52 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



October 21, 1900. 



Vegetable Fordog. 



VEGETABLE FORCERS MEET. 



A Successful Convention. 



The second annual convention of the 

 Greenhouse Vegetable Growers' Associa- 

 tion was held in the Lyceum theater at 

 Ashtabula, O., last week and was a suc- 

 cess in every particular. There were 

 about seventy-five present when Presi- 

 dent E. A. Dunbar called the convention 

 to order Tuesday ^afternoon and intro- 

 duced Mayor Cook to make a speech of 

 welcome, after which Mr. Dunbar read 

 his address covering the year's work. 

 Among other things he said: 



' ' There may be some lines of work in 

 the world that must be conducted secret- 

 ly. If greenhouse vegetable men have 

 had such ideas in the past, they are fast 

 discarding them, for we realize that the 

 real issue is, how shall we best supply 

 what the consumer desires? 



"First, we must get acquainted with 

 each other, clear across the country, east 

 and west, north and south, and a com- 

 mittee must be appointed to locate us, 

 to secure the data of the amount of glass 

 and the crops produced. We must also 

 see to it that the consumer makes our 

 acquaintance. It Ls not sufficient that 

 our vegetables drift into his kitchen 

 from an unknown source. Our publicity 

 committee must get busy and inform 

 these customers regarding the capital, 

 labor and skill that go into the product 

 so freely offered. We have not begun 

 yet to solicit the patronage of the public 

 with printers' ink — that one argument 

 properly handled should double our pres- 

 ent sales. 



"Second, we must study our market. 

 There is an old saying that a crop well 

 grown is half sold. That would indicate 

 that a buyer exists, especially for a good 

 article. And we have most of us been 

 in the business long enough to know that 

 it doesn't pay to raise a poor crop of 

 anything. If the buyer is waiting for 

 fancy stock, why should we hesitate to 

 show our neighbor how to produce it? 



"The people at large are gradually 

 finding out that a mixture of our prod- 

 ucts with their diet is really what na- 

 ture intended, and once they get the h.abit 

 they soon find they cannot afford to pass 

 us by. We must bear in mind that our 

 customers are growing in numbers very 

 fast; that the world is ready to welcome 

 something new; that something to eat out 

 of season will appeal to all good livers, 

 and that they don't mind the price if 

 they get value received. 



' ' However, the nature of our products 

 is such that we cannot place them in ele- 

 vators or cold storage, subject to a higher 

 market. The market price varies, high 

 or low, governed by the law of supply 

 from day to day. It is not a question 

 of the consumer buying everything in 

 .'■ight because it is cheap. He is willing 

 to pay, say, 20 cents for a pound of 

 lettuce or tomatoes, which is all he needs. 

 A surplus on the market cuts the price 

 in two, but the customer takes only one 

 pound, which is all he needs. The balance 

 is dumped and the grower has lost in 

 proportion as he exceeded the demand. 

 Now, the solution of this undesirable con- 

 dition, as far as the grower is concerned, 

 is to increase the number of consumers. 

 Right here our national association will 

 be of great value to us, in indicating. 



limiting and distributing the quantity of 

 one vegetable to be produced from time 

 to "time out of season. 



* * Fifteen years ago there were scarcely 

 more pounds of lettuce grown under glass 

 than there are tons of it today. As it 

 became known that it could be success- 

 fully grown and sold, the supply rapidly 

 increased, until today we have plenty, 

 and tomorrow we must try out some of 

 the other vegetables, which our program 

 committee has arranged for us to hear 

 about. We should never again see let- 

 tuce sold as cheap as it was last spring. 

 I believe that I am correct in the state- 

 ment that the single crop that produces 

 the largest returns in the state of Massa- 

 chusetts is cucumbers under glass." 



The state vice-presidents ' reports 

 showed the industry in a flourishing con- 

 dition. 



Treasurer M. L. Ruetenik reported re- 

 ceipts for the year as $357 and expendi- 

 tures $195.41. The secretary's report 

 showed a membership of about eighty- 

 five. 



The secretary was voted $100 for his 

 services the past year and the same sum 

 for the year to come. 



Officers Elected. 



The following officers were elected: 



President, C. W. Waid, New Carlisle, 0. 



Vice-president, Franklin De Kleine, 

 Grand Rapids, Mich. 



Secretary, Samuel W. Severance, Louis- 

 ville, Ky. 



Treasurer, M. L. Ruetenik, Cleveland, 0. 



The by-laws were amended to permit 

 the executive board to designate the 

 time and place of the annual meeting. 



The report of the committee on pub- 

 licity was read by S. W. Severance. 

 C. W. Waid reported for the committee 

 on crop and market conditions. 



A committee, consisting of B. H. 

 Thome, W. H. Thompson and H. B. 

 Friez, was appointed to draft resolu- 

 tions and later brought in a report ex- 

 pressing the thanks of the association to 

 all who had contributed to the success 

 of the convention, and especially the 

 greenhouse vegetable growers of Ashta- 

 bula, who^e labors had been unremitting. 



Papers Read. 



Among the papers read were: "Some 

 Pointers for Market Gardeners," by 

 J. S. Brigtam, Bowling Green, O., who 

 said every gardener ought to have glass; 

 "Forcing Rhubarb," by W. R. Lazenby, 

 Ohio State University, who detailed meth- 

 ods that have brought good results; 

 "Cauliflower," by T. L. Brown, South 

 Manchester, Conn., read by C. W. Waid, 

 a paper that brought out considerable 

 discussion; "Fall Tomatoes," by M. M. 

 Miesse, Lancaster, O., who said the 

 closest attention is required to get profit- 

 able results; "Celery," by B. H. Thome, 

 Wooster, 0., who described several inter- 

 esting experiments with celery ; ' ' Rad- 

 ishes," by C. W. Waid, New Carlisle, O., 

 who opened an interesting discussion; 

 "The Importance of Uniformity in the 

 Varietal Character in Vegetable Seeds," 

 by W. W. Tracy, Washington, D. C, 

 whose address was rather technical; 

 "Diseases of Greenhouse Vegetables and 

 Their Prevention, " by A. D. Selby, Woos- 

 ter, O., who spoke at considerable length ; 

 "From Farm to Family Fresh," by 

 H. B. FuUerton, Huntington, N. Y., who 

 used a stereopticon to show how it is 

 done on Long Island ; ' ' Local Organiza- 

 tions," by F. De Kleine, Grand Rapids, 

 who said there is real money in them; 

 "Lettuce," by C. H. Gallup, of Ashta- 



No Grower of Vegetables vmler cliss can 

 afford to do without the Wittbold systeai of 



Watering 



—because with it a boy can do as much 

 as two men can do in a whole day with 

 the hose— and do it better. 



The Bystem Is equally ^Taluable out- 

 doors, and for many other crops besides 

 vegetableB— wherever you need water. 



Send for our booklet— with testimon- 

 ials-read and you'll send in your order. 



E. H. HUNT 



EzclnsiTe Sales Aceat 

 76>78 Wabash Ave., CHICAOO 



Mention The Review when you write. 



There are no Dry Spots 



with The Skinner System 

 of Garden and Greenhouse 



Irrigation. :^=^^^^== 



The Skinner Irrigation Go. 



TROY, O. 



White Marsk. 

 Md. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



VEGETABLE PLANTS 



CABBAGK- Wakefield and Snccesslon, $1.00 



per 1000; 18.50 per 10,000. 

 PAR8LKT-25C per 100; S1.25 per 1000. 

 LETTUCE— BiK Boston, Boston Market, Grand 



Rapids, Sl.CO per 1000. 



Cash with order. 



R.VincsnUr.i&SonsCo, 



Mention The Review when you write. 



Big Money in Asparagus and 

 Rhubarb for fordng— Get Busy. 



I have thousands of fins ARparagus roots ot 

 the forcing age. and 3-year-old Rhubarb roots 

 tor (orciDg. I am the forcingr man who adver- 

 tises in this paper every lall and winter. 



WABBEN 8HINN, >ur8eryman, 



WOODSTOWN, N. J. 



Mention The Review when you write. 



bula, who said Grand Rapids is the 

 money-maker; "Soils," by Prof. Gem- 

 son, of Michigan Agricultural College, 

 who said on the soil depend the results. 

 The trades' display was in the audito- 

 rium of the city hall, under the direction 

 of J. H. Rice, of Ashtabula. Among the 

 exhibits were greenhouse material, car- 

 rying de\dces, window glass, greenhouse 

 paints, ventilator apparatus, pipe hang- 

 ers, steam traps, gutters, flower pots, 

 straw mats, formaldehyde preparations, i 

 boiler parts, chemicals, watering appa- 

 ratus, etc. 



Hospitalities. 



On the afternoon of October 13 the 

 visitors were entertained by the Ashta- 

 bula Automobile Club, about seventy- 

 five machines being available for a trip 

 about the city, including a tour of in- 

 spection through the many large and well 

 ordered vegetable growing establish- 

 ments. 



A banquet was held on the evening of 



