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1888 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



May 9, 1907. 



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I 



I ORGANIZATION OF A 



I MODERN ESTABLISHMENT 



5 



t 



The Early Organization. 



The consideration of this subject lends 

 more interest when we compare the ag- 

 gressive modern establishments of the 

 present time with those of thirty or more 

 years ago. Then, in the absence of the 

 enticing catalogue and the undreamed of 

 trade papers, the growers' chief aim was 

 to have a full supply of salable plants 

 in bloom at the opening of the spring 

 season. 



The stock consisted of all the then 

 known varieties of every species of bed- 

 ding, basket and ornamental plants. The 

 florist's market was any point that he 

 could reach. The beast which showed 

 the greatest amount of endurance was 

 hitched to the market wagoA and the 

 assistant, or son, daughter, or even the 

 wife, was assigned to the task of visit- 

 ing the neighboring towns with a load 

 of plants in bloom. 



This method ended with the spring 

 months, and the left-over stock was 

 either advertised at bargain prices in 

 the local papers or thrown away as 

 surplus. 



The growers who were adjacent to 

 cities were represented in the markets, 

 occupying one or more stalls with the 

 most attractive stock. At the close of 

 the season the general routine of work 

 followed; that of planting out and car- 

 ing for the stock plants and blooming 

 stuff for the following winter months. 

 The equipment of these establishments 

 was varied, as a greater variety of plants 

 could be found in the collections of the 

 florist of those days than now. 



The organization was modest, yet com- 

 plete, as the florist and his family con- 

 stituted the faculty, with extra help, if 

 needed. The duty of each was to under- 

 stand the general routine of work, from 

 the oflfice to the stoke-hole, the system re- 

 quiring every one to work for the one 

 aim, that every available corner be filled 

 with attractive stock and in bloom for 

 the spring season. 



A Tribute to Woman, 



The florist of the early, and even the 

 present day, has always found the wife 

 an important factor in the organization. 

 Her judgment and untiring interest is 

 indispensable. She has been the help- 

 meet, and always will be, as long as 

 her interest in horticulture continues. 

 Woman's influence contributes almost 

 altogether to the remarkable demand of 

 the present day. Due credit is not given 

 her for what she has accomplished. She 

 is today prominent back of the counter 

 in florist shops and deeply interested in 

 the work of the greenhouse establish- 

 ment. 



Woman was the first to give us a 

 treatise on horticulture in this country. 

 This honor fell upon Mrs. Logan, a 

 florist of Charleston, S. C. This she did 

 at the age of seventy years, in the year 

 1772. 



The Modem Establishment. 



In referring to the horticultural estab- 

 lishments of the early days I would not 

 pretend to say that they were not active 

 and lucrative for the growers. Many of 

 the veteran florists were known to you, 

 some of them living today, who enjoyed 

 their years of toil, with good prices for 

 their product. 



There are establishments existing to- 

 day with modern methods, which pursued 

 the routine above mentioned, but, keep- 

 ing pace with the changes demanded by 

 the advance in commercial horticulture. 



of the business in general, in that the 

 growers depend on each other for special 

 stocks. Hence the florist of the present 

 time is retail in general stock, and whole- 

 sale in special stock. 



Their dealings have become reciprocal 

 the trade papers have entered upon the 

 field, and all seem to be doing a thriving 

 business, and through this medium the 

 enterprising florists know more of each 

 other and the skill of those in special 

 lines. 



From my own limited observations, I 

 can say but little of other large and ag- 

 gressive horticultural establishments ex- 

 cept the one with which I have been 

 connected for the past quarter century, 

 having observed the advancement and 

 growth of this establishment, which is 

 keeping pace with the increasing de- 

 mand, largely through its own catalogue 

 and the influence of horticultural maga- 

 zines and rural home publications, which 

 are creating an intense taste among the 

 plant and flower-loving people of our 

 country. And what is true of the de- 

 partment offering the subject for this 



J. Otto Thilow. 



(Secretary of the Henry A. Dreer Co.) 



An address by J. Otto Thilow, before the 

 Florists' Club of Philadelphia, May 7, 1907. 



they have branched out as specialists and 

 are classed and known as such in the 

 trade. 



It has been noticeable that certain 

 stocks were best suited to certain locali- 

 ties, and on these the growers concen- 

 trated their efforts to the greatest im- 

 provement of such stock. This method 

 has met with general success, inducing 

 constant extension and enlargement of 

 facilities, demanding modern construc- 

 tion, heating, ventilating, simple and 

 economical methods of handling and 

 shipping. 



This condition seems to have asserted 

 itself within the last twenty years, and 

 has advanced the interest and the growth 



paper, is true of other aggressive estab- 

 lishments of this country; that organiza- 

 tion must be commensurate with modem 

 equipment, so with your suffrage I beg 

 to point with pardonable pride to the 

 plant department of Henry A. Dreer, 

 Inc., at Eiverton, N. J., under the able 

 management of Mr. J. D. Eisele, the 

 vice-president of the company. I there- 

 fore make bold the assertion that with 

 the advance and increase in each branch 

 of this department may we not modestly 

 assume it to be among the modern estab- 

 lishments in equipment and organization f 



Diversity and Development. 



The trend in recent vears has been 



