December 30, 19(i5 



MORTICULTURE 



VICTORY 



THE BEST SCARLET CARNATION-Is> Fancy in the fullest sense of the.word 





Cut Flower and Plant 

 Market Reports. 



The largest Christmas 

 BOSTON business on record is the 

 universal verdict of grow- 

 ers, wholesalers and retailers, and 

 applies with equal truth to the three 

 great departments of plants, flowers, 

 and "greens." Holly was overstocked 

 but the surplus was mainly of inferior 

 grade, a demonstration of the waste- 

 ful stupidity of the people who cut 

 and shipped it to market commission 

 dealers through whom it found its way 

 to the curbstone fakirs in part and, in 

 many cases to the rubbish cart. The 

 supply of holly in the hands of the 

 regular dealers was excellent as a rule 

 and all stock of this sort shipped here 

 on legitimate orders was well sold. 

 Boxwood, laurel, mistletoe and other 

 special material all found a splendid 

 sale in their various forms. 



Nothing different from the usual run 

 of plants as offered in previous years 

 was in evidence. Azaleas were pro- 

 vided in larger quantities and better 

 furnished with bloom than ever be- 

 fore at this season, and there are a 

 few left in retailers' hands. Cyclr- 

 mens were more plentiful and of 

 these, also, some remain unsold, but 

 these remnants are of rather inferior 

 grade as a rule. Ardisias and Jeru- 

 salem Cherries moved slowly as com- 

 pared with the record, flowering plants 

 being generally preferred to berried. 

 The cut flower demand was spirited 

 from start to finish. Wholesale dis- 

 tributors were beseiged from the be- 

 ginning of the week by out-of-town 

 buyers and the local trade followed 

 suit at the close, clearing up every- 

 thing except the usual Christmas over- 

 lay of white carnations, Roman 

 hyacinths and paper white narcissi. 

 The proportion of storage flowers was 

 insignificant. At Welch Bros." there 

 was none in evidence whatever. No 

 better American Beauties have ever 

 been seen in this market. Carnations 

 were superb, averaging better than ever 

 before. Violets scored an unqualified 

 success. May we see many more such 

 holidays. 



Southern Wild SmilaiT 



IN ANY QUANTITY 

 W. E. McKISSICK 



Who'esale Florist 

 1221 Filbert St., PHILADELPHIA 



y EVERYTHING SEASONABLE IN P 



h CUT FLOWERS* 



5 EDWARD REID T,S'r1ir X 



V>« ^-lo • ->r»<^« or^ • ^r>r> • <^' 



Again a great "plant 

 NEW YORK Christmas." The rea- 

 sons therefor are mani- 

 fold, but very little seems to have been 

 accomplished this year by the cut 

 flower interests to close up the gap or 

 turn the balance of public favor to- 

 ward the cut material. The same old 

 uncertainty as to quantity of available 

 stock and as to holiday prices pre- 

 vailed in advance of Christmas, as 

 heretofore, and the same shipments of 

 stored material stood in the way of 

 those growers whose cut was all fresh, 

 and who, having no part in the offend- 

 ing, yet had to participate in the ef- 

 fects of the demoralization such con- 

 ditions always entail. The retailer, as 

 heretofore, did what he could to in- 

 fluence his clients in favor of plant 

 gifts, for he could quote prices in ad- 

 vance, could fill his orders ahead, and 

 knew just what he could promise. The 

 plant trade was tremendous, and in 

 many instances the display shelves 

 were completely denuded and refilled 

 two or three times. No novelties of 

 any importance were seen, the only 

 variation from the offerings of last 

 year being the various receptacles in 

 which the plant assortments were dis- 

 posed. Flowering plants, such as 

 azaleas, Lorraine begonias, orchids and 

 poinsettias, bright-foliaged plants, 

 such as draceenas and pandanuses, 

 fruit plants, such as ardisias, oranges, 

 etc., ferns, palms, and like material, 

 were used in enormous quantities, 

 bright colors being preferred and, 

 where the requisite brilliancy was 

 lacking, holly branches and holly rib- 

 bon were added ad libitum. The 

 cut flower supply was more than 

 equal to the demand. Roses were not 

 as plentiful as usual, but violets and 

 carnations came in with almost un- 

 precedented freedom, and thousands of 

 the latter "went to sleep" Sunday 

 night. Enchantress and Lawson being 

 the chief offenders, but it was not the 

 fault of the varieties. With the ex- 

 ception of these evidences of age in 

 some shipments, the quality of flowers 

 sent to this market averaged very fine. 

 It is most regrettable that the universal 

 free-and-easy mood of the public in the 

 matter of money-spending did not 

 benefit the flower-growing industry 

 more than it did on this auspicious 

 occasion. The liberality of the Ameri- 

 can people was never more pro- 

 nounced; they spent money in a spirit 

 that spoke of a sublime confidence in 

 their ability to get more when it 

 should be all gone. The cut fiower 

 trade of New York hardly got its share 

 of all this, but prospects are excellent 

 for the coming weeks. Holly was 

 received in immense quantities, 

 yet the really good grade was 

 scarce. Ordinary stock which 



camo through the commission 

 dealers down town was disposed of as 

 low as one dollar a box, all it was 



worth, but it had the effect of causing 

 dissatisfaction regarding the price of 

 good material. Fortunately the latter 

 was practically all ordered in advance, 

 and very little stock worth handling 

 had to be sacrificed. Bells had a slow 

 sale, or rather the supply of these 

 baubles, in the cheap form now offered, 

 was far in excess of the need. The 

 wholesale district made a night of it 

 Christmas eve. A welcome innovation 

 was made by Traendly & Schenck who, 

 realizing the material necessities of 

 their fellows, set up a midnight lunch 

 for neighbors and employes. 



Beauties were the lead- 

 PHILA- ers in the Christmas cut 

 DE LP H I A flower market. They sold 

 out very clean; $15 per 

 doz. was obtained for good stock with- 

 out any trouble. Liberty also sold out 

 clean and, as with Beauty, there was a 

 shortage in the $15 and $25 grades. 

 Buyers seemed very unwilling to pay 

 the price for the select grades, but 

 many of such went to fill orders for 

 medium Beauties. Brides went a bit 

 slow, but were cleaned out all right 

 at the finish. Bridesmaids were very 

 scarce — not near enough to go around. 

 Much poor stock had to be used in fill- 

 ing good orders, which was exasper- 

 ating for the conscientious retailers. 

 This rose seems to have been generally 

 off crop this year. There was a limit- 

 ed lot of Richmonds around, and these 

 sold along about the same price as 

 Liberty, but were preferred by the 

 buyer. They were also better as to 

 stem, and could be graded closer. 

 Many of the Liberties were weak. 

 Golden Gate was off crop and sold 

 clean. Chatenay was largely used in 

 place of Bridesmaids. There were very 

 few Killarneys on the market. Of car- 

 nations, everything in sight, good, bad 

 and indifferent, was sold out clean by 

 noon on Sunday. Although reds were 

 the favorites. Enchantress was among 

 the top-notchers, bringing $1.50 per 

 doz.. and the high figures of $8 and $10 

 per 100 were paid for whites. The grow- 

 ers can now see the wisdom of not 

 holding back their cut. They get bet- 

 ter prices, and nothing is left over. 

 Cattleyas sold well. Large quantities 

 of cypripediums were used, Leeanum 

 being the favorite. Violets sold much 

 better than was expected. Could have 

 absorbed more New York stock, but 

 shipments of these were badly delayed 

 on account of the enormous holiday 

 pressure on the express companies. 

 Paper Whites and Roman hyacinths 

 were in evidence, but did not sell very 

 well. These are not good Christmas 

 items and should be grown only for 

 regular trade and brought in in small 

 quantities at a time. Lily of the val- 

 ley was abundant and good. Mignon- 

 ette was very plentiful, but sold out 

 clean. Asparagus plumosus was the 

 leader in greens. Adiantums and 

 Sprengeri did not sell above the normal. 



