224 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



Jam AiiV 1. 1903. 



iiig were used in this market than ever 

 before. A nuinber of cliurches were dec- 

 orated with it tliat had never been so 

 treated; and the stores, saloons, etc., 

 which are festooned with these holiday 

 greens are constantly on the increase. 



As has Income the rule, apparently, 

 the sales of plants exceeded proportion- 

 ately those of cut flowers. In tlie larg- 

 er stores the rage seemed to be for 

 poinsettias. while in the less pretentious 

 establishments such blooming sorts as 

 cyclamens and the various primroses 

 had the call. Palms, of sorts, and rub- 

 bers hold their own, but the azalea seems 

 to have lost some of its old-time favor. 

 The same seems true of the ericas. 



The store windows were all neatly dec- 

 orated for the holiday season, but there 

 was not the elaborate dressing which 

 has at times prevailed. Tlie street ven- 

 dors found the icy temperature against 

 them and fewer were seen than usual, 

 whilst the market people limited their 

 offerings to green stuffs and designs 

 made up of materials unaflTeeted by 

 frost. 



Complaints continue as to the unusu- 

 ally bad management of express ship- 

 ments, with the eonseqvient delays and 

 miscarriages. Two shipments, by the 

 same route, which reached the city a 

 few days l)efore Christmas about S 

 o'clock a. m.. reached their destination, 

 four blocks off. one at (>:.30 p. m. the 

 Rime day. and the other at 8:30 a. m. 

 the third day. 



Isaac Moss is the latest of our flor- 

 ists to put into commission a showy de- 

 livery wagon, brilliant in paint and 

 gilding. R. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The supply is >iill short ol Ihe de- 

 mand, especially in colored flowers. 

 Though Xew Year's trade no longer 

 amounts to a great deal, there is nat- 

 urally considerable regular call at the 

 season and the Christmas cut was cleaned 

 up very thoroughly. D\iring the week 

 prices have held up to Christmas quota- 

 tions on all good stock, but after Jan. 

 1 there will be an casing up all along 

 the line. Prices have been already fixed 

 to take effect .Tan. 2 and these will l)e 

 found \iniler the usual heading in this 

 issue. In view of the usual light de- 

 mand following the holiday season and 

 an improvement in quality as the result 

 of more seasonable weather, the buyer 

 will be in a position to secure satisfac- 

 torj- stock at fair prices. At the same 

 time no serious slump in values is an- 

 ticipated. 



Xow that the filial figures are avail- 

 able, it is seen that on the whole the 

 Christmas trade averaged a fair per- 

 centage in excess of that of last year, 

 but the gain was due wholly to the high 

 prices that prevailed, the quantity of 

 stock handle<l being prolxibly somewhat 

 less than last year. In fact, it is re- 

 markable that the shortage was not even 

 more serious. Tlie weather turned bit- 

 terly cold on Wednesday and it was al- 

 most a blizziird on Christmas day. Un- 

 iloiibtedly some shipii.ents were frozen 

 in spite of precautions taken, though 

 comparatively few complaints have been 

 received as yet. 



It has been a very trying holiday sea- 

 son for every one. The retailers had al- 

 most zero weather in which to make de- 

 liveries, and it was verv difficult to ob- 



tain stock of satisfactoi-y grade, even 

 at high prices. And the weather seri- 

 ously increased the expense and risk of 

 delivering plants. Many plants and 

 plant arrangements were sold, however, 

 and they helped to swell receipts ma- 

 terially." On the whole the Christmas 

 trade of 1902 was remarkablj- good con- 

 sidering the many drawbacks. 



The sales of greens were enormous 

 and local stock seems to have been well 

 cleaned up. 



Tlie growers got their flowers to mar- 

 ket in fairly good season this year and 

 there was le-ss complaint of flowers ar- 

 riving too late than for many years. 

 One matter, however, yet needs attention. 

 Tlie large shipments of white flowers 

 for Christmas. While there will always 

 be a certain amount of saving up of 

 stock for a holiday, the white flowers 

 should never be accumulated for Christ- 

 mas. The great bulk of the demand is 

 for color and there should be no concen- 

 tration of white at this time. The white 

 will realize much more if kept coming 

 in steadily, llie demand for funeral 

 flowers is continuous and they should 

 reach the market when nee<ieJ for this 

 demand rather than concentrated at a 

 festive season when few are wanted. 



Items. 



Tlie next regular meeting of the Flor- 

 ists' Club will be held Wednesday even- 

 ing, Jan, 14, 



The Gardeners' and Florists' Union 

 was not ready to receive its charter at 

 the nu-eting held last Saturday evening, 

 owing to lack of time to complete the 

 work of organization, and another meet- 

 ing will Im^ held next Wednesday even- 

 ing, .Ian. 14. at 49 La Salle street, at 

 which applicants may still join as char- 

 ter memliers, Fiftv-four joined at the 

 last meeting and the membership now 

 exceeds 100. 



Since the death of his wife. .\Ir. C. L. 

 Washburn has learned of a number of 

 her charities of which he was ignorant. 

 Through the local confectioners at Hins- 

 dale he learned that for many vears she 

 had regularlv purchased all the sttx'k 

 they had left on Christmas eve and 

 caused it to be put up in Ixigs and dis- 

 tributed to poor children of the localit.v. 

 The money was from her own personal 

 allowance and not even her husband 

 knew of the kindly act. And several oth- 

 er similar charities have come to his at- 

 tention through those from whom pur- 

 chases had been made. 



Recent visitors: L. .J. Stuppy, St. .Jo- 

 seph. Mo.: J, A. Xewbv, Logansporl, 

 Ind. 



PITTSBURG. 



To say that we had the best Christ- 

 mas business for man.v a year, will, T 

 Ix-lieve, meet with the approval of all 

 the florists, excepting those who sold 

 Christmas trees and grtvus: these deal- 

 ers did not do so well, a large number of 

 trees and a considerable quantity of 

 greens remaining unsold. Holly and 

 laurel wreathing sold up clean. All 

 dealers and retailers report that the 

 work was much lighter, and that sales 

 were made without anv apparent effort; 

 prices were no object as long as the 

 stock was fresh and good. 



Old Santa Claus carried the pack of 

 his life this trip. It was a merr.v Christ- 

 inas and, I believe, the most prosperous 

 one we ever had. 



As to the weather, old Prob. did not 

 do the square thing, Wednesday, Dec. 



24. alxHit noon, he served us up a very 

 miserable afternoon and evening, which 

 did much to check the transient trade. 

 During the night it snowed and froze 

 very hard, which retarded the prompt de- 

 livery of plants and flowers on Christ- 

 mas da.v. Prices of flowers were about 

 the same as last year. Tlie quality of 

 stock was better, with a suflicient sup- 

 ply to meet the demand, excepting roses, 

 which were very much off crop. The 

 onlv noticeable surplus was in carna- 

 tions and narcissus. 



The demand for Beauties and violets 

 was phenomenal this year. The follow- 

 ing retail prices were obtained for stock: 



Beauties, $0 to $18 per dozen; Maids 

 and Brides, $1.50 to SG per dozen: Lib- 

 erties, $3 to $12; Meteors, $3 to $6; 

 Morgans, S3 to 8. Carnations, $1.50 to 

 $2.50. Paper white narcissus, valley and 

 Romans, $1 to $1.50. Violets, $2 to 

 $8 per 100, For wholesale prices see 

 the regular market quotations in this 

 issue. 



Various Items. 



ilr. Lttnghans. i>t the Cut Flower Co., 

 reported their Christmas trade as very 

 good and further remarked that salted 

 stock was not in evidence as usual. 

 In answer to a question as to how the 

 express companies handled their ship- 

 ments. Mr. Langhans showe'd me a stick- 

 er and time check they use on every 

 shipment, which, so far, has proved a 

 good thing, and secured prompt delivery 

 of their packages, 



Matthew Seinnet, a gardener and flor- 

 ist in the employ of O. H. Darlington, 

 of Guyasuta, was frozen to death on 

 Christmas night on the grounds of the 

 estate, Mr, Seinnet w-s seventy-four 

 years old and had been employed at Gu.v- 

 asuta for eighteen years. He spent 

 Christmas with his "family, and upon 

 returning had reached tlie Guyasuta 

 mansion within fifteen yards when he 

 was seized with a paralvtic stroke and 

 fell prostrate ami helpless in the snow. 

 He lay there all night and was found 

 at 7 "o'clock the next morning, frozen 

 to death. 



Visitor: Mrs. Chas. Xeubert, of Van- 

 gergrift Farm, Wellsburg, W, Va, 



Xext Tuesday, Jan. C, the Florists' 

 Club will nominate its otiicers and the 

 subjects for discussion will be ferns and 

 small palms. Hoo-Hoo. 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Christmas Trade. 



Christmas trade in St. I..iuis was phe- 

 nomenally large, and espcciallv so with 

 the West Fnd florists. From report.s, 

 nearl.v everything was cleaned up early 

 Tliursda.v. and the only complaints they 

 have to make arc that cut flowers were 

 scarce and that they had trouble in the 

 delivery of plants, owing to the very 

 cold morning. The down town florists, 

 as well as those north and south, report 

 that they had all the.v could do and 

 that the.v have no complaint to make 

 as to trade and prices. 



Beauties, as was expected, took the 

 lead and brought $24 per dozen at retail 

 for the best choice stock. Choice stock 

 in other roses was scarce, with seconds 

 and rubbish quite plentiful. These all 

 sold well at top prices. Carnations had 

 the greatest demand ever seen in this 

 market; poor stock brought as high as 

 $4 per 100 and nothing was left over. 

 Violets also had a big demand ami net 

 nearlv enough came in to fill orders 



