August 21, 1902. 



The Weekly Florists' Review, 



393 



Then, too, it proved to be a very good 

 keeper. 



Items. 



A late novelty that is putting some 

 extra money into the retail florists' 

 pockets is the making of hats of raffia. 

 The raffia is sold in lots containing 

 enough for one hat, and in a recent com- 

 munication from Mrs. J. F. Young, of 

 Dayton, O., she says she has sold over 

 $200 worth of raffia for this purpose. 



Everything that was to be heard dur- 

 ing the past week had more or less of 

 Asheville mixed up with it. At first it 

 looked as if the Cincinnati delegation 

 would be rather small, but as the time 

 drew near, others made up their minds 

 and at the last moment many were car- 

 ried away with enthusiasm and hastily 

 packing their grips, left with the florists' 

 special. Monday morning saw strangers 

 coming in from a"ll over, and our recep- 

 tion committees were on hand at all de- 

 pots to give information. Unfortu- 

 nately it was raining, so plans had to be 

 changed at the last moment, and instead 

 of the car ride, as had been first planned, 

 all visiting florists were given a dinner at 

 the Grand Hotel at 12:30. Everyone 

 seemed to be in the best of spirits and 

 expected to have a great time at Ashe- 

 ville. The special train left Grand Cen- 

 tral depot at 2:30 p. m., and there was a 

 very jolly crowd on board. 



Of course, the Cincinnati boys are 

 going to put up the fight of their lives to 

 get the cnnven,tion to meet in our city 

 next year, and they are leaving prepared 

 for the struggle. Owing to the number 

 of applications for the honor of having 

 the society next year a lively contest is 

 to be expected; so let the best men win. 

 But the Cincinnati delegation will not 

 be whipped till the last vote is counted. 



Mr. R. Brown of Sidney, O., manager 

 of the Park Conservatories of that city, 

 was a caller. C. J. Ohmer. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



The cut flower market is pretty active; 

 the demand for really nice stock is cer- 

 tainly gratifying. Valley which was 

 rather hard to sell has been in demand 

 at $2 and $3 per 100. Edward Eeid has 

 some nice Flora Hills which bring $2 

 per 100. Ethel Crocker is in short sup- 

 ply; in fact, colored carnations are 

 scarce. The list of roses has been 

 strengthened by Ivory. Eugene Bern- 

 heimer is receiving short stemmed flow- 

 ers of this variety which are very ac- 

 ceptable for designs. Asters have been 

 reinforced by a few fine Semple's 

 which bring $1.50 per 100. If quality 

 don't matter, 25 to 50 cents per 100 

 will buy them; 75 cents to $1 per 100 

 buys a good grade. 



Announcement. 



A meeting of the subscribers to, and 

 all those interested in the proposed Phil- 

 adelphia flower market, is called for 

 Thursday evening, August 28 at S p. 

 m. in the secretary 's room, Horticultural 

 Hall, Broad street, below Locust street. 



Woodland Ave. 



George Anderson is one of those few 

 men who do a number of things well. 

 He grows roses, he bowls well, he shoots 

 well; but the thing that George Ander- 

 son does so well that he is in a class 

 by himself is the way he adapts iron to 



greenhouse work. Even the builders 

 and pipe dealers come to him for points. 

 He puts up supports out of complex 

 fittings, nicely adjusted, and saws out 

 and drills iron for purlins with sur- 

 prising ease. Just now he is fitting u\> 

 a new house on the site of an old one 

 and it is worth a visit to any grower. 

 His roses were all planted before the 

 new house was begun, each house a 

 week apart, all growing well. Two are 

 of Liberty, five of Maid, six of Beauty, 



that he had bidden farewell to the father- 

 land and would see the sights in Lon- 

 don before coming home. 



George H. Berke was first in the decor- 

 ated chair parade at Atlantic City. 



William J. Moore will remove toll 

 S. IGth street September 1. 



Miss M. A. Baker has taken charge of 

 her father's business during his absence 

 in Asheville. 



Edward Eeid will reach Asheville on 

 Friday after a trip through the south. 



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Plan of Piping for E. C. For description see page 424. 



one each of Bride, Carnot and Kaiserin, 

 and one propagating house. It is very 

 doubtful whether Brunucr, for which this 

 place is famous, will be retained. It 

 does well, but it is hard to sell the flowers 

 that will precede the main cut even 

 when perfectly leaved. 'Tis a pity the 

 last of the hybrids is in danger of being 

 crowded out by the hybrid tea!'. 



Marketing Cut Flowers. 



The meeting of the growers to con- 

 sider the plan of a cut flower market was 

 held in the secretary 's room at Horticul- 

 tural Hall on Thursday evening of last 

 week, Joseph Heacock in the chair. Sec- 

 retary Kust read a letter from Wm. 

 Nicholson explaining the method of the 

 Boston market, which is very successful 

 and has the active support of nearly 

 all the growers who come into Boston. 

 The committee's plan was then laid be- 

 fore the meeting and the stuck and 

 stalls offered. Adolph Fahrenwuld criti- 

 cised the plan freely. He thought it was 

 gotten up on too liberal a scale and 

 would frighten the small growers. 

 Charles E. Meehan replied that he did 

 not know of any small growers who 

 could not afford to pay $5 on a share of 

 stock and less than $1 a week for a 

 stall. Frank P. Myers said his firm 

 had no use for a market. W. P. Craig 

 came to the aid of the committee, warm- 

 ly endorsing the plan. After a recess, 

 devoted to signing the subscription list, 

 it was announced that 100 sliares of 

 stock in the proposed company h--.d been 

 taken. On motion of Mr. Craig the com- 

 mittee was instructed to see as many of 

 the growers as possible, learn their views 

 and report at another meeting to be 

 held in the same place on Thursday, 

 August 28 at 8 p. m. The meeting 

 then adjourned. The subscribers to the 

 plan were: Samuel J. Bunting, John 

 Burton, Robert Craig & Son. Thomas 

 Foulds, Joseph Heacock, John Holt, Ed- 

 win Lonsdale, Charles E. Meehan, J. W. 

 Young and Charles Zinimer. 



Notes. 



President Harris led a fine delegation 

 of our best men to Asheville on Mon- 

 day. You will find them first in debate, 

 first in sport and first in the hearts of 

 their countrymen. 



LSst reports from Freu Eluet said 



The unavoidable absence of Jchn Bur- 

 ton is greatly regretted. Phil. 



MARKETING OF CUT FLOWERS. 



At Wholesale. 



By Edgar Sanders. 



When I accepted the invitation of Sec- 

 retary Stewart to say something on the 

 conditions and growth of the business 

 of the wholesale florists of this country, 

 to use a homely expression. I thought it 

 would be as easy as "falling oft a log." 

 <Jf the Chicago end of the efforts I had 

 no doubts, and supposed all I had to do 

 outside of printed authorities, was to 

 apply to the proper parties and the thing 

 was done. In a measure this did not fail 

 me, but the stumbling block I struck was 

 in what is called co-operative concerns. 

 These failed me; and yet, in my humble 

 opinion, this is a field, rightly conducted, 

 which is fraught with much good, espe- 

 cially in cities of moderate size, and as- 

 it has proved, even of the largest size, 

 as witness New York; and yet in no way 

 disparaging the value of the regular com- 

 mission and wholesale dealers as we 

 find them today. You cannot get back 

 to the old ways if you would, nor would 

 a thoughtful business man do so if he 

 could. 



The general tendency of the day in 

 the price of florists' products, including 

 staple flowers, like other products of la- 

 bor average lower and lower. To meet 

 these conditions, greater combinations of 

 capital are invested, more and m,ore 

 is given for the dollar. In the growing 

 and the selling, smaller profits and larg- 

 er sales are the rule. If the output of 

 the wholesale man has enormously in- 

 creased, so have his expenses. He could 

 not make his salt did he sell no more 

 at present day prices than he sold in 

 the early stages of the business. Out of 

 his 15 per cent has to come heavy rentals, 

 expensive cold storage appliances, boxes, 

 carefully ice-packed packages. secure 

 against heat and cold, with no charge 

 therefor, large advertising and labor 

 bills, besides no end of sundries he finds 

 absolutely necessary through severe com- 

 petition. 



The old order of things changes, giv- 

 ing place to the new, in the florists' busi- 

 ness no less than in others. Time was 

 (and that within my time) when there 

 was but one stage in the entire business; 

 the man with the greenhouse took an 

 order for bouquets, sometimes made them 

 up on speculation at his greenhouse, theu 

 delivered them to his customer direct, 

 or peddled, as the case might be. Next 

 came the flower store, first with a green- 

 house attached, then simply a store, and 

 the retail florist as we know him today 

 came into existence. As the demand in- 

 creased those who had no stores began 

 to supply such as had. either with or 

 without greenhouses. Then the "grower" 

 became another division. 



