568b 



HORTICULTURE 



April 17, 1909 



vance, and the retailers followed suit 

 when the time came. There was lit- 

 tle of any consequence left over. 

 Lilies were cleaned out early and 

 many buyers had to be disappointed. 



The cut flower mar- 

 BALTIMORE ket generally has 



kept pretty evenly 

 balanced as to supply and demand; 

 even during the Lenten season there 

 has been little cause for complaint 

 on the part of either the grower or 

 the buyer. There have been occasions 

 when one or two kinds may have 

 fallen a little short, as in the case of 

 violets, etc., but taken as a whole 

 market matters have gone along very 

 satisfactorily. The Easter trade has 

 been fully equal to that of last year — 

 some claim better — and prices have 

 ranged about the same. In addition 

 to the bulbous stock which kept in 

 excellent shape for the Easter holi- 

 days, azaleas, roses — of the Rambler 

 type — Bermuda lilies, rhododendrons 

 and hydrangeas were the most popu- 

 lar. The material generally was in 

 fine shape. We noticed that a batch of 

 hydrangeas grown by one of our 

 houses was finished off better than is 

 usual, the fonage being much tougher 

 and the flowers "pinked" up very 

 nicely. The lasting qualities of this 

 kind of plant is so much enhanced by 

 this hardening process and it is with- 

 al so easily effected that it is mat- 

 ter for surprise that growers, espec- 

 ially those having customers they wish 

 to retain, are not more careful in this 

 matter. The writer has noticed this 

 defect in the finishing of hydrangeas 

 in cities other than Baltimore. The 

 cut flowers principally handled in this 

 market for Easter are lilies and callas, 

 roses, carnations, peas, violets, etc., 

 with all varieties of bulbous stock. 

 Cattleyas, gardenias, etc., are offered 

 only in limited quantities. 



Monday and Tuesday of 

 BUFFALO the past (Easter) week 



the weather was ideal 

 and every indication pointed to one of 

 the best, if not a record-breaking 

 Easter business. Trade opened up on 

 Wednesday and advance orders for 

 plants and cut stock came in abun- 

 dance: but a break in the climate on 

 Thursday with an all day rain and the 

 temperature dropping to 2(j degrees, 

 saddened the faces of the trade. On 

 Friday an all day blizzard with enough 

 snow for good sleighing did not help 

 but made the situation still worge. The 

 lily was the leader in the plant line 

 and there was no over supply: but all 

 were sold out by the wholesalers as 

 soon as unloaded. Azaleas also sold 

 well while other stock such as bulbous 

 stuff, hydrangeas, roses, rhododendrons 

 and spirea had enjoyed a fair demand. 

 In the cut flower line there is the usual 

 amount to state. Shipping trade was 

 fairly good and orders were filled with 

 no shortage or notations marked "best 

 could do" as stock was plentiful and 

 good. White carnations were in good 

 demand as well as other colors and 

 there were plenty to fill all wants, 

 White Perfection was had in fine qual- 

 ity, also Beacon and Victory in red; 

 "Winsor also in fine form. Roses had 

 a good demand, especially Killarney 

 and Richmond, Kaiserin and Carnot, 

 and excellent stock was received and a 

 ^ood cleaning up was had. Beauties 

 were in good supply and the demand 



was for short grades and only a lair 

 demand for the long stuff. Violets 

 were in heavy supply and hardly an 

 order was filled that did not call for a 

 few. There was plenty to be had and 

 the wholesaler had enough left over to 

 fill a good many more orders. Lily of 

 the valley was in fine form and sold 

 well, also peas, the demand being for 

 lavender and pink. Cut lilies cleaned 

 up well. Mignonette was carried over, 

 with a good portion of bulbous stock. 

 All in all, reports from the trade state 

 a good Easter business but would have 

 been much better "if that dreadful 

 snow storm had struck some point 

 further north, as little business was 

 done on Friday. 



Although the week doled 



DETROIT out a composition of 

 weather which was any- 

 thing but good and its bad effect must 

 have been felt generally, Saturday 

 brought out the buyers in full force 

 and it was not long before last year's 

 record was reached and overcome in 

 quantity of sales with prices same as 

 last year. Medium priced baskets 

 seemed to be preferred to azaleas. 

 Lilies of course held the lead in the 

 plant line. In cut flowers violets were 

 away ahead in demand for corsage 

 wear. Koses and lily of the valley and 

 many other artistic combinations were 

 also great favorites. Everybody is well 

 pleased with the result. 



The Easter trade 



INDIANAPOLIS was very similar 

 to a year ago; per- 

 haps a little better. Prices of lilies, 

 both cut and in pot, were a little high- 

 er than before owing to the shortage. 

 The demand for bulbous stock was 

 much better than other years, although 

 quantities of other stock was handled. 

 The list of finely grown flowering 

 plants embraced all the commercial 

 kinds obtainable, but nothing in the 

 way of a novelty was seen. Lilies in 

 pots and tubs were probably the best 

 sellers, next azaleas and Ramblers. 

 Pansies, forget-me-nots, mignonette 

 and lilac brought good prices. Tomlin- 

 son Hall market florists report the big- 

 gest ti'ade in years. There were about 

 fifty additional flower venders about 

 town Easter week, which made in- 

 roads on store trade- Every plant 

 grower reports a clean-up, and the 

 majority of the retailers report a most 

 satisfactory Easter trade. 



The St. Louis Easter 

 ST. LOUIS trade was large. The 



cut-flower trade was 

 fully as heavy as in former years and 

 the plant trade was very much larger 

 — some say fully .50 per cent, more 

 than last year. The West End florists 

 report an enormous sale in everything 

 in blooming plants, and some of their 

 show hotises look it this Monday 

 morning. In the plant line as well as 

 cut-flowers lilies sold away above all 

 others. Lilies were not too many and 

 everybody reports sold clean out. Aza- 

 leas and hydrangeas also had a big 

 call. In other plants everything that 

 looked well sold readily at good prices. 

 Our wholesalers had plenty of every- 

 thing in roses, carnations, lilies and 

 callas. Sweet peas were in abundance, 

 so was lily of the valley and Von Sion 

 daffodils. California violets, too, were 

 more than enough. These have seen 

 their best days and their quality 

 brought them but small prices. Amer- 



ican Beauties in fancy grades were 

 very scarce. Carnations sold well 

 when good. We noticed a great deal 

 of pickled stock in these which, of 

 course, were left unsold. From the 

 reports from the trade in all parts of 

 the city, taking everything in consid- 

 eration, it was about as good an Eas- 

 ter as we have ever had. 



It is claimed by 

 WASHINGTON Washington flor- 

 ists that the 

 Easter just ended has been a record- 

 breaker for sales. It was feared at 

 one time when the mercury went 

 tumbling down on Good Friday eve, 

 that business would be injured to no 

 little extent, but such was not the 

 case, for flowers of all kinds were in 

 demand, with the exception of aza- 

 leas, which were superceded in fa- 

 vor by the lavender rhododendron. 

 The decrease in both quality and 

 quantity of the Easter lily is causing 

 some concern, and unless something 

 is done, and that right soon, to ward 

 off inferior stock being brought into 

 the country, Easter will have to be 

 represented by another emblem. In 

 this section fruit is not far advanced 

 and it is thought that the recent 

 "snap" did the fruit no harm. 



A REMINISCENCE. 



Three years ago, following the 

 Easter trade of 1906, HORTICUL- 

 TURE spoke as follows regarding the 

 violet business: ' 



"Here, iudt-ed, was a Waterloo. Given 

 tlie brightest, balmiest Easter morning that 

 ever da^vned and it would have been be- 

 yond tbe possibilities to find outlet for the 

 aval.nncbe of violets that poured into this 

 niaiknt Saturday afternoon. The American 

 K.\pres.-i aloae bro.ight 1000 cases, each con- 

 laiiilng from 2300 to 0000 violets; this ac- 

 counts for the "up-Hudson" supply only. 

 Much of this could have ben placed through 

 the week previous at fair figures had the 

 growers not hoarded it; as it was, the great 

 majority laid in the crates untouched until 

 Monday, when, if lucky, it went to the 

 Greeks for something to cover express 

 charges." 



Again, one year later, we referred 



to the subject as follows: 



"Many of them, perhaps half the supply, 

 wiTe of inferior quality and were well-sold 

 at any price; odorless! and with dropping 

 pctal.s thousands were sold on the streets 

 which otherwise would have been thrown 

 away and there were some even too poor 

 to elicit an offer of purchase from the 

 smallest street merchant. The grower who 

 imagined it good business policy to keep his 

 stock on the plant until it was no longer a 

 \'iolet «'ill now perhaps see things in*a dif- 

 ferent light," 



This year's report on the violet 

 situation corroborates the advice 

 above quoted. But doubtless we 

 shall see the lesson rubbed in every 

 spring for many years to come be- 

 fore it will make any impression on 

 our friends up the Hudson." 



The proofreader can sympathise 

 with the Arizona law makers who, in 

 framing a recent horticultural commis- 

 sion bill, provided for the employment 

 of an "etymologist." The Phoenix Re- 

 publican, in commenting thereon, says, 

 "We need the "etymologist" and now 

 that we have got him, though per- 

 haps inadvertently, let us keep him. 

 If the horticulturists think they need 

 an entomologist, let a new bill be 

 passed creating that oflSce." 



