Febuuary 2, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



nf.-Twrvfr;^-\^' mf.\.\^yr^W^^ •'^rvj-^i-f'' 



17 



NEXT SEASON'S PLANTINGS. 



Figures That Tell the Tale. 



At this time of year the carnation 

 growers are figuring on their stock for 

 next season, and what to plant is a ques- 

 tion of absorbing interest to many. There 

 arc various factors to consider — pro- 

 ductiveness of the varieties, relative de- 

 mand for the several colors, ease of man- 

 agement, etc., etc. It won't do to go 

 wrong on any of tliese points. 



In order to get a line on the situation 

 as it appears todaj-, The Eeview set out 

 to gather information from those who 

 already have settled upon their planting 

 plans for 1911. The course of procedure 

 was to ask representative growers all over 

 the country to state the number of plants 

 of each variety they will bench for next 

 season. The aim was to get figures 

 from every part of the country, and the 

 figures compiled do, in fact, represent all 

 sections, from New England and Long 

 Island on the one hand to Colorado on 

 the other. The latitude covered was Vir- 

 ginia to Minnesota and Ontario. Several 

 growers were able to give their list of 

 varieties, but had not j'et decided on the 

 number of plants to be benched. No use 

 was made of these replies, for the reason 

 that they did not differ except in the 

 matter of completeness from the replies 

 from which the following figures were 

 tabulated. 



Nearly a Million and a Half Plants. 



No special effort was made to secure 

 figures from large growers, though several 

 such responded. The eft'ort was to get 

 figures from representative growers, and 

 only varieties introduced prior to the 

 present season were included in the com- 

 pilation; a separate record was made of 

 1911 introductions and undisseminated 

 seedlings. It was necessary to reject the 

 replies of two or three growers who have, 

 prior to the present season, introduced 

 varieties of their_ own raising and who 

 will next season plant them again in 

 such quantity that were tiieir figures in- 

 cluded in the tabulation it would affect 

 the result. Such plantings have not been 

 included either in the list of standard 

 varieties or of seedlings; they simply 

 were omitted, so that the figures repre- 

 sent the consensus of opinion of widely 

 scattered growers who have no pets. 



At the start it was planned to gather 

 statistics covering a million plants as 

 being a large enough number to get a 

 trustworthy average, but the total foots 

 up to a trifle less than a million and a 

 half. The figures of twenty eight grow- 



ers were used. They recorded their 

 intention of benching 1,412,450 plants of 

 the standard varieties for 1911-12. which 

 gives them an average planting of about 

 ."iO.OOO plants. 



Division As to Colors. 



Dividing them as to their colors, here 

 are the figures : 



PLANTS OF STANPAIU) VARIETIES. 



Whites 494,5011 



Light pinks ;!31 ,70ti 



Medium pinks 241,000 



Da-k pinks 72,.50o 



Ueds 252,.")0;i 



Crimsons 0,50o 



Other colors _. lO.Ton 



Total 1,412,4511 



Predominance of White. 



At first sight the most striking fact 

 in these figures is the predominance of 

 white, but on second thought it will be 

 found that the large showing of medium 

 pink and the small showing of dark pink 

 are the really striking features. To put 

 it in percentage, this is the way the colors 

 to be planted for 1911-12 will compare, 

 taking these twenty-eight widel3- scatteretl 

 growers and their 1,412,450 plants as rep- 

 resentative of the whole: 



I'ERCENTAOE OK EACH COLOK. 



Whites .'15 per c-ciit 



l.lKlit pinks 2:{ per cent 



Medium pinks IT per cent 



Dark pinks ."> pci- cent 



Keds IS pt'f cent 



Otlier colors 2 per cent 



Total 100 iH-v cent 



The Predominant Varieties. 



Tabulating the varieties that go to 

 make up the above totals for each color 

 gives the following record of the number 

 of plants of each variety : 



WHITE.*!. 



While Enchantress 2»G,00O 



White Perfection 1.32,500 



White Lawson 46,000 



Sliasta ]3,00<^> 



Three other whites o.<MX> 



Total 494,500 



Li(;iiT riNKs 



Enchantress 268,000 



May Day 24. ."WO 



Pink Delight 22,700 



Winona 1 4.500 



Two other IlRht pinks 2,000 



Total ,331, TiX) 



MEDir.M I'l.VKS. 



Wlnsor 151, .500 



Mrs. C. W. Ward 40,5<tO 



Dorothy Gordon 29,000 



Rose-pink Enchantress 20,000 



Total 241,000 



DARK I'l.VKS. 



Mrs. Law.son .52.000 



Sangamo io..5<iii 



Lawson-Enchantress 5.(i(i0 



Three other dark iiiiiks 5, • o 



Total 72,.500 



REDS. 



lieacon 152,300 



Victory 73,706 



Scarlet Glow 12,000 



O. P. Basaett 9,000 



Three other reds 5,500 



Total 252,500 



CRIMSONS. 



Ilarlowarden 7,500 



("rinison Glow 2,000 



Total 9,500 



OTHER COLORS. 



VaricKatcd 4,500 



Vclldw 2,7.50 



Sc.irl"t 3,500 



Total 1.0,750 



Cutting Down the Lists. 



One of the most striking facts shown 

 by tliese figures is the tendency to reduce 

 the number of varieties grown. For in- 

 stance, the grower reporting who will 

 bench the most plants has only nine vari- 

 eties for practically 150.000 plants. Many 

 large growers will grow not over half a 

 dozen sorts. No grower with whom cor- 

 respondence was had, excluding those who 

 grow stock especially for the production 

 of cuttings, has named over fourteen vari- 

 eties as to be a part of the 1911 bench- 

 ing, and the average is about a half 

 dozen standard varieties, with about three 

 of the novelties for trial. One grower 

 whose glass will liouse 36,000 plants will 

 liave only two varieties. 



While the disi)osition to cut down the 

 number of varieties is apparent in all 

 sections of the country, the tendency is 

 most pronounced in the middle west, with 

 those who grow for wholesale only. Here, 

 fo: t'xample, is the planting list of the 

 J. D. Thompson Carnation Co.. .Joliet, 



in.: 



Wlilte Enchantress 25,000 



Eiicliiintress 20,000 



Rijscpink Enchiinlress 14,000 



Itcicon 10,000 



Dorothy Gordon 2,000 



Total 71,000 



Still more extreme is the list of E. T. 

 Wanzer. of Wheaton, 111., who needs just 

 two lines to tell liis plan for next season: 



White Perfection 18,000 



Enchantress IS.OOO 



Tiie wonder is that he chooses Perfec- 

 tion instead of White Enchantress, for in 

 the vicinity of Chicago, White Perfection, 

 while easily the finest white early in the 

 season, is b^ing crowded out by Whjte 

 Knchantress. The figures covering the 

 whole country also show plantings of 

 more than twice as many White Enchant- 

 ress as White Perfection. White En- 

 chantress is included in the planting of 

 twenty-four of the twenty-eight growers 

 whose figures were used for the purposes 

 of this article. 



To one of the shortest lists sent in. and 

 one in which White Enchantress outniim- 



