J 398 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Apbil 5, 1906. 



fall because, their managers don't kaow what 

 they are doing. Sounds almost foolish, doesn't 

 It? But I have seen mine owners and mine 

 managers come and go — mostly go — good busi- 

 ness men, shrewd, honest, pushers, good sales- 

 men. If I asked ten of them the exact cost 

 of mining a ,toD of coal In their mines on the 

 preceding day every one of the ten would look 

 at me in silent wonder &)id ignorance. Yet I 

 have seen the margin of pruHt on coal so small 

 that a dllTer(Knce of three cents a ton i,n the 

 coat of miu|d|| meant the success or failure of 

 the mine. X'h.t ' ■' 



"1 knew a v^ne that went broke because the 

 males! bad ^e necks. The collars of the har.^ 

 nesse^ were not made just right; that chafed 

 the 8^kin; Vthat delayed the little cars that 

 carried tte.(^oal to the shafts; that reduced the 

 output o!i^<jthe mine five per cent — and expenses 

 were ithe fsame. If the manager of that mine 

 bad had daily reports the faulty collars would 

 have thafed the mules' necks only one day. 



"The mine nianager who gets daily reports 

 on mine costs and conditions need never fear 

 more than twelve hours' loss; he wll^ catch it 

 on the following morning and can rectify it. 



"In fact, I place that as the prime requisite 

 of any success, close touch with details, both in 

 place and in time." 



I quote this not alone for violet grow- 

 ers, but as being good advice for the 

 grower of all kinds of stock. 



Use a Memorandum Book. 



I will admit it is. a little harder for 

 the grower who is wot making a spe- 



minutes, or that you will. rein,ember and 

 jot it down next time. Of course, at- 

 tention to all this will avail you naught 

 if you do not observe the same pains- 

 taking care in the selection . of your 

 stock, then in keeping it in., healthy con- 

 dition as regards air, wafer, feed, etc. 



The man who is not a specialist, but 

 growing only a few borders or a single 

 house of violets in connection with his 

 other stQCk, quite likely will bo sur- 

 prised to find either that they liave paid 

 him better than he had any idea of; 

 or, on the contrary, that they have been 

 occupying room he could better employ 

 for other crops and purchase his blooms 

 of a specialist if he is within reasonable 

 distance of one. 



As in all kinds of, plant growing, 

 there are varied and constantly chang- 

 ing conditions to be met and reckoned 

 with. iS^ot always the least trying is 

 such a winter as the one now drawing 

 to a close; such rapid changes in the 

 temperature are trying both to the 

 plants and your temper, necessitating 



Basket of Clothilde Soupert and Baby Rambler Roses. 



cialty of violets to keep accurate tab 

 on the labor item; however, that can 

 be done in a fairly accurate way if 

 you keep a memorandum book tied with 

 a string at the door and put down 

 date and hour every time you work at 

 them; it is well to have the pencil also 

 attached to the book by a cord, or you 

 will frequently find yourself without it, 

 and then you think it was only a few 



constant watchfulness in regard to 

 water, air, heat, etc., let alone your 

 inability to hold your pickings as regu- 

 lar as you wish, bringing them on rapid- 

 ly today and choking them off tomor- 

 row, when you may have a large order 

 booked. 



Watch Next Season's Stock. 



It is to be supposed that you have 



your stock for next season all rooted 

 and well under way by this time, but, 

 as we have so often remarked, do not 

 neglect these plants now with the spring 

 work and allow them to suffer for water, 

 weeding, etc., or you will be liable to 

 have nicely stunted poor stock when you 

 do get around to them and thus find your- 

 self handicapped as regards profit for 

 next season. An ounce of prevention is 

 worth a pound of cure and the trouble 

 is it seldom cures, so watch out. Keep 

 them growing clean and healthy, remem- 

 bering that there is no better place for 

 them to acquire disease than to shove 

 them under the edges of benches and 

 such places, thinking you will keep them 

 there only a few days. If they do not 

 get diseased, they will get drawn and 

 soft, so that when you come to plant 

 out they will be soft and in poor health. 



The best of care must be given them 

 now, right along; extra care later cannot 

 atone for past neglect. If the young 

 plants are going to be planted in the 

 house, without being planted in the field, 

 it is well to be getting the house in 

 order whenever you have a little spare 

 time. If you have been growing other 

 crops in it arrange it so as to have it 

 empty some little time before you fill it 

 for planting, so that you can properly 

 clean it out, air it out, dry it out, fumi- 

 gate it heavily several times; whitewash, 

 lime, paint, repair and freshen it up 

 generally. 



This is the best time also for repair- 

 ing or making any alterations in the 

 heating system if it is not right for vio- 

 lets. 



Another thing that you have to take 

 extra care for now, as the days are get- 

 ting warmer, is that the red-spider does 

 not get a foothold; spraying must be 

 carefully attended to to this end. One 

 cannot rely on that alone without look- 

 ing carefully, as they can get quite a 

 start ere it is noticeable if you do not 

 examine the under surfaces of the leaves 

 often. It is next to impossible to get 

 rid of them absolutely if once they get 

 started. One is so apt to overwater and 

 so hurt the plants even if he does eradi- 

 cate the red-spider. 



But enough of this for this time, for 

 "everybody works at our house" when 

 Easter comes and probably you are no 

 exception to the rule, and just hustling 

 yourself in preparation for this, the 

 close of the violet season. While I hope 

 it has^ been a good one, I can sincerely 

 saj' I hope your next will be much bet- 

 ter and I believe it will be if the proper 

 vigilance and care be exercised. 



E. E. ShiJpheLt. 



THE COAL STRIK& 



Monday, April 2, marked the begin- 

 ning of the long predicted coal strike, 

 half a million miners in both the bitu- 

 minous and anthracite fields going out. 

 Indications point to a long drawn out 

 struggle, with much consequent injury 

 to trade and industry in all directions. 

 In a few instances operators have agreed 

 to the scale demanded by the miners and 

 the men have resumed work. These are 

 exceptional, however, and limited almost 

 entirely to the bituminous localities. 



The florist 's fuel bill is his big item of 

 expense and developments in the present 

 crisis are watched with interest. Evi- 

 dence of the large consumption of coal 

 by the grower is found in the statement 

 that one greenhouse proprietor during 

 the last year bought 7,000 tons of Poca- 

 hontas for use in his establishment. 



