756 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



Business is good in pveiy branch of 

 the trade, notwithstandinj,' that for the 

 past few weeks we have had an almost 

 continuous downpour of rain ; the 

 weather is simply glorious at present, 

 however. Forsythia and tulips are in 

 bloom in the parks and everything is 

 rapidly bursting into leaf. It looks 

 now as if it were going to be a short 

 and busy season. 



The prices on the plant and cut flower 

 market maintain a good average; good 

 stock has somewhat shortened up. We 

 don't hear so much about intended ex- 

 cursions to Europe this year, but there 

 promises to be a general exodus to Buf- 

 falo; several of the largest growers 

 have been out there sizing up jrossibil- 

 ities for extending their already large 

 exhibits; we are told Julius Roehrs is 

 there at present on a short visit. 



The Pan-Ameiican Kxhibition affords 

 splendid opportunities to the American 

 grower. You will remember that flori- 

 culture at the World's Fair was not 

 what it ought to have been. Some of 

 the saving points of that show were 

 made by small contributors, which, 

 when combined, made very creditable 

 exhibits. We hope that Brother Scott's 

 endeavors will be supported by every- 

 one; that the series of flower shows will 

 be made great successes — worthy of the 

 country — and this can only be "done on 

 the principle that every little helps. 



Various Items. 



There will be several removals among 

 the store people here this May, owing 

 to the tearing down of the buildings 

 they occupy at present. Alex Waren- 

 dorf, instead of combining with Fleisch- 

 raan, will occupy a temporary store at 

 S West Thirtieth street; M.'Hart, the 

 wholesaler, moves over to keep Julius 

 Lang company in Thirtieth street. • The 

 Cut Flower Company have moved from 

 Twenty-third street to the corner of 

 Twenty-sixth street and Sixth avenue; 

 they occupy the third floor of the build- 

 ing; down in the basement there are 

 gix alleys which will most likely be 

 well patronized during the summer. 



Till I'loii-t-' Club is making great ef- 

 fijii- ici |iiii up a record breaking show 

 in M.ili- i] ^|ii:ue Garden next October; 

 till- .,111 . iil\ Im' iu'complislied by growers 



Ih. 



of 1 



Botanical Clarden will mcit must of the 

 trains and show the visitors over the 

 grounds and buildings. A lecture on 

 "Some Cultivated I'hmN jiul Their Flow- 

 ers" will be givcii \\\\\i ~|il. n.lid colored 

 illustrations, by ( iihlin, \ m\ Brunt, 

 in the museum a( 4 p. m Altogether a 

 pleasant time is assured. The show will 

 continue until the night of the 9th. 



The seedsmen at their recent meeting 

 here passed severe resolutions against the 

 government seed scandal. The seedsmen 

 can do anything they want by unity. 



The annual meeting of the New York 

 Cut Flower E.xchange will be held on 

 Saturday morning, at the Market at 

 Thirty-fourth street ferry. They have 

 another year's lease on the building, but 

 it is expected that this once great insti- 

 tution will be shortly dissolved ; most of 

 the principal growers are tired and dis- 

 gusted with the prevailing conditions and 



no doubt an important change will soon 

 be made. Xo duubt thev will move up to 



the wliul,.-ale ,Ii-iii,t \^]u■r^', though it 



may ii"i !"■ - luriii.ni. i hey will yet 



have l.ritii ,i|,|..,i I iMiii ].■- i(. di-spose of 



It's funny how scinie rumors float 

 about. IMosl of his comrades had Ghorm- 

 ley retiring from business last week but 

 he assured us that there was no truth in 

 it. 



Bowling. 



Bowlers keej) steadily at work. Last 

 week there was a uuitch between W. J. 

 Stewart and S. Butterfield for a Broad- 

 way hat. It's Stewart's time to treat. 



The New Yoik bowling team won the 

 Arlington tournament, competing with 

 some of the crack teams of this city. 

 They are steadily preparing for Bufl'alo. 

 Scores last night were: 



Burns 182 KS'.l 15'.> 



Lenlz IS2 177 ISU 



Siebreclu loo ire; isu 



Lang 18!i 19;) isi; 



Theilmann 193 205 23r, 



Ta.vloi- lOU 127 12G 



J. I. D. 



PHILADELPHIA, 



The Market. 



The cut flower market was active dur- 

 ing the end of last and early this week. 

 The return of the sun, absent three 

 weeks out of the four, has closed this 

 rainy month cheerfully. By the time 

 these hurried notes see light we shall in 

 consequence probably be struggling un- 

 der an avalanche of stock. 



Beauties sell well and are fine. Spe- 

 cials bring $2 to .|3 a dozen; good flow- 

 ers, with stems 24 to 30 inches long, 

 bring $1 to $1.50, while small flowers 

 on weak stems are in fair demand at .50 

 to 7.5 cents. Brides sell well at $4 to ipS 

 a hundred, most of them bringing .$5 

 and $1). Maids are about the same in 

 price and sell a shade slower. Of the 

 other roses Liberty sells fairly well; 

 special blooms have brought as much 

 as Beauty. 



Carnations are wanted — pink a little 

 more so than white; $1.50 to $2 buys 

 pretty nice stock, with fancies a point 

 or two higher. Violets hold out vet 

 a littlr l..n;_'ri. T.;uly Campbell is woith 

 50 ceiil^ .1 liiiihlir.l and a few brought 

 75 leiii-. \,ill.\ is used freely at .$o 

 and SI, ;iihl iiirjiiniielte is $2. "it isn't 

 llir ( li.,iiiiil SI, l.iaud Hint ornaments 

 I lie .■mil lull a -.u1 witli a saline taste 

 iniLii.uvii bcl.iii.l iilale .^lass. Smilax 

 .-,11s well at 1.) and IS cents a string 

 and asparagus at 50 cents a bunch. 

 Bulbous stock from outdoors is seen 

 occasionally. Sweet peas are wanted 

 when fine; white varieties are especially 



Plants. 



Hardy roses for planting out of doors 

 are in great demand, a few in 5inch and 

 many in 6-inch pots, at prices ranging 

 from $2.50 to $4 a dozen. 



Next week will usher in the bedding 

 plant season. It is very difficult to give 

 an accurate report of this extensive bus- 

 iness. It is -< all.T.'.l (ivi'i- too broad an 

 area. Kinot.iiili- .f ..iii .jrowers do a 

 little in this Im.' an.l inuiy of them sel- 

 dom figure in tli.' .iit il.iwer or palm 

 market; they retail most of their prod- 

 uct at their own doors and send the bal- 

 ance to the city. When the bedding sea- 

 son arrives they bob up serenely with an 



extra fine lot of geraniums, fuchsias, ver- 

 Ix'nas and other stnek. part of which 

 Hh-v «m «li.il,-al.. at from 25 to 33 1-3 

 |..a ..111 .11 ili.-ii i.'iail |ii-ice. Of course 

 ili.i.' .11.- a l.w l.ii'j.' .^rowers of these 

 M.tt «...., l,-.lli.-,|,liii.^' l.laMts,but they do 

 not eontnd the market, which has had 

 lather a downward tendency of late 

 years. 



Various Items. 



The rose problem is giving some of our 

 growers a good deal of difficulty. The 

 necessity for variety is admitted; the 

 difficulty of making a market for a rose 

 is the dravyback, even when it is as well 

 done as the standard sorts. 



Mecky's is a sort of mecca for the 

 uptown ciaft just now. Here the lordly 

 retailer in search of fifty assorted roses 

 is seen side by side with the itinerant 

 street peddlar in search of half a dozen 

 shacks. This place has made a specialty 

 of pot roses for years, and they are as 

 a rule cleverly done. 



Edward Drown, of Weldon, has had a 

 good season on small ferns. His houses 

 are now filled with bedding plants«and 

 seedling ferns for next season's business, 

 lie also has a fern which he believes to 

 lie identical with Nephrolepis Witt- 

 boldii. 



S. Mendelson Meehan has a plan for 

 giving the members of the Germantown 

 Horticultural Society field days, so to 

 speak, during the summer months. 



Phil. 



STERILIZING SOIL. 



It is generally recognized that the way 

 to combat insects and other pests is 

 to prevent their appearance rather than 

 to attempt to eradicate them after they 

 have obtained a foothold, and it is evi- 

 dent that the only way to etfectively 

 guard against the presence of eel worms 

 and grubs in the soil is to sterilize it, 

 or destroy all living organisms it may 

 contain by the application of heat in 

 some form. Some have held that when 

 this is done the soil has been injured 

 as well as the pests killed but recent in- 

 vestigators say that the useful organ- 

 isms are soon restored to the soil 

 through the medium of the water ap- 

 plied to it. 



Among those who have attempted the 

 sterilization of soil on a large scale is 

 Mr. W. \\'. Rawson, who has large mar- 

 ket gardens at Arlington, near Boston. 

 He reports very favorable results during 

 the past two years, though present meth- 

 ods are far from economical. He says: 



"I lia.l -l.iili/cd in a box that holds 

 all.. Ill :; I..1. ..ird measure, and spread 

 il ..11 ill. i..| ..f the beds in my houses 

 abdui !«.. hi.Im's deep. It takes a long 

 time to cover a space of half an acre 

 but it pays. I am trying another plan 

 for next year and expect to sterilize the 

 soil in all my houses, over thirty in num- 

 ber, some half an acre in size, to the 

 depth of a foot. It will cost consider- 

 able, but I consider it very beneficial and 

 shall do the whole of them no matter 

 what it costs. It thoroMglily rrnnvatos 

 the soil and the crop will yr.iw to p.r- 

 fection while all insects are entirely ex- 

 terminated. 



"I heat the soil to 210 degrees and 

 with the arrangement I have perfected 

 can sterilize a space 90 by 16 feet in an 

 hour. With four men this will take four 

 weeks steady work. I cannot now go 

 into further details but may say that 



