606 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



eitlier of tlic pioneers at that early day. 

 and some handling truly amazing quan- 

 tities daily. 



£very trade visitor to the city consid- 

 ers a trip through the market most in- 

 teresting and instructive, hence our at- 

 tempt to take our readers on the trip 

 by means of pictures. We believe they 

 will be found interesting by all, and es- 

 pecially by those who purchase flowers in 

 and consign to this market. 



Chicago's shipping range for cut 

 flowers is a large one, and extends from 

 Bufl'alo and Pittsburg on the east to 

 Salt Lake City and beyond on the west, 

 and from Winnipeg on the north to New 

 Orleans and Texas on the .south. It is 

 this continually growing shipping trade 

 which has made possible the great ranges 

 of glass in the vicinity of the city, and 

 this trade promises to expand much fur- 

 ther in the future. 



It is not infrequently remarked by 

 trade visitors to the city that they can 

 buy roses and other flowers cheaper in 

 Chicago than they can produce them in 

 their smaller establishments, and it 

 seems likely that the florists in the 

 smaller cities and towns will depend 

 more and more upon the large markets 

 for stock in quantity, growing only a 

 house or so themselves for transient 

 calls, and devoting more space to fine 

 plants for retail sales. 



According to the statistics compiled 

 from the last census the flowers and 

 plants produced in 1899 in only sixteen 

 states amounted to upward of'$U.OOO,- 



The Chicago Market. View in Wietor Bros', 



000. Of this certainly more than one- 

 half consisted of cut flowers and for the 

 whole country the flowers produced will 

 probably amount to $10,000,000. It is 

 certainly a lively and vigorous ''infant 

 industry." And the shipping trade has 

 been a most important factor in its de- 

 velopment. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Everything should be in such shape 

 now that although not under glass they 

 can be moved in at short notice, for 

 when frost does come now it is likely to 

 be a hard one. Sweet stevia, so useful 

 to us at the holidays, is much better out 

 of doors, yet endures no frost. Azaleas 

 don't want any and hydrangeas not too 

 much. 



Bay Trees. 



I was surprised a few weeks ago to 

 be cautioned by a good eastern nursery- 

 man "not to let the Sweet Bays be- in- 

 jured by frost," and he was an old- 

 countryman, at that. Grown artificially 

 in tubs as we do, and their exposed 

 stems, they may not be as hardy as if 

 planted out in a shrubbery. They en- 

 dure 20 degrees of frost without injuiy, 

 and often more during an English win- 

 ter. If coddled up in a greenhouse in 

 winter and then exposed to 'even 10 de- 

 grees they may be hurt, but if gradually 

 accustomed to the approach of winter 

 there is no fear at all of injury till the 

 thermometer irets down to 15 above zero. 



They are irctting numerous in our cit- 

 ies, and it is becoming quite a puzzle to 

 know what to do with them when your 

 pntrons ask yo\i to store them for the 

 winter. If you put them in your cool- 

 r.^i nrreenbonse you must charge at least 

 $1.00 a square foot for every inch of 

 space they take up — not the space the 

 tub occupies but the head, and also a 

 charge for carting. And even the green- 

 house is not the best place for them. I 



understand the Belgians keep tlicra in 

 sheds, stored up one above the other, 

 occupying little space. A shed with a 

 little light and where there was not too 

 much frost, would be the ideal place 

 for them. But we don't all own one, 

 or if we do it is a warm shed. Last fall 



I told a very good customer and very 

 excellent gentleman that he had a better 

 place to keep his fine pair of Sweet Bays 

 than I had — viz., his coach house. Like 

 a sensible man he took my advice, and 

 this spring they were in excellent order. 

 Usually people who own Sweet Bay trees 

 have coach houses, and that is the place 

 for them. 



Hydrangeas. 

 Large hydrangeas are another article 

 that bothers some of us. A greenhouse 

 is positively no place for them at any 

 price because they will start to grow in 

 the spring before you can put them 

 outside, and then they are useless for 

 summer decoration. A very cool, light 

 cellar will do for them all right, but if 

 there is a furnace in the cellar or base- 

 ment it is both too warm and dry. If 

 the cellar is really cool very little water 

 is needed during the winter ; just enough 

 to keep them from shriveling. I saw 

 at a large eastern establishment last 

 October an excellent method. An ex- 

 cavation was made on an elevated piece 

 of ground where water would not lie. 

 The bench, as it may be called, was 4 or 



The Chicago Market. View in Benthey & Co.'s. 



