10 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



February 4, 1900. 



along the line of carnations is just be- 

 ginning. The time is not far distant 

 when each station will bis devoting a 

 certain amount of time to it. 



LANCASTER COUNTY GROVEHS. 



A party of Lancaster county florists 

 recently visited the greenhouses of 

 Emanuel P. Hostetter, Manheim, Pa., 

 where they were photographed by Harry 

 K. Bohrer. Reading from left to right 

 in his picture, they are: H. B. Weaver, 

 Jacob H. Weaver, Elmer J. Weaver, 

 Willis B. Girvin, E. P. Hostetter, B. F. 

 Barr, Albert M. Herr, and A. K. Kohrer. 



OUR COMMON INTERESTS. 



[A paper Iiy Wm. J. Stewart, of Boston, 

 Ma8!<., read before t)ie American ' Carnation So- 

 ciety, at the Indiauupolis convention, January 

 •27 and 28, 190i).J 



The topic on which I have been asked 

 to say a few words might easily furnish 

 food for profitable discussion for the 

 time of an entire convention. Briefly 

 stated, I think all will agree that a 

 closer accord and mutual understanding 

 between the growers, commission men 

 and retailers would greatly conduce to 

 the advantage of the industry as a whole 

 and every individual connected with com- 

 mercial floriculture. We need not con- 

 fine our consideration to the carnation 

 industry alone; what we shall deduce 

 applies equally to all. 



At the start we might ask ourselves, 

 first, whether our industry is enjoying 

 a reasonable degree of prosperity; is or 

 is not returning to those who labor in 

 its various departments a fair recom- 

 pense for the effort expended. If not, 

 where shall we look for the cause and 

 what can we apply as a remedy? 



Primitive Methods Outgrown. 



The business which is under consider- 

 ation is one of recent development, rap- 

 idly increasing in importance and influ- 

 ence and now involving many direct and 



.counter a sentiment reluctant to ac- 

 knowledge that former conditions • can 

 never be restored, and well-Intrenched 

 convictions Avith resultant prejudices as 

 to the supposed causes contributing to 

 present grievances. All this is inimical 

 to the conciliatory, cooperative spirit 

 which the interdependence of the differ- 

 ent interests makes so desirable. 



On the other hand, the inherent prin- 

 ciple of progress demands that, as our 

 business assumes a magnitude which 

 makes modern mercantile methods essen- 

 tial to its best success, we should fit our- 

 selves to so conduct it, regardless of any 

 preconceived views and cherished preju- 

 dices which may stand in the way. Ac- 

 cording as we are willing to so fit our- 

 selves , and encourage the same in our 

 auxiliaries will the foundations of our 

 industry be strengthened, its dignity up- 

 held and its permanency assured as a 

 vocation universally respected and hon- 

 ored. 



Need of Mutual Consideration. 



Looking at the commercial horticul- 

 tural industry as comprising the three 

 distinct departments of the producer, 

 the wholesaler and the retailer, we may 

 state as a self-evident proposition that 

 any interruption of the prosperity of 

 one department must eventually react di- 

 rectly or indirectly on all the others, ami 

 the misfortune of one should therefore 

 be the concern of all. 



Following out this thought, a first 

 requisite in. the movement toward a bet- 

 ter understanding and the benefits which 

 may be expected to follow is the recog- 

 nition by each department of the indis- 

 pensability of the other. 



*'I care for nobody, no, not I, 

 If nobody cares for me," 



is not the sort of sentiment that will 



bring either emolument or credit to 



either. 



Problems of Supply and Demand. 



With the wholesale grower's first and 

 greatest obligation — that of producing 



Lancaster County FlorisU at E. P. Hostetter's. 



allied interests. It is not surprising that 

 new phases, hitherto unforeseen, are con- 

 stantly intruding themselves. We find 

 in the ranks many who started when its 

 problems were simple, its operations 

 somewhat primitive and its profits large 

 in proportion to the investment. It is 

 only natural that we should here en- 



good and acceptable material — this paper 

 does not concern itself. We shall assume 

 that the grower is doing this part well, 

 and we shall assent, also, to the propo- 

 sition that, under conditions as they now 

 exist, he has all he can attend to. If, 

 however, the product is not well sold and 

 the money well collected, it matters little 



how well it may have been grown, and 

 so here we come to the problem which 

 presses most urgently upon us today. 

 When the production outstrips the de- 

 mand, then are the highest qualifications 

 of the marketing forces put to the test. 

 You, growers, who make up the bulk of 

 the membership of this organization, 

 know something of the bitterness of dis- 

 appointment as you have seen your prod- 

 uct, under the slightest provocation of 

 sunlight and crop, piled up unsold in the 

 wholesale markets or condemned to the 

 alternative of being proclaimed by a 

 "hole-in-the-wall" shouter at "ten for 

 a nickel, ' ' while perhaps you read in the 

 trade papers of a scarcity and unsup- 

 plied demand a couple of hundred miles 

 away. You are justified in asking, "Can- 

 not this be helped? What is it that 

 stands between the flower and the pub- 

 lic?" But instead of asking of the 

 wind or of your brother grower, would 

 it not be well to call in the other mem- 

 bers of the family — the wholesaler and 

 the retailer — and reason together? The 

 subject is one which will tax the com- 

 bined capabilities of all. 



Purposes of the Carnation Society. 



In the meeting for organization of this 

 society at Philadelphia, eighteen years 

 ago, among the objects of the organiza- 

 tion as set forth by the committee on 

 resolutions were the following: "To in- 

 crease general interest in the cultivation 

 and consumption of the carnation; to 

 improve the methods of cultivation and 

 the methods of placing it on the market; 

 to increase its use as a decorative 

 flower. ' ' Do the records of the society 

 show that these two propositions have 

 been followed up as of equal importance 

 or that one has been allowed to over- 

 shadow the other? 



Our worthy president, in asking me to 

 prepare this paper, writes: "You have 

 been through the mill, so I think you 

 might give us a few suggestions. ' ' Con- 

 sulting the dictionary, I find the word 

 ' ' mill ' ' defined as " a machine in which 

 substances are ground"; "a prize 

 fight." The president evidently had in 

 mind my connection with the flower com- 

 mission business in the long, long ago. 

 From my observation I should say that 

 the commission method of marketing 

 flowers was still holding its own all 

 right, although proof is not wanting to 

 indicate that the sentiment among some 

 of the best informed commission dealers 

 seems to favor a system of direct, out- 

 right purchases from the wholesale 

 grower. 



Duties of Grower and Wholesaler. 



In any event, the vital interests of 

 grower and wholesaler demand that the 

 wholesale dealer should at all times have 

 exact information from the grower as to 

 crops present and prospective and a 

 strict compliance with his wishes as to 

 time and manner of shipment. It is 

 the wholesaler's privilege and duty to 

 concern himself in the matters which 

 affect the welfare of his grower, advise 

 him as to 'ways and means whereby he 

 may increase his income, inform him as 

 to the movements and tendencies of the 

 market as discerned by the man at the 

 front, keep the scouts busy and do some- 

 thing more than sell. If he is incapable 

 of all this, he may be "in the right 

 church, ' ' but is certainly ' < in the wrong 

 pew. ' ' 



The grower should have from hia 



