84 



The Florists^ Review 



August 7. 1919. 



There are always good 

 flowers to be had, but 

 we know a good many 

 retailers do not study 

 the condition of the 

 market sufficiently to 

 know ia what lines they 

 can get the best value 

 for their money. 



We issue a Price List 

 for your convenience 

 and information. It is 

 a good habit to consult 

 our list every time you 

 place an order. 



Can we add your name 

 to our mailing Hst? 



THE LEO NIESSEH CO. 



WHOLESALE FLORISTS 



12tli and Race Sts., PlILADELrinA, fk. 



BALTIMORE. MD. WASHINGTON. D. C. 



You always get the Best Value where you have 

 the assurance of an ample supply. 



ASTERS 



$2.00 to $5.00 per 100 



The best of the early crop are coming in now. The supply 

 is larger and there is a big improvement in the quality. 

 We can now furnish you the best asters we have handled 

 so far this season. 



GLADIOLI 



$5.00, $6.00 and $8.00 per 100 



Good varieties, and well grown. America, Schwaben, 

 Francis King, Panama, Pink Perfection are some of the 

 better kinds you will always find here. 



EARLY CLOSMG 



WE CLOSE 



EVERY DAY 



AT 4 P. M. 



New Green 

 Galax 



$12.50 per case. 



Fine Large 

 Bronze Galax 



$12.50 per case. 



Dagger Ferns 



$2.50 per 1000; $2.00 per 

 1000 in case lots. 



You cannot buy better Ferns 

 at a higher price. 



Mention Th* KptIpw when yon write. 



PHIItADELPHIA. 



The Market. 



There has been a decided falling off 

 in business. The supply of gladioli and 

 of asters has exceeded the demand, 

 causing a depression in prices and 

 waste. Gladioli have been so fine that 

 no fault can be found with the quality. 

 This cannot be said of asters; the poor 

 ones do not sell, and there are a good 

 many poor ones. The supply of roses is 

 much smaller, a decided help to those 

 that do come. July has been a good 

 month in the cut flower market. It 

 opened and closed poorly, but wg^ strong 

 for three weeks in the middle. Where 

 quality was shown, prices have been 

 encouraging. 



Gladioli. 



Charles J. Theis jumped down from 

 the counter where he had been seated, 

 chatting with a friend, at the Phila- 

 delphia Cut Flower Co., as Phil entered. 

 "I cannot give you a market report," 

 he said; "I would take a picture of 

 those empty gladiolus boxes" — Phil 

 made a mental picture of the pile of 

 empties out on Sansom street — "con- 

 tents all sold on a dull day, and put it 

 in the paper. Then tell the readers why. 

 Tell them that flicse gladioli were prop- 

 erly packed, so they sold quickly at top 

 prices." Mr. Theis went on to say that 

 he thought that sixty gladioli in a box 

 were enough, although some good boxes 

 with 100 spikes in each were shown on 

 the counter. The important things 

 were to cut the spikes with a couple of 

 open flowers on each, not to crowd them 

 in packing and to nail the cleat firmly 

 on each box, so that the blooms could 

 not be bruised through the spikes shift- 

 ing in transit. Mr. Theis thought that 

 cutting gladioli with all the flowers un- 

 developed was detrimental to color. A 

 variety like Myrtle required sunlight in 

 the field to secure the full warmth of 

 its rich tint. Picking up a box of 100 



BERGER BROS. 



GLADIOLI 



Panama, America, Niagara, King, Pendleton, Cardinal and other leading 

 sorts. Exceptionally well grown. Large shipments, fresh daily. 



ASTERS 



ALL SUMMER CUT FLOWERS 



1225 Race St. 



PHILADELPHIA 



Augusta and raising the tissue paper 

 that covered the flowers, Mr. Theis re- 

 marked that such a box could be safely 

 put in the retailer's refrigerator as it 

 was and sold to a customer who wanted 

 eight dozen white gladioli without re- 

 grading, because every flower was per- 

 fect and none was bruised. Such stock, 

 he said, was worth the additional $2 per 

 hundred asked for it. 



Grace and Color. 



There are two sides to successful 

 growing of plants, the artistic side and 

 the commercial. The plants must appeal 

 to refined taste and there must be 

 enough of them to make a market. 

 Grace and color make beautiful plant 

 life in the greenhouses of the Robert 

 Craig Co., at Norwood. The graceful 

 areca, the many-colored croton, the 

 shapely dracsena and the pandanus, 

 with their penciled markings, are in 

 quantities that make possible the selec- 

 tion of hundreds, even thousands, of a 

 single size of a given variety and then 

 doing it all over again. 



Take Areca lutescens. The day has 

 been when a limited number of speci- 

 mens were offered; the medium and 

 small sizes were reserved for growing 

 on. That day has passed. Areca lutes- 

 cens is grown and offered in limitless 



quantities in all sizes, big and little. 

 And such arecas, with broad, rich green 

 leaves held erect with that grace that 

 is their own! 



Then the crotons. There was a day 

 when ordinary, everyday values were 

 offered in plenty' and the gems were 

 doled out with miserly care. That day 

 has passed. Rich croton gems are of- 

 fered in profusion. There are great 

 quantities of the finer sorts, while the 

 ordinary sorts are disappearing. 



Take Pandanus Veitchii. There are 

 two large houses of it, beautifully col- 

 ored, gracefully drooping plants 

 throughout. 

 ~^ake dracaenas. The plant embargo 

 matters not. Dracaenas are being pro- 

 duced as they never were before, and 

 such dracsenas! Massangeana and ter- 

 minalis and Lord Wolseley and the 

 Lord knows what beside. But stop a 

 moment; here is Warneckii, considered 

 a great sort, and its exquisitely marked 

 sport, Dracsena Longii, a real gem. 



Of course, nephrolepis plants are of 

 immense importance at Norwood; Teddy 

 Junior and the dwarf form of the true 

 Boston and the crested Norwood are the 

 sorts grown. A smaller number of va- 

 rieties and a larger number of plants. 



These are just the special features 

 today. There will be others to follow. 



