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16 



The Rorists^ Review 



September 9, 1920 



to describe for himself sometime, if he 

 cares to do so. It is certainly an en- 

 viable position to have been attained, as 

 he himself puts it, "by a boy who 

 started to work on a farm at 10 years 

 of age." 



Different Methods. 



The method of growing carnations 

 used by Mr. Wallace and other English 

 growers is in some respects different 

 from that of our stock propagated m 

 December and January, and when the 

 plants are growing they are stopped 

 much higher than in the American sys- 

 tem. The result of this is that when the 

 plants are coming into bloom they are 

 much taller. Consequently freer access of 

 air and light is permitted to the bench. 

 Once the ydants are set out in the bench 

 they grow straight along for two or 

 three vears and some of the carnations 

 we saw at Mr. Wallace's stood eight 

 feet high from the top of the soil. The 

 climate' is much more favorable in 

 Europe for carnation development than 

 it is with us, and this is the cause of 

 such a wonderful growth. In mention- 

 ing this, I do not wish to depreciate in 

 the least degree Mr. Wallace's skill as a 

 .rrower, but it would be impossible to 

 Trrow plants in the benches here for two 

 vears in succession without replacing 

 them. I do not think the British grow- 

 ers get so manv flowers as we do in mid- 

 winter. Their main crop comes from 

 spring to fall; still their prices at that 

 time are as good as our midwinter 

 prices, as I found carnations were bring- 

 ing 3 to 5 shillings per dozen for the 

 best stock in the month of July. 



Million Mums. 



Lowe & Shawver is another name to 

 con.iure with in "the cut flower market. 

 Tn common with Mr. Wallace, Lowe & 

 Shawver 's is a cut flower proposition 

 pure and simple, and as they do not 

 issue anv catalogue, they do not care 

 to bo burdened with correspondence. 

 But to Americans who are looking for 

 a large cut flower establishment, this 

 will meet their views in many respects. 

 T was largely interesied in the Lowe & 

 Shawver establishmeiit on account of 

 the quantities of mums they grow, which 

 total nearly 1.000,000 plants. Some 300,- 

 nno of these were ])lanted out in the 

 oi.en ground and the others in pots. The 

 conditions under which these jdants are 

 jrrown are made possible by the climate. 

 We in the east cannot grow large blooms 

 outdoors and flower them successfully. 

 The hot sun dwarfs their growth and 

 blasts the flowers as they develop. The 

 j.lants that are to flower outdoors are set 

 into fixed frames and protected when 

 necessary by removable idant-cloth. 



Keeping Up. 



Mr. Shawver told me ho has six ciipu's 

 (if The Review mailed to his office every 

 week, in order that the foremen of the 

 (liffeient iloiiaitnieuts may each have a 

 copv to studv conditions as they are in 

 America. I told him T did not know of 

 a single .\)n(>ricnn house that was doing 

 nnvthing of this kind. His staff of fore- 

 men comprises some wonderfully clover 

 men in their respective linos. Tom 

 Stevenson, his mum grower, is known all 

 over the world. Teddy Alford is known 

 liv the rose men of throe continents, and 

 Ills carnation foreman, whose name has 

 iust for the moment 8lii)ped my memory, 

 i^ also as well known in this country 

 as in England. Lowe & Shawyer employ 



altogether over 500 employees and, giv- 

 ing an idea of the volume of their busi- 

 ness before the war, they forced every 

 year 6,500,000 bulbs, which is just one 

 item, for their cut flower trade. Some 

 130,000 rose plants are grown for cut 

 flowers, and an extensive new range is 

 being completed for the cultivation of 

 carnations. Mr. Shawyer will be re- 

 called by many rose growers as the 

 originator of the rose, Mrs. George 

 Shawyer. 



It would take several days to de- 

 scribe Lowe & Shawyer 's establishment 

 properly. These notes contain no men- 

 tion of the large crops of tomatoes, 

 sweet peas, etc., grown in tremendous 

 quantities for the market. 



While the large growers ship a good 

 deal of their stock to Covent Garden 

 market, they also watch closely all other 

 cities, such as Birmingham, Liverpool, 

 Newcastle, Glasgow and all manufactur- 

 ing centers, and see that they are pro- 

 vided for. There is excellent train serv- 

 ice and the fact that the country is 



The Editor is pleased vthen 

 a Reader presents liis ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spelling and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



small renders this method of marketing 

 possible. 



Page Properties. 



Among several other large growing 

 establishments that I saw, one deserving 

 ))articular mention is the Page proper- 

 ties, at Hampton — W. H. Thomas, Rob 

 ert and John Pago being more or less 

 •■iffiliated. Tn any case thoy are all prac- 

 tical florists. The Page pro])orties as n 

 whole cover I.jO acres, much of it being 

 covered with glass. A general line of 

 stock is grown — carnatifins, lilies, toma- 

 toes, cucumbors, etc. The lily supply is 

 arrangoil so that a certain number of 

 lioxes are placed on the market each 

 nioriiing every day of the year. Here T 

 ran across Jack Page, who works wnth 

 his father, W. H. Page, and who will be 

 remembered in America frf>ni the time 

 he worked for the E. G. Hill Co. and 

 I'oehlniann Bros. Co. Jack is a fine fel- 

 low and often longs for the brilliant 

 sunshine of America to enable him to 

 bring in his crops. Jack could not take 

 the Chicago sun back with him, but he 

 did take a Chicago bride to brighten up 

 the atmosphere. Mrs. Page, Jr., will be 

 well remembered around Morton Grove, 

 which she is planning to revisit next 

 year. Bobby Page, who was for a little 



while one of the employees of tho 

 Charles H. Totty Co., is now the chief 

 salesman at Covent Garden. Mr. Page 

 acquired considerable American ex- 

 perience while over here. Whether ho 

 acquired the gift of "blarney" in 

 America or it just comes natural to him, 

 I do not know, but I do know and couhl 

 see he is a splendid salesman. The Page 

 brothers numbered five originally. Now 

 the second generation is growing up and 

 almost all of them are working into the 

 business; so it looks as though the name 

 Page will remain in British horticulture 

 for many years to come. 



Last year the cut flower men in Great 

 Britain enjoyed a wonderful era of pros- 

 perity, due to the fact that production 

 was much below par. This year, with 

 the greatly increased quantity of cut 

 flowers, prices are dropping nearer pre- 

 war ones, though there is no reason for 

 any florist in England to be discour- 

 aged with the outlook. Labor is not any 

 too plentiful or any too good, but this 

 shortage is beginning to be made up. 



Coal Causes Worry. 



One thing that seems a source for 

 worry is the coal situation. The British 

 coal miner seems to think he should be 

 the millionaire. He works five days a 

 week and gets a correspondingly better 

 wage than any other man in the coun 

 try, but by last accounts he is still un- 

 satisfied and going on strike again. 



In France, too, the coal situation is 

 one of the great problems. Coal, I was 

 informed, is 500 francs a ton and of poor 

 quality at that, with the prospect every 

 day that the government will ration the 

 florist down to one-half or less of the 

 quantity he needs. All of the old conn 

 try establishments are suffering from 

 antiquated heating systems,-and I think 

 the next ten years is going to see con- 

 siderable change in that direction. I 

 did not see a single place in either Great 

 Britain or France that was heated bv 

 steam. Every house in France had a 

 tiny hot water boiler placed at the end, 

 in which coke was burned. 



Albert Truffant, of Versailles, for in- 

 stance, has an establishment well known 

 to many men of European training, since 

 at one time or another many of the pres- 

 <'iit American growers were employed 

 there. At the present time in Mr. Truf- 

 fant 's establishment is found a copper 

 pipe, hot water system, installed pos- 

 sibly fifty years ago. With coal at 500 

 francs a ton, establishments of this char- 

 acter will have to be modernized or else 

 torn down, since the coal problem in 

 Kurope, as well as in America, will not 

 get any better and may rapidly grow 

 much worse. This criticism of the heat- 

 ing system, however, is not intended to 

 be taken wrongly; it is uttered in kind- 

 ness, as one of the many things I saw in 

 Kuroj)e from which a grower can learn 

 something about heating ]dnns. 



Bond Between. 



Wherever I went I was always most 

 cordially welcomed. The deep bond of 

 affection which exists was shown when, 

 in the course of conversation, names 

 came up and we would find we had many 

 friends in common scattered all over 

 the United States and Canada. A horti- 

 culturist seems to make friends more 

 easily and hold them longer than do 

 l)eople in almost any other line of busi- 

 ness. My whole stay in Europe was 

 most pleasant. 



