J 388 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



May 19, 1904. 



no visiting florist come to town and fail 

 to see the bnililing, the conveniences ami 

 sjiaeious halls and rooms in W. F. 

 Kasting's new qnarters, and there is 

 where the festivities were held. 



A Visit to Fredonia, 



The writer paid a short visit to the 

 pretty village of Fredonia one day last 

 week .Tnd if it l;ad not rained continu- 

 ously he might have called on several 

 more florists than he did. It is vino- 

 yards every way you look, not attractive 

 at this time of year, yet beautiful and 

 rich when Concord's purple clusters load 

 down the vines in October. I remember 

 some fourteen years ago quoting figures 

 that were given me which were to the 

 effect that this famous grape belt ex- 

 tending from Silver Creek, N. Y., to 

 Harbor Creek, Pa., shipped in one sea- 

 son 2,900 car loads of grapes. Those 

 figures would look small now. Last fall 

 I believe there were more than 9,000 ear 

 leads. Fredonia has also large canning 

 factories and they have brought a numer- 

 ous foreign population and as foreigners 

 have to eat and wear clothes it has stim- 

 ulated other lines of business, including 

 the doctors', undertakers' and florists'. 



We called on Edward Button, on West 

 street, who last year built two houses, 

 each 20x100. They are most substantial- 

 ly built. Carnations mostly occupied the 

 benches till Easter and now they are 

 largely filled with a fine lot of geraniums 

 and a good assortment of other bedding 

 plants. ""Mr. Button is sufficiently en- 

 couraged that he will shortly begin the 

 erection of another 125-foot house and 

 other improvements. 



A walk through the pretty cemetery 

 soon found us at the houses of James 

 Larder, who, besides his florist business, 

 is the superintendent of the cemetery. 

 He has added several houses since I last 

 visited him. It's strange to see old 

 liizzie McGowan carnation grown, and 

 yet there it was with loads of flowers. 

 Mr, Larder says Lizzie must now go. 

 Genevieve Lord, Flora Hill, The ilar- 

 quis and, of course, the indispensable 

 Lawson were the principal benches. Fre- 

 donia is not only blessed with a mild 

 climate, escaping the late spring as well 

 as early fall frosts, but also with a 

 splendid loam soil on gravelly subsoil 

 and the carnations and even the gerani- 

 ums show the quality of their soil. Jlr. 

 Larder has 10,000 zonale geraniums in 

 4-inch pots in very fine order and he 

 knows the varieties to grow, which were 

 S. A. Xutt, John Doyle, a splendid bed- 

 ding scarlet, F. Perkins, Gloire de 

 France, Jean Viaud, La Favorite, the 

 double white, and the splendid old 

 Beauty Poitevine. The raising of veg- 

 etable plants is quite an item with all 

 the Fredonia florists and 100,000 tomato 

 plants were being handled at this place. 

 Now if it had not rained I might have 

 had a longer story to tell you. So in 

 conclusion I want to say that I noticed 

 with regret the ravages of the past win- 

 ter. Dozens of fine Irish junipers ruined 

 and the English ivy killed, and these are 

 only trifles of what the losses are in less 

 fcivored localities. Landscape architects 

 sit in their cozy offices and draw pretty 

 pictures and when these plans are exe- 

 cuted they include English ivy and holly 

 and tree bos and other plants and shrubs 

 tliat have as much chance of living with 

 us, through such a winter as the last, as 

 a turned loose canary bird in northern 

 Siberia. Strange to say, the rhododen- 



dion, a complete failure in Buffalo, 

 grows and flourishes in favored Fredonia, 

 \et they don't seem to know it, for you 

 see but a few of this most gorgeous of 

 all hardy flowering shrubs where it 

 thrives, W, S. 



PITTSBURG. 



The Market. 



This market is receiving great num- 

 bers of all kinds of flowers. Eoses and 

 carnations of very good qi ality are ac- 

 cumulating in large quantities and can 

 be bought at one 's own figure. Lilie-, 

 which have been so plentiful since Easter, 

 are now good sale. Callas are in over- 

 supply. "There are plenty of very fine 

 sweet peas for everyone, Pansies are 

 also very plentiful, Violets are now a 

 thing of the past. The demand for 

 Beauties is limited. Quantities of out- 

 door flowers are arriving. 



Various Notes. 



Last Sunday we experienced some very 

 cold weather; the temperature went down 

 to 41 degrees. A light hailstorm passed 

 over this section but did no damage. 



The Kttsburg Cut Flower Co. is re- 

 ceiving large quantities of new ferns. 



Good prospects for .June are in sight, 

 many weddings, and quite a number ot 

 goocl-sized orders are placed for ilecora- 

 tions, Randolph & McClements have sev- 

 eral very large wedding decorations fur 

 next mouth, 



John Baldinger, of T, M, Tlam & Co., 

 is ser\-ing as a juror in the United States 

 court. 



The sale of bedding stock is very slow, 

 as outdoor planting is still limited, due 

 to the cold and backward spring. 



Carnations in this section are all in 

 the field, and the long needed rain came 

 last Saturday and Sunday, 



C, T. Siebert has a fine lot of ger- 

 aniums and miscellaneous bedding stock 

 which he grows exclusively for his retail 

 trade. 



Miss Carrie .Tordon, saleslady for .John 

 Foss, Pittsburg Market, is seriously il! 

 with typhoid fever. 



Ernest Zieger. who has been confined 

 to his home, is about again. 



On Friday, ilay 1.3. Walter S.. son of 

 Mr, and ijrs. Charles F, Gass, died at 

 his parents' residence, Gass avenue. Al- 

 legheny. Mr. Gass was in his twenty- 

 second year. The craft extend their 

 sympathy t<i the bereaved family. 



Christ Niehter, who is with Patrick 

 Maier, ilillvale, has the sympathv of all 

 in the loss of his wife last Wednesday, 



Hoo-Hoo, 



CINONNATL 



The Market. 



Business last w-eek reminds one very 

 much of a nightmare. It was just about 

 as bad as one can imagine it. Flow- 

 ers of all kinds were coming by the 

 wagon load, and the demand was so small 

 that after all orders had been filled you 

 could not notice where they had been 

 taken from. As a consequence prices fell 

 till they reached bed rock and then it 

 became virtually impossible to move the 

 surplus, even by giving it away. The de- 

 mand had about as mtich life as it has ii; 

 mid-summer and at times even less, Fri- 

 day and Saturday trade took a spurt 

 and the general cloudy atmosphere was 

 gradually dispelled, until bv Sunday the 

 market had been pretty well cleared out 



and prices were again in a fairly healthy 

 state. The May music festival, several 

 large receptions and also a great number 

 of funeral orders, helped to bring order 

 out of the general depression. 



Beauties had the call and sold out fast. 

 Sweet peas also went well. Lilies, 

 though selling at very low prices, were 

 cleared out. Carnations came by the 

 thousands, and buyers got them at their 

 own figures. Roses were mostly of very 

 jiuor quality, and sold correspondingly 

 low. Lily of the valley sold well and 

 there was not enough for all orders. 

 Outdoor flowers are fine tliis year and 

 they helped to hold the price of green- 

 house flowers down. Peonies are growincf 

 fast and it looks as if they will he over 

 before Decoration day. 



Various Notes. 



The regular meeting of the Florists' 

 .Society failed to come off, owing to there 

 not being a quorum present. 



.Jas. Allan has been confined to his 

 bed but is now better. 



Wm. Mann has severed his connection 

 with the Ohio Cut Flower Co. 



W, A. Chalfant, of Springfield, Mo., 

 was a visitor, C, J. Ohmer, 



WASHINGTON. 



Th.? condition of the cut flower mar- 

 ket is fair for this season of the year, 

 but stock is plentiful and prices mod- 

 erate. Gude Bros, seem to have no end 

 to the supply of Beauties, and their 

 stock is certainly fine, specials bringing 

 from $3 to $8, while ordinary grades re- 

 alize from $2 to $5, retail. Brides, 

 Bridesmaids and Kaiserin are somewhat 

 smaller, and only moderate prices pre- 

 vail." Carnations are still plentiful, but 

 generally of very good quality. Bed- 

 ding stock is offered in large quantities 

 and finds ready sale at good prices. 



The Washington Florists' Club held 

 its first meeting on the night of May 4, 

 about fifty members being present. FVom 

 the tone of the meeting it was evident 

 that Washington certainly needs a Flor- 

 ists ' Club. Wm. F. Gude was elected 

 president, F. H. Ivramer vice-president, 

 Peter Bissett secretary and Wm. H. 

 Ernest treasurer. A committee was 

 appointed to wait on the commissioners 

 to inquire further in regard to the pay- 

 ment of licenses In" the florists of the 

 city. A committee was also appointed 

 to meet the delegations of Baltimore 

 and Philadelphia florists who paid us 

 a visit May 6. 



On that evening, after giving the vis- 

 itors a car ride to the Congressional 

 Library, all adjourned to the Eathskel- 

 la for lunch. After lunch one of the 

 largest automobiles was pressed into 

 service for a sight-seeing tour of the 

 city, after which came the bowling con- 

 test for the Kramer cup, which was 

 bowled on the Eathskella alleys in the 

 presence of a large number of the craft. 

 The score was: Philadelphia, 2,546; 

 Washington, 2,4.")3 ; Baltimore, 2,144, 



After the contest all gathered about 

 the banquet board at Eeuter's Hotel and 

 made meiry until a late hour. Wm. F. 

 Gude acted as toastmaster and Mr. Kra- 

 mer, of the local team, presented the 

 cup to the winning bowlers. The cen- 

 ter of the table was adorned with a 

 huge vase of Beauties contributed by 

 Mr. Gude. H. B. L. 



BooTHWYX. Pa. — Williams Bros, have 

 planted out 30,000 carnation plants and 

 the stock is in good shape. 



