March 17, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



8i9 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The ground hog certainly knew his 

 business when he returned to his winter 

 quarters after a look at the sun on the 

 second day of February. We had our sis 

 weeks more of winter, and are on our 

 seventh week. The government weather 

 man says that real spring may be ex- 

 pected any minute, but the only way 

 one would know that it is March instead 

 of an average January is by consulting 

 the calendar. 



The continued cold weather is having 

 the result of retarding production in the 

 greenhouses and helping to tide us over 

 the quiet season preceding Easter with- 

 out a serious glut. There are, indeed, 

 enough flowers, with the possible excep- 

 tion of Beauties, and prices have been 

 weak, but the market has cleaned up on 

 the staples pretty well right along. The 

 process of accumulating a stock for 

 Easter will from this on undoubtedly 

 cause a steadily rising market. Shipping 

 demand continues fairly brisk and steady, 

 and local trade has improved in the last 

 few days. 



Qualities are good in almost all depart- 

 ments. Beauties are the scarcest item, 

 although few Meteor roses are to be had; 

 indeed, they are nowadays not often 

 called for, the inquiry being almost al- 

 ways for Liberty, of which there are 

 plenty if shorts are allowed to count. 

 Long Liberties, like long Beauties, seem 

 almost always short of the demand. 

 Brides and Maids are equal to all re- 

 quirements. Carnations are in good crop, 

 but cleaning up fairly well. Prices have 

 stiffened slightly in the last few days. 

 Bulbous stock is selling slowly. Callas 

 are still a glut and there are lots of 

 Easter lilies, many of them of indiffer- 

 ent quality. The less said about violets, 

 the better; it isn't a pleasant storv. 

 Smilax is scarce, but asparagus is in 

 large supply. 



Easter points to big business, as 

 many inquiries for prices are coming in. 

 In general it is thought last year 's list 

 will prevail, at least for advance quota- 

 tions. There are sure to be quantities of 

 lilies, but many of them will be poor; 

 Harrisii show much disease. Roses will 

 be in fair supply, but there is likely to 

 be a shortage or select stock. Many 

 growers report decreasing cuts of carna- 

 tions, so that there is no likelihood of 

 too many for Easter; in fact there seems 

 to be no limit to the quantities of good 

 stock this market can take at moderate 

 figures. Pickled stock won't go at all. 

 Don 't pickle. 



A good many lilies have been sold for 

 local delivery on the plants. There vrill 

 be large stocks of bulbous plants in pans 

 and azaleas are plentiful and well flow- 

 ered. There are a few hydrangeas and 

 Ramblers and plenty of primulas, etc. 

 There are not many growers of this 

 class of stock and few novelties are of- 

 fered. 



Various Notes. 

 Speaking of general market conditions, 

 E. E. Pieser says the season 's results are 

 about on a par with last year, except that 

 fancy carnations have not brought to 

 within twenty per cent as much as last 

 season, and violets are off probably fifty 

 per cent in total sales. 



C. M. Dickinson, manager of E. H. 

 Hunt's, has returned from a two weeks' 

 trip to Los Angeles to look at the prop- 



A Bench of Brides at the Establishment of the Bcnthey-Coatsworth Co., New Castle, Ind. 



erty there in which he is interested. He 

 was well pleased with his trip. W. E. 

 Lynch, of the same house, is also back 

 from a trip to Hartford, Conn. 



P. J. Foley is a director of the Allen 

 Gold Mining Co., with mines in operation 

 at Anaconda, Mont. 



Paul Kreismanu has sold the Morton 

 Grove Greenhouses to N. C. Moore, of 

 Batavia, 111., who will take possession 

 at the end of the season. It is one of 

 the largest plants in this locality. 



Last week's club meeting was held at 

 Winterson 's, twenty-six being present. 

 P. J. Hauswirth and W. N. Rudd con- 

 stitute a committee appointed to look 

 after a hall suitable for both the exhibi- 

 tions of the Carnation and Rose Socie- 

 ties next February. The club met last 

 night to hear its report. 



The George Wittbold Co. is putting up 

 a number of Easter decorations in the 

 State street stores. 



Wietor Bros, are cutting large quan- 

 tities of choice carnations; they had 18,- 

 000 last Friday. 



E. F. Winterson spent last Sunday 

 visiting growers at Milwaukee under the 

 ehaperonago of C. C. Pollworth. He 

 says that all the stock there looks good 

 but none of it better than the roses of 

 his host. 



E. H. Hunt, who bought out J. A. 

 Lynn 's birch bark ware business, has 

 made up a large stock of this popular 

 Easter specialty. The bark itself seems 

 of particularly fine quality this season, 

 and these goods, are now made up in 

 many attractive shapes. They report a 

 fine trade on it. 



Poehlmann Bros, report that quite a 

 number of their lilies, like those of other 

 growers, will be too late for Easter, but 

 that the stock is good. They are now 

 getting 12 to 14 cents for fancy Golden 

 Gato roses. 



The Pictorial Printing Co., at Aurora, 

 in which O. P. Bassett and C. L. Wash- 

 burn are largely interested, had a nar- 

 row escape from fire last Sunday. The 

 plant represents $160,000. 



Weber Bros, are being congratulated 

 on their success with lilies. They are 

 all longiflorum and a very even lot. 



George Eeinberg's store has been re- 

 arranged and is in better shape than 

 ever before. Their cut has been steadily 



iucreasing until they were badly handi- 

 capped for space. 



Peter Eeinberg has accepted the demo- 

 cratic nomination for alderman in the 

 twenty-sixth ward, and will enter upon 

 an active campaign. The ward is nor- 

 mally republican by SOO to 1.000, but 

 ilr. Eeinberg is expected to win. Cer- 

 tainly no better candidate could have 

 been selected and every florist in the 

 ward, of whom there are many, will 

 get out and hustle for him. It will be 

 a great advantage to the trade to have 

 him in the council. 



Visitors: S. S. Skidelsky. Philadel- 

 phia; E. S. Thompson, South Haven, 

 Mich.; C. R. Hills, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



A brisk snowstorm gave the city a 

 wintry look at the beginning of the 

 week, slightly retarding crops and adding 

 to the coal consumption at a time when 

 it was thought the worst was over. 

 Roses are more plentiful and, as they 

 appear in slighter demand, prices are 

 easier. Other flowers are about as at 

 last report. Great quantities of bulbous 

 stock are bought at low figures. The 

 event of the week is the shamrock pots 

 and pans offered by W. K. Harris for 

 St. Patrick's day. The department stores 

 bought them in large quantities and the 

 retail florists in smaller numbers, though 

 in the aggregate they consumed a great 

 many. 



Easter Plants. 



The outlook for Easter is that azaleas 

 will be plentiful and of extra fine quality. 

 Lilies wOl be offered in fair quantity, 

 but it is probable that really fine stock 

 will be in short supply, with prices rang- 

 ing from 12 to 15 cents a flower. Sev- 

 eral large lots have been sold as low as 

 8 cents, but it is doubtful whether the 

 grower made a profit on these transac- 

 tions. There will Be many belated lilies, 

 more it is feared than usual. Spiraeas 

 promise well. Hydrangeas of good qual- 

 ity will not be plentiful, except at one 

 place. There is a fair supply of rhodo- 

 dendrons, genistas. Crimson Ramblers, 

 white daisies and pot roses are numerous. 



