The Florists^ Review 



May 18, 1919. 



MILWAUKEE. 



The Market. 



Mothers' day certainly caused some 

 excitement in the local market this 

 year. Stock was scarce and great diffi- 

 culty was experienced in taking care 

 of orders satisfactorily. The supply ex- 

 ceeded that for Easter, omitting, of 

 course, the plant end of the business. 



The plant sales^ while they showed 

 some increase, are yet in their infancy, 

 but the possibilities are wonderful and 

 this occasion will sometime be one of 

 the biggest days of the year. Some of 

 the florists got together this year and 

 placed advertisements in the different 

 local papers, boosting Mothers' day. 

 From the sales it would seem that the 

 plan was highly successful, and there 

 will in all probability be a permanent 

 fund for advertising, to keep flowers in 

 the minds of the people. 



Carnations were scarcer than at 

 Easter time, for, although the cut was 

 larger, the demand more than kept pace 

 with the increased supply. From $6 to 

 $8 per hundred was the price realized on 

 this stock and it was entirely cleaned 

 up. Boses sold exceptionally well, but 

 did not move as freely as carnations. 

 The quality of the roses was better 

 than the carnations and the prices were 

 just as low or lower for short-stemmed 

 stock. Mrs. Eussell roses were in abun- 

 dant supply and sold readily, finding 

 more favor than any other variety in 

 the market. Sweet peas also sold well. 

 The crop was fine and the supply was 

 large. Immense quantities were readily 

 disposed of at satisfactory prices. 



This surely has been a gala season 

 for bulbous stock, as it still is with us 

 and selling well, although the quality is 

 steadily deteriorating. Greens sold ex- 

 ceptionally well and the supply, while 

 large, fell short in meeting the big de- 

 mand. A few orchids were in the mar- 

 ket and sold readily at the usual prices. 



Wild smilax has had an exceptionally 

 good season this year and the stock 

 has been uniformly good, with a few 

 exceptions. 



Easter, Mothers' day and Mtemorial 

 day, coming so close together this year, 

 have made the greenhouse men go some 

 to get the stock shifted and in shape in 

 time. 



Various Notes. 



The Shriners' ball, an annual affair 

 of the Masonic order, was given at the 

 Auditorium May 6. The decorations 

 were composed mainly of smilax and . 

 palms. The ball, which is always elab- 

 orate, called for large numbers of 

 corsages, which kept some of the local 

 florists busy S^iturday afternoon. 



William Lubliner, 225 Grand avenue, 

 was operated on for appendicitis at a 

 local hospital May 8. Dan Lubliner re- 

 ports that his brother is in fine shape 

 and will be out in about a week. 



L. L. May, of St. Paul, Minn., is in 

 town at the Mount Sinai hospital un- 

 dergoing treatment. Mr. May has been 

 in poor health for some time and it is to 

 be hoped that these treatments will 

 help him quickly. 



C. C. Pollworth went to Fond du Lac, 

 Wis., last week to attend the funeral 

 of Robert Haentze. H. J. S. 



The business heretofore conducted un- 

 der the firm name of J. M. Fox & Son 

 has been incorporated, the stock of 

 which now is owned entirely by the 

 members of the old partnership. The 



business will be carried on under the 

 corporate name of J. M. Fox & Son. 



MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. 



Various Notes. 



Rice Bros, had a busy time with large 

 orders for Mothers' day. They had 

 difficulty in getting enough first-class 

 stock. Carnations sold at $6 to $8 per 

 hundred and roses brought $4 to $8 per 

 hundred. 



The daily papers carried a handsome 

 advertisement for the Minneapolis Flo- 

 rists' Club. It represented a young 

 man presenting his mother with a box 

 of flowers. 



The Lakewood Cemetery Greenhouses 

 are shipping out large orders of chrys- 

 anthemum cuttings. The manager 

 said: "If you have anything to sell, 

 advertise it in The Review and you 

 will get all the customers you want." 



The Minneapolis Floral Co. had a 

 record business in work of evefy de- 

 scription. The staff has been enlarged 

 and an immense stock of plants is be- 

 ing prepared for Decoration day. This 

 concern usually does a fine lot of plant- 

 ing for the trade exhibitors at the state 

 fair. 



W. H. Bofferding is making a special 

 offer of gladioli. He had a fine win- 

 dow display of gladioli and cosmos last 

 week and reported an increased busi- 

 ness all around. 



Max Kaiser has an exceptionally fine 

 lot of rambler roses, hydrangeas and 

 general bedding stock. He is cutting 

 some fine lilies and orchids. 



Oscar Carlson is cutting a fine lot of 

 roses and carnations. 



Wessling's Greenhouses are looking 

 quite gay with a large stock of potted 

 plants of many kinds. 



Hans Rosacker had a good cut of 

 carnations for Mothers' day. His stock 

 is in a fine, healthy condition. 



The Eldridge Floral Co. made a spe- 

 cial effort for Mothers' day. The store 

 was a mass of fine carnations and roses. 



Oscar E. Amundsen's taste for deco- 

 rating runs in baskets. He always 

 uses them in window displays, but the 

 variety and tasteful arrangements of 

 the baskets make the displays unique. 



J. Hayden, of the Florist Shop, is 

 pushing the sale of spring stock. He 

 is adapting himself to the requirements 

 of the particular trade. Adaptability 

 means utility; utility of space in quiet 

 times means increased returns. 



Mr. Mitchell, proprietor of the Lake 

 Street Florist Shop, does his local ad- 

 vertising through the "movies." A 

 picture of the store was featured for 

 Mothers' day. 



R. A. Latham has a fine lot of box- 

 wood and clipped trees. He has on 

 exhibition a good assortment of French 

 hydrangeas. 



O. C. Swanson never fails to have his 

 display windows so attractive that 

 passers-by stop and admire. He fea- 

 tured special boxes of carnations for 

 Mothers' day. 



Miss H. B. Whitted had a good dis- 

 play May 11. The color scheme was 

 yellow, yellow irises predominating. At 

 the time of writing. Miss Whitted is 

 seriously ill with heart trouble. She 

 had an acute attack May 12, while out 

 in her touring car. The doctors have 

 ordered her to take a twelve months' 

 rest. F. E. B. 



Mews from 



roa 



London, England. — James Carter & 

 Co. have been making fine displays of 

 that glorious golden daffodil, King 

 Alfred. Their shop windows have had 

 some good flowers lately and the big 

 show the firm put up at the R. H. S. 

 hall attracted a great deal of attention. 

 The bulbs are getting fairly cheap now, 

 and we hear some good orders have been 

 booked for next planting season. 



Sydney, Australia. — A recent confer- 

 ence of those in the trade, held to formu- 

 late a plan for the protection of mutual 

 interests, resulted in the adoption of 

 low minimum prices for all standard 

 lines of stock and an agreement to de- 

 stroy such quantities as can not be 

 sold at the specified prices. Apparently 

 the trade is living up to the agreement 

 and cut price offers and auctions have 

 practically ceased. 



Yokohama, Japan. — There seems to 

 be a revival of interest in fern balls 

 and shapes, a considerable quantity 

 having been exported this season, espe- 

 cially to England. While balls are sold 

 in greatest number, the odd shapes take 

 well. Monkeys with porcelain faces are 

 a novelty, also elephants with bone 

 tusks, squirrels with bushy tails, and 

 other animal forms. All are filled with 

 Davallia bullata for green. 



London, England.-r-With reference to 

 the recent show of the Perpetual Flow- 

 ering Carnation Society, American 

 growers will be interested to note that 

 Beacon captured the medal for the best 

 vase in the show, while Pink Sensation 

 beat Philadelphia for one vase of any 

 variety. 



London, England. — The U. S. consul 

 general has information that the British 

 Board of Trade proposes shortly to issue 

 rules restricting the importation of a 

 considerable list of articles, among them 

 bulbs, flower roots, plants, trees and 

 shrubs. As England has been a large 

 consumer of Belgian, Dutch, French and 

 Japanese stock, the closing of this mar- 

 ket will have an important bearing on 

 the supply from the 1916 crop to be of- 

 fered in the United States. 



Ollioules, France. — The bulb growers 

 are meeting with much difficulty be- 

 cause of labor shortage, but it is ex- 

 pected the crop can be harvested in 

 sufficient quantity to take care of all 

 export orders. The railroad at Mar- 

 seilles has been nearly monopolized by 

 the military, but if this condition pre- 

 vails at shipping time it will be possi- 

 ble to team the bulbs to the dock, as 

 was done in a small way in 1915. The 

 Fabre line steamers to New Y'ork are 

 sailing quite regularly. 



