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The Florists^ Review 



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Afbil 27, 1916: 



have long been overlooked, and yet the 

 average person will not allow his at- 

 tention to center entirely on the birds, 

 but will also take note of the flowers 

 and plants that should form: the back- 

 ground of such a display. Although 

 the articles offered for sale are intended 

 for use by the robins, swallows, wrens 

 and other wild birds, the display of the 

 domesticated song birds in the window 

 will prove an advantage. A florist could 

 ask for no better feature in such a dis- 

 play than a pair of nesting canaries or 

 finches and at this season of the year 

 it can be had, almost for the asking. 

 R. Franklin Mundorff. 



PLEASE DON'T. 



Sweet peas were scarce at Easter. A 



retailer who paid $1.50 per hundred, 

 when he found himself running short 

 raised his price to $1.50 per bunch. Of 

 course it was for the purpose of turn- 

 ing the demand to other flowers, but it 

 happened that a good many people 

 bought the peas in spite of the price. 

 Now they tell yoii that florists are rob- 

 bers. 



A retailer filled his window with fine 

 azaleas. There was a sign that read: 

 "Fine azaleas $1.50 each." The 

 would-be purchaser found the plants at 

 $1.50 to be two or three poor specimens 

 in the back of the store; those in the 

 window could be had at $2.50 to $4 

 each. Some people bought the better 

 plants, but many went out without buy- 

 ing anything — and to hear them tell it, 

 florists are snides. 



,^^^ 

 PWv 



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*BY- PRODUCTS 

 OF THE WAR 





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WAB AND THE PAPER MARKET. 



Wliere It Hits the Florist. 



Florists in all parts of the country 

 are beginning to feel the effects of the 

 European war through an inability to 

 get the various kinds of special paper 

 used in their establishments. Wax 

 paper is the most difficult to secure. 

 The trouble, according ,.to a. paper 

 dealer, is that wax paper is of such 

 light weight that the returns are not 

 large enough to tempt the manufactur- 

 ers away from other grades. The pro- 

 duction of wax paper requires the same 

 degree of mechanical and human energy 

 and the same length of time as the 

 heavier grades, such as machine-finished 

 book paper. The wax paper will aver- 

 age about twelve pounds per ream; the 

 book paper will reach sixty pounds or 

 more per ream. It is impossible to 



secure prices on wax paper. It has 

 advanced fifty per cent and more. The 

 wholesalers will not quote prices except 

 from day to day, as their costs are 

 based on prices prevailing on the day 

 of .shipment from the mills. They will 

 not give positive promises as to de- 

 liveries, nor make any contracts before 

 consulting the mills. 



U. S. Short on Dyes and Chemicals. 



This same condition is equally ap- 

 plicable to tissue paper, which comes 

 in a size 24x36 inches and averages 

 about fourteen pounds to the ream. 

 This can be produced more easily than 

 wax paper, but because of the dye 

 shortage and for other reasons there are 

 some colors in tissues which are not ob- 

 tainable at all. For instance, there is 

 the grass bleach tissue. The price some 

 weeks ago was $1.25; today the price 

 is $1.75, but there is considerable diffi- 



culty in getting it at that price. The 

 reason for this is that the paper makers 

 cannot get the bleaching compounds 

 from Europe; America does not produce 

 heavily of dyes, bleaches, etc. 



There has been an enormous increase 

 in the cost of letter paper, and when 

 one goes to the printer he quickly 

 learns of the high price and the short- 

 age of inks used in printing. Inks for 

 the office have jumped to 85 cents per 

 quart for black, and the price demand- 

 ed for a quart of red ink is $3. Even 

 at that price one is lucky to get a quart 

 of it. In each case the advance has 

 been thirty-three per cent. 



Wrapping Paper and Twine High. 



Wrapping paper prices also have 

 soared, and the ordinary manila for 

 which we formerly paid 4*^ cents per 

 pound now costs us 6 cents. If 

 we ask for craft paper we may be un- 

 able to get our order filled. A large 

 wholesale paper house waited one month 

 to get action on an order for craft 

 paper. One carload was delivered and 

 this was quickly' snapped up by pend- 

 ing orders. The price, formerly 5 cents 

 per pound, now is 9 cents. 



The shipping department also is hit 

 by the high cost of twine. The colored 

 cords, known as Sea Island twine, for- 

 merly 38 cents per pound, now are 50 

 cents per pound and some of the colors 

 are missing. American hemp, known 

 as No. 36, formerly 14 cents a pound, 

 is hard to get at 22 cents a pound, but 

 the greatest difficulty at present is with 

 respect to jute twine. Practically all 

 of the jute used in this country comes 

 from Italy, Germany and Austria. It 

 has long been under embargo against 

 exportation and, while the price is 

 quoted at 18 cents a pound, one is lucky 

 sometimes to get it at any price. It 

 is for this same reason that boxes have 

 advanced in price, as jute plays an im- 

 portant part in the manufacture of 

 pasteboard, it being used as a filler. 



Crepe paper, largely used for pot cov- 

 ers, has become scarce along with the 

 rest, some colors being unobtainable at 

 any price and the general advance be- 

 ing from one-third to one-half on last 

 autumn's prices. C. L. L. 



DhpUy Wtth Which the Avenue Floral Co. Ton the Bodlong Cup tt the Recent New Orleans Stow. 



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