 



Chicago and New York and the other 

 centers are in much the same condi- 

 tion. Is it reasonable to suppose that 

 the weather conditions are entirely re- 

 sponsible for this? Conditions were not 

 nearly so bad during the winter of 

 1917-1918, when the grower was on 

 short coal rations and it was almost 

 impossible to get help. Was there a 

 great difference in the weather condi- 

 tions then and now? 



Know the True Conditions. 



In the Saturday Evening Post oi 

 February 7 there was a story by J. E. 

 Sprague, entitled "No Statement, No 

 Credit." In it he told of a merchant 

 in a southern city whose affairs became 

 involved. When his creditors tried to 

 straighten them out, they found that 

 he had no books; the reason was that 

 he was afraid to know the true condi- 

 tions. My advice to growers is to get 

 a copy of that paper and read the ar- 

 ticle, and see if the growers are not in 

 about the same position regarding in- 

 creased production. 



There is another angle from which to 

 look at this question. We must all ad- 

 mit that flowers are abnormally high. 

 Only recently a prominent retailer told 



me that he rarely saw one of his old 

 customers, that his present customers 

 were entire strangers. I asked him 

 what had become of the old patrons. 

 His reply was that they could not af- 

 ford to purchase flowers at the present 

 high prices, since their incomes had 

 been about cut in half by the advanced 

 cost of living. Now, if a slump should 

 come, as in all probability it will, there 

 is going to be another change in flower 

 buyers, but this need not deter any man 

 from producing more stock. 



Any business is in an unhealthy con- 

 dition when the producer only produces 

 a part of the stock required and then 

 sits back and charges prices for it out 

 of all proportion to cost of production. 

 You owe it to yourselves and you owe 

 it to the public to put a supply of stock 

 on the market commensurate with the 

 demand and in this way bring prices 

 to normal. In my estimation there is 

 only one way in which this can be done 

 and that is by the growers making ad- 

 ditions to their ranges and growing 

 more stock. 



Investigate in your own locality. 

 Look the situation squarely in the face 

 and see for yourself that it is an actual 

 condition and not a theory you are 

 facing. Tate. 



AMERICAN GLADIOLUS SOCIETY. 



Gladiolus Registration. 



The following varieties of gladioli 

 are offered for registration by John 

 Lewis Childs, Flowerfield, N. Y. If no 

 objections are filed prior to March 15, 

 1920, registration becomes complete: 



Conspicuous (Childsii). Beautiful clear car- 

 dinal red, with a large white throat. An 

 attractive combination of color. Originated by 

 John Lewis Childs. 



White America. Buds and partially expand- 

 ing flowers, pale flesh 136(1-2). Flower opens 

 snow white, 2(1), with a faint streak of violet 

 mauve, 195(1), or paler in the throat. Has 

 the same strong habit of growth, form of 

 flower and substance as America, of which It 

 is a seedling. 



A. C. Beal, Sec'y. 



HYACINTHS FOR EASTER. 



About December 1 I received a ship- 

 ment of hyacinths, which were potted 

 and put outside right away. A week 

 or so ago I looked at a few of the pots 

 to see how the roots were growing and 

 found them to be only about one inch 

 long. When should they be brought 

 inside so as to have them in bloom by 

 Easter? What temperature should 

 they have? Do you think that they will 

 have enough roots? E. W. — Mich. 



Your hyacinths were received quite 

 late. After potting they should receive 

 a good watering and should never be 

 allowed to become dry. A great many 

 growers imagine that one watering 

 should carry them until they are taken 

 in for forcing; this is a great mistake 

 and many instances of poor results in 

 forcing tulips, narcissi and hyacinths 

 can be traced to lack of moisture in 

 the soil. It is of no use to take in 

 hyacinths or other Dutch bulbs for 

 forcing until the pots are well filled 

 with roots. Easter comes April 4 and 

 there is no absolute necessity of your 

 disturbing the hyacinths until three 

 weeks before that date. That period in 

 a temperature of 50 degrees at night 

 should bring them along in ample time. 

 Do not place in a warm house, or they 

 will become drawn; better alow a 

 month in a cold house and you are then 

 sure to have nice, stocky plants. C. W. 



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