805 



The Weekly Florists* Review* 



APRIL 14, 1S9S. 



advertising purposes. I hope for a 

 great awakening to the possiljilities of 

 expanding the flower business in this 

 country by the concentration of atten- 

 tion on the matter of extending the 

 marliet. increasing the demand. The 

 selling of our product is considerable 

 of a science, as many of our bright 

 growers have found to their sorrow. 

 Many have made the mistake of think- 

 ing that anything when well done will 

 sell itself. Don't you believe it. You 

 must first have your public educated 

 up to the point of knowing a good 

 thing when it sees it. 



And. gentlemen, in conclusion, that's 

 the nigger in the woodpile. There 

 ought to be a great deal more atten- 

 tion paid to preparing the ground of 

 the public mind, sowing the seed 

 thereon, cultivating, weeding, training, 

 watering it— day in and day out. keep- 

 ing all the time at it and never let- 

 ting up. If this thought could be thor- 

 oughly worked into the composition of 

 the little army of 15,000 or 20.000 com- 

 mercial florists in the United States 

 do you doubt for a moment the im- 

 mense expansion of the business and 

 the honor, glory and profit to all con- 

 cerned? I don't, for one, and that I 

 take it is the interest the florist has 

 in the flower show, and is the reason 

 why I think all florists should support 

 the same much more warmly than 

 many of them now do. They're a good 

 thing. Ask for them. See that vou 

 get them. And for heaven's sake "get 

 rid of that insane idea that it is the 

 number of dollars taken at the box of- 

 fice that makes a show successful. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



A Glorious Easter. 



It was a glorious Easter. This is 

 the general opinion. Nearly every- 

 body had a better Easter than last 

 year, and nearly everybody is happy. 

 Last year it was a growers' Easter, 

 and this year it might be fairly termed 

 a dealers' Easter. I do not mean by 

 this that the growers are not content, 

 but that the conditions favored the 

 dealers. 



The weather in the early part of the 

 week was below freezing each night, 

 and until Saturday continued remark- 

 ably cool for the season. This helped 

 the dealers keep their blooming stock 

 in nice condition, enabled them to de- 

 liver it without extra expense for 

 ■wrapping, and kept the supply of cut 

 flowers down and the quality up, to 

 say nothing of being just right tor the 

 shoppers. The growers had more to 

 contend with. The snow storm and 

 cold on Tuesday made delivering 

 plants slow and expensive. The warm 

 weather preceding this week of cold 

 tended to bring the crops of roses and 

 carnations in too fast in many cases. 



Prices were good, a little "better all 

 around than last year. This was part- 

 ly due to the really excellent quality 

 of nearly every class of stock: it was 

 worth more and partly, perhaps I 

 should say chiefly, to the demand, 

 •which exceeded the supply. 



Lilies were very, very scarce. Other 

 flowering plants benefited by this fact, 

 but even other flowering plants did not 

 hold out when good. A great many of 

 the growers sold out clean. It is be- 

 lieved that most dealers did likewise, 

 or so nearly so that what remains will 

 be needed for this week's weddings. 



There was some uncertainty about 

 cut flowers early in the week. True, 

 the weather and general business con- 

 ditions favored good prices, and Secre- 

 tary Rust, who is well posted, said: 

 "There will be no surplus stock this 

 Easter." Still it was said that S. S. 

 Pennock had submitted his scale of 

 prices to Pennock Bros., and that those 

 astuto young men had allowed him to 

 leave without giving an order for fan- 

 cy Beauties, preferring to wait and 

 see. 



With Friday came confidence. The 

 dealers bought freely and prices were 

 firm. Beauties brought $1 to $6 a doz- 

 en, and a few are said to have brought 

 more: Brides and Maids, $S to $12: 

 carnations, $3 to $4, with fancies a 

 shade higher: lilies, $10 to $12, a few 

 selected for shipping orders $15: val- 

 ley, $3 to $4; tulips, $4 to $.5: daffo- 

 dils, $3. 



Lily Disease. 



The club meeting held on Tuesday 

 evening was devoted to the lily dis- 

 ease and proved most interesting. The 

 stormy weather and busy season rath- 

 er diminished the attendance. 



President Harris delivered his paper 

 and a general discussion followed, 

 which was participated in by Robert 

 Craig, Henry F. Michell, George C. 

 Watson. Isaac Kennedy, George An- 

 derson and others. The general opin- 

 ion seemed to be that the trouble was 

 caused by a mite which entered the 

 bulb in Bermuda. It was suggested 

 that various forms of insecticides 

 should be tried. One speaker thought 

 the bulbs ought to be packed in Ber- 

 muda for shipment in tobacco dust, 

 with a little sulphur added, using a 

 very tight box, in order that the fumes 

 caused by the action of the heat on the 

 packing material might destroy insect 

 life in transit. A report from the Unit- 

 ed States Department of Agriculture 

 at Washington says that they do not 

 believe the insects can be killed with- 

 out injuring the bulbs. 



A motion that the club request its 

 members to secure a written guaran- 

 tee when purchasing imported stock 

 was tabled, the idea being that it was 

 inexpedient for the club to do this, .-is 

 such a request could not be enforced. 

 It seems to me the club missed a 

 chance to be of service to its members. 

 Such a request is merely a suggestion 

 which, when brought to each member's 

 attention, might save many a dollar. 



Notes. 



The greatest Easter Philadelphia has 

 ever known. 



It is said all the commission men 

 sold out clean. 



Violets were very scarce; doubles 

 sold quickly: singles were not very 

 good, as a rule. 



Probably the best Beauties coming- 

 in are from Edwin Lonsdale's last new 

 house. They are very fine and bring 

 $G a dozen. 



The two largest Easter plant grow- 

 ers, Robert Craig and W. K. Harris, 

 sold out clean, and could have sold 

 many more lilies. J. W. Y. 



CHICAGO. 



The Easter Trade. 



The leading retailers all report a 

 very satisfactory Easter trade, in most 

 cases considerably larger than that of 

 last year. Nearly all noted a further 

 incre;ise in the call for plants. 



Mr. E. Wienhoeber did a large busi- 

 ness in both plants and cut flowers. 

 He noted, though, that the call was. 

 mainly for the more moderate-priced 

 plants and arrangements, and some of 

 his most expensive baskets of plants, 

 failed to find customers. The plants, 

 and plant arrangements that had the 

 call ranged from $1..50 to $5.00. Of 

 course, many sales were made of more 

 costly arrangements, but the great, 

 bulk of the sales were within the range 

 of prices noted. He sold large quan- 

 tities of pans of hyacinths and other 

 bulbous flowers, dressed with crepe 

 paper. He thought there was rather 

 less call than heretofore tor daffo- 

 dils. He ran short of cut flowers last 

 year and ordered an extra supply this, 

 time, with the result that he had some 

 left on his hands, the oversupply be- 

 ing mainly of the higher-priced stock. 

 Still, taking everything into considera- 

 tion, he is well pleased with results. 



Geo. Wittbold did a larger Easter 

 trade than ever before at his North 

 Clark street store, the sales of plants, 

 being especially large. 



Charles A. Samuelson did a better 

 business than last year, and noted a 

 still further increase in the call for 

 blooming plants. He also noted that 

 the bulk of the sales of plants were of 

 the more moderate-priced ones. He 

 had an extra store and handled a large 

 quantity of plants. Among especially 

 effective arrangements noted in his 

 store were short window boxes of 

 dwarf grown lilies, half a dozen plants 

 in a box. the box covered with green 

 tinted crepe paper, and gracefully ar- 

 ranged baskets of Clothilde Sonpert 

 roses. Azaleas seemed to lead in ex- 

 pensive blooming plants. His window 

 display attracted much attention. It 

 was a gracefully arranged group of 

 Adiantum Farleyense, the pots cov- 

 ered with green moss, and in the cen- 

 ter a large cross of green galax leaves 

 decorated with clusters of Cattleya 

 Trianae. The store was a mass of 

 blooming plants and arrangements of 

 same in baskets and jardinieres. 



In the window of W. J. Smyth ap- 

 peared a huge cross of lilies among a 

 mass of miscellaneous blooming 

 plants, palms and ferns. His Easter 

 trade was very considerably larger 

 than that of last year, and he also 

 noted a marked increase in the de- 

 mand for blooming plants. Lilies led 

 in demand, followed by azaleas, hy- 



