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BELGIAN FLORISTS 



<^ FACE WAR'S RUINS 



Before the war the florists of Belgium held a more important place in 

 our business than those of any other foreign country. How they have 

 come out of the struggle, as told by one of them in this article written for 

 The Review, is therefore of general interest. 



America, 



EFORE the war there were 

 in the vicinity of Ghent 

 almost 1,100 florists' estab- 

 lishments, which nearly all 

 grew for export. They 

 covered an area of about 

 500 hectares, or about 1,- 

 250 ae^es. Their value 

 was about 55,000,000 

 francs, or about $11,000,- 

 000 at the prewar rate of exchange, 

 Twelve thousand workmen were em- 

 ployed exclusively in growing plants, 

 besides painters, carpenters, boiler erec- 

 tors, tub makers and others. 



Before the war the stock of plants 

 was abundant, as Belgium supplied 

 many countries, such as 

 France, England, Russia, 

 Germany, Austria, Scandi- 

 navia and, in smaller quan- 

 tities, Italy and Holland. 

 There were exported in 

 1914 plants with a total 

 value of 14,000,000 francs. 



Specialties. 



The principal culture was 

 that of Azalea indica, for 

 which the climate, the na- 

 ture of the water, the at- 

 mosi)lieric conditions and 

 the texture of the soil in 

 the vicinity of Ghent are 

 particularly favorable. It 

 may be stated without 

 boasting that Ghent, holds 

 the world's monopoly of 

 these char mi n g plants, 

 which are known all over 

 the world as Ghent azaleas, 

 altliough not to be confused 

 with the English Ghent 

 azaleas, A. pontica x mol- 

 lis. 



Besides this, the plantings 

 f hardy rhododendrons. 

 Azalea mollis, A. pontica, 

 A. sinensis and hybrids; palms such as 

 kentias, cocos, phcenix, latanias; or- 

 chids, araucarias, camellias, aspidistras, 

 Laurus nobilis, eurya, Citrus sinensis, 

 clivias, myrtus, Dracaena indivisa, D. 

 Briiantii, D. congesta, Acacia paradoxa, 

 boronias, tuberous-rooted begonias and 

 gloxinias were the chief features of the 

 horticultural activity. 



Some firms specialized in the culture 

 of different plants. Who has never 

 heard of the most remarkable orchid hy- 

 brids raised by Mr. Vuylsteke, of Ldo- 

 christy, near Ghent; of the magnificent 

 anthuriums and marantas of the firm 

 Alexis Dalliere; of the gorgeous col lec- 

 tions of stove plants, such as bertoloniaa, 

 drac8pnas, crotons, caladiums and ne- 



By O. WUYTS, 



Chef de Culture, 



Ecole d' Horticulture de I'Etat, 



Ghent, Belgium. 



penthes, of Louif Van Houtte; of the 

 grand collection of cape and New Hol- 

 land plants of Lucian de Coek? 



The Floralies Quinquenniales held in 

 the hall of the Societe Royale d 'Agri- 

 culture and de Botanique de Gand used 

 to attract professional and amateur hor- 

 ticulturists from all parts of the world. 

 So important was that center and so 

 numerous were those engaged in that 

 line of culture that the Belgian govern- 

 ment created in 1849 a school of horti- 



First-hand facts regarding the 

 present condition of Belgian flo- 

 rists are presented here to Review 

 readers, not as propaganda for or 

 against Quarantine 37, but as a 

 description of the present situation 

 in a country whose florists w^ere 

 formerly most closely connected 

 w^ith those of the United States 

 and whose trials and courage dur- 

 ing the w^ar were the object of 

 notice every^vhere. 



thrown away or sold for nearly nothing. 

 In many cases the direct or indirect 

 damages caused by the war have de- 

 stroyed many greenhouses. The frost 

 also killed many plants. Threatened 

 by requisition and deportation, many 

 florists were obliged to cultivate vege- 

 tables instead of flowers. 



Notwithstanding all these calamities, 

 the Belgian florists have made incred- 

 ible attempts to save the greatest part 

 of their plants. They spared neither 

 effort nor pecuniary sacrifice to be able 

 to present after the hostilities the fruit 

 of many years of hard and patient work. 

 They had chiefly taken care of the plants 

 sought after by their American custom- 

 ers, sure as they were that the generos- 

 ity which the American na- 

 tion had shown them during 

 the war would save them 

 after the most terrible 

 ordeal through which the 

 Belgian people ever went. 



DisillusionmeDt. 



culture, founded by Louis Van Houtte, 

 which is still existing and* is known as 

 1 'Ecole moyenne fratique d 'Agriculture 

 et d 'Horticulture de I'Etat a Gand. 

 Its old students, many of them for- 

 eigners, are occupying prominent posi 

 tions at home and abroad. 



War's DestnictloiL 



This flourishing state of affairs was, 

 alas, violently affected by the war. The 

 occupyinjg authorities refused to supply 

 the coal necessary for the upkeep of the 

 plants. Owing to that fact, numerous 

 and unique specimens of rare plants 

 were sacrificed; the culture of stove 

 plants has been reduced to a minimum; 

 great numbers of palms have been 



This hope, founded on all 

 that the war had taught 

 and shown in the way of 

 self-denial, generosity and 

 sympathy, was soon trans- 

 formed into bitter disillu- 

 sionment. Without any 

 warning, all importations to 

 the United States of Ameri- 

 ca were stopped; incredible 

 (lisappointment broke the 

 people down; all their hopes 

 suddenly faded away. This 

 despair was the greater 

 since the florists of Ghent 

 do not understand the cause 

 of the embargo. With the 

 best will in the world, they 

 cannot grasp the relation 

 which may exist between 

 diseases of cotton and those 

 of the plants cultivated in 

 Belgium, where the cotton plant is un 

 known, as is the cotton boll-weevil. 

 They cannot understand why the bulbs 

 of begonias and gloxinias are excluded, 

 whereas Dutch bulbs, such as tulips, 

 ilaffodils and hyacinths, are admitted 

 to America. They comprehend the less 

 since the Belgian bulbs when sold are 

 only a few months old and are all propa- 

 gated from seeds, thus adding strength 

 and vigor to the strain, while the Dutch 

 bulbs, before being salable, need a 

 much greater period of cultivation — 

 three years — and are exclusively in- 

 creased by vegetative propagation. The 

 Belgian florists do not understand why 

 the entrance of greenhouse and stove 

 plants ia prohibited as a preventive mea- 



