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The Florists^ Review 



41 



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SCHOOLING FOR FLORISTS 



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THOSE of you wlio .started in tlio 

 tlorists' business in the late sev- 

 enties or in the eififlitics liad an 

 iitirely different proposition from the 

 iorist of today. It was x'ioiieer work. 

 Nfost of our conuuereial florists of that 

 [ay rose from the ranks of tlie j)rivate 

 .;ardeners or the market {gardeners. Few 

 received tlieir training in commercial 

 ■stablishnionts, because commercial es- 

 ablishments were few and of the few 

 I largo percentage were small and oper- 

 ited by the owner and his immediate 

 ;aniily. There was no room for out- 

 siders and so outsiders had little chance 

 to learn the business. 



Today there is no town of any impor- 

 tance but what has one or more florists' 

 "stablishments. The investments of 

 1870 and before liave increased to over 

 $100,000,000 and the outjmt from the 

 t'ew thousands of dollars to over $40, 

 1100,000. 



The size of the individual place has 

 also increased from a few small sasli 

 houses heated l)y flues to enormous 

 ranges of large, modern houses cover- 

 ing from five to forty-five acres. Many 

 here will remember the interest shown 

 when Henry A. Dreer, Jnc, built an ad- 

 ilifiou covering an acre of land. Such 

 an addition todav causes no comment 

 at all. 



Rapid Progress. 



Forty to fifty years is truly a brief 

 period for the upbuilding and develop- 

 iu(!nt of a great industry or 

 profession, whichever you 

 |)lease to call it. Yet it 

 has been done and floricul- 

 ture has taken its place in 

 the ranks of big business. 

 A business man once told 

 me that the money invested 

 in floriculture is more than 

 is invested in the steel in- 

 dustry. 



What has been the cause 

 iir causes of this great de- 

 veltjpment? The m ;i, i n 

 '■ause, without doubt, has 

 been a greater appreciation 

 of flowers, followed by an 

 increasing demand. This 

 lias been accompanied by 

 improved methods of build- 

 ing and heating, that have 

 made possible larger and 

 lighter houses and have 

 i>i;ide it possible to grow 

 •lowers more economically 

 ind cheaply. 



With the increased inter- 

 'st shown by the public and 

 the demand for newer and 

 '•I'ttcr varieties, the Amer- 

 ican florist has done won- 

 'lers in the development 

 "f greenhouse flowers. We 

 •ii'i' no longer dependent 

 upon Europe for our nov- 

 '•Ities and no doubt some- 

 'ime in the future we shall 

 ■'I' more or less independent 

 -^f them for our stock. 



The success of the flo- 

 •■ists' business is also re- 

 If^cted in the allied lines. 



Address (if rrcil'. II. H. Dornor, Iiond of tlic 

 divisidii (if llDrii-uHiMi' of tlif l,'iiiv<'rsit.v of Illi- 

 nois, oil "'I'lo' lOxlciit ;i iid Aims of FloricultiirnI 

 Kdiic.-itioii i]L tlio liiUcd Stales," delivered he- 

 fore the S. .\. K. cciiiveiilioii :il Wasliiimton Aii- 

 KMSt Ki. lltL'l. 



such iis greenhouse building and pot 

 manufacture, and in the develo]inient 

 of numerous decortitive and other ac- 

 cessories. Nowhere is the success of 

 the florists' business more ](lainly 

 shown than in the development and 

 growth of the florists' organizations. 

 OiH! hiis only to lotd-c back ten years 

 to find that the great iulvtuicement of 

 the Society of Americiin Florists, the 

 Florists' Telegr.-qih Delivery Associii- 

 tion, the. American lioso Society and 

 other national, state and local organi- 

 zations litis been during that period. 



Aid Now Needed. 



Our educiitional institutions tire jier- 

 hajis the last to refl(>ct the advance- 

 ment of floriculture. This is due, main- 

 ly, to the fact that up to the past few 

 years the florists did not have the or- 

 ganization and strength to demand the 

 iissistance thttt was their due. It is 

 also true that the |iroblems confront- 

 ing the florist tire becoming more com- 

 plex and numerous as the Imsiness de- 

 velops. The high state of development 

 and cultivation of our crops has seem- 

 ingly made them more susceptible to 

 fungi and insect enemies tiiid htis called 

 for more efficient methods of control. 

 The rapid development of the business 



H. B. Dorner. 



(Professor of Florlrultura, tlQlverslty of Illinois.) 



coming :it ti time when the supply of 

 mtinure wtis decreasing has presented 

 iiiiotlier problem. The increased cost 

 of jiroduction has tilso made it neces- 

 sary to reduce losses as much as pos- 

 sible by ii closer study of the pltint tind 

 its re<[uirements. These tiinl numerous 

 other ([ii(>stions have been brought to 

 the experiment stations and the United 

 Sttites Department of Agriculture for 

 solution and much aid has been given. 



Tti 1918 the Bureau of Census ctilled 

 upon the greenhouse men for a sttite- 

 nu-nt of tlieir fuel consumption, the size 

 and vtihio of their greenhouses, and the 

 Aiiliie of their crops. While this re- 

 ]iort dot's not reflect the real business, 

 due to the fact that some establish- 

 ments were closed down and others had 

 curtailed their production, it is inter- 

 esting because it gives us the Ititest 

 figures availalile. The 192(1 census re- 

 turns are not yet completed. 



According to this report, there were 

 1 19,.>31,;i80 scpiare feet of ground co\- 

 ered by greenhouses and devoted to 

 flowers and vegettibles. The value of 

 the entire product was $46,188,534, of 

 which .$3.1,824, 691 represented flowers 

 and $10,363,843 vegetables and other 

 ])roducts. Without doubt, the value of 

 the crop during a normal year is con- 

 siderably more. 



Distribution of Glass. 



More interesting than the timount of 

 glass and the value of the crop is the 

 distribution of the green- 

 houses in the country. The 

 two things thtit seem to 

 iiifect distribution most are 

 liopulation and temjjera 

 ture. The greater part of 

 the glass area lies in those 

 states where the jiojiulatioii 

 is densest tind where the 

 winters tiro cold enough to 

 make greenhouses neces- 

 sary. The census shows 

 thtit twenty-three states re- 

 port 1 ,000,00(1 or m o r e 

 S(iuare feet of glass ;md 

 that fifteen states have 

 over four-fifths of the glass 

 tireti of the United States. 

 In order to secure accu- 

 rate datii as to the work 

 thtit is being done in the 

 V ti r i o u s agricultural col- 

 leges and experiment sta- 

 tions, questionnaires were 

 sent out. The returns show 

 that the agricultural col- 

 leges of six of the states 

 listed below .are offering 

 full curriculunis ia floricul- 

 ture. The six institutions 

 now offering work in com 

 mercial floriculturf are: 

 I'niversity of Illinois, Cor 

 noil U n i V e r s i t y ( Xew 

 York), Massachusetts Agri 

 cultural College, Ohio Stafe 

 T'niversit}', Iowa State 

 I'niversity and University 

 of Maryland. Two of these, 

 the University of Illinois 

 and Iowa State University, 

 confer the degree of bacii- 



[Continued on pace IDO. I 



