16 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBBR 9, 1919. 



. terioration in the producing capacity 

 of the old houses^ all more or less 

 neglected for the last two or three 

 years. Taking the country over, it is 

 probable that this season's buUding lit- 

 tle if any more than replaces the glass 

 that was dismantled during the war. 

 Many old houses have deteriorated* to 

 the point that continued operation 

 scarcely is worth while, dilapidation our 

 British friends call it. 



Team Work Is Needed. 



And glass is not all there is to produc- 

 tion: We need men, materials and time. 

 There has not been enough of either of 

 these to overcome the depletion caused 

 by the war and by last season's big sell- 

 ing. And then there is the quarantine. 

 It has been impossible to restore and re- 

 stock all the houses that were emptied 

 in 1918. From present indications they 

 can not be restocked before autumn of 

 1920; not then if demand and the labor 

 situation do not change. 



The Eeview this week received from 

 the War Industries Board at Washing- 

 ton an address to the public which shows 

 wherein the continuance of our trade 

 prosperity lies, as well as that of the 

 people. "Team work is imperative," 

 says the board. "It is just as essential 



between retailer, wholesaler and pro- 

 ducer as it is between employer and em- 

 ployee. One group of producers cannot 

 wait on another group. 



Work, Save, Cooperate, Produce. 



"On American business rests a grave 

 responsibility for efficient cooperation in 

 bringing about full and proportionate 

 production. On American labor rests an 

 equally grave responsibility to attain 

 maximum unit production and maintain 

 uninterrupted distribution of goods if 

 labor itself is not to suffer from further 

 rises in the cost of living. 



"The entire nation — producer, dis- 

 tributor and consumer alike — should re- 

 tui^n to the unity that won the war. 

 Group interest and undue personal gain 

 must give way to the good of the whole 

 nation if the situation is to be squarely 

 met. 



"Our common duty now, fully as 

 much as in the war, is to work and to 

 save. In the words of the President in 

 his address to the country August 25, 

 1919, only 'by increasing production and 

 by rigid economy and saving on the part 

 of the people, can we hope for large de- 

 creases in the burdensome cost of living 

 which now weighs us down.' 



"Work, save, cooperate, produce." 



LILY BULBS GO DOWN 



Ii«?ifa?ifi8?ii^tir?8\irysvihrsvir?stitysviry8vifrs<ifir^ 



GIGANTEUMS LOST AT SEA. 



Steamer Sunk in Pacific. 



That a large part of this year's short 

 crop of giganteum bulbs has been lost at 

 sea was the startling report that came to 

 New York by cable from Yokohama 

 October 2. 



The extent of the loss and the names 

 of the houses involved are not yet defi- 

 nitely known, but the fact seems estab- 

 lished by the circumstance that both 

 Henry & Lee, New York, and the New 

 York branch of the Yokohama Nursery 

 Co., received cables, in addition to the 

 reports of the loss of the steamer which 

 came through the general news agencies. 



The boat lost was the steamer Yoten 

 Maru, bound from Kobe through the 

 Panama canal to New York. The steamer 

 grounded on the Japanese coast and, 

 after a day or two, was reported as hav- 

 ing broken in two, with the prob- 

 able loss of all the bulbs in the cargo. 



May Be a Million. 



The news was at first received with 

 reservations because of the coincidence 

 that only a short time ago it was re- 

 ported that a similar accident at sea had 

 resulted in the loss of a considerable 

 shipment of Formosa lily bulbs. 



Reports are not definite as to the 

 quantity of bulbs on the Yoteji Maru 

 (Maru means mountain), but the quan- 

 tity is large. The lowest estimate is 

 3,000 cases and the highest runs to a 

 million bulbs. 



The importance of the loss lies largely 

 in the fa«t that this year's crop has 

 turned out to be smaller than in any 

 year since Japanese lilies took their 

 leading place in the world's markets. 

 Two of the representatives of large 

 American houses have just returned 

 from Japan. One of them makes the 



estimate that the crop of 7 to 9-inch and 

 up does not exceed six million bulbs. 

 This is far below previous reports, 

 alarming as they were. 



The Visible Supply. 



A normal crop of lily bulbs in Japan 

 before the war was around eighteen mil- 

 lion; it has exceeded twenty million. 

 From the very beginning, this season's 

 crop has been shrinking. Before digging 

 the estimate was for eleven million ex- 

 portable bulbs, but the crop has turned 

 out much below the earlier estimates, 

 possibly as small as only one-third of 

 a pre-war crop. 



If the total crop amounts to only six 

 million bulbs it is less than America 

 alone has taken in any recent year. Be- 

 fore the war good authorities estimated 

 that of a crop of eighteen million bulbs 

 America was due to use ten million and 

 the rest of the world eight million. 



Unquestionably the enterprise of 

 American dealers has resulted in a larger 

 percentage than usual being booked for 

 America this year. But if America re- 

 ceived two-thirds of the crop it would 

 be only four million bulbs, on the latest 

 estimates of the outturn. To have had a 

 million sunk at sea means a loss of 

 twenty-five per cent of the bulbs for 

 autumn delivery and a loss of twenty- 

 five per cent of the country's supply 

 of lilies next Eastei". 



Prices Will Be Affected. \ 



The cables have not shown what im- 

 porting houses are directly concerned in 

 the matter. Early reports were that one 

 Chicago house and one New York con- 

 cern were specially interested, but the 

 Chicago dealers do not receive ship- 

 ments by way of the Panama canal. 

 Bulbs for Chicago and the west enter 

 through the port of Seattle. 



Of course the bulbs are insured. The 



loss will be in the ability to deliver 

 merchandise, most of which already ia 

 sold. Whether or not the bulbs can be 

 replaced is a matter of much doubt. 

 Naturally, any attempt to purchase such 

 a quantity of bulbs under the existing 

 conditions would result in a still further 

 unsettlement of an already badly dis- 

 turbed market. 



During the last few days jobbers have 

 been setting their prices for this season's 

 lily bulbs, but the news of the loss on the 

 Yoten Maru has had the effect of causing 

 a withdrawal of quotations. 



AMEEICAN CARNATION SOCIETY. 



Notice of Registration. 



The following carnation has been 

 registered with the American Carna- 

 tion Society: 



Ethel Fisher — Cross between two seedlings ; 

 bright glowing red; size three to three and one- 

 half Inches; healthy, upright, open grower; early, 

 free and continuous bloomer; stem long, stlft 

 and wiry; strong calyx, which seldom bursts; 

 easy propagator; excellent keeper and shipper. 

 Kegistered by Peter Fisher, Ellis, Mass. 



A. F. J. Baur, Sec'y. 



ST. LOXnS FIRM'S NEW HOME. 



To be in readiness for October busi- 

 ness in its new quarters, the St. Louis 

 Wholesale Cut Flower Co. moved into 

 the building just completed at 1406-08 

 Pine street, next door to its former 

 home, Monday, September 29. For Oc- 

 tober 7, when the Veiled Prophet made 

 his annual visit to St. Louis, invitations 

 were sent out to the trade to see what 

 an institution in wholesale cut flowers 

 and supplies St. Louis could now 

 boast of. 



The building, two stories high, is of 

 concrete, aside from the brick walls, 

 and measures 50x120. Abundant light 

 comes from windows both front and 

 rear. Tables run the depth of the build- 

 ing on the left side, for the cut flower 

 department, while cases extend the 

 length of the right wall and tables 

 loaded with baskets fill the half devoted 

 to supplies. A partition later will sepa- 

 rate the two departments. In the cen- 

 ter of the floor are booths for tele- 

 jihones and the bill clerk, opening to 

 cither side. A garage in the rear, 

 across the whole building, provides room 

 for the company 's two trucks and ample 

 space for opening all shipments before 

 they are brought into the store. An 

 elevator will run to the second floor, 

 now used as a storeroom, but light and 

 spacious enough to serve as the supplies 

 department should the cut flower busi- 

 ness require the whole first floor. The 

 structure affords the possibility of add- 

 ing another story or two when it be- 

 comes needed. 



D. S. Geddis, president and manager 

 of the company, had to take the build- 

 ing from the contractors' hands several 

 weeks ago, when labor troubles became 

 acute, and pushed it to completion him- 

 self, displaying the energy with which 

 he has built up the company's business 

 within three years. 



Among the sources of stock upon 

 which this company draws is the 100,000 

 feet of glass of the Milliken estate, on 

 its 750-acre farm, of which Mr. Geddis 

 was made manager after the death of 

 the oil magnate last spring. In the 

 greenhouses there, all of Lord & Burn- 

 ham construction except the original 

 houses, which were built by a local con- 

 tractor, are 40,000 rose plants, compris- 

 ing 15,000 Ophelia, 15,000 Sunburst and 



