948 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



MAY 19, 189S. 



BOSTON. 



Review of the Market. 



With a few warm, sunny days the 

 receipts of most everything in the 

 fiower line have been largely increased, 

 thus bringing the state of the market 

 almost to a snmmer standstill, and the 

 fakirs are now in their glory, being 

 able to obtain plenty of stock and al- 

 most at their own figure. 



Carnations are still a leader, but at 

 lower prices: common grades averag- 

 ing about $l.."i(> per hundred: strictly 

 fancies, however, still hold their own. 



The quality of the roses coming in 

 is first class, but the demand is light, 

 with prices same as last week. Beau- 

 ties and Jacks, of a strictly No. 1 

 grade, find a ready market, bringing 

 as high as $4.i«» per dozen for Beauties, 

 while W. H. Elliott's two-foot Jacks 

 are taken quickly at $:!.(mi per dozen. 



Lilies have slightly improved during 

 the week and the stock is generally 

 cleaned up every day. Valley is still 

 in good supply at $o.(K1 per hundred, 

 while violets have shortened up con- 

 siderably and are taken up by the re- 

 tailers as fast as they come in. Other 

 stock is slow at last week's quota- 

 tions. 



Trade at the Stores. 



The wholesalers report business as 

 quiet, being confined almost entirely 

 to local buyers, while prices are about 

 the same as are obtained on the open 

 market. The shipping trade is consid- 

 erably less than the average for this 

 time of the year. 



Among the retail trade business is 

 variable, with the volume hardly up to 

 that of a year ago. At Galvin's the 

 demand seems to be for high grade 

 carnations, the new Mi-s. Thos. W. 

 Lawson. controlled by them, being a 

 leader. This firm is also very busy 

 catering to the patriotism of their cus- 

 tomers, as red, white and blue dinners 

 are now quite a fad. Beauties and vio- 

 lets are the flowers used, being helped 

 out with red and blue ribbons, the 

 white of the tablecloth making the 

 third color. 



Doyle reports a good trade for 

 American Beauties, of which he is car- 

 rying some excellent blooms, and is 

 also quite busy with funeral work. 

 He reports trade about equal to last 

 year. 



Both Newman and Zinn are doing 

 considerable in design work, with a 

 fairly good call for cut flowers. Every- 

 body is looking forward to a rushing 

 Decoration Day trade. 



Plant Trade. 



Plant growers are now ver.v much in 

 evidence, and are hustling to clean out 

 their stock as quickly as possible, but 

 are having a tough time considering 

 the trade of former years: whether it 

 is the war or the backward season is 

 still a conundrum. 



Down at the market the call is for 

 geraniums, prices averaging about 10 

 cents, while pansies go slow and have 

 been selling from $1.00 per dozen to 



1.J cents for a single basket. The 

 weather is too cold yet for soft wooded 

 stuff. 



At the auction room most of the 

 stock consists of pansies and gera- 

 niums, but the demand is not yet on 

 and they have to be forced, selling at 

 prices slightly below the aveiage. 



The Weekly Exhibition. 



The Saturday exhibition of the Hor- 

 ticultural Society, while confined to 

 only a few exhibitors, contained some 

 very fine displays. 



Messrs. R. & J. Farquhar & Co. 

 showed a fine collection of narcissus, 

 and were awarded a certificate for Nar- 

 cissus 'Victoriae. Mrs. D. P. Richards 

 made her usual exhibit of wild flowers, 

 while Mrs. E. M. Gill and James Corn- 

 ley exhibited seasonable cut blooms. 

 The pansies from the Fay estate were 

 elegant specimens. 



For novelties Mr. J. E. Kolhwell ex- 

 hibited Cypriijedium bellatuni var. al- 

 bum, which is an extremely rare plane, 

 while Mr. Robert I^aurie, of Newport, 

 R. I., showed eight blooms of what he 

 calls an ever-blooming chrysanthe- 

 mum, named Independence. These 

 were grown from cuttings taken Feb. 

 loth and flowered in JJi-o-inch pots. It 

 looks a good deal like Mme. F. Berg- 

 man, which can be made to flower at 

 almost any time by keeping it pot 

 bound. 



News Items. 



Dudley Hartford is fitting up a store 

 on Portland street, near the northern 

 station. He intends to do a general 

 florist's business. 



The seedsmen report trade good, 

 about the same as usual at this time 

 of the year. 



M. Rice & Co.'s salesman from Phil- 

 adelphia, and Mr. Maynard. of the Ja- 

 doo Fibre Co.. are in town. 



The public gardens and parks are 

 ablaze with gorgeous colored tulips 

 and attract lots of visitors. P. 



THE OMAHA MEETING. 



President Gude, of the S. A. F.. re- 

 ports that arrangements for a suc- 

 cessful meeting were satisfactorily 

 concluded during his visit to Omaha 

 last week. 



The place selected for the meeting 

 is the Firet Presbyterian Church, 

 which has a seating capacity of .")00, 

 the seats arranged in tiers as in a 

 theatre. The auditorium is very pret- 

 tily decorated and the acoustics are 

 good. He believes it will prove an ex- 

 ceedingly satisfactory meeting room. 

 The exhibition will be held in the 

 basement of the church, and all will 

 be under one roof. 



President Gude says he found the 

 Omaha florists very enthusiastic about 

 the coming convention and was cer- 

 tain they would spare no effort to 

 make the annual meeting. one of the 

 most successful in the history of the 

 society. He and Secretary Stewart 

 were most hospitably entertained by 

 the local florists during their visit 



and a very enjoyable banquet was 

 given in their honor. 



He was much pleased with the ap- 

 pearance of the Exposition grounds 

 and buildings and believes the exposi- 

 tion will be worth a long trip to see 

 and enjoy. He found the trip out 

 and back very pleasurable and ex- 

 pects to find it equally so in August. 

 He is confident that no mistase was 

 made in selecting Omaha as the meet- 

 ing place for 1808. and believes that 

 the Omaha convention will fully equal 

 in attendance and interest any pre- 

 vious meeting of the society. He antici- 

 pates a good attendance from the east 

 and an unusually large number from 

 western territory. 



NEW YORK. 



Among the Wholesalers. 



Business looked quite roseate the 

 early part of the week, but dropped 

 into the old rut again by Wednesday 

 and kept everybody guessing. 



Beauties there are still in plenty 

 and price ranges all the way from $1 

 to $2U per ltX>, according to quality 

 and size of stem. Other roses are quite 

 equal to the demand, but the quality 

 is not so good, and, strange to say, 

 ever since the battle at Manila, ttie 

 stock has been more or less mil- 

 "dewy." The flowers are good, but 

 the foliage detracts from the beauty 

 and value of the stock. Good, clean 

 stock will average as high as SftiM) per 

 lUO, while the general run will realize 

 all the way from .flo to ?M0 per 1,(Xk>. 

 while "straight slips" are sold as low 

 as $'_>0 per 1,<Xk». 



Carnations are on the home stretch 

 and quality and price are getting poor- 

 er. Sale was fair, however, the early 

 part of the week, except for Portia and 

 Daybreak. Scott is undoubtedly the 

 most popular variety and best seller in 

 the New York market today; in fact 

 is from the day the season opens. 



■Violets are getting to be a back num- 

 ber and very little good stock is seen. 

 Lilac there is in plenty. This seems to 

 be very popular with the masses and 

 is cheap, all coming from outside, 

 price 21/0 to '2't cents a bunch, accord- 

 ing to size and quality. Gladioli are 

 coming in and $10 per 10(> is consid- 

 ered a fair price. 



Valley received somewhat of a boost 

 the last week, heavy funeral orders 

 bearing the market somewhat. A lit- 

 tle "frame valley" is to be seen and 

 sells for $2..'io. forced somewhat high- 

 er. Harrisii lilies are shortening up; 

 price $4 to $G per 100. 



Cattleyas are getting more plentiful, 

 the variety Mossiae being mostly in 

 evidence; 50 and 00 cents apiece is 

 realized for selected blooms. Quite a 

 lot of sweet peas are to be seen and 

 sell from 5 to 12 cents per bunch. 



American Institute. 



The usual monthly exhibition was 

 held last Wednesday in the rooms of 

 the above, and flowering shrubs, peren- 

 nials, etc.. were the feature. 



