NOVEMBER 1, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



649 



Andrew McAdams, President-Elect Chicago Florists' Club. 



epy of great scarcity about the liiiio the 

 turkey crop is cut. 



Various Items. 



Mr. Danforth, florist and typical all- 

 around Yanliee, of Norridgewock, Me., 

 has been "weeking" with us. Owning a 

 pond with water power attached in 

 Skowhegan, he is building there a range 

 of houses, making the water power 

 pump the pond water into them after 

 it has once been used to grow all kinds 

 of lilies in the pond. How is that for 

 utilization? Another idea of his, which 

 is worthy of national propagation, is in 

 connection with non-destructible bench 

 flooring. He wonders why glass facto- 

 ries cannot cast their "slag" into con- 

 veniently shaped slabs for the purpose, 

 claiming enough is thrown away to meet 

 a heavy demand ( ? ) . Another caller 

 from the Pine Tree state is S. C. Den- 

 nett, Portland, and F. A. Main keeps 

 us thinking of the same state, but came 

 down from New Hampshire. 



At the time of the dissolution of the 

 Twombly Co. it was known that two 

 employes were keeping the threads of 

 the business together as well as possi- 

 ble. They are now fitting up excellent 

 quarters in rooms immediately above 

 those occupied by that company, and 

 M. Thompson, the leader in the enter- 

 prise, is a lady, making the fourth to 

 establish in Bostonese floraldom. She 

 has the appearance of having come to 



stay and to take a part in the proceed- 

 ings of the fraternity. And surely no 

 better assistant could be secured than 

 Mr. Allgren, well and favorably known 

 for his long connection with the trade 

 as his years will allow. They deserve 

 success and seem to know it, which are 

 two good planks in a business platform. 



There is another change in methods 

 of selling goods in this city, directly 

 traceable to the co-operative market and 

 well worthy of remark. This is the fact 

 that Ananias does not have to work 

 nights to maintain his championship 

 as formerlj-. When all customers and 

 all salesmen meet on the same floor the 

 space is so limited that long range stor- 

 ies boomerang back too quickly to work 

 well. Sharper c ompetition has also 

 assisted in establishing this squarer 

 method of doing business. 



But all are not incurably addicted to 

 truth-telling even yet. Salesmen like a 

 reputation among their fellows for get- 

 ting better figures than the others 

 reach ; buyers wish to be remembered 

 for the low rates they have obtained 

 and sometimes their statements do not 

 break joints very well, even concerning 

 the same identical transaction. 



It is not yet decided just where the 

 benefit comes in and the feeling seems 

 to be growing that the truth, well stuck 

 to, is almost as good as a falsehood. 

 J. S. Manter. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



Indian summer has come with the 

 fourth week in October, bringing a most 

 tremendous glut of nearly all kinds of 

 cut flowers. The retailers assumed that 

 indifl'erent expression, which said more 

 eloquently than words that they 

 could get all the good stock they wanted 

 at their own figures. The growers wore 

 an apologetic air for ofi'ering so mucli 

 stufl'; spoke of what they hoped to have 

 later in the season and tried to trade on 

 this expectation. The commission men 

 .•seemed worried and greeted every de- 

 gree of buyer with an enthusiasm that 

 told plainly how much they feared the 

 wrath of their consignors when the 

 week's slips went out. By the middle of 

 the week even the choicest, or what had 

 been the choicest, stock was on the 

 street. 



To make matters worse, chrysanthe- 

 mums began to arrive in quantity, ad- 

 ding to the general demoralization. 

 Those that were sold at asking prices 

 went at $1 to $2 a dozen; a few at 

 higher figures. Beauties fell off to $1.50 

 to $2 a dozen for the best; the supply 

 seemed enormous; Brides and Maids 

 dropped to $3, a few $4; Meteors about 

 the same; carnations held fairly well 

 at $1 to_$1.50 a 100; medium and poor 

 stuff of all kinds was practically a 

 cipher. 



The Liberty Rose. 



There has been a good deal of disap- 

 pointment about the Liberty rose here. 

 This is partly due to ignorance with re- 

 gard to its culture and partly to the high 

 expectations formed of its adaptability 

 to general forcing. A rose that thrives 

 with an expert is often a failure with 

 the average grower. This has been the 

 case with the Beauty in nearly every 

 establishment. Yet no one will deny 

 that the Beauty is our finest forcing 

 rose today. Let us hope that the same 

 perseverance and skill that has been 

 expended on the Beauty, with such 

 splendid results, will be given to Lib- 

 ert}'. The latter is a great rose, deserv- 

 ing a thorough trial. 



Mixed Stuff. 



A prominent retailer is quoted as 

 saying that too many roses are being 

 grown for our market this year and 

 that the man who has "mixed stuff" 

 would be in it. By mixed stuff he was 

 understood to refer especially to bou- 

 vardia, heliotrope, mignonette, daisies 

 and forget-me-nots. It is to be loped 

 that these flowers will have an inning 

 in our market. Bouvardia is a beauti- 

 ful flower and deserves the attention of 

 a specialist. At present prices i~E does 

 not pay. Disease has made its forcing 

 both difficult and uncertain. Heliotrope 

 is too perishable to be a promising sub- 

 ject for extensive cultivation, though its 

 fragrance makes it many friends. Mign- 

 onette and forget-me-not are largely 



