JANUABY 4, 1906. 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review* 



431 



A. G. Greiner, St. Louis, in One of His Cactus Houses. 



such cities, such as colleges, universities, 

 otc. 



The grower here may either handle 

 his own products or sell direct to deal- 

 ers in the cities. It is more profitable, 

 if capital can be secured, to handle 

 one's own products. A store in the town 

 or city eliminates the middleman and 

 enables the grower to take not only the 

 profits from the growing of his crops, 

 but the commissions which must be 

 paid for selling the flowers as well. 

 These usually represent about 100 per 

 cent. In other words, the crops which 

 the grower sells to the retailer in the 

 city are sold by the latter at about 100 

 per cent advance over the prices paid 

 to the grower. Considering the extra 

 expense of store rent, clerk hire, etc., a 

 considerable portion of this profit may 

 just as well be secured by the grower, 

 if he has the business capacity and can 

 manage the details connected with both 

 the city department and the producing 

 department. 



Moreover, this field offers opportu- 

 nities for those who for various reasons 

 cannot obtain sufficient ground very 

 near to a city. In other words, flowers 

 such as have been mentioned grown 

 under glass may be shipped with perfect 

 safety from fifty to 300 miles, thus 

 broadening the field of the prospective 

 grower. This makes it practicable to se- 

 cure land at very reasonable prices; 

 but in addition to this must be consid- 

 ered the extra expense of express and 

 freight rates both in the transportation of 

 the crops produced and in the transpor- 

 tation of the material actually required 

 for the work, such as fuel, manure, etc. 

 Ordinarily, however, many choice loca- 

 tions can be found in the vicinity of a 

 city where half an acre or an acre of 

 ground can be secured at a price of 

 from $250 to $500 per acre. It is not 

 always practicable, however, to secure 

 land as reasonably as this; more often, 

 half an acre of such land will cost 

 $500. 



Starting with such an area of land, 

 three houses may be constructed, each 

 at a cost of $1,000. In these may be 

 grown roses, carnations and violets. In 

 this connection it is necessary to em- 

 phasize the fact that these crops can- 

 Jiot be successfully grown all in the 

 same house. Each requires a special 

 temperature and special treatment, and 

 hence the necessity for division of labor. 



"With the land costing $500, three 

 houses $3,000, general equipment $500, 

 and a home for the grower costing at 

 least $1,000, we have an investment of 

 $5,000. The gross income from such a 

 place should he at least from $3,000 to 

 $3,500 annually and the net income 

 from $1,800 to $2,000. 



If such an establishment is rightly 

 planned in the beginning, it may be ex- 

 tended until the entire half acre is cov- 

 ered with glass. In such an event, of 

 course, the grower will have to depend 

 entirely on the outside for his soil and 

 manure, but this is not a difficult prob- 

 lem in the vicinity of a city. The gross 

 income from such an establishment 

 should be from $10,000 to $12,000 and 

 the net income from $3,500 to $4,000. 



Specialization in this field will be 

 conducted in about the same manner as 

 already described, except that the 

 grower will limit himself to one crop, 

 such as roses, carnations, or violets. 

 There are some advantages in tliis and 

 some disadvantages. The advantages 

 arise chiefly from the fact that it sel- 

 dom happens that all three crops fail in 

 one season, while it sometimes occurs 

 that one crop, for reasons which cannot 

 well be controlled, either falls off ma- 

 terially or else fails completely. A com- 

 plete failure, however, is or should be 

 very infrequent unless through bad 

 management or lack of knowledge on 

 the part of the grower. 



Specialization offers opportunities for 

 growing crops of the highest quality 

 and for competing in the market for the 

 very best prices. The cost of such work 

 is practically about the same as for 

 general flower growing, already de- 

 scribed. The opportunities, however, are 

 more restricted, for the reason that to 

 compete in this field one must grow the 

 very best material. In other words, to 

 be a specialist means the growing of the 

 very best crops. To be a specialist, fur- 

 thermore, means certain knowledge and 

 a certain temperament which are diffi- 

 cult to find. The general gardener, or 

 one who has been trained in the growing 

 of a number of crops, very frequently 

 fails when he attempts to specialize, be- 

 cause he knows too much about too 

 many things to make a good specialist. 



Some of the best specialists in violet 

 growing are men who have known little 

 or nothing about growing any other 

 crops, and have gone into the business 



from the workshop or from the farm. 

 Going into business in this way, the pro- 

 spective grower has no preconceived ideas 

 or notions about how the crops should 

 be handled; his whole mind is centered 

 on one thing, and he is not carried away 

 by suggestions coming to him as the re- 

 sult of former experience in producing 

 other crops. 



Wlhat is stated here in regard to the 

 owner is applicable, of course, to the 

 men whom the owner must secure for his 

 help. Given a bright, quick-witted young 

 man, with no prejudiced views as to the 

 growing of crops, he will in most cases 

 make a better specialist than one who 

 has had considerable training in general 

 gardening work. 



Plant Growing as a Specialty. 



The growing of bedding and ornamen- 

 tal plants as a specialty is a field which 

 is comparatively limited. The great im- 

 provement in transportation facilities 

 has made it practicable to ship plants 

 long distances; hence these plants are 

 now turned out very cheaply and by the 

 million in large establishments remote 

 from the points where they are to be 

 sold. Such being the case, the opportu- 

 nities for the small specialist are few 

 and growing fewer. If the field is en- 

 tered at all, it should be considered main- 

 ly from the standpoint of getting into 

 touch with some already existing large 

 establishment with a view to obtaining 

 experience and with the ultimate view of 

 pushing the business to such a point 

 that large shipping facilities may be 

 developed. 



USEFUL. 



Enclosed is a dollar for one more 

 year's use of the Florists' Keview. 

 Philadelphia. Wm. K. Harris. 



Minneapolis, Minn.— G. H. Glenny 

 was held up Christmas night and robbed 

 of his watch and money. 



Columbus, 0. — Mrs. Ann Evans, 

 widow of Morris Evans, the pioneer 

 florist of Columbus, died December 31, 

 aged 78 years. 



Greenavich, Conn. — The explosion of 

 a gas tank in the greenhouses of C. H. 

 Malloy, December 28, killed James 

 Mackoy, the head gardener. 



