NOVEMBEB 25, 1920 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



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<»s LILY BULB LAND .^ 



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me, 



EEVIOUS to the war there 



Pwere practically not over 

 five export houses in Yo- 

 kohama. Today there are 

 k about fifty doing business 



\^J^ with foreign countries sell- 

 ing Japanese merchandise. 

 If you are not acquainted 

 with Japanese business 

 methods, you might imag- 

 as I did previous to my visit, 

 that you could go to any manufac- 

 turer and get full supplies of what 

 you want. But business is conducted 

 in an entirely different manner than it 

 is in America. It is done on an ex- 

 ceedingly small scale. In order to do 

 business you depend upon the exporter, 

 who will submit samples and then 

 gather up the merchandise from place to 

 place and in this way accumulate your 

 requirements. The Japanese do not 

 hustle as we do. They take their time 

 and aim for efficiency. 



The love of flowers is one of the most 

 distinctive features of the Japanese 

 people's living and, indeed, existence 

 without them would be monotonous and 

 dreary. Nature must have known this, 

 for in the far-eastern land, which lies 

 like a green and flower-bedecked .iewel 

 in a wide sea, there are flowers year in 

 and year out, which must have fostered 

 the love of them in the hearts of the 

 race. At any rate, all flowers in Japan, 

 but more particularly the first flowers of 

 each season, are regarded 

 with solemn and most seri- 

 ous reverence. There are 

 many flower stores in Japan. 

 In the city of Tokyo there 

 are about 700. Their busi- 

 ness is done on a snrall scale 

 in comparison with our busi- 

 ness, as flowers are cheap 

 and easily cultivated. Large 

 quantities are grown and 

 the demand is always equal 

 to the supply, as every 

 Japanese home and oflSce is 

 always decorated with some 

 sort of flower, artistically 

 arranged. The art of ar- 

 ranging flowers is taught in 

 the public schools and other 

 institutions where one can 

 receive education in flower 

 decoration. 



Each Month's Flower. 



You will often see a small 

 twig arranged in a vase as 

 attractively as many of our 

 people will arrange flowers 

 that are full of fragrance 

 and color. This is proof of 

 their love of flowers. Every 

 month has a special flower 

 which the Japanese worship 

 and that flower is in tlicir 

 dwellings during the month. 



Lily bulbs are produced in 

 Japan much as we produce 

 gladiolus corms. The seed 

 bulbs are obtained from the 

 large bulbs on the side of 

 the plant stalk in the form 

 of soft bulbs. In harvesting 



Prom the address of A. Miller, of the American 

 ISulb Co., Chicago, entitled, "A Travel Talk on 

 the Orient," delivered at the seventh annual 

 meeting of the Tennessee State Florists' Asso- 

 ciation, at Memphis, Tenn., November 17, 1920. 



the export crop, each bulb is dug in- 

 (li\i(lually. The soil is ronioved by hand; 

 the stalk is removed from the bulb by 

 scissors. The bulbs are taken off, cleaned 

 iiiul sorted according to size and re- 

 planted during the months of November 

 and December in beds, about three 

 inches apart and in rows about a foot 

 and a half apart. 



In the early fall, when the stalk turns 

 yellow, the bulbs are dug again by hand, 

 reselected according to size and planted 

 in beds according to the size in the 

 same months as the previous year, but 

 in different soil and sometimes in a dif- 

 ferent locality. After this method is 

 continued for two years the larger bulbs 

 are then reselected and planted in a 

 bed about eight inches apart and about 

 two feet apart in the rows. This is 

 usually the export bed, mearing that 

 the bulbs will develop into export size. 



Packing Bulbs. 



About August the bulbs are dug, each 

 bulb individually, cleaned, put into a 

 box of about 150 bulbs per box and 

 shipped to Yokohama or Tokyo. There 

 the roots are removed by women and the 

 soil is taken from between the scales 

 and then they are regraded according to 



A. Miller Assumes Native Garb in Japan. 



size, and packed in export cases in steri- ■ 

 lized soil for shipping to America. To 

 develoji an export size bulb takes 

 about three years, sometimes longer. 

 Occasionally some bulbs will develop to 

 an export size in about two years. 



If a bulb is found in the fields show- 

 ing any signs of disease, the bulb is re- 

 moved early and lime is spread where 

 the bulb has been dug out. Farmers 

 are particular not to propagate from 

 bulbs that have been dug near the dis- 

 eased bulbs. Before packing, an exami- 

 nation is made by a government official 

 to detect any sign of disease in the 

 bulbs. If disease is found the govern- 

 ment official will make the shipper de- 

 stroy the bulbs and will not give a cer- 

 tificate of inspection, which every case 

 must have before a permit is given to 

 ship the bulbs. 



The bulbs are produced on a small 

 scale. About 3,000 farmers are engaged 

 in the production of lily bulbs. They 

 each produce from 3,000 to 20,000 bulbs. 

 Before the war the output of lily bulbs 

 was about 20,000,000. England has held 

 an embargo on the importation of lily 

 hulbs into the country for about four 

 j'ears, which has caused considerable 

 loss to the Japanese lily growers. 

 America put on an embargo for one 

 year, which caused more loss to the lily 

 exporters. When the war was over the 

 demand for lily bulbs was heavy and 

 the crop, which formerly was estimated 

 between 20,000,000 and 25,- 

 000,000, was reduced t o 

 hardly over 7,000,000. This 

 year the crop is estimated 

 to be 3,500,000, which shows 

 quite a reduction from the 

 ])rn-\var years, and it will 

 take another three years be- 

 fore the quantity of lily 

 bulbs will be increased to 

 normal crop conditions. 



According to figures and 

 according to a catalogue is- 

 sued in the year 1914, 7 to 

 19 lily bulbs were sold at 

 $18 per case, 8 to 10 bulbs 

 were sold at $23 per case 

 and 9 to 10 at $22 per case, 

 wliich shows that the pres- 

 ent prices on lily bulbs 

 have increased a little more 

 than 100 per cent since be- 

 foro the war. 



Comparing Prices. 



In comparing lily bulb 

 prices to Dutch bulb prices, 

 when one studies them care- 

 fully, he will note that some 

 of the Dutch bulbs have ad- 

 vanced from 300 to 500 per 

 cent and none less than 100 

 jier cent. i?o in comparison, 

 the Dutch bulb growers 

 li.Mve increased their prices 

 f;ir in advnnco of tlic .Tapa- 

 jiose growers, yet tliey suf- 

 fered no enilinrgo against 

 exporting bulbs to America. 

 In order to maintain the 

 high prices, a trust waa 

 formed, which placed a 

 minimum selling price on 



