Max 31, 1917, 



The Florists^ Review 



17 



country this winter and spring. One 

 of the factors against them was that 

 their houses in Holland felt the neces- 

 sity of obtaining war-time prices for 

 bulbs in the face of the fact of re- 

 stricted markets and their necessity of 

 working off their surplus in America. 

 Many growers and jobbers who undoubt- 

 edly will use large quantities of bulbs 

 have refrained from placing orders, feel- 

 ing sure that if transportation is avail- 

 able the quantity of unsold stock on 

 the market will depress prices, as Con- 

 sul Mahin notes and the trade all 

 knows it did at the end of last season. 



Grermany's Supply also Coining. 



But the most important item in Con- 

 sul Mahin 's communication, for it is 

 news, relates to the German market 

 having been closed to the Hollanders. 

 Germany normally takes twenty per 

 cent of the Holland bulb crop, but last 

 year took thirty per cent, while Amer- 



ica normally takes twenty per cent and 

 last year took almost fifty per cent. 



With the German market closed by 

 embargo the United States will be the 

 only large market open to the Holland 

 bulb exporters. Great Britain normally 

 uses twice as many Holland bulbs as 

 has the United States, Germany as 

 many, as we and France an appreciable 

 quantity. It seems, therefore, that the 

 Hollanders will seek to find conveyance 

 to America, and a market here, for a 

 quantity of bulbs four times as great 

 as in 1913, the last peace season. There 

 may be a considerable reduction of the 

 output in Holland this year, due to the 

 various factors that have been at work, 

 but there is not the slightest indication 

 or intimation that the crop will be re- 

 duced in anything to compare with the 

 quantity of bulbs ordinarily taken by 

 the markets now closed to them by or- 

 der of the belligerent governments. 



It is reported that the British Board of 

 Trade now has absolutely prohibited the 



importation of bulbs and has given notice 

 that no special licenses to import will be 

 given for any reason whatever. 



Britain's Complete Embargo. 



The 1916 crop of Holland bulbs was 

 excluded and the quantity of Japanese 

 bulbs admitted was reduced one-half, but 

 French bulbs were admitted without re- 

 striction, although the principal cargo ot 

 Paper Whites shipped to England last 

 year was submarined in the Mediterra- 

 nean and was lost. 



As a market for the world's output 

 of bulbs, the British Islands have been 

 of greater importance than any other, 

 taking more Dutch and French bulbs and, 

 until recently, more Japanese lily bulbs. 



Unless it should appeal to the govern- 

 ment of the United States to follow the 

 lead of England, France and Germany, 

 it is apparent that the trade in the United 

 States will be asked to handle practically 

 all the bulbs produced in the world so long 

 as the war lasts. 



8SgOBOIOBSIBSRSB^llSJBHH5SiOIO^ 



WIND AND HAIL HIT THE TRADE AGAIN 



ILLINOIS THE STORM CENTER. 



Central States Suffer Once More. 



The greenhouse trade in the central 

 states sustained many losses by wind 

 and hail Saturday and Sunday, May 26 

 and 27, two storms following each other 

 in such quick succession as to confuse 

 those who had to deal with the disaster. 

 Beginning in Kansas May 26, a wind 

 storm moved eastward, assuming cy- 

 clonic proportions on the prairies of 

 central Illinois and spending itself as 

 it approached the Indiana line. But 

 next day Indiana and other states to 

 the south and east were visited by the 

 heaviest hail in many years. 



As is usual in such cases, the florists 

 in the affected districts were among 

 the chief sufferers, but in Indiana and 

 other states the market gardening fra- 

 ternity also was hard hit, the hail be- 

 ing so fierce as to cut up all soft stock 

 in the open ground. 



The trade's losses by the second 

 storm were greater than by the first, 

 for the reason that the hail fell in dis- 

 tricts that have more and larger green- 

 houses than are found on the Illinois 

 prairies. 



Mattoon, 111. 



Mattoon, lying just south of the cen- 

 ter of Illinois, bore the brunt of the 

 storm May 26, which here assumed cy- 

 clonic proportions. The path of the 

 storm was narrow, but, passing over 

 the northern part of the city, it caught 

 most of the greenhouse establishments. 



A. D. King was the worst sufferer. 

 His greenhouses and dwelling were de- 

 molished and he received slight per- 

 sonal injuries. 



A. L. Kirchgraber, whose place on 

 Lafayette street was on the edge of 

 the storm, will be able to replace his 

 broken glass for $50. 



J. W. Shrader, on Charleston street, 

 has the largest range of glass in Mat- 

 toon and he, also, was out of the direct 

 path of the cyclone. He says he will 



be able to replace the glass that was 

 broken at an expense of $50. 



In the direct path of the cyclone 496 

 dwellings were destroyed, fifty-one per- 



,t%t9(.Ar»it i 



Shaded Portion Shows Path of Storm. 



sons were killed and hundreds injured. 

 Mattoon has 15,000 people. 



Charleston, 111. 



Charleston is a city of 7,000 inhabit- 

 ants just east of Mattoon. It was in 

 the direct path of the cyclone that hit 

 the larger city and suffered as badly. 



Miss Etta J. Nott, proprietor of the 

 Charleston Greenhouses, is the only flo- 



rist in the town itself. She had about 

 5,000 feet of glass and the establish- 

 ment was practically destroyed by the 

 wind. No hail fell. 



The Eeview 's other subscribers at 

 Charleston are located on rural routes. 

 Hardy F. Hill has 5,000 feet of glass 

 on Route No. 7. C. E. Eaton, whose 

 specialty is dahlias, has no greenhouses. 



New Castle, Ind. 



The establishment of Peter Weiland 

 was on the edge of the tornado which 

 hit several of the big growers there 

 only a few weeks ago, but he was in the 

 direct patli of the hail that fell in un- 

 precedented quantities May 27. Mr. 

 Weiland estimates his loss between 400 

 and 500 boxes of glass. There was some 

 loss on stock in the greenhouses, cut 

 by falling glass, but, aside from the 

 breakage of glass, the greatest loss was 

 in tlie field. The acres of young carna- 

 tion plants were badly broken down; 

 it is yet too soon to tell how great the 

 loss on this item will be, but it will be 

 considerable. In the great field of 

 peonies the plants were stripped of two- 

 thirds their foliage and buds, with the 

 result that the crop will be almost a 

 total loss. 



The hail was followed by heavy rain, 

 which continued most of the following 

 niglit and day. This ruined the cut 

 flowers not damaged by falling glass, 

 the sweet peas suffering especially. 



Mr. Weiland has nearly 100,000 feet 

 of glass. He had $5,000 of tornado and 

 hail insurance, $3,000 on the glass and 

 $2,000 on the stock, including that in 

 the field. 



The other growers at New Castle are 

 located at some little distance from the 

 Weiland range. 



Terre Haute, Ind. 



Terre Haute is almost due east from 

 Mattoon and Charleston, but the losses 

 here were by hail instead of by wind. 

 The hail was the heaviest ever known 

 in this section and was general over the 

 city, so that net one greenhouse es- 



