Fkbroary 22, 1917. 



The Florists' Review 



17 



BALTIMOSE. 



Pleased to Meet You I 



With a deep sense of gratitude to the 

 Editor of The Review for the opportu- 

 nity to serve in a small way the inter- 

 ests of Baltimore through the medium 

 of his journal, the newly appointed cor- 

 respondent extends his greetings to its 

 readers. As a source of information 

 bearing exclusively on trade matters, 

 The Eeview has for years occupied a 

 unique position in this community, and 

 has enjoyed a large measure of confi- 

 dence and esteem. In taking up this 

 new duty, it is the hope of the writer 

 that this happy condition will continue 

 unimpaired — nay, that it may be the 

 foundation for the building of a more 

 perfect understanding between the 

 Editor and the trade in this city. 



Now, let our first letter not deal so 

 much with trade matters, but let us see 

 if we really want a journal to take no- 

 tice of what the florists' business is 

 doing in our city. Since the great fire 

 in 1904, Baltimore has become a new 

 and modem city; in fact, the great trou- 

 ble at the present time is for its citizens 

 to keep abreast with its progress. It en- 

 joys one of the best geographical posi- 

 tions on the Atlantic coast. It has new 

 and modern docks, with thirty-five feet 

 of water in the harbor, so that the larg- 

 est ships afloat have no trouble in dock- 

 ing. The railroad facilities are second 

 to none in the country. 



These features are attracting to our 

 city manufacturing of all Unds. I 

 might remind you here that the presi- 

 dent of the United States Steel Co. 

 thought so well of the prospects at Bal- 

 timore that he purchased for his com- 

 pany Sparrows Point, a suburb, and 

 work is now under way on improve- 

 ments to cost $50,000,000. This is the 

 largest new enterprise, but only one of 

 many. Our city administration is 

 wide-awake to our advantages and has 

 spent about the same amount of money 

 in betterments, such as better streets, a 

 new sewerage system, new docks, etc. 

 The population of the city proper is 

 650,000, with about 250,000 in the sub- 

 urbs. Unlike most cities of this size, 

 Baltimore is a city of homes; a large 

 majority of the people own their own 

 homes. 



Now all this at first sight does not 

 seem to have any bearing on the florists ' 

 trade; but let us analyze it just a little. 

 What I mean is, that when a town is 

 growing and is as prosperous as Balti- 

 more now is — and we remember that 

 our stock in trade is a luxury, a thing 

 that can well be done without when 

 times are hard and money is tight — 

 everyone in the business reaps some 

 benefit. Everyone reaps some benefit, 

 from Feast & Sons, Halliday, Cook and 

 Jifary Johnson, with their large society 

 clienteles, down to James Glass, Conrad 

 Hess and M. Richmond in the markets. 

 Every one of them is feeling the wave 

 of prosperity that is sweeping over the 

 city. Now, the point is just this: 

 Every other line is taking advantage 

 of it; shall the florists be laggards? The 

 Editor of The Review has offered us 

 one column of his journal each week 

 'or good, live trade news; shall we take 

 advantage of it? Yes! Anything that 

 you may have in the way of trade news, 

 If you will call Mount Vernon 121, I 

 will be glad to investigate and see that 

 ^gets into the Baltimore column of 

 ine Eeview. 



The Market. 



Stock of all kinds, while none too 

 plentiful, that is, for the flner qualities, 

 has been equal to the demand. Hoffman 

 is sending in flne jonquils, Golden Spurs 

 — all bulbous stock has been in good 

 shape, especially freesias. 



Roses have held their own. Steven- 

 son Bros.' Killarneys are flne; Radiance 

 is off crop, but Red Radiance is coming 

 in splendidly, with good stems and clean 

 foliage. Beauties are scarce, and, with 

 the price at $9 and $10 per dozen, are not 

 in much demand. Ward and baby roses 

 seem to be standbys for corsage work. 

 Sunburst still holds its own. • 



Various Notes. 

 James Glass has been in the hospital 



for the last three weeks, but at last re- 

 ports his friends were glad to hear that 

 he is improving. 



Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Johnston Febru- 

 ary 8 celebrated the twenty-fourth an- 

 niversary of their marriage, with a fam- 

 ily dinner and reunion. Unlike the 

 shoemaker whose boys went barefoot, 

 special attention was paid to the deco- 

 rations. The color scheme was yellow, 

 with a centerpiece of Golden Spur jon- 

 quils. The entire affair was most en- 

 joyable. 



I am afraid I am taking more than 

 my column in this, my first letter, and, 

 as I have heard a lot about the editor 's 

 blue pencil, I think I had better stop. 

 But let's get together and boost the 

 trade in Baltimore! Tate. 



Eutaw, Ala. — Miss Kate Alexander 

 has opened a florists' agency here. 



Bessemer, Ala. — Mrs. W. D. Brown, 

 proprietor of the Colonial Greenhouses, 

 says the first fortnight of February was 

 the worst this part of the south has ex- 

 perienced in years. She even lost her 

 pansies, which were just coming into 

 bloom, and tea roses in the open were 

 badly damaged by the frost. Trade is 

 excellent and the principal difficulty is 

 in the supply of stock. 



Newton, N. C. — The season for ship- 

 ping nursery stock from the several Ca- 

 tawba nurseries is nearing a close, 

 though stock will be shipped in small 

 quantities for several weeks to come. 

 This business has swelled to large pro- 

 portions in Catawba, and many thou- 

 sands of dollars annually are brought 

 to the country in return for young fruit 

 trees, shrubbery and ornamental plants 

 and shade trees, as well as a few berry 

 plants. One firm sells more than $20,000 

 worth each year, shipments going into 

 a number of other states as well as to 

 North Carolina buyers. A section of 

 country west and southwest of Newton 

 seems peculiarly well adapted to this 

 business, and all the concerns handling 

 trees are located there. 



New Orleans, La. — Flowers and plants 

 in New Orleans suffered more during 

 the freeze of a fortnight ago than they 

 have since 1899, and most of the early 

 spring flowers and plants have been 

 killed. This statement was made at 

 the recent meeting of the New Orleans 

 Horticultural Society. It was said that 

 the warm weather during January was 

 responsible for the killing of the plants. 

 Most of the florists had planted their 

 spring flowers. Then came the heavy 

 rain and the freezing weather. It will 

 be necessary for local florists to send 

 away for plants and flowers to replace 

 those lost. P. A. Chopin, Otto Abele, 

 E. Farley, Henry Eraak and C. W. 

 Eichling have been appointed a com- 

 mittee to arrange for the fall flower 

 show. 



New Orleans, La. — Peter Ackerman, 

 formerly a member of F. J, Reyes & Co., 

 has opened a store at 141 Bourbon street. 



De Land, Fla. — Wm. B. Currey has 

 built up an excellent retail trade and is 

 now engaged in putting up a store and 

 showroom conservatory, which, accord- 

 ing to plans, will be up-to-date and en- 

 able him to carry a stock of supplies 

 and accessories he could not handle be- 

 fore. 



Greenville, S. C. — Damages amounting 

 to approximately $2,000 were suffered 

 last week by the Greenville Floral Co., 

 when a boiler in one of the greenhouses 

 burst as the result of a fire having been 

 kindled while the pipes were frozen. 

 The boiler was demolished and consider- 

 able injury was done to the house and 

 stock. 



Brunswick, Ga. — Dr. David Griffith, 

 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 who recently made a trip through this 

 section, is quoted as saying: "Glynn 

 county's land equals that of France for 

 raising narcissus bulbs and you are 

 missing the greatest opportunity by 

 neglecting to utilize your soil for this 

 purpose. French bulbs seem to grow to 

 perfection in Glynn county and you 

 should grow narcissi by the millions, 

 competing with the French growers who 

 export large quantities of these bulbs 

 to the United States every year. Your 

 climate in many respects surpasses that 

 of France in the region where these 

 bulbs are grown. With the European 

 war on, there is a scarcity in the north 

 of these flowers, and the opportunity is 

 the greatest at the present time. I 

 have visited regions in California where 

 thousands of narcissus bulbs are raised, 

 but without exaggeration your climate 

 is more adapted for the purpose than 

 is that of the Golden State. On this 

 tour of inspection I have visited 

 Norfolk, Va., and Charleston, S. C, 

 where I have found excellent facilities 

 as well as good soil, but Glynn county 

 is superior in every respect to the other 

 sections. ' ' 



