April 15, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



13 



are too great a distance from the sta- 

 tion, 



A full and complete plan of an up- 

 to-date rose growing plant will require 

 a great deal of care, time and serious 

 thought. All of us should plan ahead 

 carefully what we intend to do, chang- 

 ing and rechanging for years, that we 

 may develop along the best lines. 



Large Houses Best. 



My recommendation is the large 

 house. My latest house, 60x1340, I find 

 none too large. The advantages over 

 smaller houses are • many and are sum- 

 med up in the fact that they produce 

 better stock and more of it. We do 

 not find that those that have built the 

 large houses have given them up and 

 gone back to the smaller ones. Those 

 who have built large houses build still 

 larger when they build again. 



The report from North Wales, Pa., 

 is that their house built two years ago 

 is too small, although 150 feet wide. 

 They have now planned, and I believe 

 have under way, the construction of 

 a house that is 172 feet wide and 700 

 feet long; over 110,000 feet under one 

 roof. With proper construction (and 

 good construction is absolutely neces- 

 sary in these large, high houses), I 

 believe that such a house will be a suc- 

 cess, although I might hesitate to 

 recommend the building of such a house. 



An investment is necessary to carry 

 out a properly planned • rose growing 

 business. First of ail, you will have 

 to invest your whole heart and soul, 

 all your courage, and be ready to put 

 in, at all times, good, large amounts of 

 patient, untiring, hard work. Also a 

 love for your business and the rose, 

 like the love of a mother for her off- 

 spring. You will also need some 

 money, but that is quite a secondary 

 matter to the stock of courage that 

 you should have on hand. 



Eternal Vigilance the Price. 



The best roses are not grown by any 

 secret process, but by the most care- 

 ful attention to every detail. Eternal 

 vigilance is the price of good roses. 

 You will find it true every time that 

 the man who produces superior stock, 

 does so by a more careful and pains- 

 taking method. 



If anything has been accomplished 

 by the use of chemicals, I should like 

 to know it. I have not been able to 

 obtain good resijlts from their use. I 

 find plenty of care and cow manure 

 produces much better and surer results. 



Do not deceive yourself in regard to 

 reasons for success. We sometimes 

 know why we fail, but why we succeed 

 is much harder to answer. 



When they grow well, there are 4,000 

 reasons why they do so. We may know 

 what a dozen of them are, and if, by 

 chance, we learn one or two more, we 

 then think w'e have solved the whole 

 problem. 



Are we getting from the experiment 

 stations all we should? How many of 

 US make any effort to get that knowl- 

 edge, or to assist them in any way 

 ^vith the work that they are doing? 

 f don't think we have used the experi- 

 "lent stations fairly. They are doing 

 I great work and should be called on 

 ^0 help us in the solving of many of 

 <"ir problems. 



What to Grow. 



Aim to cut your roses when the de- 



mand is good. The grower who pro- 

 duces a large supply on an overstocked 

 market and a small supply when the 

 market is short, must not expect to get 

 a large return. In Boston we have a 

 good demand in August; in October 

 the rose market seems always to be 

 overstocked. From the middle of 

 January to the middle of February is 

 a short time. This is the time that 

 takes our best efforts to cover. 



Is the demand for the best grade 

 roses as good as it ought to be? We 

 seem to have much more trouble to 

 dispose of our high-grade stock, than 

 we do of the smaller grades. I hope 

 you will do better in New York. 



How do you decide which old kind 

 to give up to make room for the new? 

 What are you going to take out to 

 make room for White Killarney? Will 

 you give up the Bride this year? Do 

 you think White Killarney will re- 

 place Bride? Have you given up Maid, 

 and are you growing Killarney in- 

 stead? I have given up Maid; next 

 year I expect to give up Bride. What 



Tlie editor la pleased 

 when a Reader 

 presents his Ideas 

 on any subject treated In 



Ve0«r 



As experience Is the best 

 teacher, so do "w 

 leam fastest by aa 

 exohanse of experiences. 

 Bfany valuable points 

 are brought out 

 by discussion. 



Oood penmanship, spelling' and gram- 

 mar, tbouKh desirable, are not neces- 

 sary. Write as you would talk when 

 doing' your best. 



WK 8HAIX BK GLAD 

 TO HKAR FROM TOU. 



about the other new kinds? Which 

 ones will you continue to grow for the 

 coming year? Rhea Reid I shall con- 

 tinue to grow, but not extensively. This 

 rose came near to being one of the best 

 roses ever produced. Maryland I think 

 well of, and a good, safe one to grow. 

 William R. Smith is a promising rose 

 for summer. I intend to grow it, but 

 only to a limited extent. ' Kaiserin 

 does not give any light-colored sum- 

 mer rose much show. Mrs. Jardine and 

 Queen Beatrice I have discarded. 



In closing, the last wotd I will say is 

 in regard to the economy and saving 

 that I have found best to practice. 

 For many years, at the first, I thought 

 it most important to save my money, 

 but I now find that the money is not 

 nearly so important as the saving of your 

 nerve force, your courage and brain 

 force, also your health and bodily 

 force, and with what is expected of 

 you in these high-pressure times, you 

 will need them all. 



BOSTON. 



The Market 



The general verdict appears to be that 

 it was a good Easter, much better than a 

 year ago, but hardly a record breaker. 

 Plants once more asserted their suprem- 

 acy over cut flowers and each year they 

 become more of a factor. The demand 

 for pot plants was undoubtedly better 

 than Boston ever Had before and it is 

 safe to say that about all well grown 

 plants were sold out. Lilies averaged 

 12% cents per bud; a few went at 10 

 cents, but late in the week it became evi- 

 dent that the supply was inadequate and 

 15 cents was readily paid at wholesale. 

 Retailers charged 15 cents to 25 cents per 

 bud and every pot seemed to go. Stock 

 averaged dwarfer than usual, but was 

 well flowered. 



Azaleas were in good demand, sizes 

 from $3 to $5 especially so. Rhododen- 

 drons were seen in considerable numbers, 

 Pink Pearl being the favorite, a popular 

 price at wholesale being $5. Less pyrus, 

 prunus and cratajgus than usual were 

 seen. Pink ramblers sold far better than 

 crimson ones and were seen in larger 

 numbers. Dorothy Perkins was mostly 

 seen, but Lady Gay had the best color. 

 Hiawatha was a popular single scarlet, 

 which sold flnely. Crimson Rambler and 

 Baby Rambler were less popular than 

 in former years. Some nice hybrids in 

 pots sold well, Frau Karl Druschki being 

 a favorite. Clothilde Soupert was used as 

 a light pink to be sold cheaply. Genistas 

 were abundant, but their early-dropping 

 qualities seemed to militate against their 

 sale. Spiraea astilboides was the best of 

 its class. Multiflora was a better seller 

 than the old common type. Lily of the 

 valley in pots and pans met with an ex- 

 cellent sale. Bulbous stock moved rather 

 slowly, but better than in preceding 

 years. Acacias sold well, also ericas. 

 Some of the Cavendishii type were nice 

 specimens. Metrosideros, a one-time fa- 

 vorite, was little seen. Bougainvilleas 

 were abundant and moved well, also mar- 

 guerites when nicely flowered. In the 

 way of cheaper stock, pahs of pansies, 

 double violets, double daisies, myosotis, 

 English primroses and polyanthus were 

 sold in quantity. There was a fair call 

 for fern pans, palms and nephrolepis. 

 Hydrangea hortensis sold well and quite 

 a few cyclamen were disposed of. Prices 

 at wholesale for plants showed but little 

 change from former years. 



The cut flower trade was not so good 

 as it might have been and advances in 

 price were less than usual. Roses cleaned 

 out well. Extra quality Beauties made 

 $6, and a few $9, but the call was more 

 for second quality stock. Killarney and 

 Richmond made from $3 to $4 per dozen 

 for best. Bride and Bridesmaid varied 

 from $4 to $8 per hundred, a few select 

 making $12.50. Carnations, which sold 

 well several days before Easter, took a 

 slump April 10. From $4 to $6 were 

 current prices on good stock, some 

 fancies making $8. Inferior stock had 

 to be cleared at $2 and $3. Violets, as 

 usual, sold well, both singles and doubles 

 cleaning out; $1 per hundred was the 

 ruling price, some few selling higher and 

 lower. Sweet peas were in heavy sup- 

 ply; all the best brought $1 per hundred 

 and some higher. Marguerites made $1 

 to $2 per hundred, and valley $2 to $3. 

 Cut lilies mostly averaged 12^^ cents per- 

 bud, but some brought more. Candidums 

 were few. 



In bulbous stock there wa9 an over- 



