124 
December, 1918 
Slower (Brower 
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Ol)e Slower ©rower 
! PUBLISHED MONTHLY ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH BY § 
| MADISON COOPER, CALCIUM, N.Y. | 
FOR BOTH AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL FLOWER GROWERS f 
I Subscription Price : OUR MOTTO : Canadian and Foreign f 
I $100 per year, Special favors to none, and a Subscription Price I 
1 3 years for $2.00. square deal to all. $1.25 per year. | 
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 1018 by Madison Cooper 
The contents of THE FLOWER GROWER, formerly "The Modern Gladiolus 
Grower" are covered by general copyright. Permission is given to editors to use not 
more than one-third of any article providing proper credit is given at the beginning or 
end of such quotation, as follows: “ From THE FLOWER GROWER, Calcium, N. Y." 
Special permission necessary for reprinting illustrations, long extracts or articles entire. 
Vol. V December, 1918 No. 12 
“ 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. 
How an Amateur Feels about Advertising. 
I have been interested in the growing of Gladioli and 
other flowers for a number of years and belong to that 
large class where individual orders amount to only a few 
dollars, but the aggregate runs into thousands. I believe I 
am fairly representative, and I don’t lose my interest in 
flowers after the planting and blooming seasons are over, 
or when winter snows cover the ground. In fact, that is 
the time when I get out my catalogs and lay my plans for 
the next season. 
My interest extends not only to flowers, but to the men 
who grow them for the market. I’d like to know some- 
thing of their acreage, the varieties they are growing, their 
methods of cultivation, harvesting, storage, etc. Why 
don’t they tell us something about these things? 
If I were a large grower, I would take large space in 
The Flower Grower and fill it throughout the year with 
matter that would not only be of great interest to the 
amateur grower, but would make him feel that he was ac- 
quainted with me and owed me some good will, and I am 
sure the additional expense would much more than be made 
up by the returns. 
When a new variety is shown in the spring advertise- 
ments, it is a stranger to me. I have already arranged my 
schedule and a new variety calls for a special appropriation 
— the chances are that I pass it up. Now, if along through 
the year the originator of the new variety had mentioned 
in his advertisements that he expected to market it the 
next year and would devote a few words to description of 
its habit of growth and characteristics, it would be an old 
friend of mine by spring and a sum would be set aside for 
its purchase. There is also much that could be told about 
the older varieties, and pictures of the blooms and the 
plants in the field would influence many sales. 
A half-page, for instance, would give the grower ample 
room and he is in position to furnish matter that would 
rival in interest anything to be found in the reading pages. 
There are a thousand and one things that the amateur 
would like to know, but which are such every-day matters 
to the grower that he fails to appreciate what fine indirect 
advertising their presentation would be. 
The whole psychology of successful advertising lies in 
the seller’s ability to see things from the buyer’s point of 
view. It is a safe bet that if some grower would give us 
what we want, we amateurs would read his advertisements 
before we consulted the reading pages. 
Harmon W. Marsh. 
France and Flowers. 
If we may judge by what is written about the experi- 
ence with flowers of our soldier boys in France, our boys on 
their return home will be ready converts to floriculture. 
One soldier boy, whose letter we read, stated that the gar- 
dens of France were three-quarters flowers and one-quarter 
vegetables. We suppose that he did not mean this literally, 
but the flowers looked so good to him that the vegetables 
seemed to be small in proportion. 
France has taught the world a lesson in fortitude which 
will not soon be forgotten. France has also taught the 
world a lesson in floriculture in war-time which the world 
should not be slow to heed. All who have visited France 
during war-time speak of flowers— flowers everywhere. 
Possibly the flowers may have had much to do with the 
courage and splendid fortitude displayed by the French 
nation during the four years of terrible warfare which they 
have experienced. 
Anyway, those of our boys who have seen service in 
France will return to America fully imbued with the idea 
that flowers have a distinct purpose in life not at all related 
to mere display. Floriculture is surely due for a big boom. 
Madison Cooper. 
Holland Bulbs for 1919. 
We understand that the Dutch government compelled all 
growers of bulbs in Holland to reduce their stocks, includ- 
ing Gladioli, one-third. Besides this we also understand 
that the labor situation in Holland has been so difficult and 
the financial situation so stringent that comparatively few 
Gladioli have been grown there during the past two years, 
especially during 1918. It seems, therefore, altogether 
probable that the importation of Holland bulbs (providing 
of course that transportation and custom difficulties are 
overcome) will be extremely small between now and the 
planting season of 1919. 
The war being over now there will be no submarines to 
interfere with shipment and the German declaration that 
bulbs were contraband of war is not now effective, but just 
the same there are transportation difficulties, and it takes 
time to arrange for shipments and it is improbable that any 
large stocks of Holland bulbs will come forward. How- 
ever, it is quite a long time between now and planting 
time, and it is possible that the Hollanders will be able to 
land their stocks in this country, what little they may have 
to spare, if they so desire. 
Some of our readers may think that Mr. Kunderd is get- 
ting more than his share of publicity for his varieties on 
our front cover page. Well, Mr. Kunderd has supplied us 
with some fine photographs. We would be glad to do the 
same for other growers with varieties of merit. Good pho- 
tographs of meritorious and well known varieties are hard 
to secure and we are always glad to use them. There is no 
objection to illustrating meritorious varieties even though 
not well known, but it is not our purpose to give publicity 
to varieties not already introduced to commerce. 
