88 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



December 9, 1897. 



If new and stylish stores are an indi- 

 cation of business, then we are booming. 

 Mr. Thrall, originally of Jamestown, 

 opens up to-morrow his store on Main 

 street, near Chippewa, which is said to 

 be a corker, no expense spared in any 

 feature. The ice bo.x is large enough to 

 hold a horse show, and everything in 

 keeping, not only in size but taste and 

 finish. We expect Thorle)- will be up 

 ne-xt week to get a few points. 



Mr. Harry Millatt, late and for some 

 years with Grove P. Rawson. of Elmira, 

 hasopenedastoreon Jlain street, between 

 Mohawk and Genesee. Harr\- is well 

 known as a young man of most exem- 

 plary character, plenty of experience and 

 business tact, and .should certainly com- 

 mand his share. 



Most of the visitors this week had 

 .something to sell except Mrs. Edwards, of 

 Dunkirk, whose keeping qualities are 

 equal to a Meteor rose. She does not 

 look a day older than the first day I saw 

 her, some twenty years ago, when she 

 could ask questions and put down your 

 answers in long hand as fast as you could 

 talk. She has returned to active busi- 

 ness in her greenhouses. 



Mr. Mott, of Riverton, N. J., called to 

 pay his respects to one who was laid up 

 with the poor man's gout. Merely a so- 

 cial call and to discuss the outlook of 

 things in general. Close on his heels 

 came brainy Mr. Skidelsky, also of the 

 Delaware region. It was pleasant to 

 know that he was lepresenting (as well as 

 other firms) Mr. Robert Craig. It's good 

 to hear that name up this way occasion- 

 ally; it produces a thaw in our otherwise 

 austere life. W. S. 



ST. PAUL, MINN. 



St. Paul sends greetings to the Flor" 

 ISTS' Review with the hope that its days 

 may be long, its usefulness great, and its 

 success financially and otherwise over- 

 whelming. 



"Thanksgiving" trade was good in this 

 city, and business since has been good, 

 notwithstanding the unusual cold wave 

 through which we have just passed. 

 While orders are not for large amounts 

 they are coming in freelj- and the dawn 

 of better times seems to have at last burst 

 upon us. 



Mums in this market are about all gone, 

 though August Swanson is still cutting 

 some excellent blooms Other stock is 

 fairly abundant. Roses are of good quality 

 and quantit}-, the only .shortage being in 

 Meteors and Beauties. These are being 

 shipped in from Milwaukee and Chicago. 

 Notwithstanding the cry of "hard times" 

 since 1S93, nearly every grower in the 

 city has enlarged his plant (some even 

 being double), the total product now be- 

 ing fully fifty per cent, more than four 

 years ago, and still the supply in this 

 market is not equal to tlie demand. While 

 it is true that prices are somewhat lower 

 than four years ago, still they aie remun- 

 erative enough to encourage new build- 

 ing with increased facilities for producing 

 stock. 



Carnations are in better demand than 

 ever, while the quality of the stock has 

 improved, owing to improved methods of 

 culture, disbudding, etc. Rust is prevalent 

 again, though not to an alarming extent. 



This enemy must be fought early and 

 late and all the time in order to secure 

 success in cultivation. Of the newer va- 

 rieties being tried for the first time, 

 Morello easily has first honors, with Jubi- 

 lee a good second. It seems as though 

 the ideal red had at last been found. L. 

 L. May & Co. have two very promising 

 whites of their own introduction, one be- 

 ing a chance sport of the Daybreak, re- 

 taining all the good qualities of plant and 

 bloom of that grand variety; the other 

 was produced by crossing Portia with 

 Storm King. The plant is vigorous, the 

 stem long and stiff, bloom very large, 

 never bursting, of a very firm texture. 

 This is the third sea.son's trial of the 

 former, and the second of the latter. .\s 

 they improve each season they will prob- 

 ably be placed upon the market another 

 year. This firm has a house of Daybreak 

 containing ],8oo plants which would be 

 very hard to beat. 



The demand for violets is much larger 

 than the supply, consequentlv a great 

 many are being shipped in, those from 

 Milwaukee being very fine. The Cali- 

 fornia is gaining in popularity and should 

 be more largely planted. 



Shipping trade is reported very brisk, 

 the demand being for funeral woik, wed- 

 ding and party flowers. 



Holly, lycopodium, etc., are greatly in 

 evidence now, these being the ordinary 

 forerunners of Christmas. Green is quite 

 plentiful and cheap this season and fes- 

 tooning is being sold at lower prices than 

 ever before. 



Several new stores are noted this 

 season. L. L. May & Co.'s on East 

 Sixth street. Christian Hansen's nearly 

 opposite, Vogt Bros, on West Third in the 

 store formerly occupied by Elfelt, who 

 has retired on account of ill health, An- 

 derson, the Hill Florist, nearlv opposite 

 his old stand on Western Ave.. J. Hai- 

 tomt, on Mackeebin street in the resi- 

 dence district. These all seem to be do- 

 ing a thriving business. 



Retail prices now are: Roses, ft. 00 

 per dozen, with I1.50 the top notch for 

 best Meteors, Siebrechts and Testouts. 

 Beauties I3.00 to j;6.oo per dozen. Carna- 

 tions 50 cents per dozen. Violets f 2.00 

 per 100. "Roses at 25 cents per dozen" 

 was a prominent sign in one of the 

 largest stores recently. 



The crop for Christmas will be good 

 judging from present appearances. The 

 weather is now mild and bright, conduc- 

 ive to good flowers and plenty of them. 



Harrisii, paper whites, Romans and 

 valleys will all lie in for the holiday-i, 

 the former three being in alread}-. 



Our recent callers were Mr. Roach, 

 representing J. B. Rice & Co.; Mr. J. 

 M. Kimberlin and nephew of California, 

 and Frank Berry, of Stillwater. 



Mrs. James Souden, who was verj- seri- 

 ously ill, is so far improved as to sit up, 

 and hopes for her speedy recovery are 

 now assured. X. Y. Z. 



BALTIMORE. 



We are now having a marked improve- 

 ment over the gloomy and changeable 

 weather of last week, but, as it is an es- 

 tablished fact that florists are never satis- 

 fied, I feel privileged to modify the 

 above statement by saying it could still 



be better. Despite this fact, however, 

 things have brightened up considerably. 



The week opened with one of the sea- 

 son's great social events, namely the 

 first German. There were more than the 

 usual number of debutantes, and the 

 stores were all more or less busy, bouquets 

 and cut flowers being in almost double 

 the demand of previous years. 



Prices advanced slightly, but have now 

 fallen back to their old place again, and 

 stand as follows: Good roses #3.00 to 

 I5.C0 per hundred, Beavities J2.00 to fe.oo 

 per dozen, carnations f2.oo to $3.00 per 

 hundred, violets 50 cents to 75 cents per 

 hundred. Chrysanthemums are now 

 over. A few stragglers are bringing 

 f r.50 to I2.00 per dozen. 



Maryland has a much larger number 

 of growers than our brother florists of 

 other States have an idea of. Perhaps 

 the chief reason of this seeming obscur- 

 ity is that the majoritj- of them do a re- 

 tail business. We have really very few 

 s/rictly uiioli'^iile growers, the balance 

 contributing only their surplus stock to 

 the trade, in consequence of which our 

 connnission houses, in the busy season, 

 are very seldom overstocked as stuff finds 

 a very ready market at home. It is more 

 often the case that we are obliged to call 

 upon the other cities for their stock, than 

 to seek a foreign market for our own. 



The question is now being generally 

 agitated as to the advisability of holding 

 a show next fall. There is one thing quite 

 evident (and previous experiences have 

 proved it), that the Baltimore public is 

 greatly averse to being "faked," while 

 on the contrary' they will appreciate and 

 patronize something good. Now would 

 t>e the chance to rekindle this spark of 

 public interest, by all hands combining 

 their efforts to give a first-class flower 

 show. Not to confine it to chrysanthe- 

 mums alone, for the people are tired 

 of seeing the same general mass of 

 "mums" year after year (which can be 

 seen in the windows of any first-class 

 florist's store), but to give them a variety 

 in the form of cut flowers, specimen 

 ferns, palms, decorations, designs, etc. 

 On the whole, give them everything that 

 \sjiiiral: and if this is done under proper 

 management, confining ourselves to the 

 domains of a less expensive hall, and 

 with a decreased premium list, a show 

 could be held which wQuld be patron- 

 ized, and made a financial success. 



I'pon a recent visit to Messrs. Halliday 

 Bros', place. Liberty Road, the writer 

 found their extensive lot of greenhouses 

 in a very flourishing condition. To a 

 large list of .standard roses they have 

 added the Carnot, which they find very 

 satisfactory. They are equally success- 

 ful with carnations, of which they have 

 four large houses. Violets are grown in 

 quantities and a batch of Asparagus 

 Sprengeri (which they are using as a 

 decorative feature) can also be seen. 

 They have recently completed a new 

 potting and packing shed, which con- 

 nects a range of nine large houses. 



Mr. Robt. Pater.son, who last week 

 was reported very ill, is now on the con- 

 valescent list. 



The writer has just seen in one of the 

 stores a large vase of the Baltimore carna- 

 tion, each bloom measuring about three 



