p*,iy"!W''i,B^''»<f".?-"!f.;!> 



\y 



ii^M^l^^L^i^;^9jmPfl||^Hf)ap^lH^«uuRfi Kll iiM/.il, wq!|t^.>'«'.'iv77iqfp|Mluilf. . ;,|iwji»«.iii^»iiH» ifjpv'iWJ i»'"i«,W'! '« 



Mauch 11, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



31 



greenhouses to a science. These men 

 know what kind of house you need in 

 a certain location better than you know, 

 because while you have been busy with 

 the production of flowers, they have 

 been just as busy, and in a great number 

 of cases have gone away ahead of you, 

 in the subject of durable and economic 

 houses. All that they know they have 

 learned from the florist. 



Looking to the Future. 



I can remember the time when there 

 was but one construction company in the 

 east and it still exists today. Formerly 

 the only houses it was called upon to 

 design and build were conservatories on 

 private places. As time went on some 

 of the bolder spirits in the commercial 

 end of the business had the company 

 erect houses for the commercial produc- 

 tion of flowers and, in following instruc- 

 tions from these growers, the construc- 

 tion men learned just what sort of 

 greenhouse was required for the produc- 

 tion of flowers. They were quick to 

 improve on all the points they obtained 

 and today we have the modern iron- 

 frame greenhouses, with concrete walla 

 and, benches, with roofs that have a 

 minimum amount of wood to obstruct 

 the sun's rays and heating plants that 

 are as near perfection as possible. Like 

 the fireproof buildings in our great 

 cities, these modern greenhouses are rot- 

 proof, for there is nothing about them 

 to rot and this brings the repair account 

 • lown to a minimum. In fact, I know 

 of houses that have been in use for the 

 last fifteen years which have no repair 

 accoant except painting and perhaps a 

 few panes of glass broken through ac- 

 cidents. It is in just such houses as 

 these that the flowers of the future are 

 goinor to be produced, because the time 

 is fast approaching when efficiency is 

 going to be the watchword in produc- 

 tion and the man who anticipates an 

 .'iddition to his range would do well to 

 give this matter serious consideration. 



Counting the Cost. 



Of course. I can hear many growers 

 who are ready to say this all sounds 

 well on paper, but that they could not 

 afford such houses. When I was a 

 young man, not yet of age, an old He- 

 brew banker, one of the most successful 

 in the city in which he lived, was giving 

 me some business advice; it was this: 

 "Young man, get into debt." His 

 argument was that a business man who 

 was not in debt did not amount to much. 

 At that time, debt was the thing I 

 was trying to avoid, but many a time 

 since I have realized the wisdom of the 

 old gentleman's remarks. In those days 

 money could be had at five or six per 

 cent interest. This old banker figured 

 that a business worth anything should 

 make a net profit on the amount bor- 

 rowed equal to what it cost and at the 

 same time create a sinking fund to take 

 care of the principal. There is food for 

 thought here for everyone who is think- 

 ing of building. Ponder it well; think 

 of the efficiency of the houses; think of 

 the repair account saved and, above all, 

 remember that there is always going to 

 be a market for flowers, but that if you 

 want to stay in the business you mus*. 

 produce them at the lowest cost possible. 

 Tate. 



WORKINa FOR BOND ISSUE. 



The claims of other cities to high 

 rank among American metropolitan cen- 



Vlocent J. Gorly. 



ters have stirred St. Louis to efforts to 

 maintain her position near the top. So 

 a $24,000,000 bond issue is being 

 planned. And to bind all interests to- 

 gether in the effort to promote the pres- 

 tige of the city, Mayor Kiel ha.s formed 

 a committee, on which serves a member 

 of each prominent organization in St. 

 Louis. Since membership on the com- 

 mittee implies a position among the 

 leaders in the profession represented by 

 the organization, it is considered a dis- 

 tinct honor to serve thereon. The flo- 

 rists' profession is represented by Vin- 

 cent .T. Gorly, of the retail firm of 

 Grimm & Gorly. President Hunnnert, 

 of the St. Louis Florists' VAuh, made 

 the selection. 



shift. But times have changed. With 

 increasing demand, stock has been 

 shipped more and more before it was 

 ready, until today many florists seem 

 to consider that stock is ready to come 

 "out of" pots of a certain size when 

 it has been in them long enough for the 

 ball of soil to become fairly solid. Of 

 course such stock from the first pot is 

 little more than rooted cuttings and 

 should be sold at little more than the 

 rooted cutting price. 



No doubt we shall go back to the old 

 order of things when production again 

 overtakes demand. 



THE CHANOINO TIMES. 



I am sending, under separate cover, 

 samples of geraniums I received, sup 

 posed to be out of 2-inch pots, at $35 

 per thousand. This being my first at- 

 tempt to grow geraniums, I am asking 

 if these are fair samples of the plants 

 one must expect when ordering 2-inch 

 sizet You will notice after the hard 

 ball of soil is removed you will have to 

 look closely to find the roots. 



H. E. W.— N. Y. 



CYCLAMENS SHOW DRYNESS. 



I am sending you some cyclamen 

 leaves. There is some disease. aflPecting 

 tliem, of which I do not know. Please 

 inform me of the disease and the treat- 

 ment to overcome it. A. M. — Mich. 



The geraniums sent are not what, 

 under normal conditions, one would ex- 

 pect to get out of 2-inch pots. 



The old school of florists believed 

 that a plant, to be "out of" a certain 

 size of pot, should be well rooted around 

 in that pot. In other words, the roots 

 should have thoroughly permeated the 

 ball of soil and worked around the pot, 

 and the plant should be ready for a 



The cyclamen leaves arrived badly 

 dried up, but they appeared to be in- 

 fested with thrips and red spider. As 

 the season for flowering plants of cycla- 

 men is about over, there is little to be 

 (lone with the plants now. When grow- 

 ing cyclamen plants for another season, 

 be most particular in giving them an 

 even temperature, so that they are not^ 

 subjected to an extremely high tempera- 

 ture or dry atmosphere, conditions 

 which quickly cause the trouble that 

 seems to be affecting the foliage of 

 these plants. M. P. 



Claremore, Okla.— E. R. Griggs, for- 

 merly of Shawnee, Okla., has bought 

 the greenhouses of J. Hubert Moore. 



