322 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



sia gigantea well deserved the name, as 

 the heads of most of them measured a 

 foot Icngthwis'e. I expected a better ex- 

 hibit of caniias. Tlic following three 

 looked like good ones: Lt. Col. Mar- 

 chand (resembling Florence Vauglian) 

 Jlrs. Dreer and Prof. Bazin. Dracaena 

 Douccttii, a novelty, is a variegated D. . 

 indivisa and a fine "thing. Among tricas, 

 E. gracilis, a fine pink, and E. monadel- 

 pha, appeared to be the best ones. 



There was a grand show of dahlias. 

 Among those of the cactus type these ap- 

 peared to have the preference: Ginevra, 

 Mens. Bouvier, Rossini, Bicolor, Grandi- 

 ilora rubra, Ariane, Sylvia. Among 

 chrysanthemum dahlias these: Ruby, 

 Cycle, Matchless (dark, elegant), Rey 

 des White, Papa Charmee, Mistress 

 Thornton, Jane Baslan, Starfish, Nor- 

 folk Uero. Among singles: Grandiflora 

 alba. Attraction, Etoile de Lyon. Miss 

 Helyett, Papillon, Clematite, Paul Soleil- 

 ete, Agathe, Lc Lyonnaise and Minos 

 (large, dark, elegant). 



I managed to get to Versailles, a su- 

 burb of Paris, where there were oceans 

 of flowers in the beds, including cal- 

 ceolarias, white daisies and marigolds. 



I would warn members of the trade 

 not to take the rail route from Paris to 

 Dieppe unless they have their lives in- 

 sured, as the swaying of the railway 

 carriages resembles soimewhat the move- 

 ments of a tight rope walker. After cast- 

 ing my bread upon the waters with lib- 

 eral impartiality, both when crossing 

 the channel and the briny deep, I arrived 

 safely in the old Bay state with a some- 

 what depleted treasury but in place of 

 the vanished coin a broader idea of our 

 business and the satisfaction of having 

 been more than seven miles from the 

 smoke of a chimney. 



Edward Winkler. 



Wakefield, Mass. 



PHILADELPHIA, 



The Market. 



The social wlipels are revolving faster 

 and faster now. Good stock sells on 

 sight, unless the seller has two e.xalted 

 an idea of the value of his wai'cs. Roses 

 are still short in supply. Carnations are 

 more plentiful aii.l -rll urll. IMignonette 

 and violet, .,,,■ in 1,, ,-k .hniand". Bulb- 

 ous flower- .11. ^,11,,,^. more plentiful. 

 Y'ellow tiili|i-. wlii.li wne scarce early 

 last week, were in good supply toward 

 the end of the week. Both double and 

 single daflfodils have come: this week 

 will find them more plentiful. Valley is 

 not in form now, being devoid of foliage. 

 Asparagus has been rather scarce. Here 

 is a chance for Chester county. This 

 green is easily grown; the sprays said to 

 be most profitable can be grown in low 

 houses and it is a great shipper. 



A Visit to W. K. Harris. 



^yilliam K. Harris' place at 5,5th and 

 Springfield avenue is always interesting 

 to florists. The stock is well grown and 

 the establishment run in a systematic, 

 business-like way .that commands suc- 

 cess. The proprietor, his son and his 

 foreman, Mark Mills, were all abatnt, but 

 we were kindly received by a jovial assist- 

 ant who was in charge;" we later found 

 he was an apt pupil of Julius Roehrs. 



There were thrc'e houses of rubbers, one 

 each of tree, small branching and straight 

 stems; the latter were in fine condition. 

 There was a lot of palms; arccas in a 



variety of sizes looked well. Then there 

 was a ^hole house of Pandanus Veitchii, 

 evidently grown in benches and shifted 

 into marketable sized pots. This method 

 saves time, but I think at a loss in char- 

 acter and stamina, which no plant can 

 afford. Boston fern is remarkably well 

 done — better than I have seen it else- 

 where. There are some nice Adiantum 

 Farleyen^e and some original pottery 

 ware," the contents of which the aforesaid 

 disciple prefers not to have mentioned. 



Among the flowering plants, genistas 

 were conspicuous; also lilies, appai'ently 

 Japan longillorums. There were a few 

 tine bougainvilleas in bloom, and here and 

 there early azaleas nearly ready. Be- 

 sides the genistas and lilies for Easter, 

 Deutzia gracilis and Crimson Rambler 

 roses were under way. 



The bulbous stock made a pretty bit of 

 color. In tulips La Reine was of good 

 size and stem, with that tinge of pink 

 that adds charm to this variety. Yellow 

 Prince had evidently been experiencing a 

 run. A new single purple was of a shade 

 suitable for the royal obsequies but hard- 

 ly likely to prove a winner. Daffodils, 

 both single and double, were grown in G- 

 inch pots, the singl'e varieties being very 

 prominent. Valley is not in full crop 

 just now. " Phil. 



BOSTON. 



Trade Conditions. 



The last week of January proved quite 

 a profitable one generally, both among 

 the growers and the retailers. The 

 exception in order to prove the 

 rule is in the case of the violet 

 men, whose wares are moving more 

 sluggishly. Roses came much more 

 freely, but the demand utilized them all 

 at first-rate prices until the very last 

 daj' of the week, when the very best 

 grade were obliged to flinch a little. The 

 carnation cut has not increased and is 

 not expected to do so soon. The bulb 

 blossom supply has fallen off 50 per cent 

 with almost enough increase in price to 

 offset the loss, and the same statement 

 is true in regard to lilies on a basis of 

 25 per cent instead of 50. Of course 

 there are always odds and 'ends of mate- 

 rial coming in and perhaps there is a lit- 

 tle more variety in this class of matter, 

 just now, but the fact surely remains 

 that New England as a community uses 

 but little variety of cut flowers at any 

 one tim'e of the year. 



Perhaps growers of red roses may also 

 think they have a grievance just now 

 since there is but little call for their 

 goods as they cannot so well be used in 

 funeral work. It is almost fortunate 

 for them that there arc so few being cut 

 at the present tinve, else prices would be 

 lower. 



Various Items. 



John May's son, from Summit, N. J., 

 has been sight seeing in this vicinity. 

 No, American floral conditions are not 

 complete until New "England returns are 

 in. 



The date of Saturday, March 9, has 

 been fi.\ed upon for th'e annual carnation 

 exhibit at the Cooperative Market. The 

 committee of arrangements consists of 

 Messrs. Peter Fisher, Wm. Nicholson 

 and Geo. Cartwright, any one of whom 

 may be addressed for particulars. De- 

 scriptive circulars will be mailed exten- 

 sively at the proper time, and it will be 

 a good plan to make sure your address 



is with the committee. Generous prizes 

 ar-e to be offered. 



M. 



to tin nrlri;,! .j , . , U , • , 1 



in tlir iM ll.lll .irli -- 111.' 

 '■Old i;i:lIKir> r.llli:ll (.1.111 



Patten's <.ani,il 1..11 .xlnl.il. In :i ,liscu5- 

 sion about tin 1.. -1 uiiu. 1 in \,\v Eng- 

 land his nam. 1- -iin I.. 1... iii.nlioned. 

 Of course, th.j ynuid Aim-' Ji-pUiy of 

 orchids could not fail to be of interest, 

 being surely the best I ever saw in my 

 limited experience. The limitless array 

 of camellias was remarkably fine, as were 

 also a do;ien of huge Primula obconica 

 from Harvard. Their color was a fea- 

 ture, being a very light lavender. I saw 

 nothing else of special interest, although 

 there was a good- collection of flowers, 

 plants and certain vegetables. 



Madame de Chateney Rose. 



Among the new roses aspiring for fa- 

 vor in tills section is the Chateney. which 

 bids fair to outola-- .ill . ..m'petitors. 



The few I have si.n ti..m the 



skilled hand of Roli.n \lill.i. manager 

 of the Exeter Rose Cnn-.n ji.n i..* in New 

 Hampshire. They were magnificent to 

 the senses of sight and smell and the 

 claim is strongly made that they will 

 satisfy the comm'ercial instinct just as 

 thoroughly. In size and general make- 

 up the cut flower resembles the largest 

 Bridesmaid with a beautifully shaded 

 petal. Its aroma more nearly res'embles 

 that of the Bon Silene. Boston buyers 

 are inquiring about it and have allowed 

 very gratifying pocket-book receipts for 

 the few obtainable so far. It looks like 

 som'ething that will well bear watching. 

 J. S. Manteb. 



BUFFALO. 



The sharp, freezing weather of late has 

 pleased everybody except the doctors. Th'e 

 health of the community is good, and 

 when that is the case the trade of some 

 florists whose business runs in a certain 

 line is liabl'e not to be so good. 



Roses and carnations are a little more 

 plentiful than they were. Violets ex- 

 tremely plentiful. Plenty of Harrisii 

 lilies nowadays, and also fine tulips and 

 narcissus. So there is 'enough to meet 

 the demand. 



We have had several visitors of 

 late, mostly of the drummer order. It's 

 a Ions time since 1 liavi' attended to thes'e 

 geiitleimii wi til. 11 .111. i.il rapacity. We 

 jiisi I1I1--. .1 \] I . I l.'.lker by thirty 

 seenii.l-. .111.1 -...I... iiirinpts to con- 

 nei't. IIk- l.,,iiiiu i.ue ..ml figure of Mr. 

 Arnold Ringier was very busy here for 

 several days. He believes in doing the 

 town thoroughly. His youthful training 

 in climbing his native Alps has endowed 

 him with a constitution that can stand 

 most any kind of weather or icy side- 

 walk. Then we have had that much 

 traveled Antipodian, Mr. McHutchison, 

 of New York, who can talk most inter- 

 estingly of theology, political economy, 

 the Maori of New Zealand, the 400 feet 

 of towering blue gum, or the duck-billed 

 Platibus of Australia, that strange con- 

 necting link between the birds and the 

 true mammals. 



Perhaps there ai'e a few of your read- 

 ers unacquainted with this strange creat- 

 ure (I don't mean Mr. Me.), the exist- 

 ence of which is such a marvelous lesson 

 in th'e history of evolution. About the 

 size of a muskrat, with a body not un- 

 like it, it has the hair or fur of a rab- 



