Apkii. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



669 



View in Store of Joseph Kift & Son, Philadelphia, at Easter. 



good shape, with a fair crop in sight. It 

 is proposed to replace a flat roofed vege- 

 table house with an even span pealced 

 roof this siunmer. Soft coal is used for 

 luel. 



L. E. Bayliss is the oldest florist in 

 Wilmington. He carried his stock to 

 Philadelphia and sold it there twenty- 

 seven years ago. About this time Wm. 

 K. Harris was tirst starting in the busi- 

 ness. Carnations are the principal crop 

 ana they look well. Mrs. Bradt is seen 

 in three colors, the usual variegated, a 

 rea and a white; all fine flowers. A 

 very nice lot of Dutch hyacinths were 

 flowered for Easter. There is evidence 

 that the proprietor is a thoroughly effi- 

 cient grower. 



H. M. Paschall has foiu- good houses 

 filled with carnations in sight and mush- 

 rooms out 01 sight — in two senses: they 

 are under the carnation benches and they 

 are very well done. The carnations are 

 very fine, producing a great Easter crop. 

 They reflect credit on the owners, who 

 withdrew from the shipping business four 

 years ago to embark in that of green- 

 house cultivation. Besides the varieties 

 noted elsewhere, Cartledge looked well. 

 Tliis variety is believed to be a good one 

 up to New Years. The young stock is 

 all grown in soil for economy in room 

 and is not potted as at most of the 

 other places. This plan has been pur- 

 sued successfully with the parent stock. 



The genial Robert Lockerbie has a 

 large place devoted to roses, carnations, 

 sweet peas, rubbers and a general va- 

 riety of stock. His best flowers come to 

 this market. His many friends will be 

 interested to know that the lease on 

 his present place expires .June 1, when 

 he will remove to Claymont, Delaware, 

 there to continue in his calling. The 

 general method of growing carnations 

 at all the places was in raised benches. 

 The general method of staking was by 

 wires run lengthwise, usually three with 

 strings across. The varieties were very 



numerous, generally the most up-to-date 

 sorts of proven merit ; white and the 

 various shades of pink predominated; 

 scarlet and fancies were grown to some 

 extent ; hardly any crimson or yellow. 

 Scott is popular, though low in priccl 

 It produces many more blooms than any 

 other sort. Practically the entire prod- 

 uct of this district is handled by one 

 cut flower merchant, Leo Niessen, who 

 has done much to develop the carnation 

 industry here and raise it to its present 

 high standard. Phil. 



CHICAGO. 



Easter. 



It was a good Easter, and but for un- 

 favorable weather at a critical time it 

 would unuoubtedly have been far better. 

 As preaicted in our notes last week the 

 supply was larger than generally antici- 

 pated. Even lilies showed up in consid- 

 erable quantities at the last. 



The wholesalers all report business as 

 all that could be expected, and on the 

 average there was probably a comfortable 

 increase over last year. There was 

 enough stock of all kinds to meet all de- 

 mands, with the exception of good ship- 

 ping grade Meteors and Perles. Of bulb- 

 ous stock, especially tulips, there was 

 more than enough. Lily of the valley 

 <lid not move nearl}' as well as last year. 



The lily situation was peculiar. A seri- 

 ous shortage seemed a certainty, but some 

 remarkably large lots appeared in the 

 market when it was rather late to place 

 them and many had been frightened from 

 stocking up by the high price and un- 

 certainty as to securing the goods. As 

 a result the lily market weakened when 

 it was expected to be strongest, and we 

 hear of sales being made at one time as 

 low as .'(iin.OO a hundred. Of course the 

 bulk of the cut was placed at better fig- 

 ures, but it shows what will hajipen when 

 the men who sell the stock lose their reck- 



oning through lack of information as to 

 the actual supply. 



The warm period preceding Easter, 

 while it brought out an excellent supply 

 as to quantity in most lines, had a bad 

 effect on stock that was being held back 

 and some woeful examples of overpickling 

 were seen. It was especially noticeable 

 in the carnations. Lots of them were 

 cleaned up at $1 a hundred, when they 

 would have brought $2 or $3 had they 

 been sent to market in their prime. 



On good shipping grade stock of all 

 kinds prices were very well maintained 

 and on the whole it was a very satisfac- 

 tory Easter week. 



The local retailers had troubles of their 

 own. On Friday it rained all day and 

 trade was way below what it should be. 

 Saturday broke all records, but Sunday 

 morning brought with it a high gusty 

 wind and quite a heavy fall of wet snow. 

 As a result Sunday sales were light and 

 with few exceptions they carried over 

 very considerable stocks of cut flowers. 



In total volume the retail trade prob- 

 ably equaled or slightly exceeded that 

 of last year, but was not up to expecta- 

 tions. The heaviest call' was for plants 

 in pretty arrangements and a large quan- 

 tity of them was sold. Pretty combina- 

 tions and fine specimen blooming plants 

 in pot covers sold best. Crimson Eam- 

 blers did not seem to go so well as last 

 year. 



At Samuelson's a combination basket 

 of plants ranging in price from $.5 to $10 

 seemed to lead, and one extra good seller 

 was a pan of hyacinths in a " crow 's 

 nest" basket with a stuffed chick set 

 in one side. The central feature of his 

 window display was a huge broken egg 

 of cape flowers, in and out of which ran 

 a brood of live chicks. 



At Smyth's the heavy call was for 

 plants and plant arrangements. Among 

 the plants that moved slowly here were 

 lilacs. Ills window contained a huge nest 



