APRIL 6, 1S99. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



477 



BUFFALO. 



The Easter Trade. 



I promised if it froze and blowed the 

 latter p£jrt of last week that I would 

 leave for southern climes. It did all of 

 that and more, but the trip is postponed 

 indetinitely. It was a cold week, hover- 

 ing around the freezing point at noon 

 and 10 to 15 degrees of frost every 

 night. There is one consolation that fits 

 all occasions and all circumstances — it 

 might have been worse. It is quite 

 conservative to say that it hurt the 

 volume of business at least 25 per cent 

 and entailed a much greater expense on 

 what we did do. 



One florist said this morning that in 

 three years we should not handle any 

 cut flowers at Easter, and the tendency 

 is that way. It was more and more 

 than ever a plant Easter. I have not 

 had the leisure to interview many of 

 my fellow craftsmen, but the few seen 

 all say the same. It was plants, morn- 

 ing, noon, night, and Sunday morning; 

 too much so, in fact. Those who laid 

 in a big stock of good flowers, to be 

 slangy, got left, or rather the flowers 

 are left in the cool cellar or ice box. 

 The demand for roses and carnations 

 was even trifling compared to a few 

 years ago, and as for bulb stuff, you 

 could not give it away. There was ae- 

 , tually no demand at all for daffies, Ro- 

 mans or tulips, and valley was not asked 

 for; it answered the purpose to throw in 

 a few dozen to keep the other flowers 

 from shaking about in the box. There 

 was one exception; the demand for vio- 

 lets was excellent; doubtful if any such 

 quantity was ever handled here before. 

 Besides those gi-own here by those who 

 also retailed them, our busy William 

 Wholesale Kasting handled one hundred 

 and fifty thousand. 



There were enough, plants to meet all 

 rcTnunds, even of lilies, and if all of the 

 latter had been out that were intendea 

 for Easter, there would have been a sur- 

 plus. Still, the lily has not waned in 

 popularity. George Fancourt, of Wilkes- 

 barre, sent a large lot of well grown 

 hydrangeas, well colored, that were dis- 

 tributed widely amongst the trade. 

 What seems wanted a great deal is 

 something moderate in price and what 

 the public has not seen year after year. 

 There is plenty of room for novelties and 

 a liberal reward is in store for the man 

 who will introduce some neat little 

 plant, that has not been handed up to 

 the customer's gaze for the last 20 

 years, and there are many things yet to 

 be well done. Our conglomerate, cos- 

 mopolitan mixture and breed is ever- 

 lastingly after something new, and we 

 must cater to the taste as do those who 

 supply soap, suits or sermons. 



This time the grower and the com- 

 mission man, of couree, have had the 

 best of it, because the retailer laid in a 

 good stock of flowers at a good, stocky 

 price, and many of them have stood 

 stock still ever since in a cool retreat, 

 so now don't grumble, Mr. Grower. 



Our commission man, Mr. Kasting, has 

 rented a large, deep, roomy store very 

 near the corner of Mohawk and Wash- 



ington streets, the very i - 1 i i ion in 

 town to suit all parties, where he will 

 move about the 1st of May. His busi- 

 ness has increased so remarkably the 

 past j-ear that he kept much of his 

 hardy stuff, such as wire frames, tinfoil 

 and immortelles, on the roofs of neigli 

 boring houses. This is the grand quar- 

 ters that was once occupied by the 

 Buffalo Cut Flower Exchange, of which 

 G. Sebastian Piekleman -was president, 

 secretary, treasurer and board of lady 

 managers. 



■1 (lie- remarks above 



that business was pcxir. The demand for 

 plants was great and had we been blessed 

 with better \^eather the sales would 

 show better than any past year. As it 

 was, I don't believe there was an in- 

 crease. In another column I have men- 

 tioned what plants sold best with us, 

 with the hope that it may be a slight 

 guide to your readers for their nest 

 year's preparations. 



I can't resist saying that the remark- 

 ably small demand for our leading flow- 

 ers was the belief by the public that 

 they were out of their reach. They 

 are" frightened by a long face early in 

 the week: "Oh, yes, ma'am, roses will 

 be scarce and rather expensive." "Car- 

 nations? Oh, let me see. Why, I'm 

 iurnid Miev will be double what they are 

 today." And so on and so forth. Per- 

 haps it can't be helped, but in our city, 

 which may be an exception, the normal 

 quantity at a reasonable price would 

 have been better for evei-ybody. Every- 

 body was able to do all the business 

 that came their way in their own store 

 except Mr. Rebstoek, who spread out 

 over a large part of the city, having no 

 less than three annexes. We have tried 

 it and don't like it. It needs too many 

 money changers. Mr. Long was kind 

 enough to notice a slight accident that 

 befell W. Belsey Scott. Some may think 

 it was plain William. No more of that ; 

 we have an accident insurance and could 

 not run against a snag if we tried. 



W. S. 



ST. PAUL, MINN. 



Eaiter Trade. 



Last month was the coldest March 

 on record. Cold northwest winds pre- 

 vailed during the entire period, while 

 the snow fall was the heaviest of the 

 winter. Under such conditions grow- 

 ers and retailers alike were handi- 

 capped and the volume of trade con- 

 siderably curtailed. 



Easter week was no exception to the 

 rule as regards the weather. In spite 

 of such adverse circumstances Easter 

 trade was good and a hurried inter- 

 view with the leading dealers would 

 indicate an increase of 25 per cent in 

 the volume of sales over 1898. 



In the line of plants there was a 

 fair supply of good stock which sold 

 readily, leaving but little on hand. 

 This was an off year for lilies and we 

 saw but one lot of choice stock. Good 

 lilies sold at 15 cents per bud at whole- 

 sale and 25 cents at retail. 



Azaleas were in good demand, re- 



tailing at 75 cents to $10 each. Spiraeas 

 and hydrangeas sold well, also palms 

 and ferns, while cinerax-ias, valley, vio- 

 lets, hyacinths and other bulbous 

 stock were in fair demand for cheap 

 stock. 



Bottle Brush and Crimson Ramblers 

 were the novelties in the plant line, 

 the latter being very popular. 



In cut flowers everything sold well 

 from the smallest jonquil to the long- 

 est stemmed Beauty. Carnations were 

 in extra good demand, reaching even 

 better figures than at Christmas time, 

 thanks to the $30,000 find in Boston. 



Prices on cut flowers ranged rather 

 higher than for several years past. 

 There was a good home cut, but not 

 near enough to supply the demand. 

 Shipped stock was of uniformly good 

 quality, indicating that the growers 

 and shippers are beginning to realize 

 the importance of sending out fresh 



A. S. Swanson had an overflow 

 store on Robert street filled with 

 blooming plants, the choice of which 

 were some extra nice Ramblers. 



L. L. May & Co. had an elegant dis- 

 play, lilies and hydrangeas being ex- 

 tra good. E. F. Lemke had his usual 

 display of potted plants and cut flow- 

 ers. He has recently added a new re- 

 frigerator to his store, which adds 

 very much to its attractiveness. 



Holm & Olsen report a very busy 

 week, with sales 30 to 40 per cent 

 ahead of last year. J. A. May had a 

 very good display of all seasonable 

 stock, which sold to good advantage. 



Notes- 

 Owing to the alteration and remod- 

 eling of the old market house several 

 of the florists will have to find new 

 quarters. 



R. C. Seeger has moved his stock 

 into a store on St. Peter street, near 

 his old stand. 



Fred Schulze has opened a store on 

 the same street, near the old market 

 house. 



C. Anderson has disposed of his 

 store on Western avenue and is work- 

 ing for A. S. Swanson. 



Recent visitors: Walter Mott, Carl 

 Cropp, J. Rolker, Mr. Van Zanten, Mr. 

 Goemans, Mr. Kroeschell, Mr. Keur. 



Club Meeting. 



The Florist Club had a social meet- 

 ing and entertainment at Minneapolis 

 March 25th. The next regular meet- 

 ing will be held at the Hotel Ryan, 

 this city, Saturday evening, April Sth. 



The bowlers made the following 

 scores March 28th: 



Ave. 



V Naeel 128 128 168 154 153 146 



E Swahn 150 166 "9 105 1« 



G Win ..:.:.:.:.. i« m iss 



J.' Hartman JM 134 132 121 158 135 



O Win 136 9" 1-12 141 •■• l^J 



F HoDDe . 82 152 89 128 112 



a mSh . —•■ 95 146 107 115 98 109 



E. Nagel wins the medal for the best 

 average, it having been held for *wo 

 weeks by G. Will. A good strong team 

 for Detroit is now assured. X. Y. Z. 



