Jam Auv 4, I'JOG. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



43 J 



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



Mi>li cities, such as colleges, iiiiivcisitios, 



1 c. 



Tlie <;ro\V('r Iktc may citlur iiandle 

 ,ii^ (twii jirodiicts or sell direct to deal- 



1^ ill tilt,' cities. It is more profitabfe, 



r cajdtal can be seciire(|, to handle 

 me 's own products. A store in tlie town '. 

 ir oity eliminates the miildh'maii and ! 

 .•nables the grower to take not only the j 

 prullts from the growing of his crops, i 

 i>ut the commissions wluch must bt^ 

 paid for selling the tlowers as well. 

 These usually represent about lOd per 

 •eiit. In other \vords, the crops which 

 ;lie grower sells to the retailer in the 



ity are sold liy the latter at about K.Mt 

 |ii r cent advance over the prices [taid 

 to the grower. Considering the extra 

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

 •oiisidorable ])ortion of tiiis jirofit may 

 iiist as well be secured by llie grower, 

 it' lie has the business capacity and i-an 

 [riaiiage the details connected witii botii 

 Mie city department and tiie ]ii(Mluciiig 

 Icjiartmeiit. 



Morooxer. lliis tiidd nlVeis opjiortu- 

 nilies for those who for \arimis reasons 



iiniiot obtain sutlicieuL ground very 

 ii'ar to a city. Jn othei' wurds, tlowers 

 ~ucli as h:'\(,' been mentioiieil grown 

 inder glass may lie shi[>|ied witii perfect 

 sifety from titty to :?')() miles, thus 

 'oruadening the lieM of the prospective 

 ::rower. This makes it jiracticable to so- 

 •ure land at very reasonable ])riccs; 

 !'.;t in addition to this must be consid- 



i'<'d the extra expense of exjiress and 

 freight rates both in the transportation of 

 'lie crops produi-ed and in the transpor- 

 ■ at inn of tlie material actually reipiired 

 .'iir the work, such as fuel, maiuire, etc. 

 ' 'rdinarily. however, many choic(> loca- 

 'I'lns can lie found in the \iciiiity of a 



"}■ w hert; liaif an acre nv ;in acr<' of 

 ■-i"Uiid can be secured at a \'r\i<' <>\' 

 'I "111 $i'."i.i to .*.")(ii.t ]ier acre. It i< not 



dwavs pract ii-ablo, howexcr. to secure 

 I I I'd ;is ri'asonably as this; more ot'teii. 

 'i:df au acre of <:ucli hm.l will cost 



Starting witli such au area of land, 

 'hreo houses may be constructed, each 

 • It a cost of $].00(). Ill these niay be 

 -iiown roses, carnations anil violets. In 

 'liis ei-)iinoct ion it is nt^cessary to em- 

 i'liasize the fact that these ciuik can- 

 '"'V be successt'ully grown all in the 

 -■I'lie hous(\ l-'adi requires a speidal 

 ■'■iiip*'t';iture and special treatment, and 

 '"'lice the necc-i-iitv I'or dixisidii of labor. 



With the land i-osting $."11(1. three 

 houses $3,000, general eciuipment $."jn(i, 

 and a home for the grower costing at 

 least $1,000, we have an investment of 

 $5,000. The gross income from smdi a 

 place should be at least from $;>.0(hi to 

 $3,500 annually and the net incotin' 

 from $1,800 to" $2,000. 



If such au ostablishmeiit is rightly 

 jdanned in the beginning, it may be ex- 

 tended until the entire half a«'re is cov 

 ered with glass. In such au event, of 

 course, the grower will have to depon<i 

 entirely on the outside for his soil and 

 manure, but this is not a ditficult jind)- 

 lem iu th(3 \icinity of a city. The gioss 

 income frouL such an estaljlishuieiit 

 should be from $10.fi(iti to $1l'.(I()0 and 

 the net income from $;i,5(i() to $4.(in(). 



Specialization in this tield will be 

 conducted in al)0ut the same manner as 

 already described. except that tin- 

 grower Aviil limit himself to one crop, 

 such as roses, carnations, or \iidets. 

 There are some a>lvantages in this and 

 some disadvantages. The ad\antages 

 arise chiefly from the fact that it s(d- 

 dom happens that all thret,' crojis fail in 

 one season, while it sometimes (ici-urs 

 that one crop, tor ie;isoiis which canimt: 

 well be controllecl, cither falls (dV ma- 

 terially or else fails complttcly. A i-om- 

 j)lete failure, however. i< m- siiould b'' 

 very infretjiient unli-ss tliroui;li bad 

 management or lack uf kimw icd^c nit 

 the part of the giowt r. 



Sjiecializat ion oIV<ts uji|MiitinHt ies fur 

 growing crops of the highest, iiuality 

 and for competing in the market for the 

 \cry best j.rices. The i-o^i of such work 

 is ]»ractically about the same as for 

 general flower growing, already de- 

 scribed. The o]iportunities, however, are 

 more restricted, t"or the reason that to 

 compete in this field one nnist gmw th« 

 \ery best materi.al. In other words, to 

 be a sjiecialist meaii< the growing of th<- 

 very best crops, 'fo be a specialist, fur 

 theiinore, means certain knowledjri' and 

 a certain temjierament which ;ire dilli 

 cult to find. The general gardener, or 

 ime who has been traine<l in the growiny 

 of a number of erojis, very freciuently 

 fails when he attempts to specialize, be- 

 caus(> he knows tnn niuch about tof^ 

 many thiiii^s to make a jjood specialist. 



Some ot' the best specialists in violet 

 growing are men who ha\i' known little 

 or lidthin^' about growing any nther 

 crii|is. and have <.fiin'' into llic business 



fiMin the \vorkslio|i or I'miii the farm, 

 (ioiiio- jiitd l)usiness in this way, the jiro- 

 siiective grower has no preconceived ideas 

 or notions about how the ci'ops shouhl 

 lie haiiillel; his whole mind is ciMitered 

 on luie thing, and he is not c.-iiried away 

 by suggestions coming to liiiii as the le 

 suit of t'oianei- experience in |)roduciiig 

 otiier crops. 



What is stated hiMc in reyard to the 

 owner is ajiplicable, of course, to the 

 men whom the owner must secure for iiis 

 help, (iiveii a bright, (|uick-witted young 

 man, with no prejudiced \ iews as to the 

 growing of Clops, he will in most cases 

 make a better specialist than one who 

 has had consideralile training in general 

 gardening work. 



Plant Growing as a Specialty. 



The erowin^ ot' bedding and ornameii 

 tal plants as a sjiecialty is a lield wliiidi 

 is coinparat i\ely limited. The great im- 

 pro\emenl in t ra n-~portatioii facilities 

 has made it practicable to ship plants 

 loli^ <listanci's; heih-i' these plants ari; 

 now iiirned out very cheaply and tiy the 

 million in large establishments remote' 

 from the points where t hi'v are to bt- 

 sold. Suidi being tile i-ase, the opiportu- 

 iiiti'S for the small s|iecialist are few 

 and erewini; few.r. If the lield is en 

 tered at all.it should be considered maiu- 

 Iv from the stamliHiint o|' irettino- into 

 touch with some aliead\- existing large 

 estaiilishuieiit xvith a \ iew to tdjtainin^^ 

 experieiii;!- and with the ultimate view of 

 pushing the business to such a point 

 that largi- shijipino' f-iciliti.< may be 



i\f\ eldlU'lj. 



USEFUL. 



|-,iHios''ii 1^ a 

 \ ea I '- as,' nt' till 

 Philadelphia. 



diar toi line mole 

 'l,ni;|^ l> ■ \ly\ \\,\\ , 

 WM. 1\. 11ai;i:i>. 



Ml \ \i; \nu.is. Miw. {',. ]\. lih^nnv 



\v:i< h'ld il|i I'Jilislma^ liit;!it and roblieil 

 ol' hi- watch ami !iioiir\. 



' "1 I Mm >. ' >. Ml-. A, HI i:\aiis. 

 '•\ idow ,,t' Moi'ii- l\\aiis, the pioneer 



lto|i-t of I ollinibll-, died heriMllber 31. 



a:^ed 7s years. 



< ilM lA W l< II. ( ilW. 'idle exp|,,si..n of 



a l::i- tank in tlie e|-,.,.,di,,ii-,- ,,t I'. ]{. 



Mal|o\ . 1 lecellllle: L'S. kllle.l .lame- 



\|ache\, the head :^aidenei. 



