82 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



NnVKMiti;u 21», I'JOG. 



line (lur ii'iiKii'ks to llic case of tliose 

 ;;in\\(is wlinsi' ((iiitlit inns and sui'iound- 

 inj^s (1(1 iKit jiistily this iiKitk' (jf pi'o- 

 (•(■(liiif. 



Til answci' t lie (|U('stiiiii at issu(_? ae- 

 • •(ii(lin«; to (inr \ic\v.s du tlic siiliject, a 

 tiutlici' classitji-at i(ia is necessary, and 

 111 siniplily llic matter will divide Ilieni 

 llms: 



<'las.s A.- -t iiiiweis who are close to a 

 city, (ir cities. 



i.'hiss i>. (i row (IS loo far out and who 

 are (jidy aliie to slii[) say twice u day, 



< lass ( '. - S|ieciali.sts. 



In 1iin.se cities wlo're a coMdiiual inn 

 iii nidwfis h;i\(' tnrnied a tidwcr niai- 

 ket it will Jnxariahly lie I'liund the best 

 medium I'nr the iar^;er ;^ni\\('rs to dis- 

 jiose (it tlieir i;(iiids. iiut we ha\(' always 

 thoujilit that the smaller grower uould 

 do tar lieltei' liy iiiiisienin>; tn a rejiu- 

 lalile cominissinn hduse; hut. ayain, 

 there aic cities when! there is neither 

 market nor a commission house. To grow- 

 er.s thus siluated we weuld adxise them 

 to •j,r\ intii line as sunn as |iiissilile. 



The Commission House. 



])el'ore ydin^ any furlhei". a few A\ords 

 ol' explanation as to recommeiulin<f the 

 smaller <jro\vers tn |)atroni/.e the com- 

 missitin house in pict'erence to th(> mar- 

 ket. .Many inen are "ond yiowers. hut 

 indiU'erent salesmen. 'i'he commission 

 man will do it more satisfactorily than 

 most men you could hire to do it for 

 you, uith infinite less wurry to yourself, 

 and invariably succeed in oettinj,'- bet- 

 ter returtis, if all items are faithfully 

 lifjured in. Several other reasons inii;ht 

 be yiven in favor of the commissio)i 

 house, but simi»ly staliiiji the fact that in 

 my opinion that is the best method for 

 the smaller ^ii'ower to fellow is all thai 

 is necessary hot'. 



Class B. 



^^'llere ;^ro\\ei.s are leslricted as to 

 shipping accommodation, and many both 

 larj;e and small aic so sitnate(|. ue Avould 

 ayain name the commission hoiisi! as the 

 best medium for djsposine i.t' the stock. 



Blame for Misunderstandings. 



.Many <;idweis in years ])ast ha\e con- 

 signed ydods to c()miius.sion men at times 

 when Ihey had no other outlet, and bo- 

 cause thi,' returns uere not satisfactory 

 have held a stronjr j)rejudico ajijainst 

 them on that account, but it must bo 

 remendiere(l that the metliods now jirac- 

 ticed by these erntlenien have ad\ancod 

 the same as .all other lines of horticid- 

 ture. until today tlieir system is ])erfecl- 

 ed to ^ucli ;iii extent that it ^voul(l seem 

 Mlniost iin|iossibIe to imjiro\e on it. Jn 

 I act, ill most cases Avhero misunderstand- 

 ings (iccur it is more often the fault 

 of tli(^ grower than the consjiriiee. We 

 allude to such instanc<'s as A\here the 

 growc'r at holiday times disposes of (|uan- 

 tities of ids yoods to retailers. Some 

 may think this mode of procedure all 

 light; but look at both sides of the 

 (juestion. .\ny i-ommission man, al ;ill 

 lip in his bii>-ine,-is. knows pretty ne.aily 

 the amount of stock to exju'ct from his 

 growers, and (igiires the effect that in- 

 clement weather .•iml other adverse con- 

 ditions will have on the developtiKMit of 

 the stock, ami makes his calculations 

 accordingly. is it right. I ;isk. when 

 after exjiending considerable cash for 

 advertising, and otherwise obtaining or- 

 <lers for goods he honestly expects to 

 handle, to be not only disappointed him- 

 self but ha\c to disajipoint others de- 



l)ending on him, jxissibly having the ef- 

 fect of losing their jiatronage and there- 

 by indirectly damaging the grower liiin- 

 self.' Again, althougn it must bo ad- 

 mitted the |iractice is not nowachiys near- 

 ly so prevalent as a. few years ago, think 

 of the jiernicious habit of jiokling uj) 

 large (juaiitities of .>-:tock anel landing 

 it on tlie commission man too late for 

 him to handle to advantage, and quite 

 often in such condition as to be abso- 

 lutely worthless, and which no reputable 

 dealer would slii]i or retailer receive. 1 

 cr.ave ])ard(ni for inserting a ijnotation 

 from Kipling's ' ' .Mandelay, " but the 

 lines always suggest themselves to mo 

 when I run across a consignment in such 

 coiulit ion. 



Slii|i nic sniiU'U Iicit's r:\>l of SlIi'/. 



Where llic lic>-l is like llie woisl, 

 Wliiii- ihcic iiin'i nil 't'cii ('oiiiDiiiniliiU'iils, 



Anil u iiKiM iini riiisf ;i lliirsl. 



Pack Well. 



Another vitally important detail is 

 packing the stock so that it receives tlie 

 least j)ossible damage in tr.ansit, it 

 must always be borne in miiul that quite 

 a jiercentage of these goods have to be 

 resliipj)ed. Jiiglit here we would ofl'er a 



Enclosed is a five-dollar bill for 

 renewal of my subscription to 



P^^ 



which please send for the next five 



years. 



Very truly yours, 



CARL JURGENS. 



Newport, R. I. 



Nov. 19, 1906. 



suggestion. v\hich we feel sure is bound 

 to be generally adopted iu the near 

 future, viz: to have light receptacles 

 cai)able of holding, twenty-five, fifty and 

 liiit of such (lowers as could be han- 

 dled in that manner, such as violets, car- 

 nations, certain roses (of course it would 

 be impractical in the case of extra J'.eau- 

 ties, etc.), most bulb stock, and several 

 other subjects. This method of display- 

 ing the goods has been followed in Cov- 

 eiit (larden, London, for years, and I 

 have often wondered v\hy it had not been 

 adopted here. 1 fc'cl sure, however, that 

 American ingcTiuity will contrive recep- 

 tacles that will (ill the Ijill. 'J'hese re- 

 marks about sliipjiing would be incom- 

 ]ilete if I fail to mention two other im- 

 portant items. \i/. : cleanliness of all 

 paper, etc., used, and grading. We are 

 all Jiware how liable one is, if he be a 

 few short of an even number of firsts, 

 to put in the required number of good sec- 

 onds; but it should also be borne in mind 

 that the prosj)Cctive buyer will almost 

 always spot those very one.s, frequently 

 with' the effect of dindining the deal, or 

 else standing out for a reduction in 

 jirice. 



Specialists. 



The specialist is in a distinct class by 

 himself, not alone as regards the goods 

 he handles, but in the enviable position 

 ho enjoys in regard to the disposal of 

 the same. Specialists as a rule are so 

 well known, not only in their neighbor- 

 hood, but further afield, that the ju- 

 dicious use of the advertising columns 

 of the trade pajjers iu tlieir case is all 

 that is necessarv'. These remarks only 

 apply to the "bona fides," as many call 

 themselves iu this class that have no 

 earthly reason for so doing. I once 

 heard a witty son of the Green Isle, in 

 answer to the question of, "What is a 

 specialist?" reply, "A man that thinko 

 he is one, blows his own trumpet, but 

 the rale thing, why, other people blow it 

 for him. ' ' 



The majority of the foregoing remarks 

 have dealt principally with the cut flower 

 trade. In regard to the plant business, 

 few- cities are large enough to warrant 

 a i)lant market, and it seems to me that 

 the methods at present iu vo&^e with 

 the gentlemen engaged in thisTi'ne are 

 as jiractical as any that can be recom- 

 mended, but I cannot miss this opportun- 

 ity of paying tribute to the vast improve- 

 ment of the last few years in regard to 

 the methods of packing plants. When 

 one looks back a few years, and remem- 

 bers the condition in which one received 

 a shipment of plants, he canuot fail to 

 highly appreciate the great improvements 

 that have taken place. The only people 

 who have lost by these improvements are 

 the express companies. 



In conclusion I would state that in this 

 l)aper I did not start out with any idea of 

 evolving a new mode of procedure, but 

 have tried to offer a few suggestions 

 that might improve existing conditions, 

 which seem to answer their purpose sat- 

 isfactorily. 



UTILIZING A SASH HOUSE. 



Will you kindly inform me if I can 

 root carnation cutting in a small sash 

 house, adjoining .i large greenhouse? 

 There is no heat in the sash house ex- 

 cepting wliat comes through from the 

 house adjoining, there being no partition 

 between the two. J. B. 



While the house you describe does not 

 give ideal conditions for propagating, 

 yet I would not say that you could not; 

 root your carnation cuttings in it. You 

 will find that during extreme cold weath- 

 er you will have trouble in keeping frost 

 (mt, or at least you will have a very low 

 temperature. So that instead of rooting 

 your cuttings in six weeks, it may take 

 them (Mght to ten weeks, and not as high 

 a percentage will root. It will pay you 

 to run at least one pipe under the bench, 

 and run it near the outside wall, regard- 

 less of what you intend to grow in the 

 hou-<e. ' A. F. J. B. 



Ai.r.iXTow.x. I'A. — A greenhouse l^x-11 

 feet is being erected by the Lord & Burn- 

 liam (_'()., of New York, on the grounds 

 of !•'. yi. Young. A ten-foot addition 

 to be used as a workshop will also be 

 erected. 



IfAMi'Tox, 1a. — The Curtis Tloral Co. 

 has completed a new range. (sxTo, near 

 its old greenhouses, of tin,' A. Dietch Co. 's 

 patent short-roof construction. This is 

 to be used exclusively for carnations an(i 

 roses. In addition a new fern rootn, 

 I'Ox.li', has been Iniilt during the last 

 year. The firm has nearly doubled its 

 out]iut in this time. 



