240 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



DlCCEMBEK 30, 1897. 



were long and loud, although in the end 

 salable stock was pretty well used up. 

 Unsalable stock was used up, too, but 'n 

 quite a different seu.se. American 

 Beauties, when the\' were good, sold well 

 and were rather short owing to some lots 

 being frozen in transit. Pickled stock 

 off color or blue went very slowly or not at 

 all. Bridesmaid and Meteor had the call 

 in tea roses. Valley, Roman hyacinths 

 and narcissus did about as well as ever, 

 the two latter being mostly of value to 

 eke out other flowers that were in shorter 

 supjily. Business, taken as a whole, was 

 certainly up to other years, and probalily 

 would show an average total increase 

 according to store proprietors' say. 



A Christmas Decoration. 



The most important event of the week 

 from a social point of view was of course 

 the T"nion League Club reception and 

 ball given Monday evening after Christ- 

 mas. The work had been placed in the 

 hands of .Smith S; Fetters and the work 

 <lone reflected credit on the firm. Holly 

 and various Christmas greens formed a 

 considerable portion of the overhead and 

 wall decorations. In flowers Bridesmaid, 

 Bride, Meteor and La France roses were 

 used, with (jUcintities of Lilium Ilarrisii. 

 The room given over to dancing, white 

 and gold in color, had the mantel beauti- 

 fully decorated in Meteor roses, with a 

 center of I.,ilium Harrisii, with palms 

 banked at the sides. Overhead, a huge 

 bell, from which radiated garlands of 

 laurel reaching to the sides and cor- 

 ners. The corners were finished with 

 smaller bells and holly wreaths, inter- 

 n.ingled with colored electric lights. The 

 room where the president received was 

 done in La France and Bridesmaid roses, 

 with a profusion of palms and wild smi- 

 lax artistically arranged. White azaleas 

 were also largely u.sed advantageiiusly in 

 various places. Refreshments were served 

 upstairs at dozens of tables variously dec- 

 orated, some with plateaus mostly in 

 carnations of different colors and others 

 with tall vases of roses simply but artist- 

 ically arranged. All the floral arrange- 

 ments throughout were carried out beau- 

 tifully and the totil vnsinnbli: was cer- 

 tainh' charming. 



A Resolution. 



At the regular club meeting December 

 27, the resolutions given below were 

 up for action. It does seem as though 

 .something ought to be done to stop the 

 gratuitous distribution of seeds, usuallj- 

 for the advancement of the political am- 

 bitions and schemes of various would-be 

 .statesmen, who, so far as the real inter- 

 ests of their constituents are concerned, 

 care very little and do still less. 



For many years the national govern- 

 ment has distributed seeds free of cost 

 over the entire country. This practice is 

 continued, much to the injury of seeds- 

 men, florists, gardeners, and horticultur- 

 ists generally. To explain in brief: The 

 governm.ent, by its purchase and gratui- 

 tous distribution of seeds, becomes a di- 

 rect and formidable competitor of the 

 seedsman. 



The amateur, inspired by his gift of seeds 

 to enter the field of horticulture, becomes 

 a lival of the legitimate florist. Horticul- 



ture in general suffers in common with 

 the seedsmen and florists, who at all 

 times have at heart its promotion and ad- 

 vancement. 



Why these particidar craftsmen should 

 be singled out as the victims of govern- 

 mental competition remains an unan- 

 swered question. It would be eminently 

 more fitting and a great deal more practi- 

 cable to distribute free groceries and cloth- 

 ing, and thereby achieve the same end, 

 which it appears is the paternali.sm of a 

 few politicians whose motive is the ad- 

 vancement of their selfish interests at the 

 government's expense. 



AVIiereas, In view of these facts, we cousider 

 iluil a yreal uijustiLe is wrought the seedsmen 

 and floiists of ll;e country: and 



Whereas, The e.xpenses of the government 

 wouh.l be decreased by the discontinuance of 

 the practice of free seed distribution to the ex- 

 tent of one hundred thousand dollars; there- 

 fore be it 



Resolved. That we. the Cleveland Floris's" 

 Club, protest against a further appropriation 

 of moneys by congress for this pui-pose: and 

 be it also 



Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions 

 be submitted liy the secretary of the club to 

 each senator and representative from Ohio. 



Fnanimotisly adopted. Nemo. 



ST. LOUIS. 



Christmas Trade Satisfactory. 



Christmas trade from all accounts can 

 be classed as very satisfactory with both 

 the retailer and wholesaler. The weather 

 was gloriotis over head Ijut the slush from 

 the recent sleet storm made walking very 

 unpleasant. The growers certainly have 

 no reason to complain, that is, so far as 

 prices went, and only those that indulged 

 in pickling will learn a lesso.i when they 

 get their returns from the commission' 

 man. 



Supply — Prices. 



Prices for good fir.st-class stock were 

 high. It was thought a few days before 

 Christmas that stock would be very 

 scarce, but it all came in atone time and at 

 4 o'clock Friday one wholesaler was tele- 

 phoning all around offering roses at from 



l3 to |6- 



In roses the stock was much more 

 plentiful than was expected. This was 

 owing to the fact that nmch of the .stuff 

 was held back until the last day. The 

 pickled stock had little effect on really 

 good stock and the latter was all disposed 

 of in short order and at top prices. The 

 best American Beauties, of which there 

 was only a small supply, .sold at |i.oo 

 and fi.SO each. Bridesmaid. Bride, 

 Meteor, La P'rance and Kaiserin were 

 greatest in demand and the supply was 

 good on all except Meteors; prices 

 ranged from |io to |[5 per hundred; 

 Perles and Woottons brought |6 and fS; 

 Carnots were very scarce; Brides ap- 

 peared to be the most plentiful of the 

 roses. 



Carnat'ons were in great demand and 

 of excellent quality, though some very 

 sleepy stock could be seen, the growers 

 evidently leaving them on the plants too 

 long expecting fanc}' prices for Christ- 

 mas. The best of stock brought fS and 

 others I5 and j;6. Scott, Daybreak, Jub- 

 ilee, Eldorado, Emma Wocher, Flora 

 Hill and Alaska were seen at their best. 



I he carnations sent to this market by the 

 South Park Floral Co. , of New Casi le, 

 Ind., were equal to those that took all 

 the firsts at our late show. Our local 

 growers also had .some very fine blooms 

 and those grown by Messrs. Aue, Fill- 

 more, I'de, .Ammann and Enmians all 

 biought good prices. • 



Bulbous stock could be had in quantity 

 and was of good quality with the excep- 

 tion of some valley. For Romans the 

 price was J3 and f4, paper white *4 and 

 for good valley I4 and J5. Harnsii were 

 in short supply and commanded from I25 

 to $35 per hundred; callas, fio, but not 

 plentiful. 



Violets were also more plentiful than 

 was expected. The fine California were 

 sold at f 4 for the best and some went as 

 low as $2\ good double were $2 and single 

 75 cents. Bouvardia was to be had only 

 in limited quantities and brought from 

 #2.50 to I3.00 per hundred. Sinilax and 

 adiantum sold better this year. Price on 

 smilax was f 15 to |iS and adiantum sold 

 for %\. 



■ All kinds of Christmas greens sold well 

 notwithstanding that the streets down 

 town were lined with fakirs who were 

 .selling them very cheap. But most of 

 the stores claim they sold out early and 

 at good prices. Good mistletoe was 

 scarce and the little that was in the mar- 

 ket was not good. The demand for 

 blooming plants such as azaleas, cycla- 

 mens, and poins ttias, also palms and 

 other house plants and fern dishes was 

 good. The dealer this year had very lit- 

 tle trouble in delivering his plants and 

 cut flowers as the weather was fine and 

 they needed but little wrapping. 



A Picnic at Christmas Time. 



The down town retail florists had a 

 regular ])icnic that they did not look for 

 (but the wholesaler was not invited). The 

 Cheap John establishment was selling 

 carnations at forty cents per dozen on Fri- 

 day. When the florists heard of this 

 they sent their friends around and 

 bought them up and sold them over their 

 counter at $1 per dozen. They claim it 

 was cheaper to buy from him than to pay 

 the wholesaler from I5 to f8 per hundred. 

 Some people will never learn until it's 

 too late and they only have themselves 

 to blame. 



An Important Club Meeting, 



The members of the St. Louis Florists' 

 Club are requested to be pre.sent at the 

 next regular meeting of the club, January 

 13, iSgS, as business of great importance 

 will come up at this meeting and Presi- 

 dent Halstedt requests that every mem- 

 ber attend this meeting without fail. 



A "Smoker" Soon. 



The F^lorists of St. Louis will have 

 their annual "smoker" sometime during 

 the latter part of Jaimarj'. An entertain- 

 ment will also be given with it. The 

 talent will be made up from among the 

 craft. 



Notes. 



Mr. J. M. Jordan is reported as being 

 very sick and unable to attend to business. 

 Let us hope that Mr. Jordan will be able 

 to be out soon again. 



