452 



HORTICULTURE 



June 5, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



■•tabUsk<d bT BnUlam J. BtowBrt la 1«M 



Vol. XXXI 



June 5, 1920 



No. 23 



PUBLISHED WEKKl'T BT 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonatiire Street, Boston, Maa*. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 

 Telephone Fart Hill MM 



ADVERTISING KATKS : 



Per Inoh, SO iBOhee te pace ftjtt 



Dleoeani on Contraete for ooneeentlTe taeertleae, ae follows: 



One month (4 times), S per rent.; three BieBthe (11 tlmee). It 

 per eent. ; alx months (26 times), tO per eest. ; aae rear (it Mbnes), 

 M per ernt. 



Face and half page space, net ceaseentire, latee am appUoatloa. 



SUBSCRIPTION RATZW: 



Ona Tear, In advance, 11.00; To Forelsa Oeantrles, 92.00; Te 

 Canada, fl.S0. 



(■tared as secoad-eliiss matter December t, 10O4, at tbe Post Office 

 ■t Boston, Mass., under the Act of Copcress ef Uarcb S, 1807. 



Take the country as a whole and Memorial 

 Memorial Day was not as great a success from a linan- 

 Day cial standpoint of the florists as might have 

 been hoped. With many florists Mothers' Day 

 brought in a much larger amount of money. At the best, 

 Memorial Day is an uncertain quantity. If the season 

 happens to be of such a character as to bring into bloom a 

 large amount of outdoor material the last of May, it is 

 obvious that the florist is going to find his business reduced. 

 That was the case, especially in New England this season. 

 Lilacs were in full bloom and in great quantities. They 

 were used to an almost unprecedented extent. In other 

 places peonies from private gardens were available. On 

 the other hand, many professional growers In the south- 

 west who had expected to market great quantities of peony 

 blooms on Memorial Day had their crops and their hopes 

 ruined simultaneously by the recent severe hailstorm. 



Florists who have an exclusive city trade often find 

 Memorial Day hardly as profitable as a good Saturday under 

 ordinary conditions. On the other hand, florists who are 

 situated in close proximity to cemeteries and those in subur- 

 ban sections find the day one of great activity and conse- 

 quent profit, although it must be said that the floral pieces 

 made up for the Memorial Day trade are seldom pretentious, 

 and consequently sell for comparatively low prices. 



New England seems to have developed the Memorial 

 Day business to a greater extent than many other parts of 

 the country. The Boston markets were cleaned up well 

 and at fair prices on Saturday, but perhaps the story would 

 have been a little different if the material which came in on 

 Monday morning had arrived when it should have done so. 

 Of course the Monday offerings were not in great demand, 

 as most of the buying had been done. Growers who held 

 their stock had to see the price cut almost in half. One 

 feature of Memorial Day this year was the tremendous use 



made of artificial flowers, wreaths and tlie like. This line 

 of business has developed with surprising rapidity, and a 

 large part of the Memorial Day investment went into this 

 sort of material. 



The Cleveland Florists' Club will hold its 

 Cleveland iioxt meeting June fi, at the Hollenden, and 

 Convention considerable attention will be given to the 

 S. A. F. Convention. Members of the Cleve- 

 land club realize that they have a big task on their hands 

 in preparing for the convention, but are settling down to 

 work in good earnest. No one can doubt that they will 

 prove to be hospitable hosts, and that they will liye up to 

 the reputation which the trade in Cleveland has always 

 possessed for being alert, enterprising and warm hearted. 

 All the signs point to a big and successful convention in 

 the lake city. 



It is good news that the Massachusetts Horticul- 



Rose tural Society has planned for a big Rose Show 



Shows next spring. The success of the Orchid Show 



this season demonstrated the ability of the 

 Society to put over an event of this kind in a manner 

 calculated to attract international comment. There is every 

 reason to believe that the American Rose Society will co- 

 operate in making the event a success. That fact is being 

 counted upon, no doubt, and the members of the Rose 

 Society are alert to every opportunity for increasing the 

 interest of the public in their special flower. 



Within the past few weeks the trade has been 

 Faces robbed of several of its prominent members, in 

 Missed the passing of Maurice Fuld. Patrick O'Mara 

 and Charles Schoenhut. The tributes published 

 elsewhere show the high esteem in which Mr. O'Mara was 

 lield. He was indeed one of the most able men in the trade 

 and one of the finest orators who has ever been heard at 

 the S. A. F. conventions. His work was always of the clean- 

 est and highest type, and he had the respect of everybody 

 who knew him, both In a business and social way 



Mr. Fuld's unique personality stamped itself upon 

 everything which he did. and he set a pace in the matter 

 of advertising copy and catalogue literature which has done 

 much to work a revolution in the business. He will be 

 missed not only in the trade but also among thousands of 

 amateurs who had become familiar with his work through 

 his writings and his lectures. 



While Mr. Schoenhut of Buffalo had not such a con- 

 spicuous place in National affairs, he was known in force 

 in his own community and his loss also will be deeply felt. 



It is doubtful if prices for flowers will come 



Price back again to the heights which they reached 



Outlook during the winter, at least until another winter 



season rolls around. The outlook for June wed- 

 dings is by no means roseate. This is due to the fact that 

 the high cost of living has brought about a disposition to 

 postpone the happy event until prices tumble a little, and 

 even when the weddings take place they are in most cases 

 of a quiet nature and the florist has no part in them. With- 

 out being pessimistic, it is necessary to say that all the 

 signs point to considerably lower returns all along the line 

 for the next few months. 



