wMm 



WAR'S WORK ON THE 



RANUNCULUSES 



Ranunculus is Latin for Little Frog, applied, no doubt,. because many 

 of the species enjoy the same environment as diminuiivc tailless leaping am- 

 phibians, but that is another story : tliis one has to do with the sudden rise in 

 popularity this plant has enjoi/ed i)t America, and Jioir it came about. 



r'>i|*i*ji^i»i 



MONG the many curious 

 and unforeseen results of 

 the great war has been 

 popularizing in the United 

 States that hitherto little 

 known and lightly re- 

 garded European favorite, 

 the ranunculus. That the 

 flower, known in an insig- 

 nificant way for many 



years, but a regular item of stock in 



only one or two cut flower markets, tliis 



season has achieved a permanent place 



in the trade in practically all parts of 



America is recognized by many, bill 



how it came so suddenly 



to pass, with this flower 



of ancient origin, is not 



a matter of common 



knowledge. Here is the 



story: 



Ranunculuses, or, if 



you prefer the Latin, 



ranunculi, are as old as 



botanical literature. 



Parkinson mentions 



them in his Paradisus, 



and that was almost 



three centuries ago, in 



1629. But it might al- 

 most be said that the 



ranunculus was a 



stranger to the trade 



until this year; indeed, 



it would be a safe bet 



that not half the readers 



of this article ever have 



seen the bulbs or would 



recognize the plant with 



out the flower. 



Before the War. 



The buttercup is a 

 member of the family, 

 which is one of annual 

 or perennial herbs, num- 

 bering about 300 species, 

 scattered all over the 

 world, but mostly in the 

 temperate and colder re- 

 gions. This article deals 

 only with the Turban 

 ranunculus, R. asiatieus 

 var. africanus of the 

 botanists. The flowers 

 are extremely double, al- 

 most gobular, regular in 

 outline, often exceed 

 two inches in diameter, 

 and are to be had in all 

 the colors excei)t blue. 

 The colors, moreover, are 

 bright, clear and pure. 



Th "bulbs" of the 

 ranunculus resemble 



tiuy clumps of dahlia roots; they look 

 as much like spiders as anything. The 

 bulbs are supplied by all Holland ex- 

 porters, but they come only from one 

 small locality, tlie town of Alkmaar. 

 Xowliere else in the world does the 

 fibrous-rooted ranunculus thrive as in 

 the friable soil of the vicinity of this 

 Dutch city of 20,000 i)eopk', some fifteen 

 miles iiortli of Haarlem. Here, within 

 a radius of five miles, the world's su])- 

 ply of florists' rauunculusos is grown. 

 Otiior crops of the district are Rjianisli 

 irises, anemones and colchicuins. 



A before tlit'-war crop ot' ranunculus 



Ranunculus Romano> Brilliant Scarlet. 



bulbs at Alkmaar was 4,000,000 to 5,000,- 

 (lOO. They are grown in small lots by 

 scores of gardeners, who sell at or 

 before harvest to dealers or larger grow- 

 ers. The average gardener produces 

 25,000 to 50,000 bulbs a season. The 

 crop is lifted in August and represents 

 three years' work. Seeds furnish the 

 start, and the seedlings are undisturbed 

 for the first two years. A year before 

 tiie crop is merchantable the tiny bulbs 

 are lifted and spaced apart at replant- 

 ing, as the third year gives the most 

 iaj)i(l growth. 



In normal times by far the greater 

 part of the Alkmaar 

 crop of ranunculus bulbs 

 went annually to France, 

 all but a few hundred 

 thousand s — at least 

 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 out 

 of a possible production 

 of 4,000,000 to 5,0D0,000. 

 Along the Mediterranean 

 the bulbs were planted 

 outside, for cut flowers 

 to be shipped to the mar- 

 kets of Europe, Paris 

 principally, but also to 

 London, Berlin, Petro- 

 grad and many other 

 cities, for the ranunculus 

 has had a vogue that has 

 made it possible for the 

 southern gardeners to 

 find a profitable market 

 for from 8,000,000 to 

 10,000,000 flowers each 

 winter. 



The Embargo. 



But last summer, just 

 as the crop of ranunculus 

 bulbs was maturing at 

 Alkmaar, the French 

 government, following 

 the lead of the British, 

 prohibited the importa- 

 tion of bulbs from Hol- 

 land. The result was 

 quite a few millions of 

 ranunculus bulbs with- 

 out a market, unless 

 they could be worked off 

 in America. 



Now you know how it 

 happened that the ranun- 

 culus was so much in 

 evidence here a few 

 weeks ago. 



Although limited quan- 

 tities of ranunculuses 

 had come into the cut 

 flower markets in other 

 years, the crop had as- 



