120 
August, 1920 
Ol)£ .flower (Brower 
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Z3l)e Slower (Brower 
! PUBLISHED MONTHLY ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH BY j 
MADISON COOPER, CALCIUM, N.Y. 
FOR BOTH AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL FLOWER GROWERS 
i Subscription Price : OUR MOTTO: Canadian and Foreign: 
! $1.00 per year. Special favors to none, and a Subscription Price : 
| 3 years for $2.50. square deal to all. $1.25 per year : 
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Growers are invited to contribute articles or notes over their own 
signatures, but the Editor reserves the right to reject anything which 
in his judgment is not conducive to the general welfare of the business. 
Copyright 1020 by Madison Cooper 
Vol. VII August, 1920 No. 8 
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" He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a 
greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the 
repetition of ten thousand prayers.”— Zoroaster. 
Our Diminishing Food Supply. 
Several times during recent months we have touched on 
sociological subjects which perhaps should have been pre- 
ceded by an apology as not being strictly within the scope 
of The Flower Grower. No apology is needed when talk- 
ing about the food supply. We are all interested in the 
food supply and in the maintaining of an adequate source 
of same. 
Crop reports indicate this year more than ever the 
decreasing acreage utilized for the producing of food crops. 
This tendency was checked under war-time conditions, but 
only temporarily ; and last year and this year has seen a 
big relapse into the tendency which was prevalent before 
the war. This can only mean one thing, and that is some- 
one is likely to go hungry this winter. While in this country 
there may not be actual starvation or hunger, yet the 
prices of certain things will doubtless soar to a point which 
will mean privation to many, and in the world at large, 
actual hunger in many places. 
There is an enormous production of non-essentials. The 
high wages commanded by unskilled labor results in the 
extravagant spending of money for things which are, many 
of them, worse than useless. Workers are continually 
drawn from the production of food products and absorbed by 
industries producing the non-essentials. The flow of labor 
from the farm to the manufacturing plants must be checked 
and checked soon. It can only be checked by the farmers 
being able to offer as high wages as the manufacturing 
plant. Perhaps he must offer higher wages in view of the 
fact that workers prefer indoor work to work in the fields. 
Will this be brought about by the reduction in wages in the 
manufacturing plant, or by the increasing of wages on the 
farm. 
City dwellers, and they are now more numerous as com- 
pared with the country dwellers, believe that the farmer is 
getting rich. They resent any advance in the price of food 
products. The farmer is as ready to accuse the city dweller 
of boosting prices of the things that he must have. 
What possible influence can be set at work to correct this 
situation ? 
We must fall back on our old argument that it is a ques- 
tion of education. People are wrongly educated. Modern 
institutions teach, at least by inference, that labor is un- 
called for from people who are graduated from our schools. 
Present methods of education should be corrected. In the 
primary grades especially children should be given the first 
lesson in work, and taught to understand that work is the 
first duty of man as a citizen, and that labor in connection 
with the soil is the most elevating. (See what the great 
Persian philosopher, Zoroaster, says at the head of our 
editorial columns ) If correct methods of education are 
adopted, it will only be a few years when extravagant ex- 
penditures will be stopped, and demoralizing tastes and 
desires will disappear. 
We are quite aware that this is a many sided question, 
but doubt if anyone can successfully argue against our sug- 
gestion for right education as a remedy for present condi- 
tions. 
Madison Cooper. 
Dahlia Growers and a Commercial Association. 
The many commercial Dahlia growers should be in- 
terested, and it may be of interest to them to know that 
even now steps are being taken toward the formation of 
such an organization among growers. And it is hoped that 
something definite will be evolved before another sale sea- 
son comes on. 
There are a number of important advantages that might 
be gained by such co-operation among growers, chief among 
which would be a credit system and a proper listing of the 
slow pays, the never pays and the chronic kicker. Many 
thousands of dollars would have been saved to the grow- 
ers if such an organization had been perfected years ago. 
Take one instance of a certain grower in far off Australia. 
This person has systematically “ touched ” a new victim 
each season for many years. So far the writer has infor- 
mation of varying sums totaling well up to the thousand 
dollar mark. Had there been an organization of Dahlia 
growers (and possibly Gladiolus growers also) with a cen- 
tral bureau of information, he could have victimized but 
one grower. Let us hear from growers. 
W. W. WlLMORE. 
American Gladiolus Society. 
Annual Meeting. 
The annual meeting of the American Gladiolus Society 
will be held in one of the rooms of the Massachusetts Hor- 
ticultural Society, Horticultural Hall, Boston, Mass., on 
August 14, 1920, at 3 P. M. 
As the meeting will be on one of the days of the Gladi- 
olus shows of the three societies, it is hoped that a full 
attendance will be had. 
While it is recommended that Gladioli should be planted 
five to six inches in depth for the larger blooming sizes, we 
call attention to the fact that if planting early for early 
bloom, rather shallow planting is desirable and only the 
main crop should be planted deeply. A depth of three to 
four inches will answer nicely for early varieties planted 
especially for early bloom. The row may be ridged a little 
toward blooming time if necessary to support the flower 
stalks. 
Would call attention to the article entitled “ Hints from 
a Practical Peony Grower,” on page 128 of this issue. 
The suggested method of propagating by the use of a bot- 
tomless box, which gives essentially the same results as the 
propagating method known as “layering” is certainly worth 
a trial. To increase rare and valuable sorts the method 
should prove valuable if successful. 
