Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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THE COMMERCIAL GREENHOUSE By Helen N. Kille, ’23 and E. F. F. The work in an educational greenhouse is taken day by day; in a private greenhouse it is month by month; but in a commercial greenhouse it is a matter of year by year, or, more truly, life by life. In a school greenhouse the work is experimental for each student . It is a new field for her and .she is intent on learning as much as possible in her given time. All the old theories that have been tried many times before she must try for herself, and prove again. Every new theory that presents itself is a new adventure for her. She longs to try it out and reduce it to practical use, or to discard it as impractical. If she goes from school into a private greenhouse her outlook on the subject is only slightly changed. Here again the making of money is not the prime object. The school-inspired experiments can still be carried on—perhaps under more advantageous conditions. But go into the commercial world and you will find a very different situation. There the success of a crop means profit and bigger business, while a failure means another start and the same long-drawn-out task over again. It is a real job there, and requires the very best you have to give; from head, hands, and heart. You have your planning to handle first. In the florist’s business this must be done a long way ahead, for a greenhouse crop can’t be brought in at the last minute. It takes a full season to carry a chrysanthemum cutting to maturity and blooming, and it takes three years to get a blossoming plant from a genista cutting. Moreover, you must get your crops in on time. You don’t want your Easter lilies con ing into bloom in May, or your chrysanthemums just showing color in October. That means: know your plants, and calculate well before you do your planting. In business we naturally raise only money-making plants, and we strive for the best results from-the smallest outlay of money. We have to. When you sit down to do your planning decide carefully what you want, and then stick to it. You can waste more time and money and valuable brain energy in changing your mind than you can in any other way. Incidentally, you are wasting the time of someone else, and that never pays. Don’t forget that there is more than planning and growing to be :lone. The selling end is an important thing. You may be able to raise your crops successfully, but if you can’t sell them you might as well shut up the greenhouses and go to work in the nearest store. Crops must be marketed quickly and advantageously. That demands judgment and ingenuity in advertising, special sales, etc. You will be surprised how a clever advertising campaign will encourage a slack business. It is a pretty generally conceded fact that some people are born managers, and some are not. If you are going to succeed in the florist’s business you will have to develop to their fullest extent any

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many of our prettiest summer flowers. In addition to the greenhouses, the School is equipped with a number of cold frames. These are used extensively in preparing fo:‘ outdoor planting, and several of the frames are used as permanent beds for violets. The Greenhouses in Summer Possibly you think this is their resting season. But no indeed! They are useful the year around. There are many plants which require shading and special care during their early life and this can be done to best advantage in the greenhouse. There are also many plants which thrive best by being kept in the greenhouse all the year round, where it is possible to keep! them at an even temperature and give them a constant supply of moisture. Preparing for Winter It :s customary to fumigate the houses thoroughly before the winter planting begins. This rids the houses of pests and disease germs. Also, there is a regular housecleaning and repainting—all for the purpose of disease prevention as well as for appearance. The soil is removed and fresh, well composed soil put in. Sowing, potting, repotting, and transplanting re-commence in earnest. The greenhouses are a wonderful educational feature. Aside from the fact that they shelter and encourage our plants, they serve as a constant lesson in concentration, and we find that it is remarkable what Can be accomplished in a small space. Moreover, they are intermingled with all our other horticultural work. They aid us materially in our studies of Botany and Entomology, and the potting shed serves as a laboratory for our experiments in the study of Chemistry and Soils. A Final Glimpse Our small vegetable gardens are planted with vigorously growing tomatoes and cauliflower. A row of sweet peas has been started in front of each plot. The geraniums have been pruned and are a blaze of color and the fig tree is fruiting. The intermediate house is promising a glory of color and sweet scent later in the season. There is a row of Japanese chrysanthemums just bursting into bloom in the smaller cool house, and the asparagus ferns are flourishing. We have no need to look forward to a rather dull winter of constant book study. We have our greenhouses. Truly, they are ours, for we do practically all the work in them, under constant expert guidance. We have truly discovered that greenhouses are profitable. To body, mind, ahd soul their benefits are far-reaching, and, when carefully and intelligently managed, they may be profitable to the purse as well.

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managerial qualities you possess. Systematize your place till your work is clone in the quickest and most efficient manner possible; and don’t overlook your bookkeeping. That is a matter that requires a remarkably large part of your time at the best, but a well systematized office leaves you much more time for the ever-pressing work in the greenhouses. And work it really is. You can’t shirk, and you can’t let slack work pass. The nrr'fits will tell the tale every time. Your enthusiastic visitors are sure to envy you your “fascinating work under such charming conditions,” but don’t let that stimulate your imagination too much now! There is a deal of routine work that must be attended to and there is a deal of slow, tedious work that is as important as any other part. And for you, Madam Manager, there is still a bigger task. You must know the work of your greenhouses so well that you can step in and fill any place that needs you. To be ready in such a case means that you must constantly be in touch with your employees, and know how the work is progressing. If you can leave your own job long enough to set some bungling worker right and return to your own task without having “lost your place,” you will have proved your efficiency. It is the way you carry this ever-present responsibility that marks you as a good or a poor manager. But don’t make yourself a slave to your business. Learn to relax now and then, and when you find yourself getting too deeply engrossed in our work take a day off. Don't lose your outside interests, and don’t, above all things, lose your sense of humor. A good laugh in the middle of a hectically busy day will give life a simpler ispect and will freshen your whole brain for the next task. After all you will find it very simple. You need only to be, to the best of your ability, a clear thinker, an efficient manager, a steady worker, and a whole-souled player to make it pay. CONSERVATION OF COAL IN GREENHOUSES By Edna M. Gunnell Just four simple rules to be followed: j. Low temperatures in the houses to the great improvement ip color or scent and health of plants. 2. Low fires on mild days and nights irrespective of the month these happen to occur. This is always a safe saver. 3. Keeping low fires in the morning even after cold nights when anticipating sunny days. 4. Early closing of the ventilators to retain the sun’s heat when anticipating cold nights. Briefly then, in stoking, use the natural heat of the sun, and thy intelligence. Re-print from Wise-Acres, March, 1918.