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The Weekly Florists' Review ♦ 



JUNE 22, 1S99. 



Prices of Flowers. 



It is uot altogether what we have 

 to pay for flowers, but what we should 

 charge for them, that gives us food 

 for thought betimes, and though many 

 refrain from discussing the matter 

 through fear of giving away secrets, 

 we wish to state that there can be no 

 harm in telling the retailers what the 

 public already know. These columns 

 are intended to be useful and if we 

 do not touch upon a subject on which 

 you wish information, ask the ques- 

 lion and we shall answer it. 



The matter of retail prices of flow- 

 ers is a very difficult subject to deal 

 with, because the condition of the 

 market, the number of the fakirs and 

 Hie numerous degrees or classifications 

 of our trade compel us to have prices 

 to suit each section of a city. The 

 first class trade of every high class 

 store demands the best the market 

 can offer, and very often despises what 

 growers consider grand. The regular 

 customer knows a good flower when 

 he sees it and shuts his ear to your 

 praise of it. Many are wining to pay 

 good prices, and the prices in the best 

 stores are changed very seldom for 

 the reason that it is hard to get good, 

 perfect flowers, and you can get $3.00 

 per dozen from some classes just as 

 easily as you could fl.00, in fact, the 

 higher you charge without appearing 

 exorbitant, the more they will be as- 

 sured you have given them the best. 

 Of course, there are a great many 

 wealthy people who will buy from a 

 fakir in the street, but when they are 

 particular, and that is most of the 

 lime, they come to you and pay your 

 price. Others will haggle and com- 

 pare your finest flowers to the ped- 

 dler's, and it's very hard to show such 

 any patience, but we must do so, and 

 politely, though forcibly, refute their 

 assertions. Some have accounts and 

 pay annually; you are justified in 

 charging top price as interest on your 

 money. It is not the best policy to 

 soak your good customers; they have 

 a trick of trying others and comparing 

 prices, and still others refuse to pay 

 you the amount of money you have 

 squandered on furnishings. One might 

 go on reviewing the different species 



of customers for an indefinite period, 

 but what is the use when they are well 

 known to you all? 'Tis only for the 

 beginners (and they are very numer- 

 ous) that I mention a few. 



In the North we are familiar with 

 the persons who come in the store for 

 a rose and tell you that they could 

 get a barrow-full in California for the 

 price you charge them. South Amer- 

 ica, the land of perpetual and everlast- 

 ing beauty, with its wealth of roses, 

 etc., where armfuls of the finest flow- 

 ers can be had for nothing, is often 

 held before, the wondering gaze of 

 some New York florist who has the 

 audacity to charge $1.00 for a rose in 

 midwinter. Ah, yes, don't forget the 

 Ploridian also who depicts to you the 

 splendor of his orange blossoms and 

 palm groves. But these people know 

 not the conditions upon which we ex- 

 ist, and we envy them not their para- 

 dises. The condition of the cut flower 

 market of North America may change 

 a great deal more than the prices — 

 that is to say, the retail value of stock 

 is more stationary than the wholesale, 

 and what is charged in one city is un- 

 der like conditions charged in most 

 cities. 



A great difference is often percepti- 

 ble in places where there is an over- 

 supply and the peddlers ruin trade. 

 Wholesalers defend the fakirs on ac- 

 count of their being a relief to a stag- 

 nant market, but they are a curse to 

 every retailer, and their end of the 

 line is as important as others, and 

 more so, and sooner or later must be 

 demonstrated forcibly. Let us look at 

 the situation in New York. It would 

 be difficult to count the Greek peddlers 

 here; they are in swarms; they parade 

 in front of your store or stand at the 

 corner and offer flowers oftentimes as 

 good as yours for less than you paid 

 for yours. The injustice of the thing 

 is apparent, but the remedy is either 

 unlawful or impracticable. Many of 

 them work on the padrone system; 

 one buyer supplies many of them, and 

 they usually get stock at their own 

 price. Just now they sell short stem 

 Jacques at 15 cents per dozen, long 

 ones 25 cents; mixed roses at from 15 

 to 25 cents per dozen; carnations, 15 

 to 25 cents per dozen; sweet peas, corn 



flowers and such stock, 5 cents a 

 bunch of one dozen. The stores of 

 New York or any of our large cities 

 may be arranged into six classes, but 

 for the present we will put them into 

 three, with the prices usually charged 

 for stock at the present time. A vast 

 difference may sometimes occur in the 

 quality of the flowers offered in each 

 class, but the grade of customers ex- 

 pect to pay the prices named. Most 

 stores carry two grades, the finest and 

 the seconds, and we give the average 

 price for each. 



FIRST CLASS STORE. 



Cattleyas, $7.50 to $9.00 per doz. 



Spray orchids. 15 to 25 cents each flower. 



Stephanotis, 25 to 50 cents each corymb. 



Valley, 75 cents per doz. 



Beauties, finest, $7.50; seconds, $5.00 per 

 doz. 



Brunners, finest, $5.00; seconds, $3.00 per 

 doz. 



Mixed outdoor roses, from $2.00 to $5.00. 



Brides, $1.50 to $2.00 per doz. 



Maids, $1.50 to $3.00 per doz. 



Meteors, $1.50 to $3.00 per doz. 



Morgans. $1.00 to $1.50. 



Peas, cornflowers and such, 15 to 25 

 cents per bunch. 



Carnations, 50 to 75 cents per doz. 



Harrisii, $2.00 to $3.00 per doz. 



SECOND CLASS STORE. 



Cattleyas, $5.00 to $7.50 per doz. 

 Spray orchids, 10 to 15 cents each flower. 

 Valley, 50 cents per doz. 

 Beauties, $5.00 and $3.00 per doz. 

 Brunners, $4.00 and $2.00 per doz. 

 Mixed outdoor roses, $1.00 to $3.00. 

 Brides, 75 cents to $1.00 per doz. 

 Maids, 75 cents to $1.25 per doz. 

 Meteors, 50 cents to $1.00 per doz. 

 Morgans, 50 to 75 cents. 

 Small roses, 50 to 75 cents. 

 Peas, cornflowers and such, 10 to l"» 

 cents per bunch. 

 Carnations. 35 to 60 cents per doz. 

 Harrisii, $1.00 to $2.00 per doz. 



THIRD CLASS STORE. 



Valley, 35 cents per doz. 

 Beauties, $2.00 and $1.00 per doz. 

 Brunners, $1.00 and 75 cents per doz. 

 Mixed outdoor roses, 50 cents to $1.00. 

 Brides, 25 to 50 cents per doz. 

 Maids, 35 to 50 cents per doz. 

 Meteors, 25 to 35 cents per doz. 

 Morgans, 35 to 50 cents. 

 Small roses, 25 to 50 cents. 

 Peas, cornflowers and such, 5 to 10 cents 

 per bunch. 

 Carnations, 20 to 30 cents per doz. 

 Harrisii, 75 cents to 41.00 per doz. 



And so on down the list. Opportuni- 

 ties frequently arise where one must 

 give and take, and there are times 

 when some stock gets exceedingly 

 scarce, such as orchids, when higher 

 prices can be charged. Harrisii are 

 very abundant at present and are al- 

 ways handy to have in the store. There 

 are also lots of water lilies and other 

 outdoor flowers to be had at almost 

 any price we name, and where we are 

 not tied down to specific flowers we 

 can afford to make designs extra fine. 

 Wreaths entirely composed of either 

 white or purple sweet peas look very 

 well; so do well made wreaths of 

 water lilies; use only fresh, open ones. 

 One good way to keep them is to put 

 them in water in the sun till they 

 open, and then put them on ice. Roses 

 are poor at present and avoid using 

 them in extra fine work; even a 

 wreath of white carnations with their 

 own short foliage is preferable to 

 Brides and mildewed leaves. A wreath 

 of the very darkest gloxinias, with 



