20 



The Florists' Review 



January 8, 1920. 



varieties. This principle should hold 

 good with florists and nurserymen 

 everywhere. Thomasville Nurseries. 



C»>CN iSrm^y^ READED6 



EXPBESS REMEDY NEEDED. 



.The writer would like to know the 

 experience of other florists in the hand- 

 ling of their express business this win- 

 ter. The service rendered is so abom- 

 inable that it is almost impossible to 

 conduct a shipping business success- 

 fully. The trouble may all emanate 

 from Quincy and if it does the writer 

 would like to know it. During the en- 

 tire winter it has been almost impossible 

 to have a box of plants come through 

 to Quincy without the contents being 

 entirely smashed and the stock frozen. 

 As an illustration: During the first week 

 in December we purchased a quantity 

 of plants from a florist living on the 

 main line of the Burlington, on which 

 Quincy also is situated. The distance 

 was about 240 miles. These plants were 

 shipped in good condition to us in three 

 boxes. All were shipped on the same 

 day and they should have come through 

 on the same day's train, since from that 

 point to Quincy goods go through with- 

 out change. These three boxes came on 

 three different dates about a week after 

 they were shipped, with every pot in 

 them broken and every plant absolutely 

 frozen. 



Several shipments of plants have not 

 reached us for weeks from other points 

 jiear by. A shipment of hardy ferns 

 was completely ruined by being held up, 

 having been on the road almost a month. 

 I could cite a number of similar ex- 

 periences. Of course we all know that 

 the ten days before Christmas we must 

 take some chances, but the losses re- 

 ferred to above occurred long before 

 that time. If these conditions are gen- 

 eral throughout the country, had we not 

 better get together in order that a 

 united effort be made for bettering 

 themt F. W. Heckenkamp, Jr. 



EXPBESS REMEDY WANTED- 



Something ought to be done to ^et 

 better service from the government in 

 express service, as at present all the 

 burden is on the shippers. If anything 

 goes wrong, it is almost impossible to 

 get redress from the company. It takes 

 two to three days for a shipment to come 

 to Charleston, W. Va., from Cincinnati, 

 O., on account of the delays. And some- 

 times the stock is burned by the steam 

 pipes, or is frozen in transit, as was the 

 case this morning. We hope something 

 can be done to relieve the present sit- 

 uation and to give the public better 

 service. H. F. Winter. 



LOW RATES TO LODGES. 



We should like to suggest through the 

 columns of The Keview a discussion of 

 the now thoroughly annoying matter of 

 special rates to lodges and societies. 

 When the allowance is 75 cents or $1, 

 the matter is not quite so bad. But 

 when you are expected to make up an 

 attractive bouquet for some sick mem- 

 ber for 50 cents it becomes a tragedy. 

 For no matter how one stretches the 



allowance and refuses to listen to con- 

 science, which suggests that many other 

 really good and appreciative customers 

 should not be differentiated against, the 

 fact remains that the lodge is not satis- 

 fied, even at that. 



We shall be grateful for any sugges- 

 tions or other experiences along the 

 same line. Salida Greenhouse. 



(WATERTIGHT HOUSE. 



Recently I read with interest an ar- 

 ticle telling of a house at Madison, 

 N. J., which did not leak a drop. How's 

 thist My new house, 28x150 feet, built 

 by the Lord & Burnham Co., was re- 

 cently completed. It is only common 

 sense to know that a house which is not 

 stripped on the outside is not supposed 

 to be watertight until it has been paint- 

 ed both inside and outside. Well, it 

 may be of interest to know that the 

 foreman glazier, Frank Wightman by 

 name, had only the inside of the house 



COME TO •« 



CHICAG0,JAN.2l-,22: 



CONVENTIONiEXHIBlTION . 

 ^ AMERICAN ' 

 CARNATION 

 ^SOCIETY 



ILLINOISSTATE ' 

 , nORlST ASSH . 

 ^lA SALLE 

 HOTEL 



T 



Chicago Florists' Club's Stamp. 



painted when we were hit by a storm of 

 rain and hail, at 12 degrees below zero, 

 and I took particular notice that the 

 house did not leak a drop. Since Mr. 

 Wightman did all of the glazing him- 

 self, he deserves the credit. 



Frank J. Weiss. 



STIMULATING INTEREST. 



It occurs to us that florists and nurs- 

 erymen would do well, in trying to 

 arouse greater interest in their favorite 

 flower or flowers, occasionally to use 

 their advertising space in acquainting 

 the public with organizations furthering 

 their interests. 



We recently used our advertising 

 space in the local daily paper, two in- 

 sertions, to acquaint the public with the 

 American Rose Society. Many ladies 

 of the city had, it may seem strange to 

 say in t hie trade, never heard of th» 

 society. 



Membership costs but little and 

 greatly stimulates interest in the rose. 

 Incidentally we profit, as we sell the 

 plants and are always trying the new 



CHICAGO CLUB'S STAMP. 



The poster stamp issued by the Chi- 

 cago Florists ' Club as a reminder of the 

 coming convention and exhibition of 

 the American Carnation Society and the 

 Illinois State Florists' Association is 

 reproduced herewith. The date of the 

 meeting to which it invites attendance 

 in Chicago is January 21 and 22. The 

 Hotel La Salle will be headquarters and 

 meeting place of the convention. The 

 meeting is expected to be large and 

 lively, the first big trade gathering of 

 1920, and reservations for hotel accom- 

 modations should be made early. 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



The quietness usual after Christmaa 

 prevailed in cut flower circles last week. 

 The weather was cold and seasonable, 

 perhaps a little too cold for good busi- 

 ness, and supplies of all flowers were 

 comparatively small. Roses were, for 

 some reason, in disfavor and moved 

 much more sluggishly. Perhaps this was 

 to be expected after the rather extrava- 

 gant holiday prices, but certainly buy- 

 ers have left them alone in considerable 

 measure of late. Short-stemmed stock 

 waj3 in best demand and was not over- 

 abundant at $6 to $8 per hundred; me- 

 dium grades at $15 to $20 of the various 

 hybrid teas sold more slowly and longer- 

 stemmed stock dragged considerably. 

 For the best grades of Hadley, Crusader 

 and Ophelia there was- a good call, but 

 American Beauties were hard to move. 

 All in all it was a poor week for roses. 



Carnations continued to sell remark- 

 ably well. White went as low as $8, 

 but good colored varieties sold at $12 

 to $15, scarlets, rose pink and flesh pink 

 being in especial favor. Violets re- 

 mained about the same and sweet peas 

 were not overabundant at $3 to $4. 

 Paper White narcissi sold tolerably 

 well, but Soleil d 'Or did not prove popu- 

 lar. Such marguerites as came in sold 

 at excellent prices. Snapdragons were 

 scarce and there were no lilies, but 

 callas sold at $24 to $30 per hundred. 



Small lots of freesia sold at $8 to $10. 

 Stevia continued overabundant. Cat- 

 tleya Trianae came in a little more freely 

 and there were also some C. Percivali- 

 ana. Cypripediums were less abundant. 

 Demand for asparagus was rather light. 

 Among pot plants some pans of tulips- 

 and hyacinths appeared, but these were 

 not of good quality. Cyclamens were 

 still offered, also ericas, camellias, cin- 

 erarias, freesias and other plants. 



Clubs and Societies. 



The Boston Florists' Association had 

 a good attendance at its monthly dinner 

 and meeting at the Parker House Janu- 

 ary 6. Henry Penn presided. The prin- 

 cipal business of the evening consisted 

 of reports from the committees of grow- 

 ers selected by William H. Elliott, chair- 

 man. Mr. Elliott spoke on roses and 

 other business matters. S. J. Goddard 

 and Andrew Christensen, two carnation 

 specialists, gave their views of carna- 

 tions, E. Allan Peirce on roses, William 

 Sim on violets and sweet peas and Her- 

 man H. Bartsch on pot plants. The 

 views of the several speakers were given 

 in a thoughtful and convincing manner, 

 and an expression of views from other 



