24 



The Florists' Review 



December 16, 1920 



ground in a double-shaded lath house. 

 After lifting, the palms are grown in 

 pots one year before shipping. Every 

 conceivable condition is carefully 

 watched and studied for improvement. 

 The careful establishing of every plant 

 before shipping is extremely important 

 for you and for me. The minimum size 

 sold for shipment now is usually thirty- ^ 

 six inches hig^. The smaller palms can 

 be grown in the east just as cheaply as 

 liere. 



Quality Essential. 



One eastern palm grower^ openly ad- 

 vertised in an eastern trade paper a few 

 months ago regarding palms and said, 

 * * None of those flimsy-rooted California 

 palms." To me tliis seems like small 

 town talk and advertising of poor prin- 

 ciple, but nevertheless such condition 

 of stock has been true in the past 

 among the trade, but I am proud to say 

 this will not be the condition of plants 

 from my place and a few other reputable 

 growers I know. 



Some growers have been too eager to 

 sell their stock and well knew that the 

 plants were not sufficiently established 

 to give good satisfaction. Eemember 

 that kind of service is not upbuilding 

 the California trade and that the east- 

 ern florists and growers well know good 

 stock and cannot be easily fooled. This 

 hurts your future business standing as 

 well as mine, for the eastern trade speaks 

 in general terms and says that Califor- 

 nia stock is flimsy-rooted or inferior 

 to the stock formerly received from Bel- 

 gium, France, England or other coun- 

 tries. We can prove that the best qual- 

 ity can be grown here in California, al- 

 though every man must study and learn 

 his own conditions. To me it seems 

 most important that every firm be es- 

 pecially careful as to the class of stock- 

 shipped east and the method of han- 

 dling it. If California is to become the 

 home of stock formerly imported, we 

 have a big obligation and duty to per- 

 form. 



Experiments in Azaleas. 

 There are many different ornamental 

 plants already successfully grown in a 

 specialized way. In addition to the 

 kentia palms previously mentioned, the 

 Cottage Gardens Nurseries are likely 

 pioneers in the commercial growing of 

 azaleas, araucarias, tuberous-rooted 

 begonias and other such stock formerly 

 imjjortod from Belgium. 



At first azaleas were tried outdoors 

 and in lath houses at Eureka, but the 

 winters were too severe and damaged 

 the foliage. Then, too, the late frosts 

 damaged the young growth in the 

 spring. Now this stock is wintered in 

 greenhouses and planted out for summer 

 growth, which is the Belgian method. 



A few of the plants of the experi- 

 mental stage were ship](e(l east, which 

 accounts for the eastern idea that 

 azaleas cannot be grown successfully in 

 California. The production now is as 

 good as the iinjKirted stock, but I under- 

 stand that the sale has been restricted 

 entirely to the Pacific coast, as the de 

 mand at i)resent is far greater than the 

 supjily. There is absolutely no ques- 

 tion whatever about the successful 

 propagation of rhododendrons of the 

 finest type. There are millions growing 

 in the northern jtart of the state. Box- 

 wood, of course, is one of California 's 

 staples and is grown in large (piantities, 

 ])articularly along the coast. 



Roses and Ericas. 



Rose bushes for pot forcing are es- 



pecially in demand. Thousands are 

 shipped every year and still there is a 

 shortage. The purpose of this stock is 

 for the florist to get it nicely in bloom 

 for Easter, which is long before outdoor 

 shrubbery in the east starts its spring 

 growth. However, there is one impor- 

 tant fact to remember; namely, that if 

 you expect to satisfy the eastern florist, 

 the roses must be budded low and the 

 plants bushy. 



Ericas of many different varieties are 

 grown about San Francisco, Eureka and 

 Los Angeles in large quantities. Some 

 of this stock is raised for eastern pot 

 plants. Most of our stock at Montebello 

 is grown for cut flowers. Again I want 

 to emphasize the great necessity of 

 properly establishing plants before ship- 

 ping. Some growers have the idea that 

 the stock will stand rough treatment, 

 but bad results will certainly follow this 

 attitude. 



Ericas are of great value to the 

 florists ' trade in the east as well as the 

 nursery trade here. A number of grow- 

 ers are shipping them to eastern florists 

 for greenhouse forcing. There is a great 

 demand for substantial and new bloom- 

 ing pot plants. 



Other Items. 



When Quarantine 37 was put into 

 effect many men declared that orchids 

 would soon be a thing of the past in 

 this country, but these, too, are quite 

 successfully and scientifically being 

 raised by San Francisco and other grow- 

 ers throughout the country. 



Bulbs have been grown in this coun- 

 try quite extensively during the last 

 few years. The Santa Cruz district; 



produces millions of fi-eesia bulbs, and- 

 many other varieties are grown in the 

 north. Michigan is making good prog- 

 ress in producing bulbs formerly im- 

 ported. 



The flower and vegetable seed busi- 

 ness also finds a home in California. 

 The drier climate of the southern part 

 of the state is especially favorable for 

 seed development and harvesting. These 

 seeds are sent all over the world. This 

 industry is really not given due praise 

 and recognition as to its magnitude and 

 possibilities. 



There are dozens of important varie- 

 ties of plants that are worthy of special 

 mention, but the main facts before us 

 ar^: First, that Quarantine 37 prohibits 

 thi importation of all nursery stock and 

 florists' products and in all probability 

 will remain in full force for many years 

 to come, and second, that the state of 

 California is especially suited to grow 

 every article formerly imported. 



Before the war, every trade accepted 

 the idea that certain articles had to 

 come from Germany, Belgium, Holland, 

 France, England and Japan, but later, 

 when we were forced to use our own 

 science and resources, you all kilow the 

 result. America was capable of being 

 self-supporting and made many won- 

 derful advances. A similar condition is 

 produced by the present plant embargo, 

 and why should not the florists and 

 nurserymen of this country establish 

 and encourage home industry? 



Portland, Me. — James B. Lord has 

 been obliged to close his greenhouses 

 on account of illness. 



PINK PART HAS A BIRTHDAY. 



Three Years Old This Week. 



This week the Pink Part of IThe Re- 

 view celebrates its third birthday. The 

 retailers' department appeared for the 

 first time on rosy-tinted ])aper Decem- 

 ber 20, 1917. At that time it was six- 

 teen ])ages in size and included 310 flo- 

 rists. This week it fills forty pages and 

 contains the advertisements of 689 flo- 

 rists. Th.'it represents an increase in 

 size of 1.50 per cent and an increase in 

 the number of retailers represented of 

 122 ])er cent. Considerably more than 

 twice as many florists now present their 

 facilities for filling telegraph orders to 

 the trad(> through these ])ages as did 

 three years ago. That growth is con- 

 tinuous is indicated by the fact that 

 there are fourteen new florists repre- 

 sented this week. 



In the Beginning. 



Of course, the telegra])h delivery de- 

 partment was an im])ortant feature of 

 The Review before it ap])eared on rose- 

 colored pajier. Though the Pink Part 

 is 3 yi'ars old, the retailers' depart- 

 ment was started many years ago. It 

 was inaugurated in The Review of De- 

 cember 2.'), 1902, long before the organi- 

 zation of the F. T. D. was even con- 

 ceived. That beginning eighteen years 

 ago was small. Six florists were rej)re- 

 sented. Three of them are still in the 



Pink Part, W. J. Smyth, Chicago; John 

 Breitmeyer 's Sons, Detroit, and the 

 William Scott Co., Buffalo. The other 

 three are no longer in business. The 

 second week the number had doubled 

 and at the end of the year there were 

 thirty florists in the department. Since 

 then the growth has been steady and 

 continuous. 



Expectations Fulfilled. 



Sturdy as was the development be- 

 fore, it has been far more rapid since 

 the adoption of rose-colored paper for 

 this department. The expectations in 

 making the change were expressed in 

 the first appearance of the Pink Part 

 as follows: 



It is pprffctly plain tliiit the rose-colored sec- 

 tion will he so eiis.v to consult tliiit it will be the 

 Kuide' ^ery Horist will iikc in selecting the re- 

 tailer tti whom lie will scnil his order — no mat- 

 ter how many other lists a man may have among 

 the papers on his desk, he will reach for the one 

 that is tlie first to catch liis eve — the one he 

 knows always is there, at his linnd — the one that 

 he knows is revised weekly every florist with an 

 order to ko out will consnlt the rose-colored 

 section. 



How fully those expectations have 

 been fulfilled are shown not only by 

 the growth of this department, but also 

 by the receij)t of such letters as the fol- 

 lowing from those who make use of the 

 Pink Part: 



Do the advertisements in the Telegraph De- 

 livery Department of The Keview pay and are 

 tliey read? We say they do and they are! And 

 we hope to see the time when that department 

 will be a <oniplete directory of retail florists. — 

 Heliance Seed Co.. Ironton. O., December 4, 1920. 



