14 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



■^sp^BSKs-jSei*,^' 



June 8, 1911. 



WHO OWNS THE AIE7 



For years florists have contended that 

 they control the air above their green- 

 houses, and in certain cases the courts 

 have ruled that the consent of the prop- 

 erty owner is necessary before a right 

 of way may be had above the green- 

 houses. The theory of air control is 

 to be put to a further test this week, 

 according to the following press tele- 

 gram from Boston: 



"Peirce Bros., florists, will today ask 

 the courts for an injunction to prohibit 

 the airships which are to fly at Aviation 

 park, in Waltham, this month, from fly- 

 ing over their property. 



"The florists claim that should an 

 airship fall on their glass greenhouses 

 it would not only smash the structure 

 but would also ruin many valuable 

 plants which could never be replaced. 



"The injunction brings up an entire- 

 ly new phase in aero-navigation. Has 

 an owner of property a right to say 

 who shall fly through the air over his 

 land? This question the court will be 

 asked to decide. 



"The injunction will make no differ- 

 ence in the coming meet. The flyers 

 will proceed in other directions, al- 

 though the course already planned 

 would take the machines over the 

 Peirce property." 



A WOMAN'S VIEWPOINT. 



[A paper by Sarah I. Smith, of Secane, Pa., 

 read before the Florists' Club of Philadelphia, 

 June 6, 1011.] 



It is often said that one is not in 

 business for his health, but I believe 

 the pursuit of horticulture is a voca- 

 tion apt to render that particular bless- 

 ing, and it therefore has lured to its 

 fold many who have ventured without 

 any prior experience, and through de- 

 termination and prompted by a keen 

 love for plants and flowers, have made 

 partial if not complete success. 



The trade journals have done much 

 in bringing to us some knowledge of 

 our fellow florists in our own land, and 

 also those of Europe, often telling us 

 how success is achieved by those who 

 specialize, and what their beginnings 

 have been. The mutual benefit of this 

 open and free discussion has helped the 

 commercial side of horticulture more 

 than it is possible to tell. The broad 

 standard of the profession today, large- 

 ly due to the great advance of the past 

 decade, has placed the grower and deal- 

 er before the public as important fac- 

 tors in the commercial world, created 

 a demand for a higher grade of product, 

 a more critical selection of what to 

 grow, and a keener conception of what 

 will satisfy the consumer. 



A Help to Beginners. 



I am frank to say that these are 

 some of the salient points that I have 

 learned since giving my entire atten- 

 tion to the business of a grower. I 

 owe much to the trade papers for 

 having kept me informed on many 

 points, telling me how things are being 

 done successfully by others who are 

 struggling as I am. The information 

 that I have gained has also been shared 

 by a host of others throughout our land, 

 both men and women, who have entered 

 the profession as enthusiasts with little 

 or no practical knowledge. 



I was seeking health, I found it; 

 should I not in turn be free to record 

 my strongest sentiments in favor of 

 the florists' business as a health giving 



vocation? I read with great interest 

 the many notes concerning the women 

 florists, not all of whom, perhaps, have 

 entered the rank as I have, some, no 

 doubt, being forced to continue the 

 business left by a deceased husband, 

 and with a family depending upon their 

 efforts. These mothers have reason to 

 believe that their experience, gained 

 while working hand and shoulder with 

 the breadwinner, has fitted them to 

 continue, with equally good returns for 

 their efforts. 



I believe that women have a natur.'il 

 love for flowers, a more intense desire 

 for everything that grows. A mother's 

 instinct for nursing the tender growing 

 child is also shown in her close atten- 

 tion to the growing plant, and when 

 this care results in profit, and a close 

 study shows what response the plants 

 will give, then I believe that she is 

 fitted to conduct a business success- 

 fully, and if she possesses some execu- 

 tive ability there is no reason why she 

 should not be a profit-sharer in the pro- 

 fession. The foregoing introduction is 

 my idea of the qualifications neces- 

 sary to conduct a florist's business by 

 either man or woman. 



Specializing. 



I say with pardonable pride that I 

 started out as a specialist, and while 

 this is the modern idea, I believe it 

 is the best; it is better to do one thing 

 well than to dabble in many things. 

 So I resorted to violets and carnatious, 

 but a few other things have crept into 

 my care and keeping, which I will touch 

 on in a commercial way. 



To bring about the results which ne- 

 cessity demanded, it was important to 

 develop a few things needful for suc- 

 cess, good soil, heating under proper 

 control, cultivation and close attention. 

 This could be done better by studying 

 the habits of a few things than by 

 launching heavily into a labyrinth of 

 variety. My first beginning was very 

 modest — having a special fondness for 

 violets, I thought best to begin in a 

 small way, yet large enough to know 

 whether my extreme fondness for a 

 vocation on which my mind was set 

 would tire from the close care and 

 attention which commercial growing re- 

 quired. I started in Atlantic City, 

 N. J., with three sashes of violets. 

 This very small beginning proved to 

 me that violets had become a commod- 

 ity and only needed producers, and hav- 

 ing learned enough to convince me of 

 that, I dared to venture deeper. The 

 following year my equipment had 

 grown to six sashes; so you will per- 

 ceive that I had decided conclusively 

 it was better to creep first, and my 

 creeping was of long duration, yet I 

 believe that violets have peculiarities 

 which require several seasons to learn, 

 to successfully overcome the troubles 

 they yield to so easily. 



Slow, Steady Growtli. 



My ambition and anxiety to lavnch 

 heavily into the business was encour- 

 aged by my success in this small be- 

 ginning, which was slow, yet entirely 

 satisfactory, and my next venture was 

 transferred from Atlantic City to Se- 

 cane, Pa., where I purchased five acres 

 of ground and erected two houses, 10x75 

 each. It is evident that my confidence 

 had become fixed. 



This area of glass would produce vio- 

 lets which must find a market, so a 

 small shed was built over the boiler 

 pit to be used as a workshop for pre- 



paring the stock for market, bunching 

 violets, etc. This was also the place 

 where every conceivable plan for bet- 

 ter and larger equipment kept running 

 through my mind in the hope that I 

 could devote all of my time to commer- 

 cial horticulture, as I had then decided 

 that my intense love for flowers and 

 their cultivation would never abate 

 through even excessive labor, demanded 

 by increased facilities. It was neces- 

 sary to provide for a domicile, so I at 

 once set to work making plans for a 

 dwelling, which was built during the 

 summer and ready for occupancy the 

 next fall. 



My first year with all these respon- 

 sibilities was uphill work. I started 

 with three varieties of violets, viz.: 

 Luxonne, California and Lady Hume 

 Campbell, double. I found the singles 

 much better than the doubles, except 

 in the spring. This, however, did not 

 discourage me. I was preparing for 

 better and greater things, and when 

 the following fall arrived I had fine 

 field-grown plants with which to fill 

 my houses, and I was seized with that 

 dominating desire, which seems to have 

 a claim on every florist, of wanting 

 more glass. I therefore purchased some 

 sashes and also some Princess of Wales 

 violets, mainly to give them a test, al- 

 though I knew it was a good standard 

 variety. These sashes gave me quite an 

 extra area besides the houses, from 

 which I reaped a good crop until Christ- 

 mas, and then again in the sprang. 



One Variety Best. 



My houses were heated with hot 

 water, and while my boiler seemed small 

 I felt that a little coaxing might in- 

 duce it to perform greater work, so 

 I procured more sashes, which with the 

 help of the sashes I had would build a 

 sash house. I then decided on one va- 

 riety of violets. Princess of Wales, 

 which I still grow, and discarded all 

 the others. 



My boiler experience is what might 

 happen to any florist who is straining 

 all parts of the business to do its best, 

 but I have since learned that it is 

 false economy to tax one boiler for all 

 work — another important item learned 

 by experience, but as I could not boast 

 of a modern, up-to-date establishment, 

 I had to resort to old-time methods. 



The demand for my violets was 

 greater than the supply and this was 

 highly gratifying, not only from its 

 remunerative point, but because I felt 

 assured that I had correctly used the 

 knowledge gained in my small begin- 

 ning. Being only an amateur, this gave 

 me courage. 



The next year I enlarged my violet 

 houses, secured a new boiler and dug 

 a larger cellar, built a large new shed 

 and constructed a new house, 25x125. 

 I was told by experts that the house 

 was not practical, "the glass was too 

 far from the plants," and many other 

 unsolicited suggestions were given, but 

 my violets were the best and all the- 

 ories were exploded, as the violets 

 seemed to like their new quarters. I 

 also grew asters in this house, and they 

 were the finest in the market. 



Carnations Added. 



My stock was responding to the care 

 which my knowledge prompted. I had 

 already secured a good market for my 

 product, and, like many, felt that my 

 flowers were not good enough to be 

 called first-class or No. 1, but I hoped 



