JANIAUY i:!, 1898. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



313 



Caltleya Percivalianum and Trianse. So 

 if business is good, we have plenty of 

 flowers to fill our orders. 



Ilannoii & Burr, the old reliable violet 

 men of Darien, have at last caught up 

 witli the rather limited procession, and 

 are now picking fine violets, a little late, 

 but we are glad to see them still in the 

 ring. 



Notes. 



The cbarilv ball held this \-ear in our 

 West Side .\rmory was a great succe.ss, 

 socially and financially, but called for no 

 florist's work of any kind. Too big a 

 place to begin decorating. The only ac- 

 cident that was recorded was that in 

 which S. .\. Anderson was the victim. 

 In the left turn during a 7-slep he got 

 tangled up in his partner's dry goods and 

 fell, fracturing the upper three inches of 

 his shirt collar. 



.After a long delay the contract to erect 

 the conservatory and other houses which 

 will constitute the big range of glass at 

 the South Park is awarded to Messrs. 

 Ilitchings & Co., of New York. The con- 

 tract in round figures is $100,000. The 

 name of Hitchings is sufficient to assure 

 us that Buffalo will have its money's 

 worth. Mr. Cowell has gained eleven 

 pounds in three days. This contract does 

 not quite complete the design originally 

 intended, but what is not included will 

 lie easily obtained a little later on. 



It is seldom that any ex-official receives 

 nuich attention from the press, but Mr. 

 William McMillan is an exception, show- 

 ing that he is no ordinary man. What 

 with guessing what the park commission- 

 ers are going to do and the future of Mr. 

 McMillan, our papers daily serve us up a 

 dish of stuff as unreliable as most news- 

 paper trash. The latest was that Mr. 

 McMillan had taken the position of su- 

 perintendent of the Pittsburg parks. This 

 was quite a surprise to us and we believe 

 utterly without foundation. I think Mr. 

 Mac will first visit the 



"Land of brown heath and sbaggy wood. 

 Land of the mountain and the flood." 



which he has not seen for more than a 

 third of a centurv'. The commissioners 

 have put their auditor of the board, Mr. 

 Biothers, in charge of the parks as gen- 

 eral superintendent for a trial of three 

 months "to see how it works." The 

 suboniinate staff remain "as 30U were." 



W. S. 



BALTIMORE. 



Business at a Standstill. 



.\fter a bus\- and somewhat prosperous 

 holiday trade, the reaction has come with 

 appalling results. Everything is at a 

 standstill, excepting perhaps the growers 

 w'ho are now turning their attention to- 

 wards Easter stuff. When compared 

 with the gale of prosperity only a .short 

 while ago the dealers are practically do- 

 ing nothing, this after-lull proving much 

 worse for them than the one experienced 

 before the holidays. 



The weather, however, has been all 

 one could desire and flowers of every de- 

 scription are plentiful and of first quality, 

 yet there is little sale for them. Old 

 stand-bys, such as violets, carnations, 

 etc., are even dragging. 



What has happened that at this season of 



the year we should be so cruelly treated? 

 H'ave the people become satiated on the 

 flower question, or is it their pocket 

 books, that are suffering with this indis- 

 position? That may be the case of some 

 but what is wrong with those whose cred- 

 it is still good? They surely are not dead 

 yet they also say "no flowers." The 

 above only voices the general experience 

 and sentiment of the trade since the first 

 of the year. 



An Improvement Looked For. 



Next week, however, bids fair to start 

 the w-heel again as there are already 

 manv social events booked, such as teas, 

 receptions and weddings, besides the 

 regular Germans, which orders, like the 

 unexpected funerals, arrive at the last 

 moment, and help out a great deal. 



As an afterthought of Christmas would 

 say the plant trade seemed to surpass it- 

 self this year. Especially blooming stuff, 

 such as cyclamens, azaleas, ericas, etc., 

 which in arrangement of pot cover, rib- 

 bon, etc., were quite popular. ( )taheite 

 oranges, ardisias, araucarias, Farleyense, 

 and Nephrolepis ferns also sold well. 

 Hampers were as popular as ever, while 

 the demand for handle baskets has re- 

 vived considerably. The pre vailing. shades 

 seemed to be green and red from the 

 plant arrangements to table decorations. 



Notes. 



At a recent Gardeners' Clidi meet- 

 tng Mr. Paul Binder, of Baltimore 

 County, displayed photographs of two 

 beautiful v.ises of his seeilling ch3san- 

 themums— Lady Harriet, pink; Hy. A. 

 Parr, Gold Standard, and Robert Halli- 

 day, yellow; Willobrook, Sherwood, and 

 James Pentland, white. jNIr. Binder is 

 quite an experienced hand in the art of 

 chvrsanthemum hybridization and has 

 produced many beautiful results. 



Mr. M. Rice, of M. Rice & Co , Phila., 

 paid us a short visit this week. This gen- 

 tleman reported his visit here more than 

 satisfactory, as the Christmas rush has 

 created quite a demand for florist supplies. 

 .As a mascot he now wears a white ribbon 

 instead of a rabbit's foot. 



Mr. F. J. Mitchell, of Philadelphia, 

 also called upon us in behalf of the seed 

 line. ■ 



Another visitor was Mr. Benj. Durfee, 

 of the .American Rose Co., Washington. 



It is a current report about town that 

 Mr. Edwin A. Siedewitz, of Annapolis, is 

 to run in the next mayoralty race of that 

 city. Hurrah for "Seide''! May his ef- 

 forts be crowned with success. 



C. F. F. 



ST. PAUL. 



Market Conditions. 



The holiday trade is a thing of the past 

 and growers aid store men, wholesalers 

 and retailers seem to be well satisfied over 

 results. In the first place a week of favor- 

 able weather before Christmas brought 

 out an abundance of good blooms. In the 

 second place the 23rd and 24th were ver\- 

 favorable for shoppers who came early 

 and late and bought more freely than for 

 several years. In the third place Christ- 

 mas morning dawned bright, clesr and 



beatitiful, a most perfect day for deliver- 

 ing stock, thus expediting matters and 

 pleasing customers. 



The supplv of cut flowers was not 

 e(iual to the demand, several large ship- 

 ments being received from Chicago and 

 Milwaukee. Meteor roses and red car- 

 nations were in the greatest demand. 

 .American Beauties were called for fre- 

 quently though Ji2to $1$ per dozen stag- 

 gered many would-be buyers. Pink 

 roses were in good demand, while Perle 

 and Bride were the least called for. The 

 best roses retailed at I2.50 to «3 per dozen, 

 the latter figure being top notch for the 

 choicest Meteor, Testout, Siebrecht and 

 Bridesmaid. Carnations sold readily at 

 75 cents per dozen, a few very choice 

 ones bringing f i. There was an increased 

 call for violetsatf3 per 100, while Romans, 

 paper whites and valley were in good 

 call at 75 cents to |i. 



Increase in Call for Plants. 



The greatest increase in sales over pre- 

 vious years was in potted plants. Every- 

 thing in the plant line sold well. A 

 choice azalea selling at #2 to $5 was rarely 

 turned aside by a customer looking for 

 something good. Lilies .sold well also, 

 though that is such a distinctively Easter 

 plant that many people would not think 

 of buying it at Christmas. Palms carried 

 off all honors in the plant line and never 

 sold better. As a random estimate I would 

 say that the sale of palms had more than 

 doubled in value over a year ago. There 

 was a big trade in greens and, at the last 

 minute, a shortage in holly, though about 

 enough to go round 



New Year's Trade Keeps Up the Record. 



New Year's Day trade was correspond- 

 ingly as good as Christmas. Charity 

 ball occurred on New Year's Eve, also a 

 reception to M. Martinelli, a high church 

 dignitary — the former calling for a great 

 many loose cut flowers, the latter for ex- 

 tensive decorations of holly, green, 

 palms, etc. Shipping trade has been 

 unusually brisk, while funeral work in 

 the city has dropped off somewhat. 



A Serious Drawback. 



The only serious drawback to the holi- 

 day business here is the high prices on 

 loose cut flowers. While a moderate ad- 

 vance of twenty- five to fifty per cent, 

 would not be taken amiss by the ma- 

 jority of buyers, an advance of 100 

 per cent, or more causes hard feelings 

 and many a solemn vow not to be 

 "fleeced again" by the same florist; con- 

 sequently the trade is boycotted for sev- 

 eral months afterwards. If the growers, 

 commission men, wholesalers and retail- 

 ers would only get together and resolve to 

 cut and offer only the best fresh cut stock, 

 not to advance prices unreasonablj', much 

 good would result, and the trade for 

 months to come be benefited instead of 

 injured. 



The quality of the stock this year was 

 better than ever before offered here. 

 Local growers at any rate did not pickle 

 their stock, and good blooms were the 

 rule, not the exception. 



\\ . G. Bunde, representing J. C. 

 Vaughan, is in the city spending the holi- 

 days with his parents. 



