8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



February 17, 1910. 



twenty-six or twenty-eight feet wide, 

 if not wider, and seven to eight feet 

 to the gutters. This gives a large body 

 of air and a more oven temperature. 

 Such a house, if built of all iron frame 

 construction, would cost complete, in- 

 cluding its share of the heating and 

 other apparatus, about 50 cents per 

 square foot of glass, while a wooden 

 liouse costs from 25 to 35 cents per 

 square foot of glass. The cost of run- 

 ning a greenhouse depends largely on 

 the quantity of glass handled, but for 

 the average place the fuel cost can be 

 estimated at 3 to 4 cents and the labor 

 at 8 to 10 cents per square foot of glass. 

 The supplies and repairs cannot well be 

 estimated, as they depend on the quality 

 of the house, etc. 



Opportunities in the Trade. 



In the cut flower industry there is a 

 continual struggle for improvement at 

 all times, and I do not know of any in- 

 dustry in which a man stands a better 

 show for success if starting in now. 

 One must have experience, of course, 

 in the growing of the stock, but there 

 is at least as good a chance for indi- 

 vidual effort in our line of trade as in 

 any other. There never can be any 

 monopoly or trust that would control 

 the output or sale of the flowers, for 

 that output is raised in a thousand dif- 

 ferent places. Everj- man stands on an 

 equal footing as far as the market de- 

 mand is concerned, for there is no com- 

 liination to liel]» or restrain trade for 

 the benefit of any firm or set of firms. 



The selling of the greenhouse prod- 

 uct, whether cut flowers or plants, is 

 just as important a branch of the busi- 

 ness as the growing end. No matter 

 how good the stock is or how carefully 

 the greenhouses have been run, all will 

 be w^asted if the vproduct is not well 

 spld. 



Selling; the Flowers. 



There are two methods of selling. 

 According to one method, the growers 

 sell their own stock, having their own 

 grades and methods of sorting, and of 

 course they know just when the stock 

 was cut. A grower who sells his own 

 stock usually caters to some special 

 class of buyers, as the shipping trade, 

 for instance. This trade requires 

 flowers cut tighter in the bud and also 

 careful sorting and packing, in order 

 that the shipment may arrive in good 

 condition. Flowers can be shipped a 

 distance requiring them to remain 

 packed in the boxes forty-eight to sixty 

 hours. These long-distance shipments 

 demand the utmost care, especially as 

 to the weather conditions. During the 

 warm and wet weather it is hard to 

 have carnations arrive in good condi- 

 tion when shipped a long distance. 

 Koses and He;iuties Avill shin in lieitcr 

 shape during such weather. The grower 

 who. sells his own stock should take 

 pride in having an even run of flowers 

 in each grade. 



The other method of selling consists 

 in shipping flowers to a commission 

 firm, to be sold for the account of the 

 shipper. There are a number of firms 

 in the larger cities that make this sell- 

 ing on a commission a specialty. Their 

 usual chargo for sncli work is fifteen per 

 cent of the gross sales. It is worth 

 this amount to handle the stock right. 

 The expenses of selling are almost this 

 amount with the larger commercial 

 growers. 



A Benefit to the Community. 



The out flower trade is favorably lo- 

 cated as far as Illinois is concerned. 

 Our shipping facilities are unsurpassed. 

 We supply flowers to an immense terri- 

 tory, going east as far as Buffalo, Pitts- 

 h\ng and Washington, south to the Gulf 

 of Mexico, west to Colorado, Montana 

 and the Dakotas and north as far as 

 Winnipeg. This immense scope of coun- 

 try drains to Illinois a continual flow 

 of money from our sales. The cut 

 flower industry is not a jobbing trade, 

 where the most of the money received 

 for its goods goes off to another state 

 in payment of them, but is what might 

 be called a manufacturing enterprise. 

 The grower takes a piece of ground 

 and covers it with glass. He is what 

 might be called an intensified farmer, 

 as he irrigates his plants by watering 

 tlicin ; 111' \ontilatts them; he controls 

 the temperature in cold weather by arti- 

 ficial heat and sometimes grows two or 



three crops a year from the same bcmh 

 space. This product is the result of 

 steady labor for 365 days in the yt :r 

 There is no let-up, but one thing crovv.ig 

 into another, so that there is alwavs 

 something to be done. 



A greenhouse establishment is a v y 

 beneficial industry to any town. ;tg 

 outlay for labor and supplies is j'st 

 so much cash that is brought rij) it 

 there to be spent, and when the toial 

 amount of glass is considered in t e 

 state of Illinois — estimated at abdit 

 18,000,000 square feet — the magnitude 

 of the trade can be appreciated. Th( .e 

 is a total business in cut flowers and 

 plants, grown in this state, of at least 

 .$5,000,000 per year. A good share of 

 this immense sum is drawn here from 

 other states and all of this sum is ex 

 pended right here in this state. It will 

 thus be seen that the cut flower indus- 

 try is one of the most solid foundation 

 stones on which the prosperity of the 

 state of Illinois is built. 



SEASONABLE ORCHID NOTES. 



Laelia Anceps. 



L.a*lia anceps is at its best tluring 

 January and February and is one of the 

 most useful orchids grown for the florist. 

 Its culture is comparatively simple. Pans 

 or baskets of osmunda fiber, with good 

 drainage below it, through which water 

 will percolate freely, is" what it requires. 

 A common error is to grow it too warm. 

 I have, seen it in densely shaded palm 

 houses, making beautiful growths, but 

 not one in ten of them would flower. A 

 carnation house temperature, with plenty 

 of air and only a little shade, is what 

 this la'lia wants; under such conditions 

 practically every new bulb will bloom. 

 Anyone with an ordinary greenhouse can 

 grow and flower this fine ^lexiean orchid, 

 as well as that other charming variety, 

 L. autuninalis. 



The objection is sometimes raised that 

 La'lia anceps keejis ])Oorly when cut. The 

 stems are long and hard. If they are 

 split from the bottom upward and a light 

 slanting cut is made here and there below 

 the water level, so that more water can be 

 taken up, this trouble will largely dis- 

 ap])ear. The white forms, such as San- 

 deriana, Stella, Schroderiana and Daw- 

 soni, are much better keepers than the 

 Imlk of the colored ones. The true L. 

 anceps alba is not at all common. It is 

 jiure white, except for a little yellow in 

 the throat. Any rebasketing or potting 

 re()uired by these la>lias should be done 

 soon after flowering. 



Calanthes and Cattleyas. 



Calanthes have been making a glorious 

 showing for some weeks. Arranged with 

 adiantums on a stage, nothing could be 



more beautiful. As they pass out of 

 flower, remove them to a shelf where tlu-y 

 will be free from drip and watering 

 from the hose. It is just as well to re 

 move them from the pots and pack them 

 in boxes of moderately dry sand for a 

 time. As a compost, equal parts of well 

 decayed and dried cow manure and 

 fibrous loam, with a dash of coarse sand 

 through it, have been found satisfactory 

 during the last season. We prefer, when 

 starting the bulbs, to place them in flats 

 of sand until growths and roots start, 

 later placing two bulbs in a 6-inch pot 

 and three in an 8-inch pan. If the bulbs 

 are extra large, it is a good plan to tie 

 them to a short stake to keep them firm. 

 No orchids should be potted loosely, or 

 they will never thrive. A small lean-te 

 liouse, which can be kept hot and moist 

 during the growing season, will be to tht 

 liking of calanthes. 



Cattleya ^lossia? will now have its bulb> 

 well made up. It is a free blooming; 

 species and of quite easy culture. Do no' 

 shade this, or any other cattleyas, for •' 

 while yet. Never mind if the bulbs an' 

 leaves turn more of a golden hue thai, 

 you like; this will not harm them in the 

 least and the green color soon return^ 

 after shading is started. Beautiful darl> 

 green bulbed and foliaged cattleyas ar' 

 the poorest bloomers. In their nati^ 

 habitats all these cattleyas get a lot oi 

 sun, and keeping them in semi-dungeon 

 like structures is not at all to their taste 

 C. Mossia; is the great early summc! 

 cattleya and is one of the varieties an\ 

 intelligent commercial grower can gro\ 

 successfully. The fact that they are S" 

 inexpensive would seem to be one reasoi' 

 why more florists should try a few ol 

 them. 



