506 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



FEBRUARY 17. 1S9S. 



It certainly, when growing, has a su- 

 perb appearance. 



It's always extremely pleasant to 

 have a call from the patriarch of the 

 trade, and W. J. Palmer. Sr., and the 

 writer spent two hours this morning 

 in exchange of ideas, but the time was 

 chiefly occupied in cussing the Dutch- 

 man that sold us our La Reine tulips. 

 We know him. and have him spotted. 

 The several men who supplied us with 

 diseased Bermuda lily bulbs came in 

 for a general condemnation, for they 

 are all guilty. 



The Atlantic Packers' Association 

 met here last week, and that brought 

 many of the supply men to town, 

 among them W. R. Roach, repres'3nt- 

 ing Jerome B. Rice & Co.. seed grow.;rs, 

 of Cambridge. N. Y., and several other 

 places. Mr. Roach shows keen intelli- 

 gence. He knew enough to buy liber- 

 ally of flowers and read the Florists' 

 Review. 



Wm. F. Schmeiske. of Wilkes Barre. 

 was recently in town. He has dissolved 

 partnership with A. W. Moore, and is 

 looking around for a business opening, 

 and there is good reason to believe Mr. 

 Wm. F. S. will shortly be enrolled 

 among the retail florists of our city. 



W. S. 



WASHINGTON. 



Trade Resume. 



Usually the week preceding Lent is 

 the gayest in social circles and there 

 is no reason to believe that the coming 

 week will differ from former seasons. 

 The orders booked ahead by the flor- 

 ists indicate an exceptionally lively 

 week to come. The week past has kept 

 up the pace of its predecessor and went 

 it one better. There were really more 

 entertainments, but none calling for 

 any special decoration. 



The effect of the bright and summer- 

 like weather of the past week is plain- 

 ly visible in the qviality and quantity 

 of stuff coming in: the outside temper- 

 ature reaching 70 degrees in the shade. 

 Prices are holding their own, with the 

 exception of violets and slight changes 

 toward the lower in bulbous stuff. 



Mr. Bissett. foreman for Mr. .T. R. 

 Freeman, continues to send in the jln- 

 est Bridesmaids grown in this vicinity. 

 For color, size of flower and length of 

 stem they are all that could be desired. 

 His Scott carnations are equal to the 

 best northern grown. He is adding 

 several new varieties to his list this 

 season and intends discarding White 

 Scott, Portia, Mrs. Thompson and oth- 

 ers. He is much pleased with the 

 Farquhar violet, claiming not only ,',re 

 the flowers larger and stems lougsr, IhU 

 that they produce twice as luany 

 blooms as Marie Louise. 



Notes. 



Mr. J. E. Killen. representing Mr. C. 

 H. Joosten, of New York, was in town 

 last week and attended the last meet- 

 ing of the Commercial Florists' Asso- 

 ciation. He seemed much surprised at 

 not seeing Mr. Wm. Gude present. He 



gave a very interesting talk about sim- 

 ilar troubles in other cities, citing St. 

 Paul and the successful eft'orts of the 

 florists of that city in breaking up and 

 compelling an industrial institution, 

 supported by the state, from entering 

 and competing with them in the open 

 market. 



At the dinner given by the vice pres- 

 ident and Mrs. Hobart the plants for 

 the decoration were borrowed from the 

 White House conservatories. A few 

 strings of smilax and a few dozen 

 roses purchased from a florist, and any 

 deficiency in quantity was made up in 

 the use of artificial flowers. The wall 

 plaques and a mantel or two were dec- 

 orated with artificial roses and were 

 partially hidden by plants. The per- 

 son who furnished the extras was ask- 

 ed, on the strength of the purchase, to 

 do the decorating. 



The order prohibiting visitors from 

 visiting the Government houses at the 

 Monument grounds, continues in force 

 so far as the committee is concerned. 



Col. Clay, president of the TT. S. Re- 

 form School, made the remark to a 

 member of the Florists" Association 

 who called on him to ask his assist- 

 ance in checking the sales of the pro- 

 ducts of that institution in the open 

 markets in competition with the flor- 

 ists, "that we (the florists) ought to be 

 indicted by the grand jury for combin- 

 ing to hold up the prices, and he. for 

 one, would be glad to see it done. " 



W. H. K. 



BALTIMORE. 



Business Conditions. 



Business being quite up to the stand- 

 ard, there was little or no complaint 

 heard from the florists this week. The 

 close proximity of the Lenten tide has 

 no doubt greatly augmented the num- 

 ber of balls and receptions which took 

 place the past few days, while at the 

 same time it has hastened the booking 

 of many large affairs which are yet to 

 follow before the social season sinks to 

 rest. 



With the weather's sudden transition 

 from cold to warm, good stuff has be- 

 come plentiful again and quite up to 

 the demand, with little or no change 

 in prices over last quotations. Violets, 

 however, deserve special mention, 

 both for quality as well as popularity. 

 In observance of the near approach of 

 St. Valentine's day. the stores are mak- 

 ing an unusual display of tasty floral 

 arrangements and novelties, which 

 seem to take the public's eye. and sell 

 well. Owing to the bright and balmy 

 weather, there was an unusual crowd 

 of promenaders about the mark3ts 

 Saturday afternoon, and the florists 

 seemed particularly busy. 



Notes. 



To prevent further misinterpreta- 

 tion, the writer begs to state that in his 

 last letter to The Review, he simi)ly 

 wished to correct an error, and it was 

 not his intention to even imply that 

 Mr. E. A. S. of the "Exchange" had 



committed any breach of confidence 

 whatever. 



Mr. M. Rice, of Philadelphia, was 

 with us several days on his trip west. 



C. F. F. 



TORONTO. 



Canadian Hort. Society. 



The two great events in horticultural 

 circles here last week were the meeting 

 of the Canadian Horticultural Associa- 

 tion and the eighth annual dinner of 

 the local Gardeners' and Florists' Asso- 

 ciation. As regards the former, it must 

 be said that the meeting was not at- 

 tended by as many as was expected and 

 hoped for by the promoters, but it must 

 also be said that what was lacking in 

 numbers was more than fully made up 

 bv the enthusiasm and earnestness of 

 those present. The S. A. F. & 0. H. 

 (the secretary should supply rubber 

 stamps for this title), I believe, was 

 started in a similar manner, and I have 

 no doubt that the first convention of 

 the C. H. A. will be as successful as 

 theirs was at Cincinnati in 1885. I can- 

 not perhaps give a better account of 

 what was done at the meeting than by 

 sending you a clipping from one of ihe 

 daily papers of the 11th inst.: 



Tlie members uf the C"ana<Uan Horticultural 

 Association met yesterday morning in St. 

 George's Hall to complete the organization 

 \vhicll was entered upon in November last. 

 Tlie president pro tem. Mr. Wm. Gammage _of 

 l^nn'hin. was in the chair. an.I among those 

 1. resent were; Mr. Hugh Mcljcan, St. Thomas; 

 Mr. Fred. Mitchell. Innerki]i: Mr. Fleck, 

 Mount Forest: Messrs. J. H. Dunlop. George 

 Vair. E. H. Carter, A. H. Ewing and others, 

 of Toronto. 



Mr. Gammage. in addressing the meeting, 

 said that the value and need of associated ef- 

 fort is recognized in all professions and trades, 

 and none needed it more than they did as a 

 profession: it encouraged trade, promoted har- 

 mony, incited our aspirations and begot fel- 

 lowship. These were some of the fruits to be 

 derived from associating. He asked them then 

 to pledge their fealty to the association, and 

 let no opportunity pass wherein they could 

 extend its usefulness. They did not come to- 

 gether to organize a trades union, nor to fix a 

 scale of prices, or to form a trust; there was 

 no sinister purpose in their coming together. 

 They were seeking knowledge, and it was for 

 mutual conference and consultation, and to ex- 

 change ideas and compare methods respecting 

 the progress made in the aid to nature in pro- 

 ducing horticultural products. By this ex- 

 change each would become possessed of the 

 kni'Wledge of all. and return to his field of 

 laitL.r and business the better qualified for fur- 

 ther improvement during the coming year. 



Continuing. Mr. Gammage refened to the 

 fact that not one time in ten was the original 

 idea of the government grant fulfilled in hor- 

 ticultural societies. This was the result of in- 

 difference or owing to the influence of political 

 ringers. He laid stress also upon the need of 

 a purely Canadian horticultural journal. 



In the afternoon session the organization 

 was perfected. Tlie first business transacted 

 was the election of officers. Those chosen were 

 as follows; President. V-'m. Gammage, Lon- 

 don: first vice-president, E. G. Foster. 

 Hamilton: second vice-president and 



lice-president for Quebec. .Toseph Bennett, 

 Rlontreal: secretary, Hugh McLean, St. 

 Thomas; treasurer, John H. Dunlop, Toronto: 

 vice-president for Ontario, T. H. Carter. To- 

 ronto; executive board for three years, Thos. 

 Manton, Toronto; Fred. Mitchell. Innerkip: 

 H. H. Groff, Simcoe. For two years. Harry 

 Dale. Brampton; Charles Scrim. Ottawa: G. 

 W. Mills. Toronto. For one year, A. H. Ew- 

 ing, Toronto; Walter Muston, Toronto; Orlando 

 Johnston, Kingston. 



The by-laws were then discussed and decided 

 ujion. a great amount of detail work being 

 done. The meeting adjourned about 5 o'clock. 



The place of meeting for the lirst 

 convention will he Toronto during the 

 second week of the Industrial Exhibi- 

 tion. This decision was reached after 



