20 



The Florists^ Review 



MABCa 11, 1015. 



product from many retail stores. This 

 is especially true since roses have be- 

 come more moderate in price. 



Promoting Popularity. 



Finally, there is the part of the hy- 

 bridizer and introducer of new vari- 

 eties in helping to popularize the car- 

 nation. Too much effort seems to be 

 spent on attaining size in new carna- 

 tions. Although this is desirable, if 

 other good points are not sacrificed, 

 keeping and shipping qualities are more 

 important and should have first con- 

 sideration. The largest carnation ever 

 produced is, when asleep, no better 

 than the old Lizzie McGowan. 



Fragrance is another feature that is 

 missing from so many of our new vari- 

 eties, and one that would be extremely 

 valuable. How many of our carnations 

 now have the fragrance of the Flora 

 Hill? 



Again, I would urge the grower to 

 work in closer sympathy with the 

 wholesaler. Let him talk over his prob- 

 lems with his commission man and get 

 his advice as to what the retailer wants 

 and how he wants it. Too many of us 

 are inclined to resent any suggestion 

 or criticism from one who, we may 

 think, knows nothing of our end of the 

 business. None of us knows it all and 

 we must every one strive to take a 

 broader view of affairs. Remember the 

 wholesaler's prosperity depends on our 

 prosperity and we both depend on that 

 of the retailer. So when the commis- 

 sion man makes a suggestion or criti- 

 cism, we may be sure he is doing so 

 for the benefit of each of us. He may 

 not always be right, and we need not 

 follow his advice, but we can be sure 

 it is given for the purpose of helping 



us both, and we owe it to him and to 

 ourselves to consider it carefully and 

 without offense. 



This problem, then, that of distribu- 

 tion rather than production, is the one 



that demands our closest attention; it 

 is the problem we must solve before 

 we can obtain the full profit to which 

 the employment of our energy, skill and 

 capital entitles us. 



NOTES FROM FOREIGN BA.NDS 



aims AND GKOWHILS AT QHENT. 



By a Belgian Soldier. 



Until the outbreak of the war I was 

 an employee at Louis Van Houtte's 

 nurseries, at Ghent. After I was 

 wounded I received my discharge frolh 

 the Belgian army, and have just 

 reached America direct from Ghent. 

 How the war has affected the horti- 

 cultural trade there, up to the time 

 of my departure, I will tell you, as 

 follows: 



At the end of September there were 

 some small battles at Melle, near 

 Ghent. In a large house of the firm 

 of Bier & Ankersmit soQie hundreds of 

 palms were destroyed and thousands of 

 lights were broken by shrapnel. Sev-. 

 eral greenhouses in Mejle were heav- 

 ily damaged by rifle fire. 



During the first dayp of October, 

 with the tidings of the fall of Ant- 

 werp, the news reached 6hent that the 

 cactus nurseries of Frantz de Laet, at 

 Contich, were completely destroyed; 



J. K. Alexander. 



nothing was left. Other small nur- 

 series in the suburbs of Antwerp suf- 

 fered greatly. The «whole population 

 of M9,lin.es ( Mechlin )» and surrbunding 

 villages, all vegetable gardeners, were 

 in flight, and thousands of frames and 

 tomato houses werJ> destroyed there. 



October 6, Pays de Waes (Waes- 

 land), a district between Ghent and 

 Antwerp, where there are many large 

 nurseries and greenhouses, was aban- 

 doned by the population, terrified by 

 the approaching Germans. In that dis- 

 trict the plants in the houses suffered 

 from sun and dryness. 



The province of Ghent was invaded 

 by the Germans October 12, and the 

 city was abandoned by the allied 

 armies. There were no battles there, 

 and the population was calm, but all 

 the young people were leaving for Hol- 

 land or France. All the surrounding 

 villages, such as Looehristy, Destel- 

 bergen, Meulebeke and Melle, were de- 

 serted. All these places have impor- 

 tant nurseries, and the plants were left 

 without care for several days. 



Present Situation. 



Since the Germans have been in 

 Ghent all exportation of plants has 

 been stopped. By application to the 

 kommandantur, the Chambre Syndi- 

 cale obtained some permits for the ex- 

 portation of plants to Holland. All 

 the means of communication were so 

 elow and so difficult that little busi- 

 ness has been done. All the smaller 

 nurserymen of the Ghent district are 

 ruined; not less than that. For a time 

 there was a shortage of coal; in the 

 latter part of October coal came in, 

 but it was sold at more than double 

 the usual price. The houses are crowd- 

 ed with twice the proper number of 

 plants, and they are dying as a result 

 of standing too close together. The 

 palms and azalea^ -have lost their 

 leaves. Millions of begonias are \ys\- 

 sold. What will become of the Ghent 

 nurseries if the Germans are shelled as 

 they retreat? What will remain of the 

 thousands of greenhouses, of the valu- 

 able collections of stove plants and or- 

 chids, after a bombardment? These 

 are quesiions which the growers of 

 (JhenL ask themselves every day. 



All the young nursery hands are 

 serving their country. A small num- 

 ber have crossed the Holland frontier. 

 In most of the nurseries the older 

 hands are working half days. Great 

 misery exists among the working peo- 

 l)le. There is great desolation in 

 Ghent, all having relatives in the 

 irenches and being unable to get news 

 of th'jm. In each home there are six 

 to eight German soldiers to be lodged 

 and fed. 



Fror.i the nursery of Louis Van 

 Houtte, twenty-five of the men have 



