412 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



MARCH S, 1900. 



boast of as many flower stores within 

 a radius of four square blocks. How- 

 ever, it is quality, rather than quan- 

 tity, that 1 wish to dwell upon briefly. 

 A surprise in store for the writer 

 was a brand new flower store at No. 

 8 Merrimack Square, in the very heart 

 of the business center. Messrs. Patten 

 & Roberts are the presiding geniuses 

 of this new establishment, having 

 moved thither some six months ago 

 from 293 Centre street. As they never 

 do things by halves, it goes without 

 saying that their new establishment is 

 all that could be desired. An immense 



prospects brighter and more encourag- 

 ing. S. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Up to this writing Lent has cut lit- 

 tle or no figure with the retail florist in 

 this city. The majority report busi- 

 ness as exceeding their expectations. 

 Transient trade has been very good. 



Prices. 



Beauties, $1 to $6; Brides, Maids, 

 Golden Gaies, $5 to $12; Meteors, Kai- 

 serins, Morgans, $5 to $10: Gontiers, 

 $5; Perles, $4 to $6; carnations, ordi- 



Vase of new pink Carnatim The Marquis. 



window, showing an artistic display of 

 the choicest the market affords; a 

 magnificent ice chest, elaborate coun- 

 ters and fixtures, incandescent lights, 

 and, last but not least, their cozy little 

 office up a flight of stairs — a sort of 

 sanctum sanctorum — all this cannot 

 help but attract as well as invite the 

 passer-by. 



Next in order, I am informed, will 

 be a delivery wagon, one to be fully in 

 touch with the progressive spirit of 

 the age as well as with the store and 

 their span of spirited horses. 



J. J. McManmon reports a decided 

 improvement all along the line. Both 

 his roses and carnations do well. 



Whittet & Co. have opened a store at 

 293 Centre street, the place formerly 

 occupied by Patten & Roberts. 



Business has never been better, nor 



nary, %\ to $2; fancies, $3 to $5; cypri- 

 pediums. $15; hyacinth, $1 to $4; val- 

 ley, $3 to $4 ; narcissus, $2 to $4 ; dafllo- 

 dils, $2 to $4; sweet peas. $2 to $3; 

 tulips, $2 to $4; mignonette, $3 to $4; 

 callas, $10; violets, single 30 to 40 

 cents, double 50 cents to $1 ; asparagus, 

 $50; smilax, $15; adiantum, $1. 



Notes. 



W. L. Schaffer, of 223 North Six- 

 teenth street, has been very busy the 

 past week, having considerable funeral 

 work to execute. One would wonder 

 how he gets all this trade, being one of 

 those side-street florists, but he gets 

 there just the same, Mr. S. is a man 

 of push and ambition, which undoubt- 

 edly accounts for his success. 



A visit to .Jno. \V. Young's establish- 

 ment on Frank and Wayne street.-; 



would be time well spent, there being 

 an exceptionally fine lot of roses to be 

 seen. The following varieties are rep- 

 resented: Two houses of Bridesmaid, 

 two center tables, of Beauties, and four 

 side tables of Brides. There is no 

 question as to the quality of this stock. 

 There are 5,000 Beauty cuttings in the 

 sand bed, which look very promising. 

 Half a house is devoted to Nephrolepis 

 Bostoniensis, principally in 6 and 7- 

 incli pots: the other half is filled up 

 with Pandanus Veitchii, ranging from 

 3 to 8-inch pots, which are also very 

 fine. He also grows lily of the valley, 

 which he does very fine. Mr. Y. has 

 added a vault to his establishment for 

 keeping cur flowers. 



Mr. Ed. Seidewitz, of Annapolis, Md., 

 favored us with a visit the past week. 



R. 



BOSTON. 



The inevitable has struck us. We 

 have "Lent" our customers to the pre- 

 vailing season to a large extent. But 

 funeral work is in good demand and 

 we ghoulishly live upon the proceeds. 

 Any line of goods that cannot possibly 

 be used upon funeral occasions feels 

 the situation most keenly, but as high 

 colored material is not very plentiful, 

 things are not so bad after all, and 

 best grades of pink and white roses 

 seem to have fewer friends than usual. 

 Still, a few of the best are said to be 

 bringing as high as $2.50 per dozen, 

 while many of the poorest change 

 hands on a basis of $2 per 100. Red 

 roses are getting rather overgrown in 

 quantity, but are good in quality, with 

 prices wavering a little. Beauties from 

 $1 to $6. Meteors from 25 cents to $2 

 per dozen, and Jacks, Brunners and 

 Liberties as yet too scarce to obtain a 

 rating. 



Carnations have been almost scarce, 

 white ones really so. Prices? Oh, from 

 11/2 to 3 cents on standard kinds and 

 more on fancies if it could be ob- 

 tained. 



Bulb growers are feeling good on ac- 

 count of late results. Prices not high, 

 but everything moving on fair profit. 

 Easter lilies cropping out in all direc- 

 tions and selling quite well at $2 per 

 dozen. Violets in full supply and sell- 

 ing all the way from 20 to 75 cents per 

 lOO. 



Naturally our trade exhibit is the 

 most formidable subject for an item. 

 but as I had neither time nor talent, I 

 delegated that subject to an accom- 

 modating friend, and hereby refer to 

 his column in this issue. 



[At time of going to press nothing 

 had been received from the accommo- 

 datin.g friend. — Ed.] 



There has been a grand changing 

 around of the working force among 

 the city stores lately, but it excited 

 but little comment until news was out 

 that E. M. Wood's head salesman, Mal- 

 loy, had surrendered his position. This 

 causes talk. He has been a power in 

 the distribution of the millions of the 

 Waban sheds of roses year after year 

 and was supposed to be as much a fix- 



