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GAIN OR LOSS IN Jir 

 m GREENHOUSE LILAC 



Lilac forcing in America is a comparatively insignificant part of the 

 florists' business. Is this entirely due to natural and economic conditions, 

 which necessarily make lilac forcing unprofitable in this country, or is it 

 partly due to the growers* neglect to develop the lilac's possibilities? The 

 growers in general, rather than the writer of this articl^, must answer that 

 question. 



Q" H 



|N a general way the adage, 

 "Whatever is worth do- 

 ing at all is worth doing 

 well," may be as truthful 

 as it is aged and revered, 

 but it may sometimes be 

 dangerous doctrine, never- 

 theless. Its wholesomefiess and prac- 

 tical truthfulness depend on circum- 

 stances. If a grower, or other person, 

 is naturally and persistently careless 

 and slovenly, there may be no better 

 motto to offer him than the old say- 

 ing just quoted; it should be presented 

 to him at every opportunity, rubbed 

 into him and administered to him in 

 every possible way. On the other 

 liand, if a grower, or other person, is 

 •constitutionally so painstaking that 

 his methods are too slow and expensive, 

 it would be manifestly absurd to lec- 

 ture him continually about 

 the necessity of doing his 

 work well; he needs ad- 

 monition of an entirely 

 different sort. Thus our 

 teaching or preaching, in 

 which we all indulge a lit- 

 tle, should be modified 

 sometimes — it really should 

 — to fit our audience. Not 

 to please our audience, you 

 ^ill notice, but to fit it. 



Worth Doing Well. 



However, with reference 

 ■to the forcing of lilac in 

 America, there seems to be 

 little or no danger of over- 

 working the maxim that, 

 if it is worth doing at all, 

 it is worth doing well. In 

 the case of many florists, 

 it may not be wise to at- 

 tempt the forcing of lilac, 

 if only for the reason that 

 it needs more heat than 

 do most other crops, but 

 he who does undertake the 

 job should resolve to do it 

 at least a little better 

 than it is generally done, 

 for it ig not generally done 

 any too well. At many 

 greenhouse establishments 

 Which otherwise hold a 

 high rank, the forcing of 

 lilac is one of the little 

 side issues — so far to one 

 side, indeed, that it is 

 liable to be neglected. Of 

 course,, there are some ex- 

 ceptionally good lilac 

 forcers in America, but 



that is just the trouble — they are ex- 

 ceptional. The majority of growers 

 have not thought it worth while to 

 make any serious endeavor to force this 

 plant. 



For instance, once upon a time there 

 was a certain grower who conducted 

 his business on a large scale and usually 

 with great success, but his manner of 

 forcing lilac may be described as fol- 

 lows, so far as it is capable of de- 

 scription: 



A Hit-or-Miss Method. 



One of his brick-covered boilers pro- 

 truded into ope of the greenhouses. 

 When the lilac season arrived, a batch 

 of potted lilacs was set on fop of said 

 protruding boiler, and left there with 

 a brief parting benediction or "Good 

 luck to you! " When the man with the 



^ Forced Plant of Marie Le|ra7e Lilac. 



hose reached that end of the green- 

 house, the lilacs had an uncertain pros- 

 pect of receiving, or not receiving, more 

 or less of the refreshing moisture which 

 was swished and splashed around pro- 

 miscuously, as in a tempestuous, er- 

 ratic spring rain storm. On account of 

 their lofty and isolated position on the 

 boiler top, the lilacs were not always 

 reached even by the edge of the hose- 

 dispensed showers. If the lilacs flour- 

 ished under such treatment, the grower 

 was able to supply the chance midwin- 

 ter demand for lilac plants or blooms. 

 If the treatment resulted in failure — 

 why, the failure was half expected, any- 

 way, and there was no severe shock of 

 disappointment. Since there were no 

 great hopes, there were no great re- 

 grets. The whole process was a simple 

 one and was not accompanied with 

 much worry. In the esti- 

 mation of this grower, it 

 was a small matter at any 

 rate; the resulting profit 

 or loss was not seriously 

 considered. 



A Matter of Money. 



It must not be imagined 

 for an instant that there 

 is any intention in this ar- 

 ticle to disparage the 

 American grower because 

 the lilac as a greenhouse 

 plant has much less com- 

 mercial importance m this 

 country than in Europe. 

 The whole question is, as 

 it must be, strictly a ' ' mat- 

 ter o' money" — said to 

 have been one pupil's way 

 of spelling "matrimony." 

 There are generally the 

 • best of (practical reasons 

 for the fact that certain 

 flowers are popular, both 

 in the trade and out of it, 

 while other flowers, even 

 though as meritorious as 

 the lilac, receive small con- 

 sideration. The average 

 American grower is shrewd 

 enough so that he does not 

 miss many opportunities 

 for profit. If in the forc- 

 ing of lilac, under Ameri- 

 can conditions, there are 

 golden opportunities, or 

 silver ones, that have not 

 yet been discovered, the 

 American grower is cer- 

 tain to discover them 

 sooner or later. Though 



