August IG, 1912 



HOKTICULTUEE 



191 



Flower Market Reports 



f Continued front page rSo) 



Of course we all acknowl- 

 DETROIT edge that this Is the 



season of the year when 

 making money is almost a dream with 

 the retailer. Still when we see in the 

 wholesale house ten men lined up to 

 grab every decent salable flower ar- 

 riving there and many a customer 

 turned away because there is nothing 

 to be had, things look rather pecu- 

 liar. I do not think this picture is 

 very much overdrawn and I firmly be- 

 lieve that a better supply of cut 

 blooms during July and August would 

 have a great deal to do with turning 

 these two months from the losing side 

 to one of at least a small gain. Your 

 paper very aptly criticises the contin- 

 ued tinkering with the constitution at 

 the S. A. F. meetings. I would like 

 to suggest that good topics tor the 

 convention would be the discussion of 

 "How to interest the public in our 

 work" and "How to produce a good 

 varietv of good flowers during July 

 and August." F. DANZER. 



A big butterfly fiut- 

 NEW YORK tered down West 



2Sth street and 

 alighted on a tiny button-hole sprig of 

 forget-me-not worn by the writer as 

 he sauntered from one flower mart to 

 another in search of market news. 

 Whether this episode boded good luck 

 or bad we shall not attempt to dis- 

 cuss but on just such little happenings 

 must the denizens of the big flower 

 center depend for sensations in these 

 listless mid-summer days. After the 

 few handfuls of roses, etc., and buck- 

 ets of gladioli and a bushel or two of 

 asters have been unloaded there re- 

 mains little to do but lounge around 

 and wait for something to happen or 

 discuss the probabilities of a good- 

 sized crowd for the convention special 

 train. Ten days ago there was quite a 

 little activit.v in trade which seemed 

 to augur well for an active summer 

 season, but it didn't live long. Roses 

 are all diminutive little things at 

 present and there is an unprecedented 

 proportion of yellow varieties among 

 them. Evidently the growers have 

 been investing liberally in the novel- 

 ties and it will be interesting to watch 

 the effect on the flower market next 

 winter. Lily of the valley is excellent 

 and there are plenty of lilies. Asters 

 are inferior generally as are also glad- 

 ioli. The stores take practically noth- 

 ing on chance and buy only to fill 

 orders when such chance to come in. 



WELCH BROS. CO. 



AMERICAN BEAUTY. KILLARNEY. RICHMOND, MARYLAND AND ALL THE 



SUPERIOR ROSES, LILY OF THE VALLEY, CARNATIONS, ORCHIDS 



BEST PRODUCED 



226 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



William F. Kasting Co. 



AA/Holessil< 



383-387 ELUCOTT ST. 



loris^s 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



NEW YORK QUOTATIONS PER 100. To Dealers Only 



MISCELLANEOUS 



Cattleyas - 



Dendroblum formosum 



Lilies, Lingiflorum 



Speciosum 



Lily of the Valey 



Asters . 



Gladioli 



Daises 



S wee I Peas ( per loo bunches) ■ 



Gardenias 



Adiantum ■■■. 



Smilax 



Asparagus Plumosus, strings 



•• '* & Apren (loobunc^es) . 



Good flowers of 

 PHILADELPHIA all kinds are 

 hard to get. The 

 first early asters are about done and 

 the mid-season only just commencing. 

 As the aster is the big feature at this 

 juncture, we are in a transition period 

 where even the standby is "off," for 

 a week. We shall no doubt have a 

 different tale to tell next week. The 

 other great summer standby — the glad- 

 iolus — good demand for long-stemmed, 

 superior stock: but nothing doing in 

 the short, northern grown, poor spikes 

 — with which the market is flooded 

 from the bulb-growing fields outside 

 of the regular sources of supply. The 

 men who grow primarily for the bulb 

 income cannot cut the whole plant 

 without ruining the bulb, and their 

 "butt-in" on the market at nothing a 

 thousand merely demoralizes the mar- 

 ket, .and we believe does no good to 

 their business in the long run. Dreer 

 realized this years ago. They quit cut- 

 ting from their twenty acres of peony 

 blooms because they realized that all 

 they got hardly paid for the labor or 

 cutting, packing and shipping, and 

 that the slump in value of the flowers 

 in public estimation had a boomerang 

 effect when the roots were offered for 

 sale. That thought was true and ap- 

 plied not only to the retail but to the 

 wholesale trade. ' So they quit it, and 

 we think it is about time for the glad- 

 iolus men, who think they are so wise, 

 to take notice. It sounds good to say 

 we can get revenue from the flowers 

 and the bulbs too, but it can't be done. 

 You either ruin your flower or ruin 

 your bulb. You cannot have both up 

 to tip-top standard. Orchids are not 

 plentiful and seem rather high-priced. 

 There are some good white spray sorts, 

 like Phalaenopsis amabilis to be had. 

 The market has been fairly good all 

 along the line for the season; but not 

 quite so brisk as the week previous. 

 Looking over the flow- 

 ST. LOUIS er markets the la'?! 

 week we find plenty of 

 stock but few buyers. The retail trade 



put in a dull week so of course the 

 wholesalers had to suffer for the want 

 of demand. It surely was dull. The 

 market has anything the trade wants 

 in asters, gladioli, roses, peas and a 

 lot of outdoor truck. Prices remain 

 stationary in small lots but in large 

 lots of a thousand or over prices can- 

 not be quoted. 



Washington, D. C. — Business condi- 

 tions are about the same as they have 

 been during the past few weeks. Some 

 mid-summer social affairs are calling 

 for decorations, but these are not very 

 elaborate. The condition of stock and 

 prices are just as previously reported. 



New York, N. Y.— Wm. P. Ford, 



wholesale florist, has offered his store 

 at 45 W. 28th street for rent and will 

 move shortly to one of the new stores 

 in the block west of Sixth avenue. 



THE Florists' Supply 

 House of America 



H. BAYERSDORFER & CO. 



1129 Arch St., Philadelphia, Pa. 



MICHIGAN CUT FLOWER 

 EXCHANGE, Inc. 



WHOLESALE COMABSStON FLOiUSTS 



Const gnments Solicited 

 Hardy Fancy Fern Oar Specially 



38-40 BROADWAY, DETROTT, MII^. 



WILLIAM H. KUEBLER 



Brooklyn'.* Foremost and Best 



WHOLESALE COMMISSION HOUSE 



A First Class Market for all CUT FLOWERS 



28 Willoughby St.. Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Tel. 4691 Main 



