Practical floriculture Author:Peter Henderson Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: profitable than the growing of plants, and is so even at the date of writing. While plant growing for market has probably averaged a profit of thirty per cent, o... more »n the investment, Rose growing may have averaged forty or fifty per cent., and, inconsequence, the structures for Rose growing and other cut flowers for winter are increasing much more rapidly than those for plant growing. This will lead to the natural result, an over-production, and my advice to beginners in all small cities and towns is, to begin a general florist's business, adding cut flowers to it if need be, but do not risk all your capital on any one specialty— at least, not until you have proved beyond question that you can make such specialty profitable. What is true of the florist's business I believe to be equally true of the nursery trade, and it is much to be doubted if that business anywhere in all Europe is so simply, yet profitably, carried on as it is in the great nurseries of Rochester and Geneva. CHAPTER IV. ASPECT AND SOIL. The aspect of the flower garden, when choice can be made, should be towards the south, or southeast, and if sheltered by hills, or belts of timber, from the northwest, many plants and trees can be safely grown that could not otherwise succeed without that shelter. Such a situation also permits operations to be begun earlier in spring, and continued later in the fall, in some locations making the season from two to three weeks longer than if the aspect had been to the north or northwest. The soil in flower gardening, as in all horticultural operations, is the basis of success, and is of even more importance than aspect or location; and whether it is the man of wealth, looking for a site upon which to build, and surround his home with a flowery landscape, or the working ga...« less