464 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



"i 'Ti if.KH .'., ISM 



nibs up the street hasn't a plant yet 

 and I'm winning his trade away." 



Herbert said he had to carry a 

 mixed lot of small plants; the demand 

 for window plants was on the in- 

 crease, owing to the flower show they 

 had when prizes were given for ama- 

 teur grown plants; there was nothing 

 like it to increase trade. Ferns, gera- 

 niums, begonias and such were his 

 best sellers, but he had a few big 

 palms and ferns which he had sold to 

 some city folks. 



"Tell you what, I grow fine Aspara- 

 gus Sprengeri. I've got it six and 

 eight feet long, rich dark green; it's 

 grand. How do I do it? "Why, I feed 

 it well from the cow barn; Sprengeri 

 wants lots of feeding." 



"I'll take all you've got of it," said 

 John. "Keep it till I tell you to send 

 it." 



Will, who had listened to the others 

 talking about big plants and high 

 prices, was busy picturing the differ- 

 ence between tenements and palaces, 

 between 100 per cent, profits and the 

 bare margins bitterly fought for down 

 in his cosmopolitan ghetto. Though he 

 could sell small palms in from 4 to 

 6-inch pots, and occasionally some 

 larger plant to the shopkeepers, rub- 

 bers were his principal sellers, and 

 there was an increasing demand for 

 continuous flowering plaDts which 

 were not easy to get. 



Every phase of the plant question 

 was discussed and an exchange of 

 points where the best stock was to be 

 procured, but, as we said before, these 

 boys were all together at the market 

 or commission houses, each one look- 

 ing for the best or cheapest in cut 

 flowers. They had made a flying visit 

 to all the places and were posted on 

 what was expected in. Here they 

 were in a group. 



John was telling the rest how smart 

 the wholesalers considered themselves 

 and how when he wanted any particu- 

 lar flower and they (the wholesalers) 

 thought he wanted them badly they 

 didn't, hesitate to soak him on the 

 price. It was his custom to inquire 

 for some flower he didn't want, to 

 see what was in the ice-box, and in 

 an off-hand way price the things he 

 wanted. Many times he got stuff this 

 way far cheaper than he could other- 

 wise, and besides he fooled the "smart 

 Alec" who wanted to show high priced 

 sales slips to poorer customers or the 

 "kickers." There were all kinds of 

 tricks in the trade and they were get- 

 ting more numerous and puzzling; it 

 required a fellow to have his weather 

 eye open all the time. 



The growers, too, were so fund of 

 writing X's on their slips that the 

 shipments were a comedy. "What the 

 deuce do I care for all their grading 

 of stock? Those country jays have a 

 lot to learn. When I want fine stock 

 I pick it out myself, and if I can't do 

 it in one place I can do it in some 

 other. It's all right for them fellows 

 to put good stock in one box and poor 

 in another, but when they measure a 

 stem by half inches and don't con- 

 sider the flower, why they are pre- 



sumptuously crazy. What gall they 

 have to dictate or tell us what is this 

 or that when the markets are glut- 

 ted and we can just do as we like, 

 providing you're on to all the bluffs. 



"Besides, our customers are getting 

 more critical every day, and when 

 you tell 'em the flowers are fresh they 

 give you that incredulous look and 

 tell you fairly you lie. Of course 

 you've just got the stuff from the 

 market, but the country jigger or the 

 wholesaler don't know and don't care 

 so long as he gets it off his hands and 

 the slip is satisfactory. You've got to 

 fix the things in wax paper and fancy 

 boxes and ribbons, etc., to make 'em 

 look right. Ah, yes, it's all different 

 from their showing them in layers in 

 shoe boxes or wrapping them in bun- 

 dles; they don't care for bruises or ap- 

 pearances; they've got a snap. 



"And then, mind you, once in a 

 while one of them guys comes into 

 the store dressed in Sunday togs and 

 inquires of some fellow behind the 

 counter the price of roses, etc., and 

 when he is told you can see his face 

 go 'rainbow colors.' He comes to the 

 wholesaler and raises Cain on prices. 

 It's not our business what his returns 

 are, and it's not his business what we 

 charge, for our expenses are six times 

 his and it's necessary to sell his stuff, 

 but he is too blind to see it. 



"Well, boys, we're busy on funeral 

 work. I've just bought a fine lot of 

 Cattleya labiata cheap, only paid 20 

 cents for 'em; of course we get $7.50 

 to $9 per dozen for them; we cannot 

 sell them cheaper because we couldn't 

 sell any more and it would only spoil 

 good people. 



"These Dendrobium formosums are 

 for a wreath of white orchids and clus- 

 ter of valley. Got some first and sec- 

 ond grade valley for 2 cents, and the 

 formosums for 15. You see that $50 

 wreath can be made fine for about 

 $20. Here's a lot of Vanda coerulea, 

 extra fine, only cost 6 cents a flower, 

 and it's grand and new for flat 

 bunches; looks elegant with that long 

 special valley I paid 4 cents for; you 

 ought to see it made up with Aspara- 

 gus tenuissimus and very broad, white 

 silk ribbon. 



"Had a wreath of violets the other 

 day, $35; it was small and well made, 

 a true violet silk ribbon made it look 

 O. K., and then the vios were cheap, 

 and only cost 25c a 100; the singles are 

 sweetest and best just now and are 

 even cheaper. I'm after a lot of good 

 headed Brides; they must have good, 

 clean foliage, too, because the boys 

 want to use it instead of other greens. 



"Why don't I buy those chrysanths? 

 Why, they make me tired with their 

 early mums. I wouldn't touch them. 

 People don't want 'em and they're 

 mighty high for dahlia work. It will 

 be all right for white ones as material 

 for flat bunches, but it's folly to en- 

 courage big prices for early colored 

 mums. Our folks intend to "shelve" 

 'em this year. Orchids is the thing 

 we intend to push and those from the 

 Philippines are going to be all the 

 craze. Had a center piece of Dendro- 



bium phalaenopsis and Farleyense for 

 a small, select dinner party at the ho- 

 tel last night; it looked elegant, so 

 light and graceful. 



"What did I pay for my white roses 

 when I took the box as they came? 

 They were all good and I got 'em for 

 $1 per 100. We can make 200 or 300 

 per cent, on them. I can't go asters or 

 dahlias for ground work; our fellows 

 insist on white carnations for floe, 

 clean work, and they don't happen to 

 be overplentiful. I paid $5 a 1,000 for 

 them. Roses are getting better, but 

 even now a fellow has to go through 

 a whole box for good ones. We 

 couldn't use short stems at any price. 

 Beauties are in demand for theater 

 work and we generally keep a few on 

 hand. I pay $2 to $3 for my best and 

 we sell them for $5 and $7.50. 



"Isn't it queer these carnation grow- 

 ers are so dumb-headed? We have to 

 kick about their special tags on their 

 flowers, because we haven't always 

 time to cut them off, and customers 

 get on to our stories of growing our 

 own special flowers; and besides, some 

 of our best customers have taken 

 these address tags and got flowers 

 cheaper from these growers, so we in- 

 sist on plain tags. Then again, these 

 people never send a bud or spray of 

 foliage with their flowers and we have 

 to keep at them to do so. Our head 

 "maker up" says a carnation bud and 

 spray of foliage is worth several flow- 

 ers, and he always wants me to look 

 out for such, even to pay extra for 

 them, but in all the thousands of car- 

 nations you see there is never a one." 



John said they had been making a 

 special display of tritomas in their 

 windows, but all outdoor flowers were 

 tabooed now, and this week all was 

 fine ferns and a bank of oncidiums in 

 the center. Oncidiums cost 6 cents a 

 flower with use of the plant. No, he 

 wouldn't buy cut oncidiums; they 

 were better on the plant and excited 

 more interest. They had put a neat 

 sign on them thus: "Butterfly Orchids 

 from Our New Colonies," and it was a 

 big drawing card: the newspapers 

 had given them a big free adv. 



Fred didn't want many flowers, his 

 trade wasn't awake yet; still he had 

 to keep a supply of flowers and carna- 

 tions and roses and a few showy 

 dahlias or gladiolus. His roses cost 

 2 cents and he sold them for 75 ceirts 

 or $1 a dozen. His carnations cost 75 

 cents or $1 and he sold them for 35 

 and 50 cents a dozen. His gladiolus 

 cost 2 cents and dahlias 75; these he 

 sold for 50 cents per dozen. Occasion- 

 ally a good funeral order came his 

 way and then there was money in it. 



Herbert had a country wedding on 

 hand. He had lots of foliage and col- 

 ored dahlias home, but he wanted a 

 little fine stock, such as valley and 

 roses, for bouquets. He had used a 

 lot of eulalias in the church: he cut 

 it long and left the flowers on, tied 

 the bunches loose at the bottom and 

 tied them to the posts high up and in 

 the window sides. He made several 

 arches of oak leaves and Clematis 

 paniculata over the center aisle and 



