MARCH 



The Weekly Florists* Review* 



583 



Lawrence Hafner was the square j 

 man for the square hole. He has not 

 forgotten his old tricks. 



The men with claw-hammer coats 

 thought they were the only roses on 

 the bush. 



The married men went home early. 



All hands satisfied I Aiild lang syne! 

 Lights out. 



Market Growers' Association. 



There were nearly fifty growers pres- 

 ent at the regular meeting of the New 

 York Market Growers' Association, 

 held at Leach's restaurant. Tuesday 

 evening, the most successful in the as- 

 sociation's history. The president, P. 

 Lehriig, begged to be excused on ac- 

 count of his recent illness and John 

 Birnie was elected president pro tem. 

 After the minutes had been re^d the 

 following new members were elected: 

 Chas. Zerambo. Aug. Menne, J. Rierc- 

 kert. of New Durham, N. J.; J. T. 

 Shupp, G. Brown, of West Hoboken, 

 N. J.; A, Bartsch, Union Hill, N. ,1.. 

 M. Garreau, Jersey City: F. H. Ilalli- 

 day. North Bergen, N. J.: C. Johnson, 

 Newark, N. J.: Louis Schmutz, F. Man- 

 ker, of Flatbush, L. L 



Patrick O'JIara, the chairman of the 

 legislation committee, reported that 

 he and Mr. Steinhoff had visited Tren- 

 ton, and had succeeded in having an 

 amendment added to the Sklrm bill, 

 exempting florists' plants, flowers, cut- 

 tings, scions and buds, which had ev- 

 ery chance of passing and being signed 

 by the governor; had also visited Al- 

 liany, with the same result. Several 

 more growers expressed a wish to take 

 stands, which now makes a total of 

 twenty-seven taken. Considerable dis- 

 cussion took place as to the manner tf 

 allotment, and it was agreed to decide 

 by ballot, and to engage the stands for 

 March 26: also to call a special meet- 

 ing to make final arrangements on 

 March 15, preparatory to opening the 

 season. 



The horticultural section of the 

 American Institute will hold an exhi- 

 loition of novelties and specialties in 

 carnations, and Dr. L. N. Britton v.'ill 

 •deliver an illustrated lecture on leaves 

 and flowers in the evening. 



Our Special Wholesale Report. 



There was a fairly active market 

 Monday, succeeded by a period of quiet 

 •which lasted the l)alance of the week. 

 There is an ample supply of every- 

 thing except carnations, and for a 

 couple of days shipments were lighter 

 than at any time during the season. 

 The indications are, though, that there 

 will be quite enough to supply the us- 

 ual demand if we continue to get more 

 bright weather. The price has held 

 firm. 



Roses are sufficiently plentiful to be 

 affected in price, which has fallen 

 away 2-5 to 30 per cent. There is a 

 miserable lot of Beauties coming into 

 the market. The average quality is as 

 poor as I remember seeing at any time. 

 Retailers take but little interest in 

 them on that account. 



Harrisii are at a discount. Tulips 



and daffodils are selling better. Vio- 

 lets receive a fair amount of attention. 

 They begin to show signs of wear. 



For average prices, see market re- 

 port. 



Various Notes. 



Recent visitors were: Mr, W. R. 

 Smith, of the botanic gardens, Wash- 

 ington, on his return from Boston, 

 ' where he had been to deliver a lecture 

 on "Street Trees" before the Ma.^sa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society: Alfred 

 Salter, Rochester, N. Y. ; "Alf" is look- 

 mg the picture of health and prosper- 

 ity: W. N. Rudd. Chicago, 111. 



The Holland bulb men are meetiig 

 with adversity this year; two had nar- 

 row escapes on the Veendam. Now I 

 hear three or more were on the steam- 

 ship La Champagne, though luckily all 

 are safe at this writing and on their 

 way from Halifax, where the boat was 

 towed. 



Mr. Frank Niquet has received a let- 

 ter from Mif.s Maud Adams, thanking 

 him for the courtesy of naming his 

 carnation after her and giving him 

 permission to do so. 



Mr. Michael A. Hart, the well-known 

 wholesaler, is moving into the .-tore 

 recently occupied by H. A. Hoffman. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



Market Resume. 



Business was brisk during the past 

 week. The dancing class on Monday, 

 the Mardi Gras dance, and several 

 other balls on Tuesday, together with 

 the usual pre-Lenten rush, clearing up 

 nearly all available flowers by Ash 

 Wednesday. The demand nearly 

 equaled the supply during the remain- 

 ing four days, except in the case of 

 violets, which are offered on the street 

 at almost any price. Good roses re- 

 main firm in price at about the figures 

 quoted two weeks ago. Carnations are 

 a trifle higher, that is. there are liiore 

 blooms sold at $2 and $2. .50 per 100, 

 and even the flowers that Tiave bursted 

 calyces frequently bring $1.50. Tulips 

 and daffodils have sold better than two 

 weeks ago, but the general opinion 

 seems to be that the popularity of bulb- 

 ous stock is still on the decline. Val- 

 ley is selling slowly. 



What little swainsona is grown 

 seems to sell freely, though not at high 

 prices. It can be made profitable by 

 cutting with the short stems the lower 

 blooms which open first, leaving the 

 long stems until the end blooms open. 

 These short-stemmed flowers are very 

 efficacious in bouquets or designs. 



Should the present moderately cold 

 "weather continue, preventing over ex- 

 cess of production, it is quite possible 

 that we may have another week of 

 brisk business. 



Ladies' Night at Florists' Club. 



The most important event of the 

 week was the ladies' evening at the 

 Florists' club on Washington's birth- 

 day. The' evening was a great success. 



The ladies came in sufficient numbers 

 to make it clear that they appreciated 

 the club's invitation. So well did the 

 affair go off that I feel sure Mrs. Craig 

 will no longer say that "men have all 

 the good times." Everybody was there 

 — one great man came with his attrac- 

 tive daughters: the son of another 

 great man came with somebody else's 

 daughters, also most attractive: and 

 the way the ladies entered into the 

 spirit of the thing and played shuffle- 

 boards and ten-pins was delightful in- 

 deed. Even the sturdiest member of 

 the team could only smile with pleas- 

 ure when some fair bowler gracefully 

 lobbed the ball on his beloved alley. 

 Then there was Mr. Butler, who In- 

 sisted that the youth of the present day 

 don't know how to enjoy themselves, 

 and proceeded to teach them with a 

 vigor that was most surprising. Alto- 

 gether, ladies' night was thoroughly 

 enjoyed by all. 



Notes. 



The competition in store window 

 decoration is fast and furious. One 

 window in pale blue ribbon with yel- 

 low daisies and another with violet 

 ribbon and double violets, were ar- 

 ranged the past week. The ribbon is 

 not accidentally mentioned first. 



Robert Craig has taken his son, W. 

 P. Craig, into partnership under the 

 firm name of Robert Craig & Son. 

 Meritorious new plants are to be their 

 specialty. 



Edward Reid reports a brisk demand 

 for fine carnations. 



Henry F. Michell reports an increase 

 in the sale of seeds over this time last 

 year. 



The members of the club greatly ap- 

 preciated the invitation of the New 

 York F'lorists' Club to their dinner at 

 the Arena. J. W. Y. 



TORONTO. 



Horticultural Society. 



The Horticultural Society on Tues- 

 day next will continue its discussion 

 of last meeting on "Seasonable Seed 

 Sowing," and Mr. Ross, the president, 

 will also dilate on the cultivation and 

 beauties of various hardy climbers. The 

 meeting, however, takes place on the 

 evening of the day of the provincial 

 general elections, and as the returns 

 will be coming in during the evening, 

 it is an interesting speculation as to 

 whether politics or horticulture will 

 be the greatest attraction. 



Trade Conditions. 



Of course we are all clothed in sack- 

 cloth now, and have a liberal sprink- 

 ling of ashes every morning (when we 

 shake out the furnace). It seems a 

 great hindrance to business that we 

 should be so constituted as to make it 

 necessary for our good to abstain from 

 all frivolities during this season. How- 

 ever, if we had no Lent, perhaps we 

 should have no Easter, so tbn* after all 

 a change might not be advisable. 



The cut flower trade has fallen off 



