The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-11-22
2.ooO ACRES OF FLOWER GARDEN
Something About the Town Which Ships
 Beans to Boston. Washington Correspondence Milwaukee

he0n0 10 hOBGOns
 Washington Correspondence Milwaukee
 Sentinel.
 Writing from weimar, Consul Will liam L. Lowrie says that EFfurt, a thriving commercial city of Southern Prussia. with more than I00,0 ,000 inhab- itants, is known throughout Germany as the flower city" It has a world wide reputation for flower and farm seeds and plants, the trade in which the Consul portrays, as follows:
 The declared exports of these pro- ducts to the United States in the last ten years amounted to $561.741, last years shipments being worth $53,SSS.
 "The origin of the. industry dates from the Tenth Century, and 1t was developed by the monks of the Peters monastery. The growth to the present large proportions is of much more fe- cent date. Since 1880 the business of raising flowers and garden seeds anu plants ip Erfurt, has increased rapidly, until 1t Is now five times as large az 1t was a quarter of century ago. When the land failed to produce good wine grapes the people turned their atten" fion to the seed industry as means of saving their waning fortunes. In for mer years, the hills about Erfurt and Jena were famous for their vineyards. The wine was sold mostly at Weimer, aobut half way of the distance be. tween those two cities. giving this plice its original name of Vein market, which was changed later to Weimar.
 "The soil about Erfurt is especially adapted to the culture of vegetables and plants. It is deep, rich and well watered. The annual rainfall Is heavy, and the surrounding hills afford good protection from the cool winds which sometimes sweep down from the Thuringrwaid. There are 1OS concerns engaged in the seed in- dustry. also thirty-five seed exporters and twenty-four florists. An idea of the extent of this business may be gained from the area of glass employ ed. The total is 113.fS5 square meters (sQuare meter equals 1O,764 square feet), of which 30.S67 square meters cover propagating houses. and S2,S5S square meters are nsed over specially fertilized beds. Nearly 5000 people are employed in various capacities.
 while there are no statistics available in regard to the total annual output of the Erfurt seed and plant concerns, a single firm produces each lilies of the valley, 6O.0O0 apple sprouts Gin pots), 0,0O0 pear sprouts, 10000 plum. apricot, peach and quince sprouts, 90 poo strawberry plants, 300,O0O short stemmed and 10000 long stemmed roses.
 About 2,O0o acres of land In the city and the immediate vicinity arc devoted to gardens. This land is owned by the crown. the city and private individ- uals It Is leased to the various con- cerns at rentals depending on the loca- ton and on the productiveness of the soil. Owing to the rapid growth of the city. which rivals the percentage of a Western boom town in the United States. quite an area of the best garden land has been plotted into city lots and is fast being covered with fine villas and houses.
 'The cultivation of the giily flower in Erfurt dates from 1910. It first ap- peared in the window of citizen, and from this one pot hundreds of thous- ands of these flowers have been promU'- gated. The estimated annual product" lon is 6SOO00 plants. To the same eS tent. or nearly so, is the cultivation Of the calceolaria, verbena, petunia. gloX- ina, zlnnia. pansy caruation. halsam phlox. hollyhock. pelargoniun' f0ehsia a7alia, etc. in almost endless variety ? It is estimated that the annual ouf- put of flower seeds is not much uhder 1 ,OOO, ,Ooo marks ($2Ss,ooO
 ''VexetabIa and farm seeds are cul- tivated in large quantities and in great variety. Among them are included 1O1 kinds of peas, 16s kinds of beans. (7Oe bushels shipped this year to Boston to heIp make up the deficit in it's staple Yood). 269 varieties of kitchen herbSr thirtv-four of onions, etc, sixty-five Of grass for fodder, thirty of clover, aga snacies of potatoes. There are 1.542 varieties of vegetable seed cultivated in Erfurt-