Mabch is. 1917. 



The Florists' Review 



25 



ST. LOUIS. 



The Market. 



Business during the last week was not 

 rushing; in fact, funeral work was the 

 only thing that kept the wholesalers and 

 retailers busy some days. The market 

 was oversupplied all the week with al- 

 most everything in season, and prices 

 took a decided drop in all grades. The 

 clear, warm weather brought on stock 

 with a rush. Violets were a glut and sold 

 cheaply, but they will soon be a thing 

 of the past, especially if the warm spell 

 keeps on. By Easter there probably 

 will be none. 



Boses are becoming more plentiful, 

 but as yet are not crowding the market. 

 They should be in full crop at Easter. 

 Carnations are abundant in all varie- 

 ties, and the average price for the best 

 grade is $2. Extra fine sweet peas are 

 plentiful, but only the extra fancy have 

 the call and bring anything like a price. 

 Bulbous stock is plenteous; Easter lilies, 

 callas, valley, freesias, tulips, jonquils 

 and Paper Whites are to be had at ex- 

 ceedingly low prices. Plumosus, Spren- 

 geri and adiantum are scarce. In other 

 greens there is a good supply daily. 

 dub Meeting. 



The Florists' Club held an interest- 

 ing meeting March 8 at the Missouri 

 Botanical Garden. This meeting, held 

 a week previous to the spring flower 

 show, brought out quite a large attend- 

 ance. After disposing of the opening 

 business, a letter from John Young, sec- 

 retary of the S. A. F., was read, in 

 which the secretary spoke of the Na- 

 tional Flower Show and "the S. A. F. 

 meeting, which, it is expected, will be 

 held here at the same time, in March, 

 1918. 



Ivan Erickson and A. P. Mclntire 

 were elected to membership. The chair 

 then called on the committees for re- 

 ports. That of the show committee was 

 most interesting to all present. Joseph 

 Hauser and P. Schneider were requested 

 to read papers at the next club meeting. 

 The subjects were left to their choice. 

 M. C. Wright, of the Lord & Burnham 

 Co., made application for membership. 



V. C. Folanius, a former student of the 

 Garden and now forestry expert for the 

 government, was present, and gave 

 some interesting accounts of timber sale 

 work for the government. The question 

 box brought out some lively discussions, 

 the one regarding lilies for Easter re- 

 sulting in a long debate. L. Baumanii 

 told the members how to get rid of fun- 

 gus in greenhouse beds. 



After the meeting the members were 

 taken in hand by Max Schiller, who 

 guided them through the big conserva- 

 tories, where monthly flower shows are 

 being held. The next meeting of the 

 club will be held April 12. 

 Various Notes. 



The young gardeners' association held 

 its second meeting March 7, at the For- 

 est park greenhouses. There were thirty- 

 five members present, with vice-presi- 

 dent George Pring presiding. Stephen 

 Beer, gardener for the John T. Davis 

 estate, read a paper on "Preparation 

 for Spring Work." Eleven new mem- 

 bers were added to the list. The asso- 

 ciation will hold meetings every second 

 Wednesday of each month. 



Mrs. Ella Grant Wilson, of Cleveland, 

 addressed St. Louis florists at the Mis- 

 sion Inn Garden, March 5. The large 

 hall was filled with florists and there 



were many women in the audience. Mrs. 

 Wilson spoke on publicity and service 

 for florists. Mrs. Wilson was followed 

 by President Bourdet and Vincent 

 Gorly, who endorsed the idea set forth 

 by Mrs. Wilson. Befreshments were 

 served after the meeting. Great credit 

 is due Mr. Gorly, who was instrumental 

 in bringing Mrs. Wilson here. 



F. H. Weber last week opened his 

 new flower establishment at Olive and 

 Taylor streets. The writer, who visited 

 the new store, found it one of the most 

 up-to-date in the city. It is on the cor- 

 ner, with entrances on Taylor and Olive 

 streets. The flxtures are finished in old 

 ivory. Paul Hyland is in charge of the 

 new store, and Adolph Steidle is man- 

 ager of the old stand, which will be 

 continued. The boss splits his time 

 between the two places. 



The McCloskey Bros. Floral Co. has 

 moved into its new quarters at the cor- 

 ner of Grand and Finney avenues. Ev- 

 erything is in working order and the 

 management reports splendid business. 



The new flower store known as the 

 Delmar Union Flower Show, over whicli 

 Mrs. G. K. McNeill and Miss Betty 

 Carlstrom preside, had its formal open- 

 ing last week at 5260 Delmar boulevard. 



Marion Uhlschmidt, head of Grimm & 

 Gorly 's east side branch, is sporting a 

 new car. His daily visits to the whole- 

 sale district required as rapid transit as 

 possible. 



Oscar Huettemann, of the Tower 

 Floral Co., came out last week with a 

 new Studebaker machine. He handled 

 the wheel like a veteran. 



J. B. Demand, well known as a whole- 

 saler of a few years back, paid us a 

 visit last week, renewing old acquaint- 

 ances. Mr. Demand made the trip west 

 for his health. 



Paul Hranicka, head of the green- 



house range of John T. Milliken, at Cres- 

 cent, left last week for Elm Grove, W. 

 Va., where he will wed Miss Josephine 

 Kirchner. The couple will return this 

 week to take in the spring flower show. 



A. J. Butterfield, of Farmington, Mo., 

 accompanied by his bride-to-be, Miss 

 L. Cole, paid the city a visit March 11, 

 and announced the wedding day, March 

 20, at Farmington. 



John Miller, formerly with the J. S. 

 Wilson Floral Co., of Des Moines, la., 

 was a visitor last week. Mr. Miller se- 

 cured a position with Grimm & Gorly. 



J. J. B. 



OEITUABY. 



Alfred F. Schiller. 



The Milwaukee trade lost a well 

 known member in the death of Alfred 

 F. Schiller, of 1044 Twenty-seventh 

 street, who passed away March 8, after 

 a lingering illness of over two years. 



Mr. Schiller was born at Coburg, Ger- 

 many, where he lived until he was 17. 

 He was a member of the West Side 

 Turners for over fifteen years and was 

 assistant instructor for part of the 

 time. He was the proud owner of nine- 

 teen medals, each representing a victory 

 in acrobatic contests. Mr. Schiller is 

 survived by his wife and two sons, 

 Eobert and Raymond, who have the sin- 

 cere sympathy of the trade. H. J. S. 



Andrew B. Holmes. 



Andrew B. Holmes, proprietor of 

 greenhouses at Brookings, S. D., March 

 1 was stricken with heart failure and 

 fell to the floor dead. He was 69 years 

 of age and moved to Brookings from 

 Washington, D. C, where he was iden- 

 tified with the florists' business. He ia 

 survived by five children. 



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C, E. Rossiter, of Sunbury, Pa., had 

 the new boilers in good shape when the 

 cold snap arrived. Winter has no ter- 

 rors for him now; with abundant stock 

 and excellent demand, all is serene. 



Powers & Co., of Danville, Pa., make 

 a specialty of roses and have received 

 the highest continuous prices for sev- 

 eral seasons. "Roses for me!" said 

 Thomas Powers; "except that some of 

 our houses get really cool, and here is 

 where carnations come in, as the rose 

 is much more sensitive." 



J. A. Peterson & Sons, of Westwood, 

 O., report the best season on record. 

 They are making preparations by a 

 heavy propagation of stock and adding 

 space to take care of an even bigger fu- 

 ture. I found the senior Mr. Peterson 

 critically surveying the stock plants of 

 cyclamens set aside for seed, and noted 

 the big seed pods fit to burst, while many 

 blooms were yet at their best. It gave 

 one an excellent opportunity to judge of 

 the vigor of the plant, size and delicacy 

 in color of bloom. Begonia Melior is 

 considered the best in its class; and, by 

 the way, I noted a sport of Melior, with 

 a larger flower and stronger habit, if 

 that is possible. 



Frank E. Rue, of Peoria, HI., observed 



that good help was the most valuable as- 

 set to any business. In this he said he 

 was most fortunate, and that he gave 

 credit for good service rendered. An il- 

 lustration of versatility happened right 

 in his store during my visit. We were 

 discussing the high cost of setting eggs 

 for the purpose of demonstrating an in- 

 cubator, when the clerk excused himself 

 to wait on a customer. The patron fan- 

 cied some fruit trees, but was undecided 

 what to plant. That clerk's description 

 of the qualities of the Bigarreau cherry 

 was worth listening to. When he added 

 that it was the favorite fruit of the im- 

 mortal George, was it surprising that he 

 booked a nice order? 



It is reported that the Good & Reese- 

 Co., of Springfield, O., suffered a heavy 

 loss by fire February 5. 



Warren G. Matthews, of Dayton, re- 

 lated some of the incidents that hap- 

 pened when, with Mrs. Matthews, he 

 took a trip east last summer. ' ' We saw 

 much to interest and regale us," said 

 Mr. Matthews, "but the most interest- 

 ing was Grant 's tomb. The experiences 

 on that trip will ever live in our mem- 

 ories; itwas our first vacation in several 



years. 



W. M. 



