668 



HORTICULTURE 



April 17, 1909 



EASTER TRADE REPORTS 



NEW YORK CUT FLOWER MAR- 

 KET. 

 The General Situation. 



Reports vary somewhat as to the 

 amount of cut flower business done as 

 compared with the plant trade and as 

 compared with the flower trade o£ re- 

 cent years. Nobody expects a sensa- 

 tional flower trade at Easter nowa- 

 days, but it is gratifying to learn that 

 this year the cut flower more than 

 held its own. From the standpoint 

 of the flower grower and wholesale 

 dealer, therefore, Easter for 1909 may 

 fairly be pronounced a success in a 

 general way and there is reason to 

 hope that henceforth both plant and 

 flower departments will make steady 

 growth on parallel lines, neither one 

 at the expense of the other. 

 Roses. 



There was a generous supply of roses 

 but the cut was not phenomenally 

 heavy and acceptable stock was fairly 

 well cleaned up. Early in the week 

 considerable stored stuff was brought 

 in under compulsion of the hot weath- 

 er then prevailing and at the close 

 the other extreme was reached in the 

 shipment to the markets of quantities 

 of tiny buds in so undeveloped a 

 state that they would never swell 

 under any circumstances. That there 

 are growers silly enough to follow 

 either of these courses today seems in- 

 credible, but it is nevertheless true. 

 Of Beauty there was just about enough 

 to go around; a few left. Killarney 

 was the most popular variety but there 

 were some of the most miserable speci- 

 mens under this name that we ever 

 saw. All through the list the quality 

 varied greatly, from superb down to 

 useless. Reds experienced a lighter 

 demand than the pale varieties and 

 the special classes moved more reluc- 

 tantly than the medium grades. Bride 

 and Bridesmaid hardly held their own, 

 however, and had the crop been as 

 heavy as it was last year there would 

 have been trouble. Where the dealer 

 showed a disposition to hold up to a 

 specified price they went hard. 

 Violets. 



The receipts of violets were enor- 

 mous. It was estimated that the ship- 

 ments from the Rhinebeck district on 

 Friday and Saturday amounted to fully 

 three million flowers. A considerable 

 proportion of these looked as though 

 they should have been picked two 

 weeks sooner and the effect of the 

 spell of hot weather at the first of 

 the week was generally evident. The 

 violet growers were caught by the high 

 temperature and doubtless many high 

 hopes were shattered. Single violets 

 as received were useless as a rule. A 

 tremendous number of violets were un- 

 loaded — the majority at bargain figures. 

 They were in evidence everywhere on 

 Sunday, having, with the exception of 

 lily of the valley, a practical monopoly 

 of the corsage wear. It must not be 

 assumed from this fact, however, that 

 fashionable New York has taken the 

 violet back into favor. The great 

 quantity worn was due to their cheap- 

 ness more than to anything else and 

 the big stores in the swell neighbor- 

 hoods handled but a few. 



Lilies. 



The same story as given concern- 

 ing lily plants will apply here. Pre- 

 dictions of scarcity were well verified. 

 The quality of the stock offered varied 

 greatly, the high grade flowers being 

 in a very small minority. Large quan- 

 tities of small, soft, raggy lilies were 

 seen on all sides but the demand was 

 so far in advance of the supply that 

 anything which would hold a sem- 

 blance to a lily found a buyer at some 

 price and the fortunate holders of good 

 ones set the selling figure at whatever 

 limit they chose. 



Carnations. 



Carnations were in reasonably ample 

 supply and good quality. Looking 

 over the shipments in ttie wholesale 

 places the preponderance of Enchant- 

 ress was remakable. It really seemed 

 as though fully one half of the en- 

 tire receipts was made up of that 

 variety and in many cases they were 

 of grand quality. The demand for any 

 except the white and the lighter colors 

 was unaccountablly weak. Carnations 

 have been bringing such good prices of 

 late as compared with last years re- 

 cord, that an advance in Easter values 

 would not have been surprising. It did 

 not come, however, and prices kept 

 well within last year's limits. 



Lily of the Valley and Bulb Flowers. 



Lily of the valley surprised its friends. 

 It took on a spurt Saturday afternoon 

 which held out until the close of busi- 

 ness on Sunday, cleaning up every ex- 

 isting scrap of the fragrant little 

 flowers which have been so generally 

 neglected of late. Just why or how 

 it happened nobody knows, but the 

 corner was a vigorous one while it 

 lasted. Other material such as daffo- 

 dils, tulips, callas, hyacinths, etc., was 

 not in over-supply and sold satisfac- 

 torily, excepting a large quantity of 

 southern grown daffodils which the 

 street fakirs got at their own price, if 

 they would accept them. 



Miscellaneous. 

 We must confess that we have never 

 realized the posibilities in stock cul- 

 ture until seeing some Beauty of Nice 

 at McManus' which opened our eyes 

 in amazed admiration. We don't know 

 who grew it but hope he will do some 

 more on the same line. Sweet peas 

 were plentiful in all grades of good- 

 ness and badness. Extra grades 

 brought fine prices. Orchids were not 

 abundant and gardenias were particu- 

 larly scarce, the prices soaring. Onci- 

 dium ampliatum was a welcome ad- 

 dition to the list of acceptable orchids. 

 Good greens gave but little trouble 

 this year, the accumulation being less 

 than usual at Easter. 



NEW YORK PLANT MARKET. 

 The Selection. 



The selection of plants offered for 

 the New York Easter market was not 

 as large as in former years. Lilies, 

 azaleas, rambler roses and hydran- 

 geas were the principal stock seen 

 in all the stores, regardless of loca- 

 tion or society grade. Another notice- 

 able fact was the almost entire ab- 



sence of large specimens in any line, 

 medium and small-sized plants being 

 carried almost exclusively. One man 

 put the situation very tersely when 

 he remarked that the three to five 

 dollar Easter plant now has its in- 

 nings in the high-class stores. A 

 good many plants were left over in 

 some of the stores and they were 

 practically all of the higher-cost 

 grade. 



"Made Up" Arrangements and Rib- 

 bons. 



It may be stated further that the 

 elaborate jardinieres and other com- 

 bination arrangements of plants 

 which had such a big run of popular- 

 ity in New York for a few years back 

 are no longer a controlling feature 

 and the demand for tiny heathers, 

 mosses, ferns and odds and ends of 

 various kinds which were largely used 

 for filling in around the larger cen- 

 tral specimens has consequently fal- 

 len off. The public fancy turns not 

 only to the low-priced afi:air but to 

 a single good plant rather than a mix- 

 ture, and another tendency that can- 

 not be mistaken is toward the aban- 

 donment of lavish ribbon and tissue 

 paper adornment such as prevailed in 

 other years. Some ribbon is used but 

 not in quantity approaching even the 

 consumption of last year. Chiffons 

 and such trimmings were very spar- 

 ingly used, and among the best stores 

 the idea prevails that a good plant 

 requires no decking to sell it. In 

 pots and jardinieres there were a 

 good many pretty patterns used, and 

 pot covers of waterproof crepe or 

 more substantial material were quite 

 generally favored. 



The General Result. 



Overconfidence on the part of the 

 retailers, based on last year's complete 

 clean-up, was the cause of too liberal 

 buying in advance by many who pur- 

 chased far in excess of their invest- 

 ments of last year, literally cleaning 

 the gi'owers out of everything present- 

 able. The speculation ended somewhat 

 disastrously for some, the stock left 

 on hand after Easter had gone being 

 far too heavy for comfort. 



Roses. 



Anny Muller was a gem among the 

 dwarf growing polyanthas. Tausends- 

 chon was an equally sensational suc- 

 cess among the true Ramblers. Among 

 the other varieties which have elbowed 

 the once e.^iclusive Crimson Rambler 

 out of its throne were Hiawatha, De- 

 light, Sweetheart, Leuchsterne, Alice 

 Steinhoff, Newport Fairy, Dorothy 

 Perkins, Lady Gay and several others. 

 It may be said in passing that many 

 of these roses lacked in profusion of 

 bloom and the growers might easily 

 improve upon them next year. Among 

 the bush roses fYau Karl Druschkl was 

 far in the lead and sold at sight. 

 Lilies. 



Lilies were seen in all degrees of 

 decrepitude — some with stalks not over 

 six inches in height. Superior plants 

 were the exception, yet there were 

 some. All were sold, however in pots 

 or pans, and the o^ll was for many 



