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The Florists^ Review 



JuLT 22, 1920 



spiration and the zeal to greater and 

 better things came from the enthusiastic 

 work of the S. A. F. So get in line and 

 do it today. 



"Think over last year's work and 

 wherein you were short, in flowers or 

 plants. Grow more and carry better 

 stock. People will buy flowers. Brother 

 florists, just a word, and I want to tell 

 it to you gently: Do not make haste 

 to get rich. Do not get prices too high. 

 Do not get in the class of profiteers. 

 Keep safely on the side of public 

 opinion, which you cannot overcome." 



President Hannah's remarks were 

 followed by the report of the secretary- 

 treasurer, L. J. Tackett, and the ap- 

 pointment of committees. 



Entertainment Features. 



In the evening the center of the floor 

 of the auditorium was cleared for the 

 president's reception, which included 

 several special entertainment features 

 and closed with an informal dance. The 

 music provided by the local florists was 

 particularly commended. The Ameri- 

 can Greenhouse Mfg. Co., of Chicago, 

 showed its film picture, "Wonderland 

 under Glass." 



On the evening of the second day was 

 planned a visit to the range of the 

 Greenwood Floral Co., near the city. 



For the close of the meeting was 

 arranged a basket picnic at Lake Worth, 

 a beautiful spot about nine miles from 



the city, constructed by the local park 

 department as part of its park system. 



The Addresses. 



The morning and afternoon sessions 

 of July 21 and 22 were devoted to some 

 excellent addresses and to the transac- 

 tion of the business of the association. 

 H. G. Berning was unable to come from 

 St. Louis to deliver the talk on "The 

 Outlook for Next Season's Business," 

 scheduled on the program. The other 

 addresses were scheduled as follows: 



JULY 21, 9:30 A. M. 



Reports of standing committees. 



"Can the Florists' Business Be Operated Suc- 

 cessfully on the Profit-Sharing Plan?" by Bobert 

 C. Kerr, Houston, Tex. 



"The Wholesale Growers' Association," by 

 Otto Lang, Dallas, Tex. 



"Effective Advertising," by B. W. Blchllns, 

 Houston, Tex. 



"Florists' Telegraph Delivery and the Fu- 

 ture It Holds for the Retail Florists," by 

 Charles S. Heacock, Austin, Tex. 



JULY 21, 2:30 P. M. 



"The National Publicity Fund," by James W. 

 Begble, Shreveport, La. 



"How Can We Best Increase Our Membership 

 In the Texas State Florists' Association?" by 

 Henry Greve, Dallas, Tex. 



Round-table discussion on miscellaneous topics, 

 led by the president. 



JULY 22, 9:30 A. M. 



Reading of communications. 



Selecting of place for 1921 convention. 



"Some Sidelights on Rose Growing after Two 

 Years' Experience in Texas," by V. J. Davis, 

 Fort Worth. Tex. 



"Can the Retail Florists' Business Be Op- 

 erated Successfully from the Greenhouse?" by 

 Wise Adklsaon, Greenville, Tex. 



SOUTHERN FLOWERS 



WHAT TEXANS CAN GROW. 



Opportunities Are Many. 



Why the subject of a wholesale grow- 

 ers' association should have been as- 

 signed to me I have often wondered. 

 It is quite true that I have been en- 

 gaged in growing for twenty-three 

 years and believe in southern florists 

 growing all, or at least the greater 



fart, of their flowers and plants. Still, 

 have always avoided the small or 

 large dealer when he approached me on 

 the subject of selling at wholesale. The 

 fact is, no matter how much glass we 

 built, frames we made and acres we 

 planted, we have not been able to keep 

 up with the increased demand in our 

 retail trade. 



There is no wholesale growers' asso- 

 ciation in Texas, but there ought to be. 

 There is a demand for everything a 

 man can grow. Take the various 

 classes: Eoses can be grown in Texas 

 with good results the year around; still, 

 not one-tenth of the demand can be had 

 from growers in Texas, nor is there any 

 chance with the present area of glass. 

 Carnations are not an all-year plant, 

 but for at least six months in the year 

 good stock can be cut and with proper 

 care two more months can be added. 

 Still we buy carnations by the hun- 

 dreds of thousands during the winter 

 months. Chrysanthemums are success- 

 ful, but we buy them from California, 

 Chicago and Denver. Asters can be 

 grown with good results, but few grow 



Paper read by Otto Lang, of Dallaa, Tex.. 

 on "The Wholesale Growers' Association." at the 

 convrntion of the Texas State Florists' Associa- 

 tion at Fort Worth, July 21. 



them. Violets are shipped in from San 

 Francisco and Hudson river districts; 

 our own violets, with far better color 

 and fragrance, grow without attention; 

 millions of blooms grow and die by the 

 wayside in the spring. Sweet peas are 

 hard to ship, yet easily grown, both 

 under glass and outdoors. Do you know 

 that $100,000 is spent for this flower 

 alone in Texas? Have you ever seen a 

 surplus in the winter time! Have you 

 not had to pay a fancy price for them 

 and then could not get nearly the num- 

 ber you wanted! 



Have we a wholesale grower? I say 

 no, but we need many. Gentlemen, will 

 you grasp the opportunity? Lend your 

 cooperation to the florist who will grow 

 for the wholesale market. 



Great Possibilities. 



Now, let's talk about something that 

 everybody and anybody can grow, but 

 what do we Texans do? We will order 

 from New York, Chicago and Philadel- 

 phia — the canna! Why, a fellow could 

 sell a million in New York, so easily 

 jifrown down here in the south, but pray 

 who grows or sells them wholesale? Do 

 we need wholesale growers? I say we 

 do. 



The Shasta family of daisies can be 

 grown. So can the Mexican tuberose; 

 the bulbs could be shipped all over the 

 United States and Canada. This spring 

 we wanted 2,000 tuberoses. I could not 

 find them. A florist in the rural district 

 of Dallas advertised some in The Re- 

 view, and when I saw the advertise- 

 ment he had sold them to a concern in 

 Canada. Is there a wholesale growers' 

 association or should there be one? I 

 say there should. 



Last year we planted a small space, 

 about 200x200 feet, which had been 

 used as a heeling ground for nursery 

 stock and which was not cleared until 

 too late to plant anything else, to se- 

 lected separate colors of giant zinnias. 

 To our surprise and the delight of 

 thousands of passers-by, who admired 

 the wonderful color and size, we 

 sold over $3,000 worth before frost. 

 We have the same this year and 

 to date have almost sold $1,000 worth 

 and will surpass last year's record. We 

 believe in growing stock and will in- 

 crease our houses by two this year and 

 our frames by many, and while we cov- 

 ered one block with lath for shade, we 

 will add much more next year. 



Profits Awaiting Many. 



The wholesale growers' association 

 should be a reality. We buy our Boston 

 ferns, adiantum. Asparagus Sprengeri 

 and plumosus, both plants and cut, from 

 1,000 to 2,000 miles away. Whyt The 

 growers of the south have not awakened 

 to the possibilities and profits in the 

 growing line. 



Think of the hundreds of thousands 

 of vegetable plants and sweet potato 

 slips being shipped into Texas every 

 season. Why, I could pay a man's 

 salary for the entire year and get a 

 good investment out of a few frames 

 and houses with only three months' 

 work. Now, growers, get busy; don't 

 sleep on your rights. The opportunity 

 for big men and little men, big money 

 and little money, is here; will you grasp 

 it, or let it go by? 



I have not mentioned the poinsettia, 

 which grows like a weed and brings big 

 returns at Christmas. Do we grow 

 what we need? Not by a long ways! 



Cyclamens and begonias can be grown 

 here. How many bother with such 

 stock? Bedding stock could make a 

 fellow rich alone, but what do we do? 

 Grow a few and buy the rest. 



Consider bulbous stock. Think of 

 buying bulbs and planting them at in- 

 tervals of a few weeks or bedding them 

 outside and bringing them in as wanted. 

 Any man or woman can grow them and 

 they sell themselves, yet do one-fourth 

 of you present here buy what you need 

 or could sell? I say, no. As an im- 

 porter and a large buyer of bulbs, I can 

 speak for more than you can imagine, 

 as we have calls later in the season from 

 the Rio Grande up into Oklahoma, from 

 Arizona to Mississippi. If you are 

 afraid to handle or put out a few dol- 

 lars, don't blame anyone else if at the 

 end of the year you have not had your 

 share. Valley and giganteums can bo 

 bought from cold storage every day in 

 the year and easily grown; yet how 

 many florists in Texas plant this stock? 

 You can count them all on the fingers 

 of one hand and still have some fingers 

 left. 



We have a wonderful slogan, "Say 

 It with Flowers," yet do we have flow- 

 ers when the customer asks for them? 

 Not often. 



Middleton, Mass. — Clarence Osgood is 

 bnildiag a greenhouse. 



Vincennes, Ind. — In spite of the fact 

 that he could not, this season, secure 

 help enough to cut, bunch and ship the 

 entire crop of his twenty-one acres of 

 peonies, W. A. Reiman plans to plant 

 five more acres this autumn. He expects 

 to see a never ending demand for flow- 

 ers for Memorial day, but not a per- 

 petual labor scarcity. 



