Junk 8. 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



127 



VIOLET GROWING. 



BY B. T. GALLOWAY. 



Introduction. 



The violet will always be a good crop 

 for the beginner and the small florist 

 to handle because, (1) the capital re- 

 quired to go into ^the business, when 

 compared with that of other intensive 

 horticultural work, is small; (2) the 

 violet is a seasonable flower, hence al- 

 ways comes as a fresh impression each 

 autumn after an entire absence of four 

 or five months; (3) it is a flower which, 

 to be at its best, must be grown close 

 to the consumer; hence ths crop is only 

 slightly affected by long distance ship- 

 ments; and (4) it is a crop which, when 

 properly grown, properly handled, and 

 properly sold, will always yield a fair 

 profit, no matter if the market is flood- 

 ed with indifferent stock. 



Of course, under ordinary conditions 

 the flooding of the market with indif- 

 ferent flowers, that is, with flowers that 

 have been shipped a long distance, or 

 that may be off color or without odor, 

 always affects the general market. Un- 

 questionably, however, a good grower can 

 so handle his business as to be prac- 

 tically independent of these conditions. 

 If he establishes a reputation for good 

 flowers, and deals with good men in the 

 handling of the same, he will always 

 find a market at a fair price for his 

 produce. 



Opportunities in Violet Growing. 



The best opportunities at the present 

 time in violet growing are afforded the 

 small florist who may have a local mar- 

 ket to supply or who is in a position 

 to ship fifty to 100 mibs to a near-by 

 town or city. There are thousands of 

 such florists, and the object of this paper 

 is mainly to point out to them how to 

 start and conduct the business rather 



than to aid in any way those in the large 

 violet-producing centers. 



The few localities having reputations 

 as large producing centers are fortunate- 

 ly favored in soil and climate. In study- 

 ing the subject in these localities, I ha\e 

 often been struck with the ease with 

 whifh the violet is grown by men who 

 have had no previous experience. In 

 fact, it is usually the inexperienced man 

 who succeeds best with this crop in the 

 regions indicated. Notwithstanding the 

 large quantities of violets which are 

 grown in these sections, and the success 

 which attends the first efforts of the 

 growers, it is difficult to find men there 

 who have been long in the business. 

 Either the growers find other crops more 

 profitable or reach a state where they 

 can no longer successfully grow the violet. 

 It seeems to me that this is to be attribu- 

 ted in part to the very excellent and 

 favorable conditions which nature has 

 afforded. The growers themselves are 

 not careful enough in their methods of 

 handling the stock. The consequence is 

 that some disease or insect comes in and 

 soon makes it impracticable for them to 

 grow the flower. In regions- where the 

 climatic conditions are not so favorable, 

 more skill is put forth and developed, 

 and I believe it is in just these sections 

 where the violet can be made a profitable 

 crop, either alone or in combination with 

 some other florist crops. 



Many times I have been impressed 

 with the opportunities afforded for build- 

 ing up a good business in violets in 

 towns and cities of from 5,000 to 50,000 

 inhabitants. With proper management a 

 good local trade in such towns ought 

 to be developed. It would not be a dif- 

 ficult matter for a live, wide-awake 

 grower to make provision for the hand- 



ling of his crop in a town or city by se- 

 curing a desirable location for a small 

 stand, either in the window of some 

 store or elsewhere; all that would be re- 

 quired would be a small place where the 

 flowers could be exhibited and where 

 the business would be an attraction to 

 ordinary store work rather than the op- 

 posite. A dry-goods store, millinery 

 store, or even a drug store, would fur- 

 nish excellent opportunities for opening 

 such a violet department. With proper 

 handling of the flowers, neatness and 

 novelty in the method of bunching them, 

 and good advertising, a splendid busi- 

 ness might be developed. 



Opportunities are always afforded for 

 dealing directly with established florists 

 who have stores in the towns. This trade 

 will, of course, be mainly retail. Then, 

 again, opportunities are afforded for a 

 shipping business if a grower desires to 

 enter into this sort of trade. A combi- 

 nation of two or more of these methods 

 of handling the crop can be followed. 

 Frequently it is desirable to do this, as 

 one serves as a check upon the other. 



Kind of Violets to Grow. 



There is very little choice in the mat- 

 ter of varieties of violets. Unlike the car- 

 nation and the rose, the varieties suitable 

 for commercial purposes are very few in 

 number. Of the double sorts, the Marie 

 Louise and the Lady Hume Campbell are 

 practically the only varieties grown. 

 There are one or two forms of the Marie 

 Louise on the market, such as the Far- 

 quhar, but these are merely strains of the 

 Marie Louise and are hardly worthy of 

 varietal names. The Farquhar is some- 

 what more prolific than the or.'ginal 

 Marie Louise and will succeed better 

 under wider differences of soil and cli- 

 mate. Neither the Marie Louise nor the 

 Farquhar is as prolific in flowers or as 

 vigorous as the Lady Hume Campbell. 

 The Campbell, however, is lighter in col- 

 or and for this reason is sometimes more 

 difiicult to sell in certain markets. As a 

 general proposition it may be stated that 

 the Marie Louise and the Farquhar will 

 always sell in preference to the Camp- 

 bell when they are side by side, but in 

 the absence of the Farquhar or the Marie 

 Louise, the Campbell will nearly always 

 bring a good price. 



Princess of Vales Violets at the Establisliment of William Sim, Who has been Very Successful with This Variety. 



