50 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Decembeb 4, 1902. 



PHILADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



Flowers were extremely scarce Thanks- 

 giving and have become even scarcer 

 since then. Prices have been steadily 

 advancing and today some flowers are 

 bringing more money than ever before 

 during first week of December. Thanks- 

 giving day pretty well cleaned up the 

 chrysanthemums; they are now the ex- 

 ception rather than the rule in the 

 stores.^ The demand for red roses and 

 carnations and for violets was very 

 heavy. Nearly all the dealers were 

 obliged to cut their orders severely for 

 these flowers, especially violets. Since 

 Thanksgiving there have been some 

 heavy orders. The Army and Navy foot- 

 ball game last Saturday cleaned up 

 every violet in sight and many other 

 flowers besides; chrysanthemums were 

 a rarity that night. Sunday was a big 

 day with some of the wholesalers. Beau- 

 ties were in great demand. The open- 

 ing of congress in Washington on Mon- 

 day morning and the first German in 

 Baltimore on Monday night carried off 

 great quantities of choice stock. Val- 

 ley has been a great seller; Leo Niessen 

 received 20,000 last week. The local 

 demand continues active; everything 

 choice is eagerly accepted. 



Review of the Coal Market. 



We arc entering on a month of great 

 activity in our business. I'eople "have 

 money and are willing to spend it for 

 our product. The most serious menace 

 to our piosperitv is the uncertainty of 

 getting plenty of good fuel, .uid* its 

 price. In view of tlios.; facts a brief 

 reviev- cl the fuel que-tion may be of 

 interest. 



Most of the florists in and near this 

 city have been burning buckwheat coal. 

 The price of this size in the summer of 

 1901 was about $2.35 a ton on the 

 tracks, or about 30 cents a ton more 

 than the year before. When the great 

 coal strike just ended in the anthracite 

 mines had lasted well into the summer, 

 many of our growers, realizing that 

 their bins must be filled, be^an buvin<j 

 soft coal. Tlie price of soft coal, nor° 

 mally about $2.95 a ton, advanced rap- 

 idly during September, and, to make 

 matters worse, the orders sent in hesi- 

 tatingly at first were only partially 

 tilled. Then the growers got scared 

 and ordered freely. By this time the 

 big manufacturers had changed their 

 plants so as to burn soft coal, and were 

 ordering, and very heavily, too. The 

 price of soft coal advanced throutrhout 

 October and November until today it 

 costs about three times as much as un- 

 der ordinary conditions. 



Since the close of the strike in the 

 anthracite regions conditions have 

 slightly improved. The demand for do- 

 mestic sizes of hard coal is away ahead 

 Z V'^^"PP'-'^' l*"* the small sizes can 

 be had at fair prices considerin<T the 

 circumstances. Buckwheat coal is" sell- 

 ing today at $3 a ton on the tracks- it 

 IS not to be lower this season and our 

 growers are buying freely. 



There are two curious features in con- 

 nection with the coal famine that should 

 give food for thought. The first is the 

 .lockeying done by some of the coal deal- 

 ers during the fall, by which they forced 

 their florist customers to buy at top 

 prices and then ran in many delayed 

 cars on them all at once. Tliis lesson 

 will never be forgotten. The second 



point is the curious difference in price 

 of coal on the two railroads supplying 

 this market, the growers in the district 

 supplied by the Philadelphia & Reading 

 being able to buy buckwheat coal at 75 

 cents a ton less' than their competitors 

 in the Pennsylvania section of country. 



A Wholesaler's View. 



Samuel S. Pennock was asked to give 

 his views for the Review's readers on 

 the outlook for the season. He thinks 

 that business throughout the fall has 

 shown a remarkable amount of life and 

 activity. Quantities of flowers have 

 been coming in until last week, yet there 

 has at no time been a cessation in the 

 demand. Nearly all the good stock was 

 sold at fair prices. Conditions have 

 changed and stock is less plentiful, with 

 an increased demand as the winter sea- 

 son opens. The prospects for an extra- 

 ordinarily large business are very 

 bright. -^ 



Death of James Harris, 



James Harris, second son of William 

 K. Harris, died Monday night, the fu- 

 neral taking place Friday. Mr. Harris 

 has the deep sympathy" of his many 

 warm friends, who grieve with him for 

 the loss of his son. 



A Box Party and a Banquet. 



The daily papers are fond of giving 

 their readers graphic accounts of an en- 

 tertainment which they have that in- 

 sUnt left. So the RcnEW, not to be 

 Qutdone, offers its readers an account of 

 a party which they can read while the 

 party is actually in progress! 



The firm of Pennock Bros, gave a de- 

 lightful box party at Keith's Theater, 

 Saturday evening, December C, which 

 was followed by a supper at Boothby's. 

 Among those present were: J. Liddon 

 Pennock and Benjamin Starkey, of 

 Pennock Bros.; John Mclntyre and 

 Ernest Frame, of Edward Keid's; Ralph 

 Shegley, of S. S. Pennock's; A. G. 

 Campbell, who is with Leo Niessen; 

 Eugene Bernheimer; William J. Moore; 

 Paul J. Klingporn, who is with George 

 M. Moss; Fred Sheskey, who is with 

 Robert Craig & Son; a representative of 

 George Anderson, William Stevens, of 

 John Burton's; Samuel Lilly, who is 

 with Eugene Weiss, and several others. 

 To quote: 



"You may hunt the world all over 

 As carefully as you please. 



But in spite of all your trouble 

 You will find no "men like these." 

 The evening is bound to be a great 



success. 



Club Meeting. 



Tlie Florists' Club held its Decem- 

 l^r meeting on Tuesday evening at 

 Horticultural Hall. The" feature of the 

 occasion was Edwin Lonsdale's review 

 of tlie newer chrysanthemums. Phil. 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



Yes, there was a ''jump" for Tlianks- 

 giving! It affected everything a little; 

 cheap goods particularly, and chrysan- 

 themums very slightly, as there were 

 enough of them to fill all demands and 

 they will rule for many a day yet! 



In former years Thanksgiving has 

 only panned out about like a real good 

 Saturday's business, but this year it 

 was built more on the lines of a mimic 



Christmas. This may have simply 

 seemed so because roses and carnations 

 were scarce, but I think there was also 

 a substantial growth of trade for the 

 day. 



Prices have held their position ever 

 since, and are quoted in our list in 

 another column. There is no cause to 

 hope for anything lower until the days 

 grow much longer. J. S. Master. 



BUFFALO. 



Thanksgiving was a miserable, sloppy 

 day, but it did not very much atlect 

 business, which was quite up to the aver- 

 age. Chrysanthemums kept up their 

 popularity, and the demand for them 

 cleaned up the remnants in many places, 

 and it will be only occasionally that 

 they will be asked for from now on. It 

 appears to us that not for years has 

 there been such a wide interest taken in 

 the Queen of Autumn. Not only have 

 the trade journals finely reported and 

 illustrated the exhibitions, but there 

 have been many valuable contributions 

 to the literature of the chrysanthemum 

 by acknowledged specialists; and it's 

 entirely our own fault if we are not 

 well posted in what varieties to grow. 

 I think the article in your column of 

 last week by Brian Boru particularly in- 

 structive and reliable, and that copy of 

 the Review should be put away for fu- 

 ture reference, and there were several 

 others. 



Colder weather and more fire heat has 

 improved the quality of all varieties of 

 roses. Violets are in good demand. The 

 single Princess of Wales may not be as 

 profitable to grow as the double varie- 

 ties, for, as was remarked by that wise 

 Mr. Wise, of East Aurora, a few days 

 ago, "Tliey are big sprawley growers and 

 take up lots of room." Y'^et it is much 

 better to be producing a few hundred of 

 these every day than to make a failure 

 with the double; and a bunch of 100 

 Princess of Wales, with their 10-inch 

 stems, is about irresistible to the pa- 

 tron who happens to see them. 



Carnations are commanding a good 

 price, and now that mums are mostly 

 gone they are in great demand. Once 

 more I must with pleasure allude to 

 that interesting review of varieties of 

 carnations in last week's issue, and as 

 I happen to grow a few of almost all 

 the kinds he mentions, it was read mth 

 interest, and his experience I would in- 

 dorse almost without exception. Her 

 Majesty, a few of which I was favored 

 with a trial, will surely knock out 

 Lorna. Norway and White Cloud, and 

 perhaps some of the newer whites. Its 

 habit and prolificness are fine. Old 

 Ethel Crocker is behaving better than 

 ever, but it has 55 degrees at night. 

 Mrs. Nelson is all right in every way. 

 Stella is a beautiful variegated, and 

 Mrs. Potter Palmer is a wonderfully 

 free scarlet with good stem and large 

 flower, but until Adonis makes its debut 

 to the general public we shall continue 

 to grow lots of the beautiful Estelle, 

 which improves in health and vigor each 

 year. Harry Fenn, one of Mr. Ward's 

 new crimsons, is sending up a great lot 

 of long, strong stems and is a beautiful 

 shade. 



The firm known as Bullock & Co., at 

 479 Main street, which succeeded W. A. 

 Adams, who evaporated last spring, has 

 now sold out to Mr. Thomas Coleman. 

 Jlr. Coleman is a window-dresser for 

 the department store of the H. A. Mel- 



