18 



The Florists^ Review 



May 17, 1917. 



bors. If there will be any surplus stock 

 this spring, use it in embellishing your 

 own place of business. 



The accompanying illustration shows 



how J. H. Small & Sons, at their New 

 York store, show their neighbors how to 

 get away from the barrenness of city 

 streets. 



omi LETTER^y^" PEADER6 



FROM THE SHOUI.DEB. 



In The Eeview for May 3 there ap- 

 peared an article advocating the adop- 

 tion of the Shasta daisy as the national 

 flower. I do not object to the Shasta 

 daisy as a national flower, but I do ob- 

 ject to the way the writer bestows 

 praise on Luther Burbank, I firmly be- 

 lieve that much of Mr. Burbank 'a magic 

 has been "built" by write-ups, such 

 as enthusiastic people are always giv- 

 ing him. Many florists have produced 

 new varieties and improved old ones, 

 even as Mr. Burbank has, but the florist- 

 originators did not make so much fuss 

 about it. When Mr. Burbank " puts one 

 over" the people and press go wild 

 over it. 



As to Mr. Burbank originating the 

 Shasta daisy, that is all rot. The Shasta 

 daisy was in existence, under another 

 name, and overrunning some parts of 

 the country in a wild state, long before 

 we ever heard of Mr. Burbank. Mr. 

 Burbank has improved the flower and 

 given it the name of Shasta, exactly as 

 many of us have improved carnations, 

 roses, chrysanthemums and vegetables. 

 It would be silly to select a national 

 flower with the intent of honoring Mr. 

 Burbank or anyone else. The proposed 

 national flower must stand for the na- 

 tion, not for an individual. 



E. Bushyager. 



BROWN'S SOWBUG WARFARE. 



The Review for May 10 contained an 

 article relating how the houses of an 

 Illinois grower had been invaded by 

 an army of sowbugs and how the grower 

 was trying to stamp out the evil. I 

 had a similar visitation about ten years 

 ago and, after failing to exterminate 

 the pests by means of cut potatoes and 

 a mixture of Paris green and meal, I 

 found a remedy that proved most ef- 

 ficacious; in fact, I rid my houses of 

 the bugs within a week. 



I mashed a few potatoes and rubbed 

 the pulp on the surfaces of boards. The 

 boards, which were about a foot in 

 width and four feet in length, I placed 

 •^ on the ground underneath the benches, 

 ' leaving a space between the boards and 

 ground of about the thickness of two 

 pot labels. In a remarkably short time 

 the sowbugs collected by thousands on 

 the underside of the boards. I then 

 took a sprinkling can filled with boil- 

 ing water and fitted with a fine rose, or 

 cap. I tipped over the boards, one at 

 a time, and turned the hot water on 

 the pests. In this way I killed multi- 

 tudes of them, and within a week saw 

 the end of them. A few of the bugs 

 collected on the inner boards of the 

 back benches. These I exterminated by 

 cutting slits between the soil and the 

 bioards with a knife, and then pouring 

 in the boiling water, after removing 



the rose from the can. The bugs never 

 came back, but if they do I shall know 

 how to go after them. 



Thomas L. Brown. 



FINDS BUSINESS GOOD. 



I have noticed articles of dire pessi- 

 mism and forecasts of hard times ap- 

 pearing in your columns headed, ' * Grow- 

 ers! How About It?" and feel impelled 

 to make this contribution. 



Like almost everyone, I felt that our 

 business would be seriously affected by 

 the declaration of war with the Impe- 

 rial German Government, but found 

 quite the opposite to» be true. 



War was declared April 6, Good Fri- 

 day, but we did an immense Easter busi- 



ness. Though the first couple of, days 

 following Easter were quiet, people soon 

 began to flock to the cemetery and as 

 our range here at Mount Pleasant, 

 Mich., is at the cemetery gates, they 

 swarmed in for plants and cut flowers. 

 We had to discontinue delivering, so 

 we could use every available moment 

 to take care of customers. 



During the four days preceding Moth- 

 ers' day, we sold more than 4,000 carna- 

 tions at 10 cents each, straight, and 

 were forced to sell geranium flowers Sat- 

 urday afternoon and all day Sunday at 

 60 cents per dozen. Roses brought $2 

 to $4 per dozen, geranium plants 25 

 cents each, or $2.50 per dozen. Most of 

 this business was cash; no delivering. 



We are making preparations for a big 

 Memorial day, as it seems the war has 

 helped our business and that of most 

 others in this part of the country. 



C. V. Abeele. 



North East, Pa. — George Selkregg has 

 built up a large trade in tomatoes in 

 4-inch square boxes that retail at 50 

 cents per dozen. He says there is good 

 money in them. Apropos of boxes, he is 

 convinced the time has arrived when 

 retailers must charge for them, as it 

 seems the easiest way to obtain some 

 advance in prices, in view of the high 

 cost of growing. A fine stock of bed- 

 ding plants is to be seen at North East. 



iMii!^ii^iiyji^iMiu^^|ty^iiyjiiy{i^i^<iMiiL!^iu^ii!^iu^^ 



HERE'S A GOOD START! 



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TAtHntH-ATllAtHAtHAflTAfltTYtHyYtlf, 



PLAN FOR TRADE ADJUSTMENTS. inevitable result in the near future. 



Mass Meeting at Chicago, June 19. 



I feel somewhat difl&dent about bring- 

 ing this subject before the florists of 

 the central states, but I believe that 

 when the movement is started a great 

 many of our fellow tradesmen will join 

 in and help to make the plan a success. 

 The time is opportune and conditions 

 make it imperative that the florists as 

 a body take some concerted action 

 toward bettering conditions throughout 

 the trade. There is no need at this 

 time for me to go into details about the 

 different woes now confronting every 

 florist, no matter in what branch of 

 the trade he is interested. 



Practically all lines of business have 

 at some time during the last twelve 

 months adjusted selling prices and intro- 

 duced economic measures. Through lack 

 of concerted action the florists have 

 done nothing to counteract the tre- 

 mendous increase in the costs of the 

 materials used in our vast business. 



It seems unbelievable that the florists 

 have taken no action along this line. 

 Many millions of dollars are invested in 

 the central states for the production of 

 plants and flowers. Taken as a whole, 

 the glass area in Indiana, Illinois, 

 Michigan and Ohio represents a vast 

 acreage. Why should the people rep- 

 resenting this enormous investment sim- 

 ply drift along, hoping that conditions 

 will make their own adjustment? Con- 

 ditions do not adjust themselves, so 

 we must do the adjusting, and I firmly 

 believe that unless the florists get 

 together at once many failures and thou- 

 sands of dollars in losses will be the 



Help Wanted; Suggestions Wanted. 



We should have adjustments on whole- 

 sale and retail prices; shipping condi- 

 tions, such as prompt deliveries; charges 

 for packing and crating materials; 

 which party is responsible for goods con- 

 signed, and numerous other questions. 



Would not a cooperative meeting, held 

 in the near future, be of interest to all 

 in the trade? Would not that be the 

 proper and prompt way of getting 

 together to discuss these vital questions 

 and make adjustments which will bene- 

 fit all in the trade? 



If the men prominent in the trade 

 will do their share toward making this 

 meeting a success, I feel confident that 

 only good results will come from such 

 a gathering. 



I believe we should have a meeting 

 as soon as possible to study the differ- 

 ent questions and conditions pertaining 

 to the trade at this time. An ideal time 

 to get together would be June 19 and 

 20. As we all look to Chicago as the 

 market center, I think the meeting 

 should be held in that city. Chicago is 

 accessible from all points, and we should 

 have a large attendance. The final de- 

 tails of the meeting will be published 

 in an early issue of the trade papers. 

 Should everyone reading this letter at- 

 tend, what a wonderful meeting we 

 should have! 



I wish all of you would pitch in and 

 help me with this gigantic problem. Do 

 not forget the date of the meeting, 

 June 19 and 20, at Chicago. 



W. J. Vesey, Jr., 

 President of the American Carnation 



Societv. 



