32 



The Florists' Review 



Jancabx 26. 1922 



iug qualities, sold at a reasonable price, 

 is the one that meets the popular dc 

 inaiid. 



In these first days of the society there 

 was considerable groping for cultural 

 knowledge and the meetings consisted 

 <il' cultural papers and discussions, much 

 of our present-day knowledge being due 

 to these papers and the discussions that 

 tollowod. 



Leaders in the East. 



Being in the down-east district, one 

 recalls the names of William Nicholson, 

 M. A. Patten, Peter Fisher, E. N. Pierce, 

 8. J. Reuter, C. Warburton and, of 

 course, your own Wallace Pierson, all 

 <;arnation enthusiasts in their time. 

 These men were boon companions of 

 K. Witterstaetter and E. G. Hill and 

 others from the west, and if we could 

 have an account of their round table 

 talks it would be both interesting and 

 instructive. 



Things went along pretty smoothly 

 until 1892, when we had our first scare 

 fiom carnation rust, this scare continu- 

 ing for a number of years. But better 

 houses and better methods of culture 

 have made it practically a forgotten 

 issue. It is occasionally found today; 

 in fact, I found recently a pretty good 

 <-aso of it on. a novelty, bilt the grower 

 considered it a minor matter. It is 

 lucky that it has died out before we 

 started on our present-day mad career 

 of quarantines, or there is no telling 

 what might have happened to the carna- 

 tion industry. . . 



Coming down to present-day varieties, 

 it would be presumption on my part to 

 attempt to do justice to either origi- 

 nators or varieties. They are here for 

 vour inspection and actions speak 

 louder than words. I should like to do 

 iustico to your secretary, the present- 

 <lav Dorners, your host of eastern hybrid 

 ize'rs and some of the good varieties of 

 recent introduction. At the first meet- 

 ing the committee of retailers, consist- 

 ing of John Westcott, Bobert Kift and 

 H. H. Battles, agreed that a good 

 clear yellow carnation now was badly 

 needed. We have it today in Maine 

 Sunshine. A good, free-blooming pink 

 was needed and we Pennsylvanians 

 think that our Henry Eichholz has given 

 it with Lassie. The rest of the tale is 

 before von. 



Present Needs. 



Hybridizers should strive for frugrance 

 fust— a carnation without fragrance is 

 a nonentity — substance, second; habit 

 and freedom, third; size and color, last, 

 and in color give decided shades— there 

 is little call in our markets for fancy 

 combinations. 



They should also aim to i.roduce a 

 rood summer-blooming strain of carna- 

 tions, a strain that could be planted m 

 aardens along with roses and other 

 garden plants, which I believe would 

 add to their value as a cut flower witli 

 the public. Some years back it was 

 thought that we ought to have a race 

 of carnations that would make good pot 

 plants, but to my mind we do not need 

 these and they would not benefit carna- 

 tion growing as an industry. 



Next to the production of needed 

 varieties, we should have in the United 

 States a Carl Engelmann to devote a 

 good portion of his place to experi- 

 mental purposes and to make it the 

 Meeca for carnation growers here that 

 his place ie in England. There is no 

 end to the education such a place would 

 be to our wide-awake American growers. 



Some Items of Interest. 



Publicity, like many other things, 

 has been neglected by the American 

 carnation growers and the Britishers 

 are far ahead of us in this respect. We 

 have plenty of the best trade paper 

 j)ublicity, but what we want and need 

 is Associated Press publicity, news 

 notes and items of interest to the 

 general public. Such items are always 

 eagerly sought by the press and are 

 of incalculable good if truthfully pre- 

 sented. 



Here are a few: 



Lowe & Shawyer, of Oxbridge, Eng- 

 land, with 130 acres of glass, have six 

 carnation houses 43x276 and have car- 

 nations growing in them for three years 

 in succession in full health and vigor. 

 The plants are fully six feet high, filled 

 with buds and flowers of first quality. 

 (Some room for discussion here.) 



Carnation roots are known to have 

 gone into the soil to a depth of twelve 

 feet, showing conclusively that they are 

 gross feeders. (This might be used as 

 an argument for solid beds.) 



In South Africa our winter carnations 

 are a popular garden, flower and new 

 varieties such as Laddie and Maine 

 Sunshine sell for $1.75 per plant. 



We all know the publicity that 

 Thomas W. Lawson gave to Peter Fisher 

 and his variety, Mrs. T. W. Lawson. 

 We know what a furor there was all 

 over this land and how everybody 

 wanted to see it. Any store that was 

 lucky enough to get a few for its win- 

 dow had an attraction that nothing be- 

 fore or since has had. There is no rea- 

 son why other meritorious varieties 

 should not have similar publicity. 



Better Business Methods. 



In 1891 the need of carnation growers 

 was better business methods. In 1922 

 the same need exists; in fact, to a cer- 

 tai;i extent a greater need exists today. 

 The first step is to get the cost per 

 llower of your production. This, of 

 course, on account of various condi- 

 tions, cannot be done to the fraction of 

 a cent, but in a society with the scope 

 this one has, it ought to be practical to 

 arrive at a fair average cost. 



This cost is absolutely necessary to 

 arrive at a fair selling ])rice. It is also 

 necessary as a guide to individual 

 growers for comparison. The man who 

 can decrease it by high equipment or 

 better business methods will have just 

 that much more profit. The man who 

 would increase the costs would reduce 

 his profits in jiroportioii and lie wnuld 

 know when to quit. 



Cost tabulation has been discussed 

 from time immemorial, but let me tell 

 you that today is the time to stop dis- 

 cussing it and get down to actual work. 

 Cost knowledge is as necessary to the 

 life of your business as the action of 

 your heart is to your own life. 



I.,ook back and see the jirominent 

 men who grew carnations under tlie 

 hajihazard system then in vogue and see 

 how many have dropped out. Take a 

 man like E. G. Hill, whom no one could 

 accuse of not being a good businessman. 

 Carnations for some years were a big 

 feature of his business, but he was 

 growing in competition with men who 

 knew absolutely nothing abont costs 

 and today they are not part of his busi- 

 ness. 



Cooperation Needed. 



Today the carnation has some advan- 

 tages over the rose, as a great many of 



former carnation men have dropped the 

 carnation and taken up roses. The con- 

 sequence is that carnations are scarce 

 and roses too plentiful, but this condi- 

 tion is not going to last and the quicker 

 carnation men can stabilize their busi- 

 ness the better it will be for it and 

 them. 



To stabilize it, cost comes first; then 

 cooperation and until we have real co- 

 operation we shall not meet with the 

 success that the carnation deserves. 



When the wholesaler tells the grower 

 not to grow a certain variety of carna- 

 tion and the grower goes ahead and 

 plants this same variety in quantity, 

 then there is laek of cooperation on the 

 part of the grower. When a wholesaler 

 tells the grower to grow a certain va- 

 riety which he knows cannot be grown 

 at a profit, then there is lack of co- 

 operation on the part of the wholesaler. 



When the retailer gets carnations for 

 $1 per hundred and sells them for $2 

 and $2.50 per dozen, then the grower 

 does not get his just share of the trans- 

 action, and his only remedy is to get an 

 exorbitant price when the demand is 

 below the supply, and the retailer can- 

 not make his just share of profit. Any 

 business man will tell you this is a 

 rotten condition of business and that it 

 will take real cooperation to remedy it. 



To have real cooperation we must first 

 get rid of that spirit of greed and 

 selfishness that seems to have reached its 

 culmination in the last four years. The 

 principle of everybody for himself and 

 the devil for the hindmost will send 

 the business to the gentleman in ques- 

 tion just as surely as the sun rises. 



Stabilizing Prices. 



1 was going to advocate that carna- 

 tions should be advertised at a certain 

 moderate price, say $2 to $2.50 per 

 dozen, from September 15 to June 15, 

 with prices doubled for special days, 

 and then let the grower and the retailer 

 get together on a wholesale price cover 

 ing the same period. This I am told 

 is not feasible, but, like the man who 

 is convinced against his will, I am of 

 the same opinion still. I fully believe 

 that the stabilizing of prices to the 

 jiublic and letting the public know about 

 it would build this business to wonderful 

 proportions. It is a poor rule that has 

 no exceptions, and this would no doubt 

 run up against some exceptions, but 

 these, if properly explained in your sales 

 and advertising, eould be overcome. 



After all is said and done, it is the 

 public which makes or breaks a busi- 

 ness. People will buy only what they 

 want, when they want it and at a price 

 that they consider fair. With oceans of 

 [lublicity you can sometimes create a 

 demand and at all times stimulate a 

 demand, but unless you can make your 

 advertising absolutely truthful, better 

 not advertise at all. Nothing will kill a 

 business more quickly than to use a 

 finely worded advertisement and then 

 not live up to the letter of that ad- 

 vertising. 



In some of the national advertising 

 now being done (I am not speaking of 

 our own) the dealers are not living up 

 to the wording of their statements and 

 as a consequence the trade-mark or slo- 

 gan is a detriment rather than a help to 

 sales. If we are not extremely careful 

 to "Say It with Flowers" of the right 

 kind, eventually our slogan will lose 

 its pulling power, and that is a loss we 



