Apeil 27, 1916. 



The Florists^ Review 



23 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



No other Easter in the memory of the 

 oldest inhabitant has equaled that of 

 1916 in volume or profit. This may be 

 safely said of every department of the 

 business. The ribbon houses had their 

 banner season; the supply houses had 

 nothing seasonable remaining; the plant 

 growers sold every worthy blooming 

 plant in their greenhouses; the whole- 

 salers were practically sold out when 

 the sun rose Easter morning and at 

 noon every retail store in the city was 

 well cleaned up on both cut flowers and 

 plants. No better weather could be de- 

 sired. 



The night of April 22 was a historic 

 one in the wholesale cut flower section 

 of the trade. It was quiet and reposeful 

 up to nearly midnight, when the in- 

 vasion began. When peace was pro- 

 claimed, hardly a vestige remained of 

 the big supply of the late afternoon. 

 Prices were reasonable; not much above 

 the figures of a good Saturday, except 

 for the flowers on which there was a 

 shortage, such as orchids and valley. 

 These broke their records for the year, 

 some valley touching $8 per hundred 

 and select cattleyas selling at $2 each. 



Roses of all kinds were in great de- 

 mand, but prices remained reasonable at 

 all times, although there was no surplus. 

 American Beauties did not go above 50 

 cents each at any hour, and 35 to 40 

 cents for the best was the evening quo- 

 tation. A few Hadley sold at 60 cents 

 each, the record for the day. Ophelia, 

 Hoosier Beauty, Killarney Brilliant, 

 Double White Killarney, Eadiance, Mrs. 

 Ward, Mock and Russell sold at 10 to 12 

 cents each for select stock. Brunners 

 were excellent but too few for the de- 

 mand. Prima Donna sold out quickly. 

 Sunburst was a general, favorite. In 

 fact, there are no roses coming to this 

 market that did not find a ready sale. 



Before the bulk of the shipments ar- 

 rived th^ best white carnations brought 

 6 cents each; some say they received 

 even more. But the demand lessened 

 and 5 cents and 4 cents each was the 

 general price as the night wore on. A 

 good many sold after midnight at 3 

 cents, but there was no surplus. Most 

 of the carnations were splendid stock. 



The naturallp^ increased demand for 

 Easter lilies 4id not seem to influence 

 the price and there was always enough. 

 The prophecy of 10-cent top was ful- 

 filled and they had to be especially good 

 to command that figure; 8 cents was 

 the recognized top for the cut lilies, 

 and many sold at 6 cents and under. 

 Valley was one of the surprises, as 

 much as 8 cents being paid for it. But 

 of all the Easter flowers orchids at- 

 tracted the most attention, because of 

 the shortage; there were none obtain- 

 able after noon on Saturday. The gar- 

 denia supply was large and prices for 

 the best advanced only slightly. This 

 week the street merchants have them 

 again. 



The violet season ended with Easter. 

 None sold under 50 cents per hundred. 

 It was a good ending to a bad season. 

 A wonderful display of tulips was seen 

 and prices did not advance. A few 

 southern gladioli came in, with a small 

 supply of excellent Spanish iris and 

 plenty of daffodils and callas. There 

 were pansies and daisies innumerable; 

 also calendulas, mignonette, stocks and 

 snapdragon, the latter especially worthy. 

 Added to all these was the sweet pea 



supply, the short-stemmed ones in little 

 favor; the Spencers of rare size and 

 beauty. 



Many of the wholesalers also handled 

 blooming plants on commission and dis- 

 posed of everything they had to offer. 



Various Notes. 



Now, with renewed enthusiasm, prep- 

 arations have begun for the proper cele- 

 bration of Mothers' day and Memorial 

 day. 



Much sympathy is felt for C. F. 

 Bertanzell, of Roslyn, Jj. I., in the sud- 

 den death of Mrs. Bertanzell, April i7. 



The Easter flower display at the Pros- 

 pect park greenhouses, Brooklyn, drew 

 many thousands. 



The department stores did an enor- 

 mous business in their flower sections 

 for Easter. C. C. Trepel, in New York, 

 and Joseph Trepel, in Brooklyn, were 

 certainly the Billy Sundays of floricul- 

 ture in the scope of their missionary 

 work. 



F. A. Bolze, of Pleasantville, N. Y., 

 died April 19, at the age of 72 years. 

 He was one of the old-time florists, of 

 excellent reputation and widely re- 

 spected. His specialty for many years 

 had been the growing of smilax, which 

 was handled by Badgley & Bishop. Mr. 

 Badgley attended the interment. 



George McGarrett, for twenty-five 

 years salesman and bookkeeper for 

 Alex. McConnell, died at his home in 

 the Adirondacks April 3. He leaves a 

 widow and daughter. Burial was in 

 Woodlawn and many floral tributes 

 were sent by his employer and friends 

 in the trade. 



May 6, at Mouquin's restaurant, the 

 annual meeting of the Cut Flower Ex- 

 change will be held. 



Siebrecht Bros, have removed to 605 

 Fifth avenue, a splendid location. The 



store is roomy and the annual rental 

 is said to be $20,000. 



Traendly & Schenck say the Easter 

 business was ahead of any in their long 

 experience and so say all the pioneers, 

 J. K. All«n. Walter Sheridan, P. J. 

 Smith, Gunther Bros, and all the rest 

 of them. 



Guttman & Raynor had two winners 

 last week in good supplies of Prima 

 Donna and Brunner roses. 



Big crowds continue at the plant auc- 

 tions on Vesey street. MacNiff's im- 

 portations are continuously arriving. In 

 the three stores over fifty employees 

 are engaged. 



More than forty society weddings are 

 scheduled for the present week. The 

 trade has a wonderful May ahead. 



Easter in Brooklyn was a success. 

 The wholesale florists found ready sale 

 for everything. Prices were satisfac- 

 tory. All the retailers are well satis- 

 fied. 



J. V. Phillips and Mrs. Phillips will 

 spend the summer at their cottage at 

 Bay Shore, L>. I.'- J. Austin Shaw. 



The steamer from Bermuda that ar- 

 rived April 20 brought 590 boxes of 

 Harrisii lily flowers, none of them con- 

 signed to florists but nearly all to an 

 express company or a customhouse bro- 

 ker for forwarding inland. 



In May, 1915, McHutchison & Co. 

 purchased the building at 95 Chambers 

 street, running through to 77 Reade 

 street, a full block long. The building 

 consists of five floors, basement and sub- 

 basement. The firm will occupy the full 

 first floor May 1, 27x150 feet, which 

 will give them room to grow. Since 

 they commenced business fifteen years 

 ago, they have moved four times, and 

 each time they have doubled the occu- 

 pied space. 



NOTES FROM FOREIGN iSAiNDS 



London, Ungland. — A number of ship- 

 ments of Japanese lily bulbs from cold 

 storage recently have gone to America 

 to relieve the shortage there. Because 

 continental markets are closed and the 

 British market dull there is a surplus of 

 bulbs in storage here this season. 



Yokohama, Japan. — The success which 

 attended the forcing of Formosa lilies 

 in America last season, when they were 

 more floriferous and longer stemmed 

 than any others, has resulted in a de- 

 mand that will clear every bulb of the 

 1916 crop in Formosa. The proportion 

 of large-sized bulbs is expected to be 

 rather less than usual this season and a 

 little more than the usual premium is 

 being asked. 



Aalsmeer, Holland. — The prices of 

 Dutch flowers have decreased since Ger- 

 many prohibited their importation, but 

 not to the degree expected. , An impor- 

 tant trade is developing with Austrian 

 cities, Austria having placed no restric- 

 tions on imports. The German decree 

 applies to all live plants and parts of 

 plants for decorative purposes as well 

 as to cut flowers. An exception is made 

 of bulbs and tubers, so that the usual 



trade in tulip, Hyacinth and narcissus 

 bulbs is expected this autumn. 



IfOndon, England. — The absence of 

 travelers for Holland bulb houses is a 

 matter for comment in the trade. While 

 no announcement has been made, it 

 seems plain that many men who regu- 

 larly visit England each spring have 

 been refused permission to make their 

 customary rounds this season. 



St Peterport, Guernsey. — Growers on 

 the island, both of vegetables and flow- 

 ers, have had a disastrous season, more 

 because of the uncertainty of transpor- 

 tation than because of low markets. 

 There have been days when no sailing 

 occurred, instead of the several sailings 

 incident to a normal season. Many of 

 the regular boa^s have been sunk by 

 German submarines. Frequently carters 

 have waited with their loads on the open 

 quay for eighteen hours in rain or snow 

 and many times shipments have been 

 not worth loading when the opportunity 

 arrived. Early in March a mass meet- 

 ing of some 300 growers was held in 

 New Market hall and a conference with 

 the authorities somewhat improved con- 

 ditions. 



