18 



Hie Florists^ Review 



July 2, 1014. 



THE ROSE GROWING INDUSTRY. 



Opportunity for Bigger Business. 



In hip address before the American 

 Association of Nurserymen, at Cleve- 

 land, June 24, Robert Pyle, president 

 of the Conard & Jones Co., West Grove, 

 Pa., brought to the attention of the 

 members "some facts that bear a close 

 relation to future balance sheets." 



"Suppose for convenience," he said, 

 "we divide the rose growing industry 

 in America under three heads: First, the 

 cut flower business, from producer to 

 retailer; second, and in this the nur- 

 serymen are more' interested, the pro- 

 duction of the small roses, really in 

 itself a branch of the trade, and third, 

 field-grown roses for outdoor planting. 



"Regarding the first I will not even 

 cite statistics. You know as a rule 

 that the cut flower men are a thrifty 

 lot, with acres of glass and still ex- 

 tending. Single firms there are that 

 handle easily a million roses annually 

 and yet concentrate on a little more 

 than a dozen varieties all told; that is 

 one thing the nurserymen cannot do. 



"In regard to the second, the in- 

 creasing demand for small roses is in- 

 dicated by the growth of one center in 

 this state alone, which claims an out- 

 put of 7,000,000 roses a year, and that 

 is by no means the only place Where 

 such roses are produced in large quan- 

 tities. While the first-named class in- 

 fluences the taste of the American pub- 

 lic and the second class influences the 

 nurserymen, as they have to supply 

 them, I believe the subject that most 

 closely concerns you and that deserves 

 the attention of us all is that of field- 

 grown roses for garden planting, and 

 whether they be own-root or budded, 

 or whore they are produced, while 

 of real importance to us producers, 

 does not matter so much as does 

 the question whether those in charge of 

 these vast producing areas are awake 

 to what appeals to me as an oppor- 

 tunity for bigger business at better 

 prices. 



The Distributing Agencies. 



"It is my firm belief that the rose 

 growing industry in America is on the 

 threshold of a new era, and if I mistake 

 not, how rapidly we advance and take 

 possession of the field before us will 

 depend more upon you gentlemen than 

 upon any other one group of men I can 

 think of in America, unless it be a 

 little group with whose work I wish to 

 make you 'later acquainted. 



"Between the producer and eon- 

 sumer in this industry, as in others, 

 stands the sales manager; he is obliged 

 to know both ends of the game, as a 

 part of his proposition. He will tell 

 you that among the most important dis- 

 tributing agencies of field-grown roses 

 are, first, the nurserymen's agents or 

 the small dealers; second, the depart- 

 ment stores, and third, the regular cata- 

 logues of the catalogue houses. Per- 

 haps the department stores are least 

 particular about the quality and origin 

 of their stock and are prone to neglect 

 the essentials of care and treatment, 

 and, in consequence, probably hand out 

 more stock that fails to make good than 

 any other of the three distributing 

 agencies mentioned. The nurserymen's 

 agents do sell 'stuflF, ' as anyone who 

 grows for this class of trade realizes, 

 but I am informed by one of the largest 

 of them that it is not the grower or, 

 indeed, the agent who controls the sales, 

 but that, as regards new roses espe- 

 cially, he is limited and influenced/by 

 the stock color plates which are dis- 

 tributed by the Rochester and other 

 lithographers. So I turn to the last of 

 the three distributing agencies, the 

 catalogue man, who hires expensive 

 salesmen and hires them by the thou- 

 sands, and consequently the selection 

 of the varieties that he shall recom- 

 mend and push are more entirely within 

 his own control. 



"With a sales situation as above de- 

 scribed, what is the result? The depart- 

 ment stores take what the Holland 

 salesmen choose to deliver. The firm 

 which depends upon agency distribu- 

 tion continues to grow largely the same 

 old varieties in order to cover the sales 

 produced mainly by lithographed 

 plates. Whilie the catalogue man may 

 be a little better able to dispose of new 

 varieties as they come along, he too is 

 slow to weave into his list the worthy 

 new roses as they are introduced. Why! 

 First, because the general public does 

 not now readily take hold of new va- 

 rieties, and second, because the grower 

 himself lacks first-hand information re- 

 garding the new roses. Except for one 

 or two firms who are doing splendid 

 test work for their own information, 

 our present means and methods for 

 testing new roses and disseminating in- 

 formation are woefully inefficient and 

 inadequate. 



New Boses from Europe. 



"How many of us realize that new 

 roses are being introduced at the rate 

 of 700 every five years? Yet how many 

 of us know little about what we are 

 getting when we buy new roses from 

 abroad and therefore go slow and in 

 consequence are so far behind our Euro- 

 pean brother as to give him the cream 

 of the American trade! 



"For example, last week at the Syra- 

 cuse rose show, where I acted as judge, 

 there was one amateur who showed 150 

 varieties out of a collection of some- 

 thing over 250 in his garden, and he 

 was only one of many I met there who 

 were obtaining their stock directly 

 from across the water. Several other 

 amateurs with whom I have come in 

 contact, typical of those who show a 

 discriminating interest in having the 

 best obtainable, seem to feel that it is 

 only natural that they should go to the 

 source of supply in Europe for what 

 they want in the way of roses. 



"Let us compare: The average num- 

 ber of roses offered by the six leading 

 rose firms in America last spring was 

 about 400. The average number of roseB 

 offered by the six leading rose firms in 

 England was over 1,000. The total 

 number of varieties offered by eleven 

 leading American firms was a little over 

 1,000, and only eighteen kinds were 

 offered by them all. In these eleven 

 catalogues of 1914 I find ninety-one 

 new roses not formerly listed by any 

 of them. I calculate that American 

 firms have begun adding, on the aver- 

 age, more than twice as many new roses 

 annually as they did five years ago. 

 But selecting them is largely guess- 

 work and consequently we still crawl 

 along in the dark. 



"Therefore, in order that we may 

 walk in the light, in order that we may 

 not become burdened with the 1,000- 

 long lists of the Europeans, in order 

 that we may -eliminate before they 

 reach the nurserymen's hands the va- 

 rieties unsuited to our needs, in order 

 that we may build our sales upon 

 ' make good ' varieties only, I advo- 

 cate that American growers provide 

 adequate means for obtaining country- 

 wide tests of roses for Americans. Hav- 

 ing once established a means of obtain- 

 ing regularly a dependable list of roses 

 that will make 'come-back' customers, 

 may we not turn to the other pbase of 

 our subject, that of creating through- 

 out the country a greater interest in 

 and a bigger demand for roses?" 



The Means. 



In explanation of the methods to be 

 used to arouse public interest and pro- 

 mote the rose growers' cause, Mr. Pyle 

 showed stereopticon illustrations of the 

 big European rose exhibitions a;nd gar- 

 dens. He told of the work done by the 

 Syracuse Rose Society and the Amer- 

 ican Rose, Society, the latter in par- 

 ticular, and urged the organization of 

 rose societies and garden clubs among 

 amateurs, the planting of public rose 

 gardens, such as are now either estab- 

 lished or being established at Hartford, 

 Conn., Minneapolis, Minn., and other 

 large cities, and the continuation, on 

 an increasing scale, of the work of the 

 American Rose Society. 



£ 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Schenectady, N. Y. — Charles Limner 

 has filed a schedule of his assets and 

 liabilities with Referee Van Voast, A 

 creditors' petition in bankruptcy was 

 filed against Mr. Limner February 25, 

 after the Albany Cut Flower Exchange 

 had secured a judgment for $114. Mr. 

 Limner owns some real estate at Wood- 

 lawn Stop, which he values at $2,200. 

 It is subject to two mortgages, held by 

 Charlotte Hoyt, of Troy, for $710, and 

 Elizabeth Limner, of Schenectady, $500, 

 leaving an equity of $929 in the prop- 

 erty. Other assets are valued at $345. 



