AriiiL IG, 1003 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



875 



Adiantum Hybridum. 



containing five to ten bulbs, and tulips 

 in much the same manner, while the hya- 

 cinths that are grown singly in 4-inch 

 pots are mostly used for filling window 

 boxes and hampers. About one dozen 

 spikes of lily of the valley in a small 

 pan looks very well and sells well, and 

 a few fine pansies or English daisies 

 are put up in the same way with good ef- 

 fect. 



A novelty noted was a few plants of 

 leptosijermum, an Australian plant of 

 the myrtle family, the plants in question 

 being probably L. bullatum, and having 

 heath-like foliage and a profusion of 

 small white flowers something like tiny 

 apple blossoms. 



Some charming little hampers that 

 looked as though they were made from 

 a section broken off a birch log and 

 crusted over with fungi and mosses just 

 as though the log they came from had 

 lain in the woods for a year or two, 

 were also among the novelties and when 

 nicely filled with spring flowers would 

 make a most acceptable gift, while pther 

 receptables for a similar purpose are 

 madfe in a peculiar wicker ware by the 

 Japs. Porto Rico matting is most used 

 for pot covers, and quite a good deal of 

 the waterproof crepe paper is also in 

 demand for this purpose. 



W. H. Tapmn. 



ADIANTUM HYBRIDUM. 



The accompanying engraving ;s from 

 a photograph of an ad.antiim raised by 

 John H. Ley, Good Hope, D. C, a cross 

 between A. decorum and A. .luiabilo, and 

 which he has named A. hybridum. It 

 was introduced to commerce by the 

 originator several years ago, but being 

 totally barren of spores stock was lim- 

 ited to a few hundred specimens. 



This adiantum is a very nipiil 

 grower, the specimen illustrated, wliicli 

 is about four feet through, being planted 

 out on the bench from a 2-inch pot in 

 June and potted in a 10-inch pan m 

 September, 150 plants filling COO feet of 



bench room. Mr. Ley finds the fronds 

 very valuable for cutting, realizing a 

 high price in New York. 



BUFFALO. 



Easter Trade. 



The Easter of 1903 will long be re- 

 membered with sunny memories, for it 

 was most satisfactory to the florist. 

 The element which cuts such a figure 

 — the weather— was on our side. It was 

 not ideal, not such balmy days as come 

 to us in early March, yet it was all we 

 could expect. No plant needed protec- 

 tion from the cold, no rain to keep the 

 shoppers indoors, little puffs of wind 

 that might have expended their strength 

 on the plains of Dakota or the woods 

 of Michigan, but did us little harm. 

 Sunday was a warm, beautiful day and 

 crowds went to the cemeteries and on 

 their way cleaned up everything the 

 florist had left. 



We telephoned to two of the Main 

 street florists, and their experience 

 trutlifully related will be a pretty ac- 

 curate guide to all the rest. Strange 

 to say, both said about the same thing, 

 that their business was 25 per cent 

 larger than last year, and we can say 

 the same ourselves. This is not to be 

 wondered at. It was not the old fam- 

 iliar friends that bought more, but 

 there are more people to buy, more peo- 

 ple feeling well off and able to spend 

 .$5 on a few plants or flowers. They 

 both said that violets, lily of the val- 

 ley, and carnations were in most de- 

 mand, with rather a decreased demand 

 for expensive roses. Possibly a remem- 

 brance of a first-class price and a third- 

 class article on similar former occa- 

 sions scared them off. Violets went 

 well at $2 to $3 per 100, but the qual- 

 ity was none of the best. Carnations 

 brought $1 for the Scott type, $1.50 to 

 $2 for Lawson type, and $2 to $3 for 

 Prosperity. When you show a custom- 

 er a bunch of good Piosperity, either 



lie or she may raise a slight grunt or 

 gentle kick at $3 per dozen, but "Well, 

 I niu.st have a dozen any way" is the 

 next sentence. We have heard little and 

 had no experience with any flowers that 

 had been steeped in the Syracuse prod- 

 uct, j'ct we did hear that on Sunday 

 morning coiild be bought a lot of roses 

 that should have been sold a week be- 

 fore. Little bulbous stuff was asked 

 for. 



In plants it would be puzzling to say 

 wliat was favorite, and of course you 

 were asked for plants you did not have. 

 Lilies — nearly all of the Japan type — 

 were of course sold in larger quantity 

 than any other. Of the many thou- 

 sands grown and in flower I have not 

 heard of one good plant left over. 

 Azaleas sold well and plants worth $6 

 or $7 were in good demand. Handsome 

 rhododendrons went well and more 

 could have been sold. Lilacs, hydran- 

 geas. Crimson Ramblers, all have their 

 admirers, and in cheaper plants spirajas, 

 pans of hyacinths and tulips, genistas, 

 cinerarias, mignonette, and a few 

 others all found buyers. There were 

 some nice hybrid perpetual roses sold, 

 yet the supply was not nearly equal to 

 the demand. The Dutch hyacinth was 

 a little overdone. Everybody can grow 

 them, and another j'ear we can do with 

 less. We think the cineraria takes up 

 too much room to be profitable. There 

 was absolutely no demand for palms 

 and little for any foliage plants, except 

 Boston ferns. It was all flowering 

 plants. 



We were one of those poor creatures 

 who had at least a thousand black 

 stemmed Japan lilies that did not grow 

 over 15 to 18 inches- above the pot. Yet 

 they were as healthy as young Corbett 

 and had from five to eight splendid 

 flowers and buds. We had enough 3- 

 foot ones for church duty, and these 

 dwarf ones went as gifts just as well. 

 "My! What beautiful dwarf lilies! How 

 do you get them so short, Mr. S.t" "It's 

 a new variety, ma'am, from Japan. 

 This is the first year of its introduc- 

 tion." "Why, I think it's lovely, so 

 much nicer than those tall things we 

 liad to stand on the floor." And so they 

 all went at just the same price as the 

 taller plants. And four or five plants 

 in a ID-inch azalea pot with fifteen open 

 flowers were irresistible. 



Church decorations now cut but a 

 small figure in our Easter business. 

 Many plants arc sent there as individ- 

 ual offerings, but the elaborate decora- 

 tions are no longer the fashion. A few 

 •churches still keep it up in a modest 

 form. The overwhelming proportion of 

 the business is plants or flowers sent 

 as presents. On Friday night, or rather 

 Saturday morning, about 3:30 a. m., 

 as I stood at the desk with the cold 

 shivers running all over my anatomy, 

 and liandod out every 15 seconds an 

 address tag to Aleck with the remark 

 "Here's the address and here's tbe card 

 — an azalea marked 'Jones' in So. 3," 

 I thought how long will this lastf How 

 long before fashion changes and our 

 good patrons turn back to a book, 

 Easter eggs, or a card, for an Easter 

 gift, as it was twenty years ago? The 

 lover can never substitute anything 

 else for Arabella, but those happy peo- 

 ple are only a very small minoritv of 

 our patrons, and it may come about 

 that for one good lady to send another 

 lady friend a .$5 Crimson Rambler may 

 not be the thing. We. hope that "day 

 may never come, for what can be so 



