33 



The Rorists' Review 



Tbbbuabt 1. 1017. 



NEW YOBK. 



The Market. 



The market continues remarkably 

 firm, when the dullness in the retail de- 

 partment of the cut flower business is 

 considered. Funeral work last week 

 seems to have been the only foundation 

 for stability. It therefore is fortunate 

 that the rose shipments continue light, 

 for this doubtless has been what has 

 held the market steady. There was not 

 H usable rose of the shorter lengths left 

 January 27. Extra American Beauties 

 were quoted at 60 cents to 75 cents as 

 the week closed. Hadley is back to 60 

 cents for the selects. Ophelia, Sun- 

 burst and all the twenty other varieties 

 were held at the same good values as a 

 week ago. Rose advisers in the whole- 

 sale ranks say we may expect a break 

 early in February, when the houses that 

 have been oflE crop begin to do duty once 

 more. The quality of most of the roses 

 arriving is above reproach. 



Carnations were firm at the close of 

 the week. Good flowers of any color 

 brought $4 per hundred; none sold under 

 $3 and a few of the specialties sold at 

 $5 per hundred. Cattleyas and other 

 orchids continue equal to the demand. 

 The quality of the cattleyas is greatly 

 improved. Longiflorums are strong at $10 

 to $12 per hundred; a few long-stemmed 

 flowers were held at 15 cents each. 

 Valley has not changed its quotation for 

 weeks; "2 to 5 and take your choice." 

 The demand seems light. Gardenias are 

 improving in stem and quality; the best 

 now bring $3 per dozen. There is an 

 abundance of the low grades, some sell- 

 ing as low as 50 cents per dozen. 



The market is surfeited with short- 

 stemmed tulips, for which there is little 

 demand. The rest of the bulbous stock 

 is selling freely and at excellent prices. 

 Callas have sold as high as $20 per 

 hundred. Freesia is especially fine at 

 present. 



Sweet peas are abundant and some of 

 tlie stock is superb, bringing as high as 

 $3 per hundred sprays. Yiolets are 

 plentiful. The street men are again in 

 evidence on the mild days. Pansies, 

 daisies, wallflowers, primulas, mignon- 

 ette and all the rest of the seasonable 

 flowers, flowering shrubs and blooming 

 plants, especially azaleas and cyclamens, 

 are plentiful. 



Various Notes. 



February 12 is carnation night at the 

 Florists' Club. The spring flower show 

 is the subject for discussion. Phil Kess- 

 ler again is chairman of the house com- 

 mittee and has some Virginia hams up 

 his sleeve. 



Gus Schmidt, of Eiedel & Meyer's 

 force, is in the hospital, ill with pneu- 

 monia. 



The George W. Crawbuck Co. has 

 leased its branch store at 57 West 

 Twenty-eighth street to Thomas Toung, 

 Jr. Mr. Young will have his whole- 

 sale cut flower enterprise at this ad- 

 dress. 



Another wholesaler on West Twenty- 

 eighth street, between Sixth and Sev- 

 enth avenues, will locate this week over 

 the store of the George W. Crawbuck 

 Co. ^ 



Arthur Saltford, of Poughkeepsie, 

 was in the city last week and was 

 quite a purchasing factor in the whole- 

 sale market. 



A. L. Young finished his jury duties 

 January 27, with the famous Osborn- 

 Tanzer case. 



McKinley day was dark and rainy. 

 There seems to be little public recogni- 

 tion of the anniversary. 



Myers & Samtman, of Chestnut Hill, 

 Pa., are sending M. C. Ford a new 

 rose, a sport from Old Gold, that prom- 

 ises a supply of new gold to its grow- 

 ers and distributors. 



Chas. Lenker, of Freeport, has been 

 honorably discharged by the grand jury 

 from the charge made against him some 

 weeks ago. 



D. C. Arnold has returned from a six 

 months' pleasure trip in the west. 



Louis Dupuy and family, of White- 

 stone, have returned from Bermuda. 



Joseph Fenrich and wife are spend- 

 ing week ends at Asbury Park. 



Bowling. 



The bowling elub has many visitors 

 at its afternoon sessions and a strong 

 team for the S. A. F. convention is 

 assured. The following scores wore 

 made on January 25: 

 Player 1st 2(1 3(1 



John Miesem 193 168 151 



Alex Donaldson 159 193 161 



C. W. Scott 165 147 142 



K. J. Irwin 178 147 150 



M. Kakuda 161 165 140 



W. P. Ford 160 150 147 



Jos. Fenrich 180 159 15G 



P. Jacobson 165 158 131 



W. H. Siebrecht 151 147 140 



J. Austin Shaw. 



It is rumored that the New York Flo- 

 rists' Club will give another din-dan 



or dinner dance at the Biltmore, Satur- 

 day night, March 17, the first Satur- 

 day of the flower show. In addition to 

 a dinner of rare goodness, witB the 

 happysome accompaniment of dancing, 

 there will be a mystery. Chairman A. 

 L. Miller says it's going to be "a big 

 joy bubble, which will be burst in the 

 center of the room at exactly 12 

 o'clock." The committee urges an 

 early reservation of tables. Tickets, 

 for lady or gentleman, will be $5 each. 

 T. B. De Forest is secretary, 30 East 

 Forty-second street. 



Sydney B. Wertheimer, of Wer- 

 theimer Bros., states that the cry of the 

 hour from florists is for novelties in 

 ribbons. Mr. Wertheimer says that, 

 while the consumption of plain ribbons 

 is increasing, the constant demand is 

 for variations of weaves and colorings. 

 Mr. Wertheimer cites this as an exam- 

 ple that the florists of the United States 

 are distinctly wide-awake and that the 

 dry goods and millinery man no longer 

 dictates the distinctive styles for florists. 

 Salesmen in this house are instructed, 

 whenever a new idea is presented to 

 them by any of their customers, to im- 

 mediately transmit it to the house, 

 where it is worked out by experts in 

 floral textiles at the Werbro Mills in 

 Paterson, N. J. That is why most rib- 

 bons now used by florists have a dis- 

 tinctly different appearance from those 

 displayed in the department stores. 



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THE RAISE IN PRICES 



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IT IS EASY FOB FLOBISTS. 



To Avoid a Loss. 



"Although everything used in the 

 business has advanced in price during 

 1916 and the cost of running a green- 

 house this season is at least seventy- 

 flve per cent, and possibly 100 per cent, 

 greater than the cost in previous sea- 

 sons, I have not raised my prices one 

 penny and hope to get through without 

 a loss by making such economies as are 

 possible." 



The speaker was a grower whose spe- 

 cialty is pot plants and whose stock al- 

 ways has enjoyed an excellent reputa- 

 tion. He is located in the east. But 

 from the west, in the same day's mail, 

 came a letter from a grower whose spe- 

 cialty is cut flowers, partly retailed in 

 his own store, but mostly sold at whole- 

 sale to florists in nearby towns. This 

 is what he said: 



To Make a Profit. 



"You may be interested to know 

 that we have this season advanced our 

 prices materially and that it apparently 

 has had no effect on the business ex- 

 cept to save the loss of profits threat- 

 ened by the greatly increased cost of 

 doing business. Of course we did not 

 advance our prices all at once, but made 

 small advances steadily; scarcely any 

 of our customers made any comment 

 and those who asked usually were sat- 

 isfied that the small advance then 

 made was fully justified by condi- 

 tions." 



The fact of the matter is that in- 

 creases in the prices of commodities 



have become so general that they no 

 longer attract attention. It is taken 

 for granted that things cost more this 

 season than they did last season and 

 the fact that the prices of any given 

 article are higher than they were before 

 the war passes without notice. 



No Besistance Now. 



In the earlier stages of the advance 

 there was resistance, but the resistance 

 has been worn down by the fact that 

 at practically every attempt to pur- 

 chase the buyer has found that it was 

 necessary to pay more money than be- 

 fore. It applies to everything except a 

 few trade-marked commodities, and on 

 these original margins of profit were 

 unusually good. 



That the florist who does not attempt 

 to raise his prices is deliberately sacri- 

 ficing his profits is shown by the state- 

 ment of the eastern plantsman as com- 

 pared with the statement of the western 

 cut flower grower. If a man growing cut 

 flowers can raise his prices without en- 

 countering resistance on the part of his 

 wholesale and retail customers, surely 

 the plantsman can make moderate ad- 

 vances without difficulty. 



An Increase Must Be Asked. 



As a matter of fact nearly all florists 

 selling to the public are asking better 

 prices this season than heretofore. It 

 is easy to get them; Sll one has to do 

 is to keep his rates within reason. 



Practically the only reason why re- 

 tail prices in this trade have not been 

 advanced in any locality is because the 

 florists there have been afraid to ask an 

 advance. People cannot be expected to 



