November 6, 1913. 



The Florists' Review 



19 



Poor Market for Mums. 



I feel that the demand for the chrys- 

 anthemum is just as large as it ever 

 was, or even larger, but this year in 

 the large eastern wholesale markets the 

 thousands, nay millions, of dahlia 

 blooms brought into the markets formed 

 a staggering load for the chrysanthe- 

 mum to overcome, since the dahlia can 

 be and is sold so cheaply. We can, of 

 course, have no argument with the 

 dahlia grower, for he, like ourselves, is 

 entitled to make what he can from his 

 business and enjoy the fruits of the 

 earth, but it does seem as though the 

 problem of distribution to the masses 

 could be better accomplished than by 

 crowding the wholesale markets to such 

 an extent that nothing can be sold at 

 a remunerative figure. We have the 

 varieties, we have the culture and 

 skill, but in a season such as this last 

 one we certainly have not had the 

 market to dispose of the stock. If 

 there is anyone who knows of a way to 

 overcome this condition, I should be 

 glad to have him mention it or have 

 the matter threshed out in a meeting 

 by the members present. Had provi- 

 dence intervened with a good, sharp 

 frost or two during the last days of 

 September, as it frequently does, there 

 would have been a different story to 

 tell. One good result, however, of the 

 beautiful fall we have had has been the 

 marvelous display of outdoor early 

 flowering mums. In our own case sev- 

 eral acres that we planted have been 

 a wonderful sight since the last week 

 in September and even today are ex- 

 traordinarily fine in spite of the drench- 

 ing rains and heavy fogs. 



Can the market for chrysanthemum 

 blooms be increased? I think it can 

 by growers broadening out their list 

 and not confining themsrives to the 

 eternal Ivory, Bonnaffon, and one or two 

 other kinds. When onr, is shipping to 

 a wholesale market, the varieties that 

 will ship well must be the first consid- 

 eration and, of course, take precedence, 

 but it will be noted in an exhibition 

 tLat the ladies vave over the large- 

 flowered Japanese varieties, the singles 

 and any other odd type that comes up. 

 This is the point for the observer to 

 make his deduction from. The buyers 

 would willingly take something differ- 

 ent if given a chance, and while the 

 shipper to the large wholesale centers 

 is always handicapped by the apathy 

 of the retailers who only want a few 

 staple varieties and large quantities of 

 them, still the growers who retail their 

 own products, of whom there are thou- 

 sands in America, should certainly en- 

 large their list of varieties. They are 

 enabled to do this because the problem 

 of packing and shipping is not of such 

 consequence to them as it is to growers 

 for the wholesale market. The public 

 mind is extremely fickle, and the cry is 

 always for something a little different, 

 something new, and the grower who 

 always has something different for his 

 customers ovorv year can always suc- 

 ceed in holding them and make good 

 money. 



The Problem of Membership. 



How can we increase our member- 

 ship? This is a yearly question at this 

 time and the answer is still somewhat 

 problematic. The kindred societies, 

 such as the Rose and Carnation so- 

 cieties, have something of interest for 

 their members at almost any season of 

 the year. The Chrysanthemum Society 



William Kleinheinz. 



( President-elect Cbrysanthemum Society of America.) 



may be said to live and move and have 

 its being only for the month of Novem- 

 ber, and just about the time a prospec- 

 tive member is getting enthused, the 

 season is over and his interest has 

 again waned for another year. The 

 society is doing excellent work weed- 

 ing out inferior kinds and acting as a 

 buffer between such inferior kinds and 

 the grower. It is entitled to the sup- 

 port of every mum grower in the coun- 

 try on that ground alone. Again, the 

 large number of enthusiasts who grow 

 chrysanthemums outdoors without any 

 glass protection whatever should form 

 a goodly host for any society, but ap- 

 parently we have not yet found the 

 means to reach them. I have men- 

 tioned this particular subject before 

 because I feel quite strongly in favor 

 of having them as members, realizing 

 as I do that they can never be ac- 

 cused of having a direct financial in- 

 terest in the development of the 

 Chrysanthemum Society of America, 

 and are working solely and simply for 

 the love of their favorite flower. I 

 cannot believe that the charge of $2 

 a year for dues is the reason for their 

 not joining us. Any suggestions that 

 could be proposed for reaching these 

 people would, I am sure, be welcomed 

 by the officers of this society. 



Whatever progress has been made by 

 the Chrysanthemum Society of Amer- 

 ica is due entirely to the efforts of our 

 conscientious secretary, C. W. Johnson, 

 who has worked early and late in the 

 interest of the society and who de- 

 serves praise for the work he has ac- 

 complished for this society. 



Holyoke, Mass. — Miss Lucy Hickey is 

 established in her new store on Maple 

 street. The formal opening was held 

 October 30. 



THi: MUM SECBETABY BEPOBTS. 



[C. W. Johnson, secretary of the Chrysanthe- 

 mum Society of America, presented the foUowlnu 

 report at the meeting at Chicago, November 5.] 



Your secretary begs to report his 

 work for the last year as follows: The 

 reports of the examining committees 

 as they were received were given to 

 the trade papers each week and at the 

 end of the season a tabulated report 

 for the whole season was made out and 

 published in the trade papers, it being 

 also included in the report of the 

 eleventh annual meeting. The num- 

 ber of seedlings submitted to the ex- 

 amining committees during the season 

 of 1912 fell below that of preceding 

 years, which ought not to be, because 

 there is plenty of room for improve- 

 ment over many of our standard com- 

 mercial and exhibition varieties. Take 

 as an instance the variety Chrysolora: 

 every grower must concede that this 

 variety is a great improvement over 

 any other that we had in its season a 

 few years ago and the effort of the 

 raiser was worth while and a great 

 benefit to all who grow and sell chrys- 

 anthemums. 



The latter part of November, 1912, a 

 second statement was mailed to all 

 those who had not paid their dues, and 

 resulted in a fair response, but if the 

 members could realize the amount of 

 work that comes to the secretary dur- 

 ing the year they would be more ready 

 to attend promptly to the payment of 

 their dues. Early in the year letters 

 were sent to a number of firms who 

 have yearly helped us by donating spe- 

 cial prizes, with the result that we 

 were able to get up a fairly generous 

 schedule of specials, and to all these 

 firms and individuals who have helped 

 us from year to year, and the new 



