28 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBIB 23, 1919. 



tleya Moira alba, from the same exhibi- 

 tor, received a silver medal. W. N. 0. 



CUIVELAND, O. 

 The Market. 



Business last week was good, but not 

 rushing. Counter trade has increased 

 considerably. Chrysanthemums are ar- 

 riving more freely and clean up well; 

 some fine Chrysolora are available, as 

 well as many of the smaller kinds. Car- 

 nations have been cleaning up well at 

 $3 and $4 per hundred. Dahlias are 

 still abundant and sell easily, although 

 the quality is getting poorer. Boses 

 are finding a fair demand, mostly for 

 the first and select grades. American 

 Beauties were scarce last week, with 

 the demand chiefly for the long and 

 short grades. White roses are still 

 scarce, with not enough to meet the de- 

 mand at times. Small white flowers 

 are in demand, also snapdragon. Out- 

 door stock cleaned up readily, includ- 

 ing some fine marigold, zinnia, bach- 

 elor's buttons, gypsophila and calen- 

 dula. Single violets sold well, but 

 double violets dragged considerably. 

 The supply of greens is good, adiantum 

 having the best demand. 



Various Notes. 



C. A. Bramley has bought a 2-story 

 block on Superior street near East 

 Eighty-fourth. 



If the threatened railway express 

 strike should take effect Monday, it 

 would shorten up stock in this market 

 considerably, as most of the roses are 

 shipped in and come from too far out to 

 be hauled by automobile in most cases. 

 However, the Cleveland Cut Flower Co. 

 has made arrangements to have its 

 flowers hauled by machine from its 

 range in Newton Falls, O., about fifty- 

 five miles from this city. 



The Park Flower Shop had the dec- 

 oration at the Cleveland hotel for the 

 banquet to Cardinal Mercier. The na- 

 tional colors of Belgium were displayed. 

 About 125 yellow baskets were used on 

 the tables, made up of red dahlias and 

 a black tie. W. F. B. 



Al Barber made a flying trip to Phil- 

 adelphia last week, returning Octo- 

 ber 17. ^ 



F. C. W. Brown, manager of the re- 

 tail store of the J. M. Gasser Co., 

 stopped off at Buffalo for the F. T. D. 

 convention long enough to order twenty 

 billboards for Cleveland and then hur- 

 ried on to bring home game which he 

 had shot in New Brunswick. 



Fancy pottery of many kinds occupies 

 conspicuous tables in the store of West- 

 man & Getz. The settling down at home 

 in autumn brings a demand for such 

 wares. 



The block letters that blink alter- 

 nately red and green over the Square 

 bring the name of the Park Flower Shop 

 to the eyes of the many waiting for 

 street cars. 



Potted ferns are finding heavy demand 

 just now, reports James McLaughlin, 

 manager of the wholesale store of the 

 J. M. Gasser Co. There is much satis- 

 faction now in the fact that last winter 

 and spring the big greenhouse range of 

 the company was kept at full production. 



Vases and pottery as a side line make 

 flower sales to customers who want to 

 give something more lasting in addi- 

 tion and who if they sought the latter 

 somewhere else might forego or forget 



the flowers, thinks Charles Russell, of 

 the Jones-Russell Co. The basement 

 salesroom has a large stock for that 

 reason. 



For the visit of Cardinal Mercier the 

 window of C. M. Wagner, at 1327 Eu- 

 clid avenue, was decorated in the Bel- 

 gian colors, dahlias lending themselves 

 remarkably well to the effect. At the 

 top of the display a white dove of 

 peace perched over an American flag. 



* * We 've got to make the trade attrac- 

 tive to young fellows if the business is 

 to keep on growing," said Manager F. 

 R. Williams, of the Cleveland Cut Flower 

 Co. "I know it. I have a son, but he 

 has no desire whatever to be a florist, 

 and I can 't blame him. ' ' 



A steady increase over last year's 

 business, without its funereal reason for 

 greater size, is regarded with satisfac- 

 tion by the Cleveland Plant & Flower 

 Co. 



Labor and materials have so increased 

 the cost of artiflcial flowers, according 

 to the Joseph M. Stern Co., that what 

 were formerly high figures are too low 

 for even bargain prices now. 



BALTIMORE. 



The Market. 



The market last week was somewhat 

 congested. The chief reason for this 

 was oversupply; the demand was about 

 normal, but a few cool nights created 

 the impression that a killing frost was 

 due and everything in bloom outdoors 

 was cut and thrown on the market at 

 once. This was especially true of 

 dahlias. While the trend of the mar- 

 ket was for strictly first-class stock, 

 this deluge naturally made it look in 

 the wholesale houses as though the 

 market had suffered a decided slump. 



Roses, while not in full supply as yet, 

 about equal the demand. Those coming 

 to the market are of fair quality. The 

 end of the dahlia season and the whole 

 of the mum season is a good time to be 

 a bit short on roses, for with flowers, as 

 with good things to eat, the public 

 seems to like things that are in season. 

 Chrysanthemums, while not any too 

 plentiful, are of fine quality, are to 

 be had in all sizes and so far they sell 

 up well. Carnations are coming, but 

 are not in big supply. The quality is 

 better than previous years at this time 

 in the season. 



This is a good time to buy 6-inch and 

 8-inch ferns, since there seems to be a 

 • big supply of really first-class stock, 

 which the growers are anxious to move, 

 and some bargains are to be had. Some- 

 one must have created the impression 

 that this was to be a fern year, for last 

 winter small stock was not to be had. 



Club Meeting. 



The regular meeting of the Florists' 

 Club was held October 13. The officers 

 nominated at the preceding meeting 

 were duly ele<?ted and installed, as fol- 

 lows: President, William F. Ekas; 

 vice-president, Robert L. Graham, Jr.; 

 secretary, Robert Tate Paterson; finan- 

 cial secretary, C. Harry Wagner; treas- 

 urer, Albert G. Fiedler, and librarian, 

 C. M. Wap:ner. Mr. Ekas, upon assum- 

 ing the chair, in a brief speech out- 

 lined the policy of the new administra- 

 tion. "Progress" is to be the watch- 

 word. His idea is that the club is an 

 organization which was formed to pro- 

 mote and broaden the florists* business 

 in its several branches. In other words. 



it is the business of the club to do 

 things and not merely to discuss them. 

 Anyone who has an idea that will in 

 any way tend to advance the business 

 as a whole should let us have it, and it 

 will be given proper consideratiow and, 

 if merit is seen in it, will be worked 

 out to a final issue. 



Robert L. Graham, Jr., perhaps the 

 youngest member of the club, is en- 

 thusiastic in his new position and 

 stands ready to uphold the president in 

 anything he may undertake. Albert G. 

 Fiedler is a young man who has, by his 

 own business, proven that he is not only 

 a business man, but a financier of high 

 ability, and is the right man in the 

 right place as treasurer. ' The rest of 

 the officers, while perhaps not so young 

 as those mentioned, are not stricken 

 with age by any means. For instance, 

 C. M. Wagner, who is now serving his 

 twenty-eighth consecutive term as li- 

 brarian, has plenty of "pep" in him 

 yet and is one of the most faithful 

 members of the club. If Mr. Wagner 

 has ever missed a meeting, it was on 

 some occasion when the writer was not 

 present. 



But "the king is dead; long live the 

 king." At this time it is most fitting 

 to say a word of commendation regard- 

 ing the man who has held the club to- 

 gether during one of the most trying 

 periods it has ever passed through. R. 

 A. Vincent, the retiring president, has 

 certainly set an example of loyalty that 

 it would be well for us all to emulate. 

 When times were most trying because 

 of war conditions, when help could not 

 be had and memb'ers had to do their 

 own firing, it was hard sometimes to 

 have a quorum, but, although he had 

 eighteen miles to come, he never missed 

 a meeting. In fact, the club's welfare 

 was as much on his mind as his own 

 business. We can all look to him in the 

 future as the man who piloted the club 

 through the worst storm it has ever en- 

 countered and turned it over to his suc- 

 cessor in good condition. 



Fred Michell, of the Henry F. Michell 

 Co., Philadelphia, was a visitor and 

 spoke in a most optimistic manner of 

 the business outlook through the coun- 

 try. He said the Holland bulbs had 

 arrived in good condition; that lily 

 bulbs would be sold by the case, that 

 is, bulbs of seven to nine centimeters in 

 cases of 300 bulbs, those of nine to ten 

 centimeters would run 200 to a case, 

 etc. He said it had been the habit of 

 this firm to put about 200,000 in cold 

 storage, but up to this time these were 

 not available, as it would take all in 

 sight to flU orders. 



Various Notes. 



When it was heard last week that 

 the Misses Held were desirous of dis- 

 posing of their business at 32 South 

 Eutaw street, a discussion arose as to 

 how long this business had been estab- 

 lished. I could go back forty years, 

 when the present proprietors were tots 

 and their parents were then doing what 

 was considered a good business. In 

 those days it was on the outskirts of 

 the commercial district of the city; to- 

 day it is in the heart of it. The passing 

 of the Held family in the florists* busi- 

 ness will be regretted by everyone. 



In my letter of two weeks ago, in say- 

 ing that the Leo Niessen Co. was hand- 

 ling the dahlias of the R. Vincent & 

 Sons Co.. I spoke of William F. Ekas 

 as the Baltimore manager of this store. 



