The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-01
INDIANA FLORAL FESTIVAL
1T HAS BEEN OF MATERIAL HELP TO
THE FLOWER BUSINESS.
Efforts Of indianapolis Growers Now
Bent to Producing Choice Blossoms
for Flower Show.

-
kZfxHI has that OF growing flowers. Old
- enterprises have in numerous in
stances more than doubled their capacities
and many new concerns have come into
existence. The flower industry is one that
has kept pace with the city. Fifteen years
ago the indianapolis greenhouses were
~clinging to the edges OF the city. The own
er OF the enterprises had small concerns,
some Of them so small that il was with diff
deuIty the growers OF flowers could get
through them 10 cultivate the plants. Cold
weather often caught these greenhouses
without adequate heating facilities and put
the proprietors out of business by freezing
the plants. Where one of the greenhouses
@utIived the assaults OF winter and where
the growers overcome the Affections that
Z delicate plants seem to inherit it was by no
means certain that the greenhouse was
going TO thrive. II takes money to operate
a concern OF this kind. and In the pioneer
days Of the flower industry the demand was
comparatively light. Too many Indian
apolis people were content with growing
sunfowers. hoIIyhocks and the like on their
lawns at home. They were not equal TO
American Beauty roses at SO. SIS or SIS a
dozen.
Most OF the men engaged in the calling
OF raising flowers for the indianapolis mar
ket are Germans. and back in the olden days
they held TO the industry with a tight grip.
1t seemed that they were able to forecast
the growth of the city and they were firm
IN the belief that with this growth would
come a demand for flowers. Year after
year the growers wore their overalls and
delved I'm the dirt of their greenhouses,
coaxing plants into bloom and developing
business I'm all directions.
These workers were not the kind that
took their profts-when there were any
profts-and spent them for fine raiment
and high living. The profits of one year
went into a new and larger greenhouse the
next year. The demand for flowers was
expanding as the years went by and the de-
mand meant greater capacities. While the
industry was growing the city was spread
ing and now many OF these pioneer enter
prises find they are surrounded by homes
and with the growth OF the flower business
has come an increase in the value of the
real estate that the greenhouses occupy.
In nearly every instance where one sees a
dozen or twenty glass roofs that shelter
flowers in Indianapolis he sees a business
that began down at the ground, one that
grew with the times, with persistent en-
ergy and little money behind it.
IN later years new CORRESPONDING con-
Germs have come on. They have gone to
the outskirts Of the present city. Their
owners are looking to the time when the
city will swallow them up and give their
tracts OF land much greater value than
when the owners started their greenhouses.
MARKED CHANGES.
Many marked changes have come into the
work OF growing flowers in the last few
- III - 49,
10 pIod along in old lines. They have ex-
panded the worth Of old blooms and orig
mated many new ones. The greenhouses,
too. are along modern lines. Their glass
roofs are well up from the ground, are sup
ported by steel rods. have modern v~entilat-
ing ccntrivances and where, a dozen years
ago. the growers were contending as best
they could with the blight of winter, they
are heating houses twenty feet wide and
100 to $50 feet long by steam and go to
sleep at night with assurance that Jack
Frost Is not going to break in and steal
the entire contents of the greenhouse dur
ing one night.
indianapolis people are liberal buyers OF
flowers. Their willingness to buy and pay
well for what they get has helped the
flower industry materially to it's present
point. Weddings. receptions, social affairs
of all kinds are now marked by a profu-
sion OF flowers. More than this, rich BIOS
SONS enter more and more into the every
day affairs Of the home. There are many
families In indianapolis that have their
fresh supply Of cut flowers three or four
times a week. The flowers adorn the table
IN the dining room, In the living room or
spread their beauty and perfume under a
light on a reading table at night. Young
men are good buyers of the higher grade
OF biooms-roses. carnations, chrysanthe-
mus and violets. While young women, as
a rule. get the blossoms that the young
men buy, the young women. too, are good
patrons Of the flower markets.
From the indianapolis greenhouses. cut
flowers are every day shipped to scores
OF cities and towns over the State that are
not well supplied with fower-growing IN
dustries. This outside traffic almost equals
tho demand here at home and it is grow.
ing. indianapolis does not produce all the
flowers that the people OF the city and
State use. The big greenhouses about
Chicago have TO ship In quantities OF
blooms every week to help meet the de.
mand. but in some varieties, the Indian.
apolis growers help to supply the retail
market OF Chicago and other cities.
F. ~ A1AAA CAa A1S ld0 q
good deal to do with expanding the demand
for flowers. II has given the public an In
sight OF the progress the growers ar,
making and with this broader idea of wha'
the growers were doing has come a create
liking among the people for flowers of thu
highest grade. and through the winte
months especially the indianapolis concern.
have been taxed to keep up with the de
mand.
Another floral festival viii be held II
Tomlinson Hall. beginning on Tuesday
evening, Nov. 10. and continuing through
four days. II promises to be on a large
scale than In former years and TO SHOW
greater development in chrysanthemums
roses. carnations. In plants and vines. an,
floral decorations. than the people VIII,
30 TO the flower shows have yet seen.
PREPARING FOR FESTIVAL.
The Indianapolis growers have since earl,
hast spring been preparing for the fora
festival by producing choice plants an.
watching and tending them carefully 10
monfhs. TheFe plants are now comins