January 4, 1919 



II i; T ICULTUEE 



19 



Flower Market Reports 



The market has held up 

 BOSTON well owing to the pre- 

 vailing conditions, due 

 not alone to the holiday season, hut 

 also owing to a renewal of the influ- 

 enza epidemic. With heavy demands 

 being made upon a short supply, 

 prices held all along the line. Roses 

 were of excellent quality, even the 

 shorts showing up well. Carnations 

 held their own and were in better de- 

 mand than before Christmas. Lilies 

 moved readily, but violets owing to 

 weather conditions were slow. Sweet 

 peas are scarce and what few come 

 into the market find ready purchasers. 



The reaction after the 

 CHICAGO unusual condition of the 

 greater Christmas the 

 Chicago market has known has come 

 and there is plenty of stock now at 

 normal prices. The abnormally high 

 prices of carnations have resulted in 

 a feeling of distrust and resentment 

 which does not make for good after 

 holiday trade, and it is doubtful if the 

 growers of that flower will receive as 

 large a sum total for the two months, 

 December and January as they would 

 have, had prices been more nearly 

 normal. The after effects of holiday 

 carnations at 15 and 20 dollars per 

 hundred wholesale is discouraging to 

 both retailer and purchaser. The soft 

 worthless stock which was thrown up- 

 on the market at the last moment 

 met the fate it deserved, and carna- 

 tions which should have sold for 12 

 cents brought nothing or very little to 

 the grower. Roses were of good qual- 

 ity and while prices were high the 

 stock was worth it and the supply was 

 not in excess of demand. 



The week end trade was fair. The 

 first freesias arrived last week and 

 sold quickly. There are many cattle- 

 yas now coming and so far they have 

 all brought good prices. American 

 Beauties from the East arrived in 

 good condition and helped out in sup- 

 plying the demand for that flower. 



Holly started out at prices that 

 could not be maintained and the mar- 

 ket broke, then became steady at a 

 reasonable price. There was fine mis- 

 tletoe which sold readily. Christmas 

 trees were another item which showed 

 the tendency to push prices to the 

 breaking point. Trees were priced 

 at from one dollar for the little table 

 tree to ten dollars for the large ones 

 and many would-be buyers went away 

 without them. 



WHOLESALE FLOWBR MARKETS - trade prices i 



TO DEALERS ONLY 



Roses 



Am. Beauty, Special 



11 " Fancy and Extra. 



11 " No. i and culls.. . 



Russell 



Hartley 



Euler, Mock. 



Arenbere, Hoosier Beauty. 



Ward, Hillingdon.. 



Killarney, Key, Taft 



Ophelia, Sunburst 



Carnation* 



Csttley as 



Lilies, Longiflorum 



Lilies, Specioaum 



Lily of th« Valley 



Snapdragon. 



Violets 



Stevia 



Calendula 



Chrysanthemum* 



Gardenias. 



Adiantum 



Smilax » 



Asparagus Plu. A Spren. (looBhs.) 



CINCINNATI 



Dec. 16 



50.00 

 10.00 

 15.00 

 ■ 5.00 

 15. so 

 1 2.00 

 12.00 

 10.00 

 ta.oo 



76.00 



to 75.00 



to 75.00 



to 35.00 



W 3S-oo 



w 35.00 



te 35.00 



to 30.00 



to 30.00 



to 20.00 

 33.CO 



to. OO 



to lOO.OO 



to 20. CO 



tc 



6.00 



I5.CO 



to .. 



to 



4 00 

 25.03 



8.00 

 30.00 



1.50 

 5.00 



50.00 



1 .00 



20.00 



75.00 



CHICAGO 



Dec. 16 



BUFFALO 



Dec. 33 



PITTSBURG 



Dec. 30 



73.00 

 50.00 

 20.00 

 20.00 

 13.00 

 15.0a 

 15.00 

 12.00 

 ia.00 

 12. 00 

 it. 00 

 75.00 

 20.00 



2.5.0 

 2.00 

 6.00 

 20.00 

 25.00 

 1,00 



5.0.00 



75.00 



40.00 



6.0; 



8.0c 

 8.00 

 8. co 

 8.00 

 6.00 

 6 00 

 6.00 

 ••■•o 

 75.00 

 15.00 

 8.00 

 8 00 

 8. co 

 1.50 



4.00 



15.00 

 40.00 

 ■75 

 20. co 

 35-oo 



50.00 

 3C.00 

 10.00 

 10.00 



to 

 to 



10.00 to 

 to 



8 00 to 



8.00 to 



8.00 



6.00 

 50.00 to 

 15.00 tc 

 to 



to 



to 



4. co to 



.75 to 



to 



6.0 o to 



■5. 00 to 



to 



to 



to 



30.00 to 



60.0c 



40.0c 

 25.00 

 30.00 



15.00 



15.00 



20.00 

 3.00 



75.00 



33.00 



8. 00 

 1 50 



2.00 

 20.0a 

 50.00 



Contrary to general 

 CLEVELAND expectations, a near- 

 ly normal supply of 

 stock was available for the Christmas 



market for which the mild weather a 

 few days previous was partly respon- 

 sible. Everything sold at better prices 

 than ever before, so all records were 

 substantially surpassed. Fancy grades 

 of cut stock dominated the market. 

 Some excellent buddleia was offered. 

 Christmas greens generally were iu 

 rather low supply. A few paper 

 white narcissus and freesias were 

 available. Dullness reigned upon the 

 wholesale market December 26 and 27. 

 Receipts of stock were light but were 

 more than sufficient to meet the feeble 

 demand. December 28 the market re- 

 sumed its normal tone and demand 

 appeared equal to the supply. An 

 abundance of stock is in sight in the 

 ranges of the growers and will be 

 sufficient to take care of a heavy Jan- 

 uary and February business. The 

 gradual slowing up of business in the 

 shops has already made many men 

 available for greenhouse work. The 

 real time of trial for the trade is over 

 and better times and conditions are 

 discernible upon the horizon. 



Christmas business 

 CINCINNATI was excellent. High 



prices tended to keep 

 the consumers away from cut flowers, 

 but the plant business more than made 

 up for it in volume. Growers practi- 

 cally cleaned up their stock of plants 

 and few retailers had any substantial 

 amount left over after the close of the 

 business. Roses are still scarce and 

 clean up regularly. The carnation 

 market has eased up considerably. 

 Lilies are in fair supply that satisfies 

 present demands. A few poinsettias 

 may be had, but most of these were 

 cut for the Christmas business. Stevia 

 and snapdragon continue to sell well. 



Sweet peas are snapped up as fast as 

 they come in. Violets, lily of the val- 

 ley, and orchids are not selling well. 

 Other offerings are narcissus, forget- 

 me-not and calendula. 



Supply and demand 

 NEW YORK were about balanced 



during the interim 

 between Christmas and New Year's — 

 prices showing only a moderate differ- 

 ence. To those who remembered the 

 New Year's demand for many years 

 is small compared with Christmas 

 there were no disappointments, but 

 a disposition by many dealers to put 

 values on their goods not justified by 

 market conditions resulted in carry- 

 ing over stock which might otherwise 

 have been moved. A fairly large sup- 

 ply of roses arrived Tuesday with a 

 small proportion of shorter grades, 

 which were easily disposed of; the 

 higher grades moving slowly. Busi- 

 ness was about as usual Tuesday, after 

 which things slowed down to dullness. 

 Beauties held their brim until Mon- 

 day, but the supply Tuesday exceed- 

 ed the demand, although it was 

 not by any means large. Plenty of 

 carnations were to be had and they 

 did not clean up. No one was dis- 

 posed to cut under the going price to 

 any great extent. Violets did not re- 

 cover from the blow they got Christ- 

 mas and sales dragged. Cattleyas 

 were even firmer in price than Christ- 

 mas owing to a smaller supply and 

 quite a few of these were unsold. 

 Lilies were firmly held and pink 

 lilies sold well. Calendulas, yellow 

 daisies and wall flowers met with mod- 

 erate demand. Smilax and asparagus 

 were in evidence everywhere — more 

 than enough for ordinary require- 

 ments and gardenias of quality were 

 held at a high level. With no unusual 

 demand prices have been well main- 

 tained during the holidays. 



(Continued on page 21) 



