Flower market

“ This flower-market is always attractive and a never-ending source of interest to the tourist. Immense bouquets of the choicest flowers are sold so cheap that the price seems almost absurd. By judicious bargaining a few cents will purchase a large and varied supply of roses, violets and heliotrope, which only dollars could buy from a New York florist. No hot-houses are needed here at any season, for in this climate flowers bloom all the year round, and one crop succeeds another in a never-ending succession. The Mexican Indian is a lover of flowers. ”

“ Any little flower of emotion we may grow goes to market, and is more or less consciously nurtured and watered to that end. When we have been long at the business we are market gardeners pure and simple, and grow rose, lily, and forget-me-not side by side with mandragora and the deadly hellebore, culling them and arranging them into bouquets to suit the fashion or fancy of the moment. Brown-Smith arose, donned the sombrero and the long paletot, saw to it that his tobacco pouch and Britannia metal fusee box were well stocked, and, walking into the street, hailed a hansom. ”

“ Within this paved space rows of shops are conveniently arranged for the display of the choicest fruits of the season: the productions of the forcing-house, and the results of horticultural skill, appear in all their beauty. There are also conservatories, in which every beauty of the flower-garden may be obtained, from the rare exotic to the simplest native flower. The Floral Hall, close to Covent Garden Opera House, has an entrance from the north-east corner of the market, to which it is a sort of appendage as a Flower Market. ”

“ He was at breakfast with several gentlemen, and told me to call again, which I will take into consideration. I must not forget that in crossing the city this morning I passed through the flower market, a beautiful exhibition to me at all times. This market is abundantly supplied twice a week with exotics and flowers of all sorts, which are sold at a cheap rate. ”

“ As almost all industries to-day are specialized, so is floriculture; in one place we see ten acres of glass given over to the rose, in another thousands of dollars devoted to the carnation or the violet, while one grower in Queens, Long Island, has 75,000 square feet of glass for carnations.
The specialist who devotes his thoughts and energies to raising one flower can produce better results than if he raised a variety. He has only one crop to market, and can do it more successfully than with a number of crops. ”

“ CHAPTER XIV FLOWERS
Every city in the United States affords an opportunity for flower gardening and nurseries, but a study must be made of the market in order to know what is best to raise and where to raise it.
The choice of crops depends on the popular taste. The flowers which are now in greatest demand are the rose, carnation, violet, and chrysanthemum.
Near every large city there are hundreds of florists with glass houses, some covering twenty acres or more. There were over 2000 acres of flower land under glass reported at the last census. ”

“ Fortunately for those who might be tempted, without any knowledge of the industry, to embark capital in it, flower-growing, if at all comprehensive in scope, so obviously requires a varied and extensive technical knowledge, combined with good commercial ability, that any one can see that a thorough training is necessary to a man who intends to adopt it as a business, especially if hothouse flowers are to be produced.
The market for fruit, and more especially for flowers, is a fickle one, and there is nearly always some uncertainty as to the course of prices. ”

“ A great deal of discussion has been going on from time to time at various florists' clubs all over the country, regarding the "nuisance" of flower bargain counter sales. The subject indeed is one that engages the attention of every florist throughout the land, both retail man and grower. Is it advisable to offer cut flowers to the people at cut prices? ”

“ The selling of roots, plants, and bouquets is quite remunerative in some places. Much depends on the knowledge and skill of the florist, the location of his gardens, and the fondness of the people in the community for flowers. It is a delightful business for a lady, if she has men to do the planting, digging, and other hard work. In Paris, there is a market devoted to the sale of flowers. In most of the markets of our large cities, are exposed for sale pot plants and bouquets, also shrubs and evergreens. ”

“ I have had the pleasure of laying the first brick foundation in Albion; it is for an inn where travellers I hope may find rest without disturbance from insects. We have also nearly completed our market house which is sixty feet by thirty. A place of worship is began. Religion, I mean the outward form, has not been unattended to: a selection from the Church of England service, and a sermon has been read on the sabbath to a few persons assembled in a log room: our psalmody is excellent, having some good musicians, and singers amongst us. ”

“ Discouraging though it may seem at first glance, the fact that department stores and five and ten cent stores deal in plants should not really discourage the florists. In the long run, the public at large—I mean the flower-buying public—will look to the florists for its supply. The man or woman who will buy a plant from a five and ten cent store, or a department store, would probably never think of entering a flower shop, anyway. If these people acquire the taste for plants in this manner, the chances are that the florists will enjoy their patronage in the end. ”

“ The prices paid for flowers have been enormous. One thousand dollars for the floral decorations for a single dinner has not been an uncommon price. But the expenditure of such large sums for flowers has not been unprofitable. The flowers grow finer every day, and, as an enterprising florist, who had given a "rose tea" to his patrons, remarked, "Every large order inspires us to produce a finer flower." ”

“ It seems early for so many persons to be abroad, not only to sell but to purchase flowers, yet there is no lack of buyers for the perfumed stores which meet the eye, and well nigh impede the footsteps. Young sempstresses and milliner’s girls, barmaids and shopwomen, [47] pent up all day in a hot and close atmosphere, have risen an hour or two earlier, and make a party of pleasure to come to Covent Garden market to buy flowers. It is one of heaven’s mercies that the very poorest manage somehow to buy these treasures ”

“ It is the great profit to be realized from the sale of new plants that stimulates their cultivation. Many men have made fortunes from the sale of a new fruit or flower, and others are repeating the operation now. In fact, it is the hope of this great gain that has given to the world so many new and valuable plants, some originated from seed, some by hybridization, some from solitary hiding-places in the woods and mountains, and some by importation from distant countries. ”

“ Thus a revolution has been accomplished in the economy and complexion of the English Flower Garden, a revolution which has reduced and simplified the gardener’s labours, augmented the number and enhanced the beauty of many flowers, effected a marked saving in the cost of garden pleasures, and brought the culture of a large number of the most attractive subjects within the means of those who had neither the facilities nor the knowledge requisite for pursuing the florist’s methods. ”

“ To be more explicit, I could not possibly interest a florist by offering him jardinières, chiffon, floral art albums, supplies, Carnations, Lemon oil, seeds, bulbs, all practically in one breath, and expect to book a large order for all. Paradoxical though it may sound, the less things I mentioned the better were my results in the end. I must concentrate my lines; and the first things to go were supplies, ribbons, and jardinières, things that do not interest the average grower, whose product goes to the wholesale market. ”

“ No one is willing to pay decent prices. Putting materials in such condition that all the good points speak loudly at first, is one way to attract notice and sell later. If you find you can sell by shipping your goods the same points hold true.
"Another way to make money is to raise young plants for sale. Jack did this with his aster plants. Lots of people wish their garden plants partly started. They either do not have the interest, or else they have not the time for initial work. Asters, stock, tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage, pepper, celery—all of these may be started for market purposes. ”

“ The foreign fruit trade of Covent Garden is very extensive in pine apples, melons, cherries, apples, and plums. Pine apples were first cried in the London streets at "a penny a slice," twenty-five years ago. To supply this market with vegetables alone, 25,000 acres are required to be cultivated, and about 10,000 acres of trees are necessary to supply its annual demand for fruit. The trade in water-cresses is immense and they are chiefly hawked about the markets by little girls, although, of course, every stall has its own stock of cresses. ”

“ An extensive grower of pot plants, from information carefully gathered among his fellow nurserymen, estimates that the plant trade of the vicinity of New York reaches nearly the sum of $200,000 annually, and this for plants mainly employed as "bedding plants," in the decoration of gardens and city yards, leaving entirely out of the question, those for winter culture at windows and in green houses, as well as the immense stock of the growers themselves to supply the demand for cut flowers. ”

“ In the artificial-flower shops, that compete with the French trade with growing success, a great quantity of boughs, bunches, wreaths of flowers, and ferns were got ready; big and small bouquets of bright, warm-coloured flowers to take the eye—the finest intended for ladies' hair and bosoms, the coarser for decorating houses, shops, horses and carriages. ”

“ Don’t be wheedled into spoiling your plants by saving seed for one who is perfectly able to buy; instead, give the address of the dealer from whom you purchased, and suggest that he will be glad to fill orders. Don’t rob your plant of cuttings that are necessary to its symmetry; this, too, is a case for the florist. There are people who seem to feel it an injustice for any one to possess a plant with more than one branch so long as they are not supplied with that particular variety. ”

“ To lose one’s own money hurts more than to see others lose.
Should the intending market gardener be a free agent, and able to select any part of England for her garden, there are two important matters for her to weigh. Where will be the best market, and what land has the most plentiful supply of water? Probably for the first venture the neighbourhood of a large seaside town, a watering-place or golf links, will be a safer market than London, which is so large and well supplied. ”

“ The Stock has been made the emblem of lasting beauty; because, though it is less graceful than the rose, and less majestic than the lily, its splendour is more durable, and its fragrance of longer continuance. Few flowering plants have been so much and so rapidly improved by cultivation as the Stock. Within the last two centuries, its nature has been almost entirely changed by the florist; and it is now a shrub whose branches are covered with blossoms little inferior in dimensions to the rose. ”

“ Indeed, except for the drive thither across country, and the fruit and cheese markets, it possesses no temptations for the traveller. Market-day is a sight for a painter. The show of melons alone makes a subject; the weather-beaten market-women, with gay coloured handkerchief twisted round their heads, their blue gowns, the delicious colour and lovely form of the fruit, all this must be seen. Here and there were large pumpkins, cut open to show the ripe red pulp, with abundance of purple plums, apples and pears just ripening, and bright yellow apricots. ”

“ But sweeter even than the smell of the peas, and more delightful than the odour of the strawberries, is the delicious perfume of the innumerable flowers which crowd the north-western angle of the market, from the corner of King Street to the entrance of the grand avenue. These are not hot-house plants, not rare exotics; such do not arrive so soon, and their aristocratic purchasers will not be out of bed for hours. ”

“ The market itself presents a beautiful scene. In the clear morning air of an autumn day the whole of the vast square is distinctly seen from one end to the other. The sky is red and golden with the newly-risen sun, and the rays falling on the fresh and vivid colors of the fruit and vegetables, brighten up the picture as with a coat of varnish. ”

“ The stress of competition here has developed enterprise, encouraged invention and driven us to rapid and prudent practice, so that while labor costs at least twice as much as it does in Europe, our prices both at wholesale and retail, are lower. And yet I am not aware that American florists complain that their profits compare unfavorably with those of their brethren over the sea.
Commercial floriculture includes two distinct branches, one for the production of flowers and the other for the production of plants. ”

“ The market is held down the one long street, where it opens on the small garden and esplanade by the shore. This is planted with magnificent plane-trees, and nothing can be more picturesque than the groups of peasant-women, with their bright-colored kerchiefs crossed over their shoulders, and their thick woollen skirts, sitting each at her little booth of cakes, or sweets, or household utensils, and especially the charming little crocks, pots, and pans of native manufacture. ”