228 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Decembbb 14, 1905. 



We called first at Mrs. B. C. Hooper's, 

 West Manchester, where William Swan 

 is head gardener. Everything indoors 

 was in excellent order. A new addition 

 had just been completed to one of the 

 ranges to give more room for orchid cul- 

 ture. A fine batch of calanthes were in 

 bloom. A batch of some fifty phalsenop- 

 sis were bristling with spikes. Schil- 

 leriana and amabilis are chiefly grown. 

 Cattleya trianee and Percivalliaua were 

 just coming into flower. The house of 

 cattleyas looked extremely well. Liberty, 

 Bride, Maid and Killarney roses are 

 grown. Enchantress took the lead in 

 carnations. White Lawson, Lady Boun- 

 tiful and Fiancee are also grown. The 

 latter is growing freely, but has as yet 

 produced few flowers. Some nice stand- 

 ard geraniums of the English round 

 flowered type were noted, also batches in 

 good shape of a general line of winter 

 flowering pot plants. Melons are grown 

 here the year round. One crop was just 

 finishing and another lot setting. 



At W. B. Thomas', West Manchester, 

 where Mr. Connolly presides, we found a 

 nice house of roses. Carnations also 

 looked well, especially Lawson, White 

 Lawson and Enchantress. A nice deep 

 colored sport of the latter was noted. 

 Violets, antirrhinums, ericas, lilies, gar- 

 denias, mignonette, orchids and a variety 

 of other plants were seen in additional 

 structures. 



American Beauty roses at W* S. 

 Spaulding's, Prides Crossing, F. Cole, 

 gardener, were carrying plenty of 4-foot 

 to 5-foot stems. Golden Gate, Bride, 

 Maid and Liberty also looked well. Car- 

 nations, especially Enchantress, were 

 good. In the orchid house a good batch 

 of Zygopetalum Mackayi was just pass- 

 ing out of bloom. A bench of 200 

 cyclamen promised a nice show early in 

 the new year. A new house was filled 

 with single violets. A large house with 

 artificial rockwork and winding paths is 

 devoted to palms. We understand addi- 

 tional glass for fruit culture is soon to 

 be erected. 



Alexander Shaw, at Judge W. H. 

 Moore's fine new place in Prides Cross- 

 ing, had big gangs of men at work out- 

 side moving large trees, sodding, grad- 

 ing, etc. An immense amount of blast- 

 ing is being done, a large proportion of 

 the land being solid ledge. Indoors we 

 noted nice houses of carnations and roses 

 and a good general assortment of winter 

 blooming stock. The pretty white be- 

 gonia. Moonlight, as seen here, should 

 prove a desirable florists' plant. We pre- 

 ferred it to Gloire de Lorraine. This 

 will be a fine place when completed. 



At Dr. Henry Sear's place at Beverley 

 Cove, where Mr. Mitchell has charge, 

 divisions are devoted to palms, roses, 

 carnations, nectarines and grapes and a 

 nice general lot of stuff was seen. Addi- 

 tional glass is to be built here. 



One of the newest and finest places, 

 still somewhat in the embryo state, is 

 that of Henry C. Frick in Prides Cross- 

 ing. George E. Wyness is in charge. 

 He is a pupil of David Eraser, the new 

 secretary of the C. S. A. An immense 

 sum of money is being spent here on 

 buildings, avenues and other necessary 

 work. Plans have been prepared for a 

 splendid block of greenhouses. 



Our last call during a hurried four 

 hours' visit was on George E. Ward in 

 Prides Crossing, Mr. Ward has run a 

 commercial plant for a good many years. 

 In addition to a general line of carna- 

 tions, violets and pot plants he grows a 

 large breadth of strawberries, many 

 frames of lettuce and about 20,000 toma- 

 toes in the fields, also other fruits and 

 vegetables. He does a large business 

 among the summer residents, 



W. N. C. 



AT RHINEBECK. 



Extent of the Industry. 



The little city of Ehinebeck, in the 

 northern end of Dutchess county, New 

 York, on the Hudson, opposite Kingston 

 and eighty-two miles from New York 

 City, is known throughout the length and 

 breadth of floriculture as the center of 

 the violet industry, which has here 

 reached such proportions that it is almost 

 the sole dependence of the town. In- 

 i deed, it is often said that the whole 

 of Rhinebeck lives by the violet and, 

 while this is not strictly true, it is a fact 

 that violet growing is the occupation of 

 a large part of the population and that 

 nowhere else has the violet attained the 

 importance it holds in this community. 



The soil and climate of Ehinebeck 

 seem particularly suited to violet grow- 

 ing, and the success which attended the 

 - work of the pioneer growers led all 



sorts and conditions of men to build 

 greenhouses, until there are now eighty- 

 five establishments in the vicinity, al- 

 most entirely devoted to the violet. A 

 great many of the growers are young 

 men; indeed, it is said with many evi- 

 dences of truth that it is only an ex- 

 ceptional man who can continue to be 

 successful year after year, and so whim- 

 sical is the fragrant flower that often 

 the green and totally inexperienced 

 grower will be blessed with a splendid 

 crop, while the best efforts of the vet- 

 eran grower next door will be crowned 

 only by failure. 



The Money Reward. 



Omitting one or two larger places, 

 the average establishment consists of a 

 couple of houses and shelters perhaps 

 9,000 plants. The plants yield from 

 thirty to fifty salable flowers in a suc- 

 cessful season. It is estimated that the 

 total output of the Ehinebeck community 

 for the season of 1905-6 will approxi- 

 mate fifty million blooms, and for the 

 district, including Poughkeepsie, about 

 eighty-five million. Of course the bulk 

 of these go to New York, but they are 

 also shipped to commission houses and 

 retail florists as far west as St. Louis, 

 large quantities to Chicago and to inter- 

 mediate cities, also to Canada. In the 

 season two large express wagons are re- 

 quired to take the boxes to Ehinecliflfe, 

 a couple of miles away, where they are 

 put on the New York Central. 



In interviewing a number of growers, 

 it was the general opinion that it costs 

 about 23 cents per square foot of bed 

 to grow violets. Marie Louise is grown 

 almost exclusively. It is the unanimous 

 verdict that the returns have fallen away 

 because of overproduction until they are 

 no more than half what they were three 

 or four years ago, when violet growing 

 had its greatest boom. The growers say 

 that the average returns for the entire 

 season's output will not exceed 40 cents 

 per hundred. This, with plants in the 

 best of condition, free from insects and 

 disease, producing fifty blooms each, 

 would net the successful grower about 12 

 cents per plant. 



The Future. 



The general opinion among the older 

 growers is that it is a question if this 

 year's receipts will not show that the 

 violet business has seen its day as a 

 paying investment. Early as the season 

 now is, and with a general short crop, 

 the markets are overstocked, prices at 

 best are not what they have been and 

 there are many gluts, with consequent 

 waste of flowers, which tends to make 



Establishment of J. Vender Linden, Rhinebeck, N. Y. 



