134 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



JUNE 2S, 1900. 



NEW YORK, 



The Convention. 



Almost all the summer resorts adja- 

 cent to this city, and they are innum- 

 erable, have opened for the season, and 

 people are more interested in vaca- 

 tions than in business. There are not 

 so many of the craft going to Europe 

 as in other years, even with the extra 

 attractions over there, and there is no 

 doubt that many are reserving their 

 annual outburst for, and will be con- 

 tent with, a rousing good time at the 

 great convention to be held here in 

 August. This event is anxiously look- 

 ed forward to in the light of a reunion 

 of old timers, and the pleasure and 

 profits of new acquaintances. Florists, 

 be they ladies or gentlemen, will make 

 no mistake in visiting the metropolis 

 during the convention; the latest and 

 best in everything pertaining to the 

 trade will be shown, and comfort and 

 enjoyment is assured to all. This pa- 

 per will have a special bureau of in- 

 formation in New York and we will be 

 glad to assist its patrons in every way 

 possible. 



Business Conditions. 



Newport is the most important sum- 

 mer resort in the country from a fash- 

 ionable and floricultural standpoint. 

 There will be more florists there this 

 season than ever before and the pros- 

 pects are that it will be a lively time 

 there. Heretofore the New York mar- 

 ket in summer largely depended on 

 the demand from that source, but now, 

 as it appears, even in every other place, 

 local growers supply all, or almost all, 

 that is required. The flower and plant 

 trade of this market is being gradually 

 confined to the city limits, but there is 

 always a demand for extra well grown 

 material of any attractive flower or 

 plant. 



The condition of business at present 

 is, of course, very summery, but there 

 are few reasonable complaints heard; 

 all sections of the trade seem to have 

 had a good season, and though a 

 watchful eye is necessarily on the alert 

 for whatever crumbs of orders may 

 drop during the hot days, still the 

 majority of thoughts are given to the 

 consideration of what is best to grow 

 for next season. 



Prices. 



Prices for cut flowers at present are, 

 if anything, a shade higher than those 

 of the nast few years; good material 

 Is getting scarcer. Though business 

 may be poor, it is necessary for every 

 store to carry a little stock, and that is 

 critically selected; this puts a varia- 

 tion on prices which it is often hard 

 to understand. The wholesaler takes 

 advantage of his opportunities just the 

 same as the retailer does, but there is 

 usually more of the give than take in 

 his end of the line. 



The eurrent prices for stock, as near 

 as can be summarized, are: Lily of the 

 valley, $2 to $:?; Beauties, all the way 

 from $1 to $25; Brunners, $1 to $12; 

 Brides, Maids, Meteors, Victorias, La 

 France, Testouts and that class of 

 roses, from 50 cents to $6 and $8 per 

 100; Jacques (outside ordinary), $1 per 

 100; carnations. 50 to 75 cents, a few 

 extra grade and sorts, $1; smilax, $S; 

 Asparagus plumosus. $50; gardenias, 

 $8 to $12; cattleyas, $30; specials, $50; 

 sweet peas, $2 to $3 per 100 bunches. 

 A great quantity of the material sent 

 in at present is sold in job lot fashion 

 for anything offered. The price of ic8 

 is an important factor in the florist 

 business during summer; it does not 

 pay to carry over any kind of stock 

 and no offer is refused. 



Notes. 



The seven-day wonder here at pres- 

 ent is Thorley's going on Fifth avenue. 

 It is given out that he has leased a 

 very large and handsome new store on 

 the corner of Forty-fifth street and 

 Fifth avenue and will open up there in 

 the fall. 



Herman Kuhn and family sail for 

 Europe July 3 on a visit to the father- 

 land and Paree. 



The Bogert fishing excursion is slated 

 for July 11. 



It is rumored that "Johnnie" Weir. 

 the Brooklyn florist and the bull of 

 the New York flower market, is con- 

 sidering the advisability of opening a 

 large store in Manhattan. 



Secretary of the Shooting Fraternity 

 W. J. Elliott. 54 Dey street, asks us to 

 remind all those who intend to take 

 part in the shooting match in connec- 

 tion with the sports of the convention 

 to communicate with him at once, in 

 order that final arrangements can hi 

 made to insure a full enjoyment of that 

 section. 



July 'J is the date of the next meet- 

 ing of the Florists' Club. The bowlers 

 expect a large gathering that after- 

 noon. All those who intend to take 

 part in the sporting or trade exhibition 

 should notify the secretaries or man- 

 agers at once, for the different commit- 

 tees are expected to give full repsrts 

 at this meeting. 



We recently had the great pleasure 

 of a few hours with Henry C. Ostertag. 

 the well known St. Louis florist. He 

 was here purchasing stock for the 

 elaborate wedding decoration recently 

 arranged by Ostertag Bros, in Elkins, 

 W. Va. It is very unusual to have a 

 florist from such a distance come and 

 take an order away from the experts 

 here, especially when the parties or- 

 dering live here; it speaks volumes for 

 the reputation of this firm. We are 

 sorry the weather prevented us from 

 procuring a photo of the work, which, 

 according to the metropolitan press, 

 was the finest ever seen in that section. 

 Mr. Ostertag purchased all his stock 

 here from Thos. Young, Jr., and after 

 being several days packed he writes it 



was just as good as on the day it left 

 New York. The careful shipping of 

 flowers, especially in hot weather, re- 

 quires facilities and intelligence of no 

 paltry grade. 

 Bowling scores Monday night were: 



I'U'ns 152 117 u» 



Manda 152 139 102 



Lang 158 128 139 



Schenck 138 125 153 



TlieUman 141 181 149 



Tniendly 139 us 161 



Lentz 101 113 ISO 



Locsch 131 154 144 



Donlan 131 100 173 



Several higher scores were made 

 during the evening, but as only the 

 first three games count in the club's 

 average for the tournament team, they 

 are the only ones published. J. I. D. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The long stretch of cool weather 

 was broken Monday and the mercury 

 has taken a very high position in the 

 thermometer. As one result the mar- 

 ket, which had been very firm up to 

 Tuesday, went to pieces on that day. 

 But while the market is glutted with 

 low grade roses and carnations there 

 is really still a shortage of good ship- 

 ping roses. And in carnations the 

 extra fancy bring fair figures. In 

 commons white is in the best demand, 

 but the great bulk go at extremely 

 low prices. 



There are sweet peas "to burn," 

 and the great bulk of them are burned, 

 sure enough. The weather is so hot 

 that if not moved at once they are a 

 sure loss and no decent offer is re- 

 fused. And this applies to most other 

 stock, too. 



As an example of what high quality 

 does, even in times of extreme glut, 

 it is worthy of note that the splendid 

 sweet peas sent to Kennicott Bros. 

 Co. by C. W. Northrup. La Grange, 111., 

 are selling freely at 50 to CO cents a 

 hundred, while ordinary stock, and 

 good stock, too, goes at $1.50 to $2.00 

 a thousand when it goes at all. This 

 same firm was amused at receiving a 

 shipment of sweet peas from a dis- 

 tant point, each bunch having a tag 

 attached on which was printed "The 

 Worlds Best." The peas were no 

 doubt very good when packed, though 

 no better than the average received 

 from local growers, but ten or twelve 

 hours in a box had robbed them of 

 their color and they looked very poor 

 indeed when compared with local 

 grown peas. Mr. Pieser says outside 

 growers ought to realize that when 

 they have a surplus there is sure to 

 be a big supply in the Chicago mar- 

 ket, too, and that it simply aggra- 

 vates the situation to send it here. 



Candidum lilies are beginning to 

 come in from Michigan. They are 

 very good and have moved freely at 

 $1.00 a bunch of stalks bearing 50 

 blooms. 



Paeonies are now pretty well 



