The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-05-07

dlhtI lldi.
FLORISTS put tobacco stems al
around a greenhouse 10 drive awsv the
green fly, but sometimes the little
wretch gets a hold. in spite Of the pre-
cautions. Then one has 10 fumjgafe
with tobacco smoke. The green flies
descended upon my plants. and had
to resort to fumigating but / hate To-
bacc0 smoke. and. every time I fuml-
gated the house / was desperately
sick.
i never had any big catasmophes.
but the days were full Of maddening
little ones Violet culture Is very dif.
fcult. You would think to read the
articles about the women who are
doing IT, that it is as simple as wear
1 ing a bunch Of violets, but Il isn't.
Sometimes one viii have phenomenal
luck with violets for several years.
but il doesn't last For some inex-
plicable reason. a blight viii suddenly
come on the plants. As the florists
say. the violets win just 60 of. No
one seems able 10 explain the trouble.
There is a big profit in successful vio-
let growing. but the chances Of fail
ure are perfectly tremendous. You
don't hear about the failures.
Carnations have a way Of going
of. too. from no perceptible cause.
They just seem 10 die Of anaemia,
sometimes. Then their calyxes burst
and they are a prey to rust Altogeth-
er. they fairly turn my hair gray. but
they are interesting because there
has been such progress and develop
ment IN them. A good carnation isn't
a cheap flower any more Roses are
the easiest things 10 raise. They don't
often 90 to the bad entirely, though
the American Beauty is a serious prob
lem Dull weather viii spoil it, and
any number Of florists have been
ruined by the culture Of American
Beauties
"A good many florists failed in
business last year because Of the price
Of coal Fires have 10 be kept going
night and day. / buy my coal by the
hundred tons. and It makes a pretty
big item Of expense. All expenses are
big.
AT the end Of my second year. l
had been successful enough to warrant
my spreading out. Now. have eight
houses. pay over Sl00 a month for
expert labor Then there is the to-
bacco. the fertilizer. the wear and tear
and repair, the handling and shipping,
and the losses You have to get good
prices to make any profit.
But then. there is always a market
and a high price for good flowers. The
trouble is that SO many Of ones flow
ers must, necessarily, fall below first
grade.
eve given you the seamy side Of
the business. haven't ia regular
tale Of woe. Wen, il is all true, and
no woman, without a strong constitu.
tion and stubborn courage, ought 70
try the wholesale flower business; but
there's a pleasant side 20 it,
"The work Is never monotonous.
There is never a time when the green
houses are really stil There is con-
stant interest in the growing things.
Now that most Of the drudgery is done
by my employees and I have only the
experimenting. / find the wholesale
business fascinating, but ! dislike the
retail business
'The latter IS profitable and em-
ploys a woman's taste to advantage
in the choice Of paper for boxes, new
ideas for putting up flowers. table
, decoration wedding decoration, etc.
In spite Of high prices, the profits
are not so large as they used 10 be. In
the first place, the quality Of the iow-
/, ers is better
"Fine lasting roses on thick sturdy
stems are procured By cutting long
stemmed roses and SO leaving few
eyes on a rose branch. All the strength
will go into the shoots aud blossoms
coming from those eyes and the re.
sulting roses will be exceptionally
fine; but a good many roses have beer
sacrificed 10 make those few good
ones and the price is naturally high.
Still, il buyers would only realize it
there ls more satisfaction In two or
, three Of the fine roses than in a dozen
Of the weak-stemmed. dropping sort
Handsome boxes and ribbons and
all those things are necessary part
Of the retail florists business now
and. except in the case Of big order
they cut down the profit considerably.
I've often sent out small orders on
which there wasn't cent Of profit
but the customers were valuable 10
B me, and I had TO satisfy them.'
/ The Remains Of an Old Indian village
Mr.. j. A. Udden has recently printed