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Jandabt 1, 1920. 



The Florists^ Review 



25 



OBITUARY 



Marcus Stephenson. 



Marcus Stephenson, rose grower, died 

 at his home on Oak lane, Philadelphia, 

 Pa., December 27. 



Michael Fryer. 



Michael Fryer, an old resident of 

 Pawtucket, E. I., died Monday evening, 

 December 15, at his home, 304 Glenwood 

 avenue, following a short illness. He 

 had been employed for many years at 

 Swan Point cemetery as a gardener and, 

 although he had received numerous 

 offers to take charge of private estates, 

 he always preferred to remain in the 

 one position. He is survived by his 

 wife, two daughters, two sons and a 

 brother. W. H. M. 



CINCINNATI, O. 



The Market. 



The big rush is over and from now on 

 will be only a memory, to some a pleas- 

 ant one, since everything from buying 

 to selling and delivery was accom- 

 plished as planned. To others it will 

 be a nightmare, the memory of which 

 time alone can modify. Difficulty in ob- 

 taining certain sizes of stock, out-of- 

 town shipments arriving twenty-four 

 hours late and incompetent drivers on 

 delivery cars, who either smashed the 

 pots or-the plants or both, or met with 

 some accident through carelessness, are 

 enough to immortalize the day for some 

 of the unfortunate ones. 



As was anticipated, this Christmas 

 proved the "best ever" and in general 

 left no cause for complaint. The com- 

 mission men sold out everything that 

 looked like a flower. Premier, Colum- 

 bia, Butterfly and Killarney were un- 

 usually flne and brought advertised 

 prices. Carnations were in supply un- 

 equal to the demand and the better 

 grades at $12 to $15 per hundred were 

 sold on sight. Calendulas were held 

 out of the market for several days and 

 when they arrived they were in poor 

 shape and gave little satisfaction. 

 Sweet peas shipped in from out of town 

 arrived in a wilted condition and 

 though reviving in water showed their 

 age. Violets proved a scarce article 

 and on this account furnished the re- 

 tailer with cause for much worry. 



Various Notes. 



The Avondale Floral Co. reports 

 Christmas business ahead of the pre- 

 vious year with the demand brisk in the 

 better grades. Orchids sold well with 

 this firm. 



H. W. Sheppard reports exceptional 

 Christmas trade. Blooming plants and 

 combination birch bark boxes and 

 baskets were in greatest demand in the 

 largest sizes. Cut flowers in assortment 

 sold well, while Premier was best seller 

 in the roses. Much funeral work and a 

 large wedding, which it was impossible 

 to refuse, were some of the things to be 

 contended with at this store. Nearly 

 everyone worked the last two and one- 

 half days with only two hours of sleep. 



"Walnut Hill Floral Bazaar, of which 

 C. Jones is the proprietor, found busi- 

 ness equal to that of the previous year, 

 but exorbitant prices asked by the 



growers and commission men drove 

 many prospective buyers away. 



Edward Porter's business was double 

 that of the 1918 Christmas. All plants 

 and cut flowers sold out clean. The day 

 after Christmas was also a record 

 breaker with this firm. 



Julius Baer's business was better 

 than that of the year before; all goo4 

 stock sold out. Mr. Baer was unfor- 

 tunate in having a machine break down 

 while out with a load. 



Robert Kelly handled only higher 

 grades of stock and sold out clean. 



E. G. Gillett reports wire-work de- 

 mand the greatest in the history of the 

 firm; cut flowers moved out quickly. 



C. E. Critchell says that local and 

 shipping business was the greatest as 

 to volume and receipts in the history of 

 the flrm; Hill's rosos wicre a big seller 

 here. 



Cincinnati Cut Flower Exchange sold 

 out early in all lines. 



Louis Kyrk had a big stock of fancy 

 stevia which was unequal to the de- 

 mand. All other stock brought good 

 prices. H. E. K. 



BUFFALO, N. Y. 



The Market. 



Dark weather and cold days did their 

 best to make a shortage of cut flowers 

 so acute that it would never be for- 

 gotten for many days to come. One of 

 the features of the Christmas business 

 was the early shopping and the large 

 increase of sales during December 22 

 and 23. These days are reported by all 

 as record-breakers. This rush caused 

 everyone to stock up heavily for the 

 wind-up. Cut flowers could be had only 

 in limited quantities, so that there was 

 a heavy buying in plants, but the wind- 

 up did not even come up to last year's 

 standard in some quarters, which ac- 

 counted for the left-over stock in some 

 shops. 



The verdict from every shop is that 

 a good business was done, and especial- 

 ly that profits were good. In the past 

 the shops in the residential districts 

 were generally slow in advancing their 

 prices, always expecting that stock 

 would come down. In this way they had 

 small returns on their volume of busi- 

 ness. Recently almost all of them woke 

 up to the fact that the only chance to 

 make a profit was to sell according to 

 the wholesale prices; when these double 

 so should the retail. Some have learned 

 to go the wholesale price one better — 

 they more than double when there is a 

 shortage. These shops are just the ones 

 that have money left to invest in ad- 

 vertising. 



Another thing which attracted flo- 

 rists' attention last week was the great 

 demand for ruscus, boxwood and holly. 

 The artificial stock also moved far bet- 

 ter than ever before. It seems that peo- 

 ple will have flowers and when the 

 fresh are out of their reach they will 

 resort to made-ups. However, this is 

 not the reason given by all, as some 

 say that the best class of people have 

 been buying the artificial stock, espe- 

 cially if it was arranged in baskets. 



There has been one thing of particu- 

 lar note in connection with artificial 

 stock. A shop on Main street sold over 

 200 made-up bouquets at $2.50 and up. 

 These were made of various dried flow- 

 ers and arranged in baskets. It is agreed 



that dried flowers should not be classed 

 as artificial, but between the two there 

 is only a step and the small chance of 

 total loss and the large profits one can 

 make on them make it a great tempta- 

 tion to deal in them. 



Another noteworthy fact in connection 

 with Christmas business is that many 

 report that the Christmas begonias did 

 not sell profitably. Some say that they 

 will not handle them another year. 



Various Notes. 



While on their way home December 

 24 the help from the Stroh shop were 

 badly shaken up. Their automobile col- 

 lided with another car and all were 

 thrown into the street. 



L. H. Neubeck has put up a large 

 electric sign in front of his shop on 

 Main street. 



S. A. Anderson reports a record-break- 

 ing business for Christmas. Plants sell- 

 ing at his shops from $10 to $25 went 

 best. 



Mr. Greaver, of Allen street, reports 

 that cheap plants did not sell. His sales 

 were from $4 up, 



Charles Felton says that his bouquets 

 of dried flowers were a real creation 

 in their make-up and sold clean. 



John Kramer, of Jefferson street, re- 

 ports that his shop was all ready for the 

 scrub-woman December 26, everything 

 being sold out. 



The Palmer store, on Delaware ave- 

 nue, sold out long before closing time. 



W. J. Peake, of Walden avenue, said 

 that he sold more ruscus this Christmas 

 than ever before. His shop also sold 

 clean. F. P. A. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



Little remains to be said of Christ- 

 mas. The preliminary report printed in 

 The Review of December 25 covered the 

 situation. Nothing further need be 

 recorded except that the market con- 

 tinued strong to the end, with no reces- 

 sion in prices after shipping orders 

 were out, with city retailers buying 

 again and again at prices fully as high 

 as any of the week, and with Ahe total 

 business for the holiday making the 

 best record the Chicago market ever 

 has known. 



There was a general shortage of 

 stock. At most of the times during the 

 rush it was possible to buy long roses 

 if the purchaser could use stock at from 

 50 cents to 75 cents per flower, but 

 short roses were almost unobtainable. 

 In order to get short roses it was neces- 

 sary to have ordered in advance and to 

 take a pretty fair quantity of the long 

 grades with the shorts. The buyer who 

 wired for short roses late in the game 

 got nothing. The supply of Beauties 

 was much less than in any recent year 

 and the good stock sold clean at $18 per 

 dozen. Eastern stock cut no figure in 

 the Beauty market this year. Premier 

 and Russell were in greatest demand 

 and many sales were made up to $1 per 

 flower. Columbia was third choice and 

 in largest supply, although Ophelia was 

 moderately abundant. This market 

 never has known so large a rose busi- 

 ness. Of other flowers comparatively 

 small quantities were available and the 

 demand centered on roses. Such heavy 

 dealings never before have been known. 



Carnations were far short of the re- 

 [Continued on page 30.] 



