992 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Makch 1, 1906. 



Col. Green never does anything by 

 halves. He is throwing his whole energy 

 into his greenhouses enterprise and al- 

 ready has two houses up to shelter stock 

 as it arrives. While on a recent trip 

 to Chicago much of the rose and carna- 

 tion stock was bought. A large system 

 of waterworks is being built. In the 

 spring Col. Green will put up a residence 

 at the farm. At present he lives in Dal- 

 las and goes out to the farm, two miles 

 away, in a big aiitomobiie bright and 

 early each morning. Automobiling is 

 one of his hobbies and his machines are 

 one of the wonders of the town. 



THE RHINEBECK INDUSTRY. 



Fifteen years ago there were three 

 violet growers in Ehinebeck. A thousand 

 square feet of glass covered their plants. 

 The superiority of the product created 

 a growing demand, of which others toolc 

 advantage and today the number of 

 owners of violet houses in and near 

 Bhinebeck village is ninety-two. These 

 violet growers own 437,850 square feet 

 of glass. Under their roofs 712,000 

 plants are producing about 35,000,000 

 flowers annually, representing a total 

 income of $175,000 for an average sea- 

 son's production. The assessed value 

 of all violet property, as shown by the 

 tax books, is $68,241^, but the real value 

 is in excess of .$200,000. 



In the 140 houses about 300 people 

 are employed, except during the sum- 

 mer, when the young plants require 

 very little attention. The average house 

 ia 24x150 and in such a house 6,000 

 plant.« arc set out. The average plant 

 yields fifty flowers in the season, so it 

 ■will be seen that 300,000 blooms are 

 picked and marketed from an average 

 house. Good stock on an average brings 

 the grower 50 cents per hundred. 



It takes about twenty tons of coal to 

 keep such a house at tlie right tempera- 

 ture, which should not exceed 60 degrees 

 in the daytime and not go lower than 

 40 degrees at night. First pickings are 

 made in September and the season usu- 

 ally ends in April. 



Rhinebeck violets are superior because 

 thoy are lar.ger, have longer stems, a 

 better color and a more lasting fragrance 

 than any others on the market. It is a 

 distinction of which Ehinebeck may be 

 proud. Shipments are made largely to 

 New York City. Chicago comes second, 

 with Philadelphia and Buffalo third, and 

 a few are sold in Detroit and Cleveland, 

 with some going to Washington. 



People often ask if the industry is 

 likely to be permanent. As long as the 

 soil lasts in and about Ehinebeck there 

 •will be violets. The soil seems to be 

 just right to develop the plants and 

 make them what they are. Authorities 

 on the subject say that there will always 

 be a demand for violets because they 

 cannot be obtained for nearly six 

 months in the year. This cannot now 

 be said of many other flowers raised for 

 niaiket. 



The violet industry has been a great 

 boon for every resident of Ehinebeck. 

 It affords employment for men and 

 women, boys and girls, and has placed 

 hundreds of thousands of dollars in cir- 

 culation in the village and town of 



Ehinebeck. The growers come from 

 almost all the different walks of life, 



except some of the professions. There 

 are in the following list literally 

 "butchers and bakers and candlestick 



makers." To many it will be an inter- 

 esting compilation: 



No. of Glass 



Names. I'luuts. Area. 



Ackert, Mrs. W. B 5,000 3,000 



Ackert & Brown 8,500 5,400 



Ashor, Ilernmu 4,500 2,600 



Burrciiger, John C 5,000 3,000 



Beach. Uoswell 3.000 2,100 



Bishop, Alva 11,000 6,600 



Brlggs, Vie 6,000 3,600 



Brown, Edwlu 6,000 3,600 



Brown, John C 9,000 5,600 



Burger, Austin 12,000 7,400 



Burger, L. D 7,600 4,500 



Burger, W. A 20,000 12,000 



Burns. Stephen 12,000 7,400 



Burroughs, William 4,500 3,000 



Butler, Wilson H 3,000 2.100 



Cashner, Charles 4,600 2,600 



Coon, AlTE 18,000 11,700 



Coon, Robert 10,000 6,000 



Coon, Elmer 6,000 3,600 



Cramer, Walter 8,000 5,200 



Curren, Frank 20,040 12,240 



Decker, Robert 3,500 2,100 



Elghmy, Alyln 3,000 2,100 



Emery, Charles 3,000 2.100 



Fellows, Mrs. John 3,600 2,100 



Ferris, Charles 6,000 3,600 



Forbes, Charles 3,000 2,000 



Frost, Mandevllle 6,000 3,000 



Garrlty, Hugh 6,000 3.600 



Ollllnan, F. R 10,000 6,000 



Halnor, George 12,500 9,600 



Halley, Patrick 8,000 4,720 



Hamlin. J. C 6,000 3,600 



Heermance, John P 10,000 6,000 



Hover, John H 3,000 2,100 



Kearns, James 3,000 2,100 



Klpp, James W 4,160 2,496 



Kisshouer, John 3,000 2,000 



Lang, George C 6,000 3,000 



Lown, Julius 7,260 4,400 



Lown, J. M 3,000 2,000 



Lown. Percy 10,000 0,000 



Marakle, Lewis 6,000 2,800 



Maraquet, Charles 8,000 4,200 



Maraquardt, Douglas 7,000 4,000 



MlUroy Bros 10,000 6,000 



Miller, Dr. George N 4,500 2,700 



Moore, Murten 7,200 4,360 



Newman, James 6,000 3,600 



Odell, Judson 9,000 5,000 



Ostrom. Alva 7,000 4,000 



Pells, Walter 15,000 9,000 



Pultz. William E 7,000 4,000 



Rhinebeck Violet Association 20,040 12,240 



Rhynders, William 5,000 3,050 



Rockerfeller, J. C 19,000 11,800 



Rockprfeller, Stanton 18,000 10,506 



Rosencranz, Louis 3,000 2,100 



Saddler, W 5,000 3,000 



Snltford. George A 15,000 9,240 



Schwartz. John 8,000 6,000 



Scoles, Francis 10,000 6,000 



Sheak, Edward 5,000 3,050 



Smith. Grove 7,000 4,200 



Snyder, Frank 10,000 6,000 



Snvder, James H 6,000 3,050 



Stewart, Horry 12,000 7,200 



Strever. Grant 4,500 2,832 



Sullivan. Michael 4,500 3,000 



Tallmadge, Andrew 4,000 2,460 



Tator, Benjamin 3,000 2,200 



Tator, John W 3,500 2,400 



Toof , Alva 5,000 3,000 



Traver, Allen 13,000 7,800 



Traver, Charles A 5,000 3.050 



Traver, Charles R 3,000 2,000 



Traver, Harold 7,000 4,200 



Traver, Judson 12,500 7,500 



Tremper, Augustus 7,000 4,000 



Tremper, Augustus 6,000 3,600 



Tremper. Moses 5,000 3,120 



Tremper, Pascal 28,000 16.800 



Tremper, W. R 6,000 3,600 



Turner, George 5,000 3,000 



Weckeaser, William 5.500 3,300 



Van Wagenen, Charles 5,000 3,000 



Van Wagenen, Eugene 5,000 3,000 



Van Wagenen, Myron 5.000 8,000 



Van Steenburgh, Jane 4,000 2,400 



VanVredenburgh. L 5.500 3,600 



Velle, Frank 7.000 4,000 



Von der Linden. Julius 16,000 10,000 



IIrpaxa, O.— One of Will 

 guests of a recent Sunday was F. 

 (iood, of Springfield. 



E. 



Bennington, Vt. — Geo. F. Heath is 

 contemplating sellinji; out his business in 

 Elm street and will.ioin his brothers in 

 the west. 



MEETINGS. 



The board of directors of the Society 

 of American Florists will convene at 

 Dayton, O., on Monday, March 5, for 

 its annual session preparatory to the 

 August convention. All the members of 

 the board are expected to be present, 

 together with the officers and a number 

 of leading members of the society. 



Word comes from James N. Cole, in 

 the name of the Peoria Florists' Asso- 

 ciation, that the meeting of the Illinois 

 State Florists' Association, which had 

 been called for Peoria, March 3, has 

 again been postponed, to March 9. 



SWEET PEA COUNTESS SPENCER. 



During the last few years a great and 

 ever-increasing number of sweet pea 

 no vd ties have appeared. Scarlet Gem 

 j)^ Henry Eckford are, perhaps, the two 

 which have been the greatest advances 

 in color. Countess Spencer, however, al- 

 though displaying no new shade, may 

 safely claim to be one of the most valua- 

 ble of all recent introductions. 



Countess Spencer is a sport from 

 Prima Donna, but is of a deeper shade 

 than the latter, the color being a deep, 

 rosy pink, with a distinct edging of a 

 much darker shade of rose. Its shape, 

 however, is its chief characteristic, and 

 perhaps its most beautiful feature, for 

 in form it differs from all varieties of 

 sweet pea previously introduced. The 

 standard is broad, perfectly upright, not 

 hooded, but waved or crinkled from the 

 apex nearly to the center of the flower. 

 The wings are of good shape and are 

 very well expanded. There is no variety 

 of sweet pea larger than Countess Spen- 

 cer, and it excels all other first-class va- 

 rieties in the number of four-flowered 

 stems it produces. The general growth 

 and habit of the plants are everything 

 that can be desired. 



Perhaps a brief history of the variety 

 will be interesting. Countess Spencer, 

 as stated above, originated as a sport 

 from Prima Donna. Like most florists' 

 flowers which sport, says a writer. in the 

 Gardener's Magazine (London), this va- 

 riety, when it sported, did so on the 

 grounds of several growers, among whom 

 must be mentioned Mr, Cole, gardener to 

 Earl Spencer; Mr. Eckford, the sweet 

 pea specialist; and Mr. Unwin, of His- 

 ton. Mr. Sydenham, of Birmingham, ac- 

 quired the stock from Mr. Cole, and sent 

 the bulk to be grown for him in Cali- 

 fornia. In 1904 it was first issued to 

 and grown by the general public. 



Mr. Eckford preserved his sport, which 

 was identical with that of Mr. Cole, 

 and distributed it in 1905 under the same 

 name, Countess Spencer. This stock has 

 kept almost perfectly true, thus differing 

 from the other. 



Mr. Unwin 's sport, Avhile having the 

 true Countess Spencer's form, was sev- 

 eral shades lighter than the others. It 

 was distributed in 1905 by Messrs. Wat- 

 kins & Simpson under the name of 

 Gladys Unwin. After having been very 

 widely advertised, both in the British 

 Isles and in America, it was very widely 

 grown during its first year, and seems 

 to have come fairly true. There is no 

 doubt that Gladys Unwin is a very good 

 variety, but its color does not seem to 

 last very well when the flowers are 

 picked. From last year's experience, it 

 docs not seem to be so valuable a variety 

 as the true Countess Spencer, and I no- 

 tice that Thomas Duncan, the well- 

 known sweet pea grower, of Duns, has 



