The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MAY 31, 1900. 



in cuttings of poinsettia as fast as you 

 can get tliem witli 2 or 3 joints. Don't 

 cut them clear back to tlie old wood 

 or you won't get any more cuttings; 

 leave one eye, which will break and 

 give you another cutting. They root 

 easily now with shade and a thorough 

 watering twice a day. They are often 

 neglected when first potted off. Keep 

 them shaded for a week or two and 

 moist: after they once get hold of the 

 soil no more shade must ever be given 

 them. We used to plunge them out- 

 side years ago. Don't do it. A light 

 bench with all the air you can give 

 them is a much safer place for tlie 

 summer months. I have written about 

 these poinsettias for a good many 

 years, and I fancy many good florists, 

 if they honor me by reading these 

 lines, say: "Oh. fudge, what's the good 

 of growing theml " Now. last winter 

 they were decidedly the leading plant 

 and were sold with us singly and in 

 pans and baskets and every form, and 

 to be without them would to us cause 

 a great blank. WM. SCOTT. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



All the wholesalers report a phe- 

 nomenal business for Decoration Day, 

 several saying it was the largest ia 

 their business experience. There wis 

 a scarcity of good roses but plenty of 

 everything else and the demand was 

 sufficient to keep prices right up to 

 the quotations, except possibly on 

 some odds and ends and very low 

 grade stuff. 



Of carnations there was sufficient 

 and all moved at from $1.00 to $3.00 

 per 100. except in white, the latter ap- 

 pearing to move rather slowly with 

 some dealers, though large numbers 

 were sold. 



There was a big lot of peonies on 

 (he market and they moved well at 

 fair figures. Some very good lilac 

 came in from points somewhat north 

 of us, that for this locality being 

 pjactically over for the season. There 

 were some Harrisii on the market and 

 they sold fairly well. There seems, 

 however, to have been a wide varia- 

 tion in the selling price. We hear nf 

 sales at $4 and others as high as $12 

 per 100, while some say the lange was 

 from $6 to $8. 



One gratifying feature was that the 

 local demand showed marked im- 

 provement as well as that from out- 

 side. All good roses were sold out 

 early and there was some hunting for 

 shipping stock at the last. 



It is estimated that no less than 20,- 

 000 dozen paeonies were marketed 

 during the past week. 



In general stock for Decoration Day 

 there was rather a shortage of good 

 stock, an abundance of fair grade and 

 poor stuff by the hayrack load. But 

 all seemed to move at same figure, 

 though the fakirs did considerable of 

 the moving. 



Jasmines cleaned up well. Kennicott 

 Bros. Co. sold large quantities and 



could have sold a lot of 10,000 more 

 that were ordered but failed to arrive. 

 They report that the Decoration Day 

 trade broke all records for any holi- 

 da.v. 



Common ferns went well, but smi- 

 lax and asparagus were little called 

 for. Daisies also were slow though 

 they went well last year. 



After the wreckage had been cleared 

 away on Wednesday it was found that 

 the price of roses was still holding up 

 pretty close to last quotations. 

 There was a slight break in carna- 

 tions, but everything was moving at 

 satisfactory prices, grade considered. 



Various Items. 



A regular meeting of the Flovist.^' 

 Club will be held at the usual place 

 to-morrow (Friday) evening. June 

 coming in on a Friday makes the first 

 June meeting come very early in the 

 month. 



Kennicoct Bros. Co. are receiving 

 some splendid outdoor valley — as tine 

 as any indoor grown. Pleniy of ler- 

 tilizer is said to be the main cause of 

 its excellence 



Aug. Jurg'.'a;-: has cut the last of his 

 outdoor valley and is now cutting 

 flowers from his first batch of cold 

 storage pips. 



H. D. Caldwell, Paris. 111., was a re- 

 cent visitor. Having sold his green- 

 houses and business, he is at present 

 enjoying a little vacation. 



The growers of and dealers in bed- 

 ding plants report an immense busi- 

 ness. A shortage in geraniums is al- 

 ready noticeable. The geranium seems 

 to have taken a strong, fresh grip on 

 popular favor. 



As to cannas. few local growers 

 bother with them. One of the large 

 seedsmen offers them to the public at 

 such low rates that the florists say 

 they cannot afford to handle them in 

 competition with him. 



It is reported that James Jensen has 

 been succeeded as superintendent of 

 Humboldt Park by L. de Thier. 



ST. LOUIS. 



Market Conditions. 



Business has been very poor during 

 the past week. Transient trade ha-> 

 entirely disappeared. There is an oc- 

 casional wedding or funeral order to 

 be had, but with the street car strike 

 still on it looks bad for the trade in 

 general. 



Decoration Day is not looked for- 

 ward to with any very great expecta- 

 tions by our local dealers, as the lit- 

 tle extra demand is mostly for the 

 cheaper grade of flowers. Outdoor va- 

 rieties, such as lilacs, snowballs, spi- 

 raeas, tulips and narcissus, which are 

 generally on hand at this season of the 

 year, are already out of bloom. Peo- 

 nies are about the only outdoor flower 

 to be had in any great quantity, and 

 are selling at present from $3 to $5 

 per 100. The quality is only fair. 

 The bulk of the home grown stock will 

 be in this week. Cape jasmines are 



in from Texas and are sold at the com- 

 mission houses at from 75 cents to $1 

 per 100. The blue cornflowers are in 

 and sell at 25 and 35 cents per 100. 



Roses and carnations are very abun- 

 dant and job-lot prices prevail. The 

 few Beauties that come in are in de- 

 mand and the top price is $2 per dozen. 

 The best price for roses is $4 per 

 the very best, but very few bring that 

 figure: $1 and $2 is the price for the 

 bulk of the stock. Some very fine 

 Jacques are in the market, rather 

 short in stems, which sell at $2 per 

 KiO. Meteors, though, have the call 

 over them, as they keep much better, 

 have longer stems, and sell at about 

 the same price. A few cool nights the 

 past week have mildewed the roses 

 very badly. Carnations are still very 

 plentiful and fine, but the demand for 

 them is light. No good reds In the 

 market just now. Most of the carna- 

 tions are sold at $1 per 100, and, of 

 course, cheajer ip, 1,OCO lots. A very 

 few extra fine varieties brought $1.50. 

 Sweet peas are plentiful and very fine. 

 The demand fairly good at 25 and 50 

 cents per 100. Smilax seems to be in 

 good demand of late at 15 cents per 

 string. 



Notes. 



Arthur Ellison returned from Chi- 

 cago last week. He spent a very 

 pleasant week with the craft, which 

 will be long remembered. 



Mr. Potts, who came here from Chi- 

 cago and opened a store on Finney 

 avenue, a few months ago. has tired 

 of his venture and is offering his 

 place for sale. 



John M. Hudson is reported some- 

 what better this week, but it will be 

 some time before he will be able to 

 be about. 



The extracts in the last issue of the 

 Review from the paper on "Aquatic 

 Gardening " by Walter Retzer, and 

 read by hi ii before the Chicago Flor- 

 ists' Club, were read with interest by 

 the St. Lo\'is florists, who still have 

 pleasant rei ollections of their former 

 club member. It's a case of our loss 

 and Chicago's gain. 



We read in the last issue of the Re- 

 view of tie marriage of our old friend 

 and form °r citizen. Billy Kasting. to 

 Miss Anni La Tour. We don't kliow 

 the youui ; lady, but we do know 

 "Billy," a ad we congratulate Mrs. 

 Kasting o a her choice, for we know 

 that Mr. Kasting possesses all the 

 good qualities of mankind. 



One morning last week quite a 

 crowd of retail florists and growers, 

 who were at one of our wholesale 

 houses waiting the arrival of the ex- 

 press wagons with consignments, 

 were talking about the street car 

 strike and how it hurt their business. 

 One c f the number spoke up and 

 asked if anyone in the crowd could 

 tell him why the street car owners 

 were like the cannibals. We all gave 

 it up. and he told us. "Cannibals cut 

 up men to eat. and the street car own- 

 ers cut the men down so low that thev 



