24 



-JIht Florists^ Review 



,Al>BiI. 27. 1916. 



WASHINGTON, D. 0. 



The Market 



It is generally conceded that the 

 Easter business was as good as any in 

 the history of the trade. Everything 

 sold well and good prices prevailed. 



The main story is on orchids, for 

 many of the florists were caught. The 

 warning had gone forth that, there 

 would be a shortage of these, but a ma- 

 jority of the retailers paid no heed 

 and continued taking orders, which they 

 later found they were unable to fill. It 

 was practically impossible to pick up 

 a single orchid in the city. Orders had 

 been taken early in the week for Eas- 

 ter delivery at $9 and $10 per dozen; 

 Saturday and Sunday they were worth 

 any price that might be asked for them. 



Gardenias sold readily at $3 per 

 dozen. Sweet peas were in heavy de- 

 mand and the prices ranged from $1.50 

 to $3. These prices held up during 

 the early part of the present Week. 

 White and yellow daisies were in sdine 

 demand at $1.50 per hundred, and nas- 

 turtiums at 15 cents a bunch sold well 

 for use in corsage bouquets. The de- 

 mand for valley from out-of-town points 

 caused a jump in the price from $6 

 to $8 per hundred and late in the week 

 it was hard to get at that figure. 



American Beauty roses at $9 and $10 

 per dozen moved rapidly and there was 

 a shortage during the closing hours of 

 the week. The price has since receded 

 to $6 per dozen. All roses moved well. 

 The sale this year was far better than 

 usual. As a rule, the retailers do not 

 do much with roses during the Easter 

 season. 



Those who failed to place their or- 

 ders for carnations early in the week 

 faced a shortage and many orders were 

 turned down. The ruling price was $5 

 and $6 per hundred and there is little 

 likelihood of much of a reduction, as 

 the growers are apparently holding off 

 in anticipation of Mothers' day. May 

 14. 4) number of growers also are off 

 cVop, so that there will be no over- 

 supply. 



Gladioli, while good, are not in de- 

 mand. Mignonette is fine, but is mov- 

 ing slowly. Snapdragon is popular and, 

 in fact, is much more in demand than a 

 year a^o. Pink sold out completely. 

 The season for daffodils is about over 

 and tulips also are on the wane. 



The sale of potted plants of all kinds 

 was exceptionally good. The weather 

 was such as to make deliveries easy 

 and the business moved along smoothly. 



Various Notes. 



The window exhibition at the store 

 of George H. Shaffer created much com- 

 ment last week and incidentally won 

 first prize in the contest operated 

 by the International Correspondence 

 School and the Washington Chamber of 

 Commerce. The work of getting the 

 window ready for the contest was done 

 by Mr. Supper. The color scheme was 

 in yellow and pink. Tausendschon 

 roses, violets and yellow lupines were 

 used in profusion, while as a center- 

 piece Easter lilies rested upon gold 

 velour. The first prize consists of a 

 full correspondence course in the school, 

 while to the decorator goes a specially 

 designed medal. Z. D. Blackistone was 

 the florist member of the committee of 

 judges. A handsome window at the 

 store of Gude Bros. Co. received honor- 

 able mention. 



A bill has been introduced into the 



Senate (S. 5677) "for the proper ob- 

 servance of Sunday as a day of rest 

 in the District of Columbia," which, 

 if enacted into law, will close all the 

 florists' establishments on Sundays. 

 , C. L. L. 



BAI.TIMOSE. 



The Market. 



The Easter business was quite a con- 

 trast to that of last year. While it 

 was cool for this late in the season, 

 the weather was clear and agreeable. 

 Business as a whole was good and stock 

 was plentiful, with some few exceptions 

 in the cut flower market. Boses were 

 plentiful and, while they all moved, the 

 prices on the longer grades were hsirdly 

 consistent with the quality. Callas 

 were in small demand and few were 

 moved, even at low prices. Cut Easter 

 lilies sold well, but as pot plants they 

 sold at extremely low prices. Sweet 

 peas were in heavy supply, yet far from 

 sufficient for the demand. 



Good orchid peas brought good prices, 

 but the short sold at lower prices. Dou- 

 ble violets sold well, but the stock was 

 not of exceptional quality. Singles were 

 poor and did not sell well at any price; 

 a quantity of these had been kept too 

 long a time and fell to pieces. Carna- 

 tions early in the week were poor, but 

 later the quality improved and the de- 

 mand was good. Valley was scarce and 

 sold at high prices, and cattleyas were 

 out of the market. Gardenias sold well 

 at fair prices. There was a large lot 

 of Asparagus plumosus thrown on the 

 market last week and it sold com- 

 pletely. 



Pot plants and made-up baskets and 

 boxes sold nicely. Azaleas, hydrangeas, 

 rhododendrons and spiraeas moved well. 

 Some few rambler roses were seen, but 

 not a large quantity of them. Potted 

 lilies did not sell so well as expected. 

 Bulbous stock was plentiful and every- 

 thing in sight cleared nicely. 



Club Meeting. 



The regular meeting of the Gar- 

 deners' and Florists' Club was held 

 April 24, President Hamilton presiding. 

 The attendance was small on account 

 of the rush attending Easter. The 

 schedule for the Maryland Week show, 

 to be held in November, 1916, was dis- 

 tributed to those present and will be 

 mailed to absent members. 



Mr. Colyn, a salesman for Holland 

 bulbs, spoke on the diflSculties encoun- 

 tered by the exporters of his country in 

 getting goods to this country, particu- 

 larly nursery stock. 



Various Notes. 



P. C. Erdman had a stall at the north- 

 west corner of Eutaw and Lexington 

 streets and displayed a good line of gar- 

 den roses in pots and a number of high- 

 grade rhododendrons. 



James Glass specialized in hydran- 

 geas, spirseas and heather for Easter. 

 His Pink Pearl rhododendrons were ex- 

 ceptionally fine and sold well. 



L. H. A. Klein featured a number of 

 potted hyacinths and tulips, of which 

 he disposed completely. 



Stevenson Bros, had a heavy cut of 

 Killarney and Killamey Brilliant roses 

 of exceptionally good quality. 



Edward Kress showed a fine lot of 

 pot roses in flower and azaleas and 

 lilacs, which moved quickly. 



The Leo Niessen Co. handled some 



fine orchid-flowering sweet peas and 

 good valley. A heavy crop of plumosus 

 was unloaded by this company. 



C. Fred Pauth, of WoOdlawn, and 

 the Baltimore Cut Flower Co. installed 

 delivery trucks last week. F. C. Bauer 

 has purchased a new touring car and 

 Charles F. Feast is riding around in a 

 new Overland. Herbert Wagner also 

 has a smart touring car. 



Samuel Feast & Sons last week sold 

 an exceptionally fine lot of potted 

 plants, principally ramblers and lilies. 

 They had a heavy cut of peas and snai>- 

 dragons. W. F. E. 



KANSAS cmr. 



The Market. 



Easter business was excellent. A gen- 

 eral increase in trade was reported by 

 everybody and all seemed well satisfied 

 with the number of orders received. 

 Ideal weather prevailed and helped to 

 clean up all stock. Pot plants sold 

 well. Lilies and hydrangeas were the 

 leaders and there was an excellent lot 

 of them on the market. Baskets 

 filled with plants and cut flowers sold 

 fast and at somewhat higher price*. 

 The cut flower trade was good. There 

 was plenty of stock to be had and 

 everything was cleaned up before noon 

 April 22. Sweet peas were leaders for 

 corsage bouquets. Boses, carnations and 

 other cut stock sold evenly. Prices 

 were slightly advanced. Beauties and 

 Bussells were the leaders in roses. Out- 

 door stock had little effect on the cut 

 flower market. Fruit trees, some of the 

 shrubs and bulbous stock are in full 

 bloom. 



Variou8 Notes. 



Arthur Newell reports the largest 

 trade he has ever had, particularly in 

 pot plants, of which he sold more than 

 he had expected. 



Miss J. E. Murray had a splendid 

 Easter trade. She was sold out (com- 

 pletely and had no trouble ii^ ^jiyer- 

 ing orders. 



The Peterson Floral Co. had a good 

 Easter display in its large window, but 

 by noon on Easter the display was en- 

 tirely gone. 



The Alpha Floral Co. sold out com- 



Sletely. Beauties and Bussells in bas- 

 ets were snapped up quickly. 



A. F. Barbe says he did the largest 

 Easter business in years. His ceme- 

 tery trade was beyond his expectations. 

 He sold a large quantity of pot plants 

 as well as cut flowers. 



The Rosery made a specialty of rus- 

 tic baskets filled with bulbous stock 

 and all of them sold well. 



T. J. Noll & Co, report their Easter 

 business double that of last year. They 

 cleared entirely of plants and cut 

 flowers. The large quantities of roses, 

 lilies and sweet peas were sold before 

 noon on Easter. 



Henry Kusik & Co. sold 125,000 cut 

 ferns last week and the sale of other 

 lines was in proportion. An immense 

 quantity of potted lilies was sold. 



W. J. Barnes had a busy Easter. All 

 the palms and ferns were sent out for 

 decorations for churches and weddings. 

 His Easter business increased consider- 

 ably over that of last year. 



The Geo. M. Kellogg Flower & Plant 

 Co. cleaned up on everything. A large 

 quantity of out-of-town funeral work 

 came in during the Easter rush and kept 

 all hustling to get orders out on time. 



The W. L. Rock Flower Co. sold more 



