22 



The Florists' Review 



Decembke 7, 1916. 



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PRICES UP AND DOWN 



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EFFECT ON FLORISTS. 



Better Retail Prices. 



There are evidences that the trend 

 of prices ia turning a little more in 

 favor of the average florist. The rise 

 in commodity prices throughout the 

 country has been so sharp that prac- 

 tically every florist has realized the ne- 

 cessity for asking the public to pay 

 more for plants and flowers. The re- 

 sult has been that there has come to 

 pass a considerable improvement in the 

 retail prices charged by florists. There 

 has been no skyrocketing, such as has 

 occurred in many other lines of busi- 

 ness, but there has been a general im- 

 provement. At least, there has been 

 an end to price-cutting. 



In towns where it has been impossi- 

 ble to make any material increase in 

 prices because there was no leader, or 

 because not all would follow the leader, 

 it nevertheless has been realized that 

 this is not a season for trying to get 

 business regardless of the profit in it. 

 This has had an appreciable effect in 

 improving the state of the business 

 where, as Ralph M. Ward says, florists 

 are like cabbages, because they do not 

 do well when planted too close together. 



The public has become so accustomed 

 to finding prices advanced that florists 

 actually have heard surprise expressed 

 that their prices were not higher. 

 There has been no trouble at all in 

 making moderate advances, and even 

 small advances have aggregated a suf- 

 ficient sum to make the retail end of 

 the business decidedly easier. 



On the Bu3rlng Side. 



On the buying side conditions also 

 are relaxing to at least a moderate de- 

 gree. The fear of pronounced scarcity 

 of merchandise in nearly all lines of 

 trade has subsided since the rush of 

 fall buying; there are few lines now 

 in which there is any fear of not be- 

 ing able to secure the goods. The pan- 

 icky conditions therefore have subsided. 

 Buyers cither have obtained a sufficient 

 holiday supply of the goods they wanted 

 or they have found an acceptable sub- 

 stitute, so they no longer are bidding 

 up prices on themselves. 



These statements relate principally 

 to general linos of merchandise, but 

 the fact has the effect of making it 

 easier for the florist to buy and it has 

 a tendency to stop the rise in prices, if 

 it has not actually caused any worth- 

 while decline. 



Florists never have found business 

 better than it is at present, considering 

 the season of the year, and the indica- 

 tions arc that this will be the largest 

 season in the history of the trade. 

 There is some shortage in certain lines 

 of plants on which the trade is more 

 or less dependent on imports from 

 Europe, but cut flower production has 

 struck its stride and there is no likeli- 

 hood of any scarcity for the balance of 

 this season. Also, plant propagators 

 never were busier and the spring sup- 

 ply of bedding stock will exceed any- 

 thing known before. The number of 



places closed because of the scarcity of 

 fuel will not equal the additional pro- 

 ducing capacity resulting from the 

 erection of new greenhouses this season. 

 With prices on a more stable basis 

 the trade is in position to regard the 

 future with confidence. 



several months. Feed them well once 

 they are growing sturdily. C. W. 



> ■ /■=•' 



BEGONIAS COME BLIND. 



"We are sending you a sample of be- 

 gonia plants. The plants were taken 

 from cuttings and have come blind. We 

 would like to know why this happened. 



H. & C— O. 



BEST TIME FOR PRIMULAS. 



Is there any sale for 2^ -inch primu- 

 las along about January and February? 



L. K. M.— Pa. 



I presume you mean young seedlings 

 of Primula Sinensis or P. obconica. 

 There would be a better call in March 

 and April for primulas from small pots. 

 Seeds sown from the middle to the end 

 of January will give plants of sufficient 

 size at the time named. C. W. 



PROPAGATION OF CALENDULAS. 



What treatment should be given 

 calendulas from seed to have blooms 

 for decorations, in a carnation tempera- 

 ture? A. A. S. — Mass. 



Sow the seeds in small pots, several 

 seeds to a pot, and thin them out to 

 one. Set the plants in rows two feet 

 apart and allow a foot between before 

 they become potbound. Do not let the 

 temperature exceed 50 degrees at night. 

 The same soil in which mums and car- 

 nations thrive will answer well. You 

 can disbud and reduce the number of 

 shoots when you want fancy flowers. 

 Calendulas will flower profitably for 



A percentage of shoots on Chatelaine 

 and some other begonias naturally will 

 come blind and care must be taken not 

 ,to propagate from such. Often if cut- 

 tings of this type of fibrous-rooted be- 

 gonias are left too long in the propa- 

 gating bench, the tops of the shoots Tyill 

 become hardened and blind. As a pre- 

 ventive be sure to pot all the cuttings 

 as soon as they are nicely rooted. 



C. W. 



EARLY-BUDDED PAPER WHITES. 



Our Paper White narcissi were started 

 in the soil November 6. After showing 

 green two to four inches, they are 

 throwing buds. They have had a tem- 

 perature of 50 to 60 degrees at night 

 and as high as 70 degrees in the day- 

 time. Please tell us why they are show- 

 ing buds so early. Do you think they 

 will make plenty of foliage before the 

 blooms expand? V. F. C. — Tenn. 



The bulbs referred to doubtless were 

 partly ripened after they were dug; this 

 would cause them to bloom earlier than 

 bulbs that were not dug until thorough- 

 ly ripe. They should produce fully as 

 good flowers and just as many of them 

 as any bulbs. A few degrees more heat 

 and a light shade, or either one of these 

 alone, will give more foliage. If they 

 are in flats and the benches are so piped 

 as to allow it, set them under the bench 

 for two or three days. I do not like 

 to give too much heat, as it may cause 

 the buds to spoil. Floyd Bralliar. 



Mews from 



ros 



HUIegom, Holland.— The firm of F. 

 Eynveld & Sons, which some time ago 

 established a French branch under the 

 name of Eynveld & Cie, at Ollioules, is 

 preparing to establish An American 

 branch in New York. Two of the sons 

 and some of the travelers at present 

 are in the United States. 



Ghent, Belgium. — Plant diseases are 

 becoming extremely prevalent. Sulphur 

 for treatment against mildew realizes 

 six times pre-war prices. Tobacco for 

 nicotine compounds is scarce, and al- 

 though some have tried to grow their 

 own supplies, they have not met with 

 mui'li success. Insect pests are spread- 

 ing, and notably red spider, no chem- 

 icals used as specifics being available. 

 Consignments of coal from the Liege 

 district have been stopped. Repairs to 

 glasshouses can hardly be thought of, 

 as oil for paint or putty is unobtainable. 

 Where glass is broken or blown out it is 

 put in again with cement. Boxes are 

 expensive, too, and the supply insufii- 

 cient since the local sawmills were de- 

 stroyed. 



Paris, France. — L 'Horticulture Fran- 

 caise, the journal of the national or- 

 ganization of nurserymen, still is issued 

 as a quarterly. It is well filled with 

 the general line of ads, but the text 

 largely relates to the death and injury 

 of members of the trade who went to 

 war; also to steps to protect the trade 

 after the return of peace. 



Woking, Engl?ind.— A visitor to the 

 W. C. Sloeock nursery here finds busi- 

 ness with America is particularly good. 

 iNIany thousands of roses and other sub- 

 jects were being lifted for export, and 

 a big shed was entirely devoted to grad- 

 ing and packing Manetti stocks for 

 America. Lads and lasses, who usually 

 do this work, could not be secured this 

 season, but a number of local ladies of 

 leisure came to the rescue and were seen 

 tackling their task with energy. In 

 order to avoid possible criticism, the 

 ladies accept the wages their work en- 

 titles them to, handing over their earn- 

 ings to the Red Cross, thus rendering 

 service both to commercial and military 

 interests of their country. 



