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16 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



OCTOBBB 6, 1911. 



shades. In cleaning the shading from 

 the roofs of houses, it will be found 

 that the early morning, with the dew 

 on, is the best time for the work. 

 Usually a rub with a long-handled 



brush, followed by a hosing down, will 

 suffice. If this fails, some Dutch 

 Cleanser or lye, lightly sprayed on or 

 laid on with a mop, will soon soften 

 the shade so that it can be removed. 



THE OUT FLOWEE INDUSTRY. 



Peonies by the Acre. 



"Great oaks from little acorns 

 grow," and from the planting of a 

 few small roots big fields of peonies 

 have come into existence. 



Probably few florists appreciate the 

 extent to which the peony is grown for 

 cut flower purposes in certain sections 

 of the central west. At Vincennes, in 

 Indiana, W. A. Beiman is not content 

 with twelve acres of peonies grown ex- 

 clusively for the cut blooms — he is this 

 season planting between two and three 

 acres more. 



Mr. Beiman began in the peony busi- 

 ness by planting a few Toots merely 

 for his own amusement. Wheii' the 

 plants became established and gave 

 typical blooms he found they were in 

 such good request among the custom- 

 ers who yisited his greenhouses that he 

 planted a small piece of ground with 

 stock to supply cut flowers for his 

 local trade. Then, and it must have 

 been, he thinks, close to fifteen years 

 ago, he began sending a few flowers 

 each spring to a Chicago commission 

 house. The returns were excellent and 

 they induced him to go on adding to his 

 field until now it includes full twelve 

 acres of plants. There have been 

 many predictions that the peony would 

 be overdone as a Memorial day cut 

 flower, but this has not been the case 

 with Mr. Beiman; he never has had as 

 many flowers as it has been possible 

 to market at profitable prices; indeed, 

 the prices have not declined at all 

 within .recent years. The returns have 

 fluctuated from year to year in accord- 

 ance with various crop and market 

 factors, but there has been no sign, 

 from his point of view, that the market 

 was becoming surfeited with peonies. 

 Otherwise there would be no such thing 

 as planting over two acres more this 

 season. 



A Few Varieties Enough. 



Mr. Beiman does not grow many va- 

 rieties. There are quite a number of 

 sorts in small quantity, but the old 

 Whitleyi, or Queen Victoria, is his 

 standby. There are better peonies, but 

 there are none that beat it as a keeper 

 and shipper. That is why eight acres 

 of Mr. Beiman 's twelve are in this one 

 old standard cut flower variety. 



Vincennes is located where there 



never is a failure in getting the crop 

 for Decoration day. Ordinarily cutting 

 begins in the first week of May and 

 the heaviest crop is cut about the mid- 

 dle of the month, with some of the 

 later sorts holding over until early in 

 June. This year the entire crop was 

 cut within a week, because of the sud- 

 den arrival of midsummer heat. The 

 greater part of the crop still is con- 

 signed to a Chicago commission house, 

 which puts the blooms in cold storage 

 as fast as received, to hold them for 

 the special Memorial day demand. This 

 year, because of weather conditions, it 

 was not possible to clean up, as is 

 usually done, by May 30, but because 

 of its excellent keeping qualities Queen 

 Victoria was as good in June as in 

 May and better prices were/ received 

 for the stock unsold at Memorial day 

 than for that part of the crop which 



was moved in May. Other shipments 

 go to all the principal cut flower mar- 

 kets, even as far east as New York and 

 Boston. 



Much Skilled Labor Bequired. 



Probably there is no crop which can 

 be grown with less care and labor than 

 the peony requires, but when cutting 

 time arrives the florist who goes in ex- 

 tensively for peonies must be prepared 

 to find a large amount of help. Espe- 

 cially is this the case in such a season 

 as the one this year, when great heat 

 brought the flowers out with a rush. 

 A great many peony growers found it 

 impossible to cut their flowers in such 

 shape as to be suitable for storage. 

 The cutting and handling is important 

 — on it depends a large part of the 

 value of the crop. Mr. Beiman is 

 located three miles from the city of 

 Vincennes. He has his regular green- 

 house force as the nucleus for the small 

 army of hands employed in the peony 

 season. Eight or ten of his regular 

 employees do the cutting, beginning 

 early in the morning and, if possible, 

 resting during the heat of the day, re- 

 suming work in late afternoon, so that 

 the flowers may be cut in the coolest 

 hours. He employs both men and women 

 from Vincennes to help his regular 

 force. When the blooms come in from 

 the fields in clothes-baskets, they go 

 to sorting tables in the packing shed. 

 Here women sort the flowers under the 

 direction of a keen-eyed, #experienced 

 forewoman. Those in certain stages of 

 development only, depending on variety, 

 will do for storage. If too open they 

 must be sold at once. After the flow- 

 ers are sorted they go into pails of 

 water and are given a drink of at least 

 two hours' duration. Putting green 

 carnation dye in the water has shown 

 that a peony flower will take up the 

 dye within a half hour, but it has been 



Peony Queen Victoria, an Old Variety but a Splendid Keeper. 



