January 1, 1903. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review, 



221 



Bench of the New Variegated Carnation Marshall Field at the Establishment of the Chicago Carnation Co.,Joliet, 111. Photographed Dec. 19. 



Wednesday was a good, lively end-of-the- 

 ycar day. 



Christmas Echoes. 



There is a general feeling of satisfac- 

 tion over all branches of our business, 

 indicating a healthy expansion in vnl- 

 lime. 



S. S. Pennock noticed an increased de- 

 mand for valley. Firms that used 1,000 

 last season bought 2, .500 this Xmas. 



Kdward Reid had the sweet pea busi' 

 ness ])retty much to himself. One firm 

 alone bought 1,400 of these dainty blos- 

 .soms. 



The out of town demand was very 

 large, and while there were cases of seri- 

 ous delays in transit, they were few. 

 All boxes were shipped at purchasers' 

 risk. Last week's Review reports were 

 practically correct. Tliere were, how- 

 ever, some sales at higher figures than 

 those 7-eported. A few special Liberties 

 — extra fine — brought .$12 a dozen. The 

 bi'st valley brought $G per 100; selected 

 Prosperity. .$2; and Lawson, $1..50 a 

 dozen. There were also many sacrifice 

 sales of stock ruined by holding, espe- 

 cially carnations. 



A contemporary reviewing the Christ- 

 mas market in this city says that the 

 plant trade is increasing at the expense 

 of the trade in cut flowers. This is cer- 

 tainly an error. The plant trade is in- 

 creasing, hut not at the expense of that 

 in cut flowers. The cut flower trade 

 was larger this year than ever before, 

 and much of the stock was equal if not 

 superior to any ever seen here. Tlie 

 drawback — and it is a serious drawback 

 — was the salting. 



A New Paper. 



Median's Monthly Magazine, discon- 

 tinued with tlie December number, is to 

 lie replaced by "Floral Life," a monthly 

 devoted to jilants, flowers and trees. 



published by the Floral Life Publishing 

 Company, and edited by S. Mendelson 

 Mechan. The first number of the new 

 paper will appear January 1.5, and fol- 

 lowing numbers on the loth of each 

 month thereafter. The idea is to make 

 the paper of interest to all lovers of 

 horticulture, lie they amateurs or ex- 

 perts. The subscription price of .$1 per 

 year may be .sent to Mr. S. Mendelson 

 Meehan, Church and Chew streets, Ger- 

 mantown. Pa. 



Notes. 



Xew calendars are coming in daily. 

 The most boaiitiful seen so far is sent 

 out by Ijyo Kiessen. There are three 

 pages with four months on each. Eaeli 

 page is ornamented by the picture of a 

 leading actress holding a bunch of her 

 favorite flowers. The work is artisti- 

 cally done in colors. There are a vari- 

 ety of sets. 



The Bayersdorfer Christmas bells were 

 a much admired feature of the Bene- 

 dicts' ball last week. 



Thomas Foulds is sending some flne 

 Prides and Maids to the flower market. 



William J. Baker is receiving some 

 lino single narcissus Trumpet Major, 

 the flr.st seen here this season. Harris 

 has since intimated to the flower market 

 that there are others, and Niessen is 

 getting shipments from the sunny south. 



There is a good deal of sickness about. 

 Two of the brightest minds in our busi- 

 ness have agreed that florists shovild 

 train for the Christmas and Easter rush- 

 es just as athletes for a contest requir- 

 ing physical endurance — regular hours, 

 plenty of sleep, exercise, and a wholesome 

 diet — then they would be in shape to 

 stand the severe strain of these lioliday 

 rushes. 



R. G. Palmer is sending some fine vio- 

 lets to the flower market. 



To the Carnation Growers. 



I wish you could have been vpith me 

 just before Christmas on my visit to 

 .some of the leading commission houses. 

 I think that some of you would have seen 

 and heard things that would enable you 

 to save a lot of money in the future. 

 Let me try to describe what I saw and 

 heard. One dealer was reading a slip 

 with a look of annoyance. The boy who 

 had brought it had a lot of fine Cranes, 

 at least they bad been fine once, then 

 they were fast going to sleep. They had 

 been retui'ned by the buyer of course. 

 The next dealer remarked that his roaes 

 were arriving in fine condition. The 

 omission was significant. A third de.iler 

 said that he was obliged to sort out all 

 his carnations or the shippers would get 

 no returns. Imagine all this extra work 

 at such a time. Another dealer showed 

 me with pride a superb lot of Hills, all 

 fine flowers, stiff stems, worth $8 or $10 

 per 100. There was no doubt they 

 would bring it; there was not a si ale or 

 poor flower among them. 



Now I know there are luany carnation 

 growers who get their flowers to the 

 market in good condition at the holi- 

 days, but unfortunately there are very 

 many who do not. If the latter will 

 think over and act on these few hints, 

 they will save themselves many a dol- 

 lar and repay me many times for the 

 labor of preparing and writing these 

 notes. Phil. 



BOSTON. 



The Christmas Trade. 



Reports vary as to the amount of busi- 

 ness done here Christmas week as com- 

 pared with former years. As near as 

 I can average these accounts it Avas not 



