450 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Februabv 19, 1903. 



the absence of vivifying rjiys of Old Sol, 

 fogs and murky, muggy atmosphere. The 

 mercury scarcely falls to freezing ami 

 one or two days showed the ardor and 

 brilliancy of May. 



The demand for cut flowers continues, 

 and, for this latitude, St. Valentine's 

 day has become established as another 

 (lower day, each year seeing an increase 

 in the number of flowers sent in lieu of 

 the old time meaningless creations of 

 laco paper and millinery. The demand 

 this year for violets and valley outran 

 the supplies in sight. This very appro- 

 priate innovation is one which deserves 

 to be encouraged, to the rclinement of 

 taste and the profit of us all ! 



The early part of last week was not 

 very active, but the latter days were 

 bristling with social events, which were 

 marked by more than usually |)reten- 

 tious (and some very tasteful) decora- 

 tions for the balls, receptions, luncheons, 

 etc., which made features of the gay 

 season. Here is a description from one 

 of our daily papers of the decorations 

 at a valentine luncheon, given by Mrs. 

 Tlios. J. Shryock, the wife of a well 

 known and opulent citizen, which may 

 possess some interest: 



"Tlip cntortnlnnicnt deported wbuH.v fmiii 

 convontloiml lines in tlint It won eIvwi in snr 

 rnundliiBS so rustic as to suegest tlic vineyards 

 of Southern l-'ranee. 



".\n nrbur many feet In leuRtli and nlxint v2 

 toot wide was built the entire lenutll of llie 

 billiard room, whleh forms one wlnB of the 

 residence. Tlie sides and ntot of the arlK)r 

 were covered with luxuriant vines, fmm which 

 hung clusters of prapea. white, pink and p\irple. 

 the fruit couceallnB electric lltrtits so that Ih.lr 

 delicate outlines «nd color contrasted with the 

 greea foliage alMive them. At each end of the 

 urbor were suspended hearts four feet In di- 

 ameter of crlms<ui carnations, plerceil with 

 golden arrows, while similar hearts of IS inches 

 formed a brilliant frieze of fraRram-e ami (Ndor 

 the length of the arbor on cither side. In the 

 center of each heart glowed a rul>y electric 

 light, so tltat each heart appeared to have a 

 jeweled center. All through the leafy vines 

 were Blmihir tiny lights gleaming like llrctlics 

 overhead. 



"The 10 small tables at which guests were 

 seated were fragrant with the .Inuellke iH-r- 

 fume of crimson roses, so that with the musical 

 strains of love songs rentlered by a concealed 

 tu-chestra a hit i>f -Vrcadla seemed to have 

 found its way through the gate of St, Valen- 

 tine's day Into the itn>salc twentieth century." 



Tlic week beginning to-day (February 

 IG) promises U) be one of much gaictj- 

 and many orders are on hand of greater 

 or less extent for decorations of homes 

 and public halls. 



W'ith the growers all energies arc now- 

 being given to the bringing in and ear- 

 ing for Easter stiilT. A call a few days 

 ago at the places of Robt. L. Graham 

 and Pliilip li. Welch showed them busy 

 and watchful of the lilies, azaleas ami 

 other plants sought for at that season. 

 Mr. Welch lias within the past year put 

 up two modern houses of considerable 

 size and improved his heating facilities 

 by introducing a Lord & Burnham 

 boiler. 



Erdman Bros., on the Hartman road, 

 have remodeled their property to some 

 extent, enlarging Iheir houses, and now 

 devote themselves exclusively to produc- 

 ing carnations, the cultivation of roses 

 having been abandoned. They have a 

 white seedling which is giving great sat- 

 isfaction and which proves a good pro- 

 ducer and a good seller in this season of 

 scarcity of white flowers. It reaches a 

 fair size for a commercial sort and never 

 splits the calyx: is borne on a stitT, wiry 

 stem and is objected to only on account 

 of its insufficient ^>etals. This lirm 

 continues to grow and praise the red 

 MacRiehmond, which, if not large, is 

 a sure and steadfast bloomer and always 

 in demand at profitable figures. 



Hochstedt Bros., of Hamilton avenue. 



met with a misfortune on the niglit of 

 February 7 in the bursting of a sectional 

 cast iron steam boiler, liy some neglect 

 tlie boiler was allowed to run dry and 

 an explosion naturally followed. For- 

 tunately no one was hurt anil not nuieh 

 injury done to the plant, the direction 

 of the force Ix'ing downward and side- 

 ways. Tlie night was a mild one and 

 an "old hot water boiler was hurriedly in- 

 .-itallcd, a number of coal oil stoves gath- 

 ered togetlicr and things made frost 

 |iroof. The energetic young members of 

 the lirm by the second morning had a 

 portable threshing machine boiler con- 

 nected with their pijxis and are now in- 

 stalling a new apparatus. 



John Cook, now one of the elders of 

 the florists' brigade, has bought at a 

 good, round iigure th<> property at ."ilS 

 North Charles street, for many years oc- 

 cupied by him as a store, and doubtless 

 Ijcfore a very long interval will improve 

 it in a suitable and substantial way. 

 This purchase is in the very center of 

 the retail flower trade. 



Jlr. Cook is an illustration of the 

 good fortune that comes to intelligence, 

 devotion to business and liberal and 

 ]Udgressive methods. Coming to this 

 country as a youth, lie has steadily and 

 uninterruptedly climbed the ladder of 

 success. His extensive plant on Edmons- 

 ton avenue, extended, is a model sight 

 for the business and a beautiful home. 

 Ho is blessed with a large and devoted 

 family of sons and daughters, and as 

 the sliadows of life's evening deepen, he 

 finds him.self still active and alert, with 

 ample leisure and no declining inclina- 

 tion for the amenities of life and the 

 daily pursuit of his one favorite occupa- 

 tion, the ])roduetion and cultivation of 

 Her Majesty, the Rose. B. 



BUFFALO. 



lliere has been a fair >liare of sunny, 

 slop|)y, mild weather, hut notliing very 

 low in (cm|Hrature. and while you hear 

 .some correspondents talk of the "bad 

 weather'' of this season, if they will only 

 "hark back" with freshened and correct 

 memory they must adniit it has been 

 good for coal bins, and (|uite an average 

 of sun. 



I failed to mention in my last any- 

 thing about MiKinlev ilay. It was an 

 event, and if it's going to 1)0 an annual 

 observance it will l)c a day well worth 

 noting. Our local papers gave it great 

 |irominence. hence there was a great call 

 for the divine flower. While to the aver- 

 age man a cigar or irrigation would be 

 more attractive, there was a large num- 

 ber of flowers sold. Ten to 25 cents was 

 the price asked, and we heard of one 

 case where Prosperity was charged for 

 at the rate of 80 cents per pair, llic 

 man who invested was in that condition 

 that the moon is in when the sun is shin- 

 ing full on its face and the earth is in 

 an intermediate [wsition, and then you 

 know ''Cost be hangeti; what do I care?" 



Business has been quite fair without 

 any startling events; flowers decidedly 

 scarce; roses and carnations short of 

 supply; violets plentiful. Valentine's 

 day was entirely satisfactory. The busi- 

 ness of that day was good and it was 

 \alentiucs that did it, with violets lead- 



ii'.g. 



I am awfully sorry to have passed 

 over all those illustrious visitors of last 

 week, as I was eonijielled to do. I must 

 tell you how well Mr. Mott looked, more 

 delicate and refined than formerly. It 

 shows that a (luicl home life is not so 



fattening as three big mca!» a day at a 

 lirst-class hotel. Mr. Xickman, repre- 

 senting that most enterprising firm rf)f 

 liobbink & Atkins, is a real, practical 

 gardener and it is some satisfaction to 

 talk to him. He does not bore you. 

 Neither does our brainy friend. Skidel- 

 sky, who represents any firm that has 

 good things to offer. Since that there 

 came upon the boards the veteran John 

 Barclay, representing Vaughan's Seed 

 Store. John works hard to sell, but 

 Yhen you can give no valid rejtson for 

 not buying he closes the door with sueli 

 vigor that it is equivalent to saying, 

 "(jo to that land of m.vstic realm where 

 coal famines are unknown." 



The Carnation convention is the up- 

 permost thought with several. Before 

 my Eastern friends will read these lines 

 it, will be only a record, doubtless of the 

 most brilliant gathering of earnation- 

 ists and the finest exhibition of the beau- 

 tiful flower that man has ever seen. The 

 oflice of president will bo fought for — 

 all the better. 



Are any of you troubled with a :nin- 

 ute ant? It is almost so small that you 

 need glasses to see it. My son thinks it 

 arrived with some orchids. Perhaps so. 

 It drags away small seeds, but does not 

 seem to notice young plants. It is ev- 

 erywhere and its numbers are as the 

 sands of Far Rockaway. My workmen 

 suspended their lunch boxes by a wire 

 from the roof of the shed, but the ants 

 climbed to the roof, descended the wire 

 and so infested their frugal cold beef 

 and pie that they preferred to wait for 

 supper. I had only one man equal to the 

 occasion, and he is sixty-five years old 

 with the appetite of a sixteen-year-old 

 boy. He is an Englishman with epi- 

 curian but not fastidious taste. He likes 

 cheese that will travel with the army, 

 underdime frog legs, beef that was 

 slaughtered in the last century, partridge 

 that has assumed a deep, rich blue and 

 lias become tlie host of larvae of the May 

 bug, and will wash all this down to its 

 temporary resting place with anything 

 but water. This man has done his best 

 to exterminate the ants, but the opera- 

 tion is tedious and slow. He brought 

 two chicken sandwiches for his lunch 

 and put them in his coat pocket. When 

 they were brought to light at noon there 

 were approximately 4.827,3'20 ants on the 

 two sandwiches. The old veteran said, 



"Tlie B ain't going to get the best 



of ine," and devoured the sandwiches and 

 the poor little ants with them. No del- 

 eterious results occurred, except that 

 liis wife told a neighbor. "William has 

 used no pepper for upwards of three 

 weeks." I can't loan this man as an 

 exterminator, but I would like to know 

 how to get rid of these little pests. 



W. S. 



AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY. 



The schedule of prizes to be awarded 

 at the fourth annual exhibition of the 

 American Rose Society, to be held in 

 Philadelphia, ifarch 24 to 26, in con- 

 nection with the spring show of the 

 Pennsylvania Hort. Society, has been 

 issued. Copies may be had b3- address- 

 ing David Rust, " Horticultural Hall, 

 Philadelphia. 



The adv. I put in your paper brought 

 lietter returns than any I ever had. It 

 increased my sales of wild smilax and 

 holly tenfold.— Geo. M. Carter, Ever- 

 green, Ala. 



