July 8, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



purpose $1,500 has been appropriated. It 

 is my experience, however, that you can 

 buy cheaper than you can grow the flow- 

 ers. We can go to the local florists and 

 give them a list and buy them at a rea- 

 sonable figure. It is almost impossible 

 to get just the right kind of a man; he 

 must have other qualifications to be a 

 good superintendent, besides being a flo- 

 rist. As I figure it, it is cheaper to buy 

 than to raise the plants." 



Saved One-half by Buying Plants. 



"That is the experience of Seattle," 

 said J. W. Thompson. "When I went 

 there they had a small greenhouse and 

 thQ salary was $900 a year. We adopted 

 the plan of advertising for bids in the 

 fall. We were able to buy the plants at 

 from $800 to $1,000. We bought plants 

 for 2 cents to 2% cents and upward. We 

 have not the bother in caring for the 

 plants and I figured we saved one-half." 



' ' This matter does not seem to be quite 

 settled," said W. H. Dunn, of Kansas 

 City. "It seems to me to be worth 

 while, no matter how small or large the 

 department, to maintain independence by 

 maintaining a greenhouse, and to that 

 should be added a nursery, as Mr. Wirth. 

 says, and you can make your selections 

 and have them adaptable to your purpose 

 and at the same time be independent. I 

 hardly believe it permits of any argu- 

 ment ; the saving will be with the depart- 

 ment that establishes its own greenhouse 

 and nursery." 



"Mr, Dunn is rather out of the con- 

 troversy," said Arthur Hay, "as we are 

 speaking of small cities. As the expense 

 becomes larger it is undoubtedly cheaper, 

 but where a park system does not make 

 an expenditure of over $500 or $600 a 

 year it would be cheaper to buy than to 

 grow the plants." 



The Best, Not the Cheapest. 



"Mr. Hay is all the time coming out 

 with 'cheap, cheap,' " said Mr. Wirth. 

 ' * What the public wants is not the cheap- 

 est but the best thing, and they are enti- 

 tled to it, and the best way to supply the 

 best is to grow it yourself. He says he 

 can order his plants from the local flo- 

 rist. Suppose he orders them in the 

 spring; he has got to take what is left. 

 A good gardener figures out now what 

 he wants for next year. He reads trade 

 papers and gets seeds and cuttings, and 

 next year he has something new to offer. 

 That is where he has the advantage over 

 the man who buys. The commercial 

 grower grows what he can sell. Lots of 

 people find flowers in our parks they 

 cannot get anywhere from the florist. If 

 you want to keep up with the times you 

 want to have your own greenhouse, and 

 if you can't afford to have a greenhouse, 

 make a hotbed." 



"If Mr. Wirth 's finger," said C. E. 

 Keith, "had gone off when he pointed 

 it at me I would be dead now. Mr. Pres- 

 ident, I am of the opinion that instead 

 of superintendents giving so much 

 thought to the temperature and the soil 

 that plants require in the greenhouse, it 

 is better for them to hunt up hardier and 

 choicer selections of trees and shrubs. 

 Instead of studying the temperature and 

 other things of different plants in a 

 small park, he had better put in more 

 time in the analyzation of the earth that 

 his trees outside require, and I believe it 

 will pay him better. Instead of giving 

 so much attention to the greenhouse or 

 hotbed, let him learn his trees. The first 

 thing is the vegetable kingdom as it lies 

 hardy outdoors, winter and summer. ' ' 



"I do not hear any of them, in a<lvo- 



Greene's Early Hardy Daisy. 



eating the buying of things, speak of the 

 after care of a formal display," said 

 W. E. Adams, of Omaha, Neb. "A man 

 has to plant them, take care of them dur- 

 ing the winter, plant them out and then 

 attend to taking them in again. Not 

 only that, but Mr. Keith talks about 

 nardy varieties. There are hundreds of 

 them, spiraeas, hydrangeas and other 

 hardy plants not in the greenhouse." 



"Excuse me," said the president, 

 "but I hope you will not take Mr. Keith 

 seriously. ' ' 



"I am thoroughly opposed to Mr. 

 Keith 's ideas, ' ' said Mr. Adams. ' ' It 

 is an expensive luxury, but we can grow 

 hardy stuff in the house." 



"I have probably grown more shrubs 

 than Mr. Adams has ever seen," said 

 Mr. Keith. ' * I was brought up on a 

 500-acre nursery, and I don't believe 

 there is a man in Minnesota that has 

 grown as many shrubs as I have." 



On motion of Mr. Dunn, the meeting 

 adjourned. 



AN EARLY HARDY DAISY. 



For the last three years H. H. Greone, 

 Saginaw, Mich., has been growing a 

 hardy perennial daisy which blooms much 

 earlier than the Shasta or Chrysanthe- 

 muiii iiiaxinmiii. His reeord for tlie last 



three years, as to date of flowering, is: 

 1907, June 8; 1908, May 31; 1909, June 

 10. "This is not for the first flower," 

 says Mr. Greene, "but for a crop to cut. 

 This year I put a frame and sash over 

 some plants in the end of March and 

 they were in full bloom June 4. The 

 first flower opened Decoration day, and I 

 could have had a full crop by that time 

 if the plants had been carefully watered, 

 as I find they are hard drinkers. The 

 plant is extremely vigorous, much hardier 

 than the Shasta daisy, and the flower 

 lasts well when cut. The stems are from 

 fifteen to eighteen inches long and the 

 plant is wonderfully free flowering, al- 

 though the blooms are smaller than the 

 Shasta, being from two to two and a half 

 inches across. They can be cut up to 

 the time the Shasta begins to flower and 

 I consider them a decidedly valuable 

 florists' flower. The enclosed photo, 

 though poor, will give an idea of the ap- 

 pearance, rt was taken June 19, when 

 the flowers were all fully out and there 

 were over fifty salable flowers on the 

 clump. They sell readily locally." 



Chilton, Wis. — Business is good at 

 Chilton, and W. G. Schucht is the proud 

 father of a twelve-pound boy, born July 

 1, so everyone is happy. 



