220 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Jaxuauy 0, 1002. 



what you use. In many cities florists 

 have made a material saving in Uieir ex- 

 pense for water by putting in meters. 

 Tlie average official has an exaggerated 

 idea of the amount of water used by 

 florists, and an assessment by the foot 

 front or other method is never equitable. 

 By having a meter put in you pay for 

 what you use and no more. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



Cut flower business since Xew Year's 

 has been excellent. The demand on 

 everything excepting bulbous stock, sin- 

 gle violets and carnations of poorer qual- 

 ity was fully equal to the supply. Choice 

 tea roses continue scarce, being nearly 

 always taken on sight. Special Beauties 

 range from $6 to $9 a dozen, very few 

 going at the latter price ; $3 to $5 buys 

 good stock. Out of town buyers are 

 paying $15 for fancy Maids, and at this 

 price get the pick of the market; $10 to 

 $12 is the rate for good ordinary tea 

 roses. Carnations bring from $2 to $4 

 a hundred, a few fancies $5. Pink of 

 ordinary grade are an over supply, some 

 lots changing hands at $15 a thousand. 

 These are used for decorative purposes. 

 Valley, mignonette and double violets 

 of good quality are selling fairly well. 



Leo Niessen has two additions to the 

 list, daffodils of the single trumpet va- 

 riety and frecsia ; Ihe latter is very fine, 

 with 18-inch stems commanding $0 a 

 hundred, 



S. S. Pennock has been receiving since 

 Christmas Harrisii lilies from Robert 

 Scott & Son. Fine flowers, a bit short 

 in the stem. Asparagus is in very brisk 

 demand; smilax and u\Iaidcn Hair are 

 also active. 



The ball season is fairly under way, 

 A very large affair took place at Horti- 

 cultural Hall on Friday of last week. 

 This Friday we have the first Assembly, 

 The material for these balls comes chief- 

 ly from the growing establishment of one 

 firm. The general market is not usually 

 much affected by them. 



MoreJAboot Christinas Prices. 



Referring to last week's discussion on 

 the Christmas prices of Beaiitics, Messrs, 

 Myers & Samtman say: "It is beyond 

 dispute that there are enough first-class 

 florists to take more than the produc- 

 tion of the rose at the holiday season at 

 market prices with a thank you. It is 

 ignorance on the part of any one to 

 imagine the grower would have a Christ- 

 mas crop if it was not for the better 

 price at that time. Our great trouble 

 has not been the price of the roses this 

 year, $18 per dozen down, but to get the 

 quantity to satisfy our customers. The 

 roses sold at Christmas represent often 

 times the sacrifice of two crops of buds. 

 Let those who are ignorant on this point 

 multiply the prices in October and No- 

 vember by three and see if the prices 

 at Christmas are exorbitant. 



"The unfortunate part of it is this 

 kick does not emanate from the live- 

 up-to-date florist, but from those who 

 are back numbers; who are accustomed 

 to do business as they did before the 

 antediluvian times. For instance, the 

 greatest bear on the prices of American 

 Beauties in Philadelphia at all times, 

 is one who informed the writer with a 

 great degree of satisfaction that he had 

 retailed roses at $10 that he paid $2 



for. I have no doubt his customers 

 thought this outrageous, I will leave it 

 to the readers of the Review whether 

 that party's idea of what a grower 

 should have for his stock would have'any 

 weight with the craft. These are the 

 people who do the kicking and don't get 

 any roses to sell when anybody else 

 wants them." 



Review of the Holiday Trade. 



Reports on holiday business from local 

 wholesale houses are of special interest 

 this season in view of the increased ship- 

 ping business carried on in this city. 

 One grower, John Burton, recognizing 

 this fact, built a new range of rose 

 houses last summer solely to meet this 

 growing demand. 



S. S. PENNOCK. 



It was the b«it Christmas we ever 

 had. The Beauties were, if anything, a 

 little finer than ever before, Lansdowne 

 alone sending me some 400 specials. Val- 

 ley was fine, bringing $0 and $8 per 

 hundred, I think the growers should 

 keep in closer touch with their commis- 

 sion man. Some growers paid no atten- 

 tion to my inquiry as to what they would 

 have, while others would not send stuff 

 when it was needed. This means loss to 

 us both. I also think the very high 

 prices at the holidays are an evil. But 

 it is difficult to see how this can be cor- 

 rected. The growers often have to be 

 satisfied with very low prices for their 

 stock and they naturally want high prices 

 at the holidays. The law of supply and 

 demand regulates the market. 



LEO NIESSEN, 

 ily business actually doubled this 

 Christmas, All flowers sold well. Car- 

 nations were in good demand ; one va- 

 riety, Scott, was too plentiful. All 

 roses sold well. Good double violets were 

 in brisk demand. The southern grown 

 violets were very late in arriving, the 

 first not reaching here until Christmas 

 day in the afternoon, entirely too late 

 to be of use. We had some chrysanthe- 

 mums, but they are not wanted for the 

 holidavs, Vallev was fine and sold 

 well. 



EDWABD BEID. 



The change brought about in the past 

 five or ten years in the wholesale busi- 

 ness by the increased supply of cut flow- 

 ers necessitates the development of out- 

 side markets for our product. Conse- 

 quently the wholesaler requires that 

 much of his stock be delivered to him 

 on the 22d and 23d, and not kept until 

 the 24th of December. When this stock 

 is in good condition it will net the grower 

 as much as that delivered later, the local 

 demand being limited. I have explained 

 this to my growers and they have acted 

 on the suggestion. My business has in- 

 creased over 25 per cent compared with 

 Christmas one year ago. Nearly all 

 stock sold well. 



I would like to add that the rose 

 growers who Lay a great lot of roses at 

 a time in their boxes, with wet news- 

 paper on top, crushed by the lid, should 

 come here, see the condition of the stock 

 when unpacked, and see how we handle 

 and pack the buds. They would learn 

 something that would save them many 

 dollars, 



FRED EHRET, 

 Christmas business was better than 

 usual with me, I sold out clean and at 



good prices, A very fine lot of Brides- 

 maid and Bride roses were particularly 

 good stock. There was little trouble 

 with the expi'ess companies. The United 

 States was prompt and reliable, the Ad- 

 ams a little slow, 



GEORGE M, MOSS, 



Christmas business was excellent, fully 

 up to expectations. The onlj^ drawback 

 w'as that some buyers thought carna- 

 tions too high in price. Everything went 

 well. Tea roses were very scarce, many 

 more could have been used. Valley went 

 well, but was in full supply. The ex- 

 press companies carried consignments 

 and shipments satisfactorily with a few 

 exceptions, 



EUGENE BERNHEIMER. 



I had an exceptionaHy good Christmas 

 trade. The stock in general arrived in 

 good condition and the supply was about 

 equal to the demand, with the exception 

 of good Bridesmaids, which were very 

 scarce, Smilax was very plentiful and 

 not sought after very much. Mr, R, G, 

 Palmer, of Doylestown, had some fine 

 Brides and Maids which commanded very 

 good prices. His stock is improving and 

 can be favorably compared with any com- 

 ing in to Philadelphia. 



WM. J. BAKER. 



Business with me was good, I am well 

 satisfied, I think a lesson the growers 

 should learn would be to pick their car- 

 nations and violets earlier and tell us 

 just how many we may expect each day. 

 Orders were refused a few days before 

 Christmas that could have been filled 

 had we been kept posted. One grower 

 promised 2,000 carnations and sent 5,000. 

 Many flon-ers were left too long on the 

 plants. This is a great mistake, as they 

 were badly needed at just the time when 

 they were in fit condition, 



W.M. J. MOORE. 



The Xmas trade was very good this 

 year and have noticed a c<msiderable in- 

 crease in the sale of good carnations. I 

 found the trade very willing to pay for 

 something good and fresh in that line. 

 But the trouble lies with the growers in 

 holding the flowers too long on the plants. 

 All other flowers sold about the same as 

 usual. There was demand for more 

 Maids than could be had, owing to the 

 warm spell about the middle of Decem- 

 ber, which caused them to be in full 

 crop. 



Express Shipments. 



The following views from Mr. Samuel 

 S. Pennock on the evil of delayed ex- 

 press shipments during busy times sug- 

 gest a remedy that concerted action 

 should make practicable: 



"I think a little agitation on the sub- 

 ject of frozen shipments and delayed 

 shipments would do a great deal of 

 good; and if the florists would all band 

 together and make a vigorous claim 

 against the express companies all over 

 the United States, providing this is possi- 

 ble, we would certainly have beneficial 

 results. The position of the express com- 

 panies at present is a very independent 

 one; they treat their patrons just as 

 they feel like doing, irrespective of right 

 or wrong; and if they are made to suffer 

 for a few- of their mistakes it would cer- 

 tainlv have some effect and be a good 



