Ja.nuauy 5, 1922 



The Florists* Review 



39 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



A considerable change has come over 

 the market within a week and prices of 

 practically all flowers are again on the 

 toboggan. Christmas business surprised 

 everyone by its volume. It is true that 

 there are after-murmurings about cash 

 sales not being so good as usual, but 

 many people spend beyond their means 

 at the festive season and this year their 

 number seems to have increased rather 

 than diminished. Sales last week were 

 not heavy. Early in the week arrivals 

 were few, but several clear spring days 

 changed this and flowers are now rather 

 overabundant and a sign of the times 

 is that the signboards above the two 

 wholesale markets, which were taken 

 down during the Christmas buying, are 

 now in position again and invito the 

 public to buy at retail after 9 a. m. 

 daily. 



Roses have weakened materially and 

 short-stemmed stock is down to $6 per 

 hundred, while few of the flowers go 

 beyond $20 per hundred, except Hadley, 

 Crusader and Eussell and these in lim- 

 ited numbers. We have had a remark- 

 ably clear December, with lower tem- 

 perature than a year ago, and this seems 

 to have improved the quality of the 

 roses. Carnations are overabundant and 

 good flowers are down to $6 per hundred 

 and may go lower, if clear weather con- 

 tinues. A lot of inferior stock came in 

 for the holidays and was wholesaled at 

 prices far beyond its worth. Those of 

 the public buying these flowers have 

 every reason to feel aggrieved and can- 

 not be blamed if they purchase plants 

 as being more satisfactory. Violets are 

 in the dumps. Some bring $1 per hun- 

 dred; some flowers, $1.50 per hundred, 

 but there is no snap in the demand for 

 them. "When we consider the position 

 of violets now and even a decade ago, 

 we can only ejaculate, "How have the 

 mighty fallen !" Their popularity has 

 greatly declined since the days when 

 every other lady in the streets sported 

 a large corsage of them. Pansies are 

 selling better than violets and, when 

 well bunched, are even more satisfac- 

 tory to the purchasers. There are 

 plenty of sweet peas, but the demand is 

 weak for these. Some longiflorum lilies 

 are coming in and increased supplies of 

 callas. One or two growers send in good 

 mignonette and wallflowers and there 

 are better supplies of calendulas, bache- 

 lor's buttons, yellow marguerites and 

 snapdragons. Freesias came in right 

 after Christmas; $12.50 per hundred was 

 paid for the first arrivals, but this price 

 is now cut in half. There are small lots 

 of tulips and daffodils and the usual 

 heavy supply of Paper Whites and 

 Soloil d'Or narcissi. A little Buddleia 

 asiatica is welcome as a novelty. 

 Stevia is ample for all demands. Small 

 lots of bouvardia and gardenias are 

 coming in. Cattleyas are still in short 

 supply, but cypripcdiums are plentiful 

 and there are now some dendrobiums. 

 Asparagus meets with rather a weak 

 demand, while stevia is abundant. 



Pot plant trade is moderate. Late 

 reports indicate that some of the lead- 

 ing retailers could have disposed of 

 more plants for Christmas. Poinsettias 

 were the poorest sellers, as they always 

 are when weather is cold. 



New Year's trade was not good. The 

 fact that January 1 fell on a Sunday 



hurt business, but there was a fair call 

 for flowers January 2. 



Various Notes. 



Great interest is being taken locally 

 in the combined trade shows and con- 

 ventions of the Anierican Rose Society 

 and American Carnation Society, which 

 open at Hartford, Conn., January 25. 

 The local growers of the divine flower 

 are going to make big displays and the 

 nearness of the convention city is going 

 to attract a record attendance from 

 Boston and vicinity. 



William E. Glidden, the well-known 

 and esteemed head salesman for the 

 Budlong Rose Co., at the cooperative 

 market, has the sympathy of a host of 

 friends in the death of his wife, at At- 

 lantic, Mass., December 30, in her thirty- 

 seventh year. Funeral services were 

 held from her late home, 156 Billings 

 street, January 1, and were largely at- 

 tended. There were many superb floral 

 tributes, including one from the Bud- 

 long Rose Co., the Boston Cooperative 

 Flower Market and many others con- 

 nected with the trade. 



The annual convention of the New 

 England Nurserymen's Association will 

 be held at the American House, Boston, 

 January 31. An attractive program is 

 being prepared by Secretary Sheldon 

 Robinson, of Lexington. The Massachu- 

 setts Nurserymen's convention will be 

 held January 17, at Horticultural hall, 

 in connection with the series of union 

 meetings to be held there January 17 to 

 20. 



Although five weeks have elapsed 

 since the great ice storm in Massachu- 

 setts, many houses are still without tele- 

 phone service or electric light, and some 

 country street railways are still unable 

 to operate. Firms specializing in tree 

 work are doing the biggest business in 

 their histories. Workmen ar,e being 

 paid all the way from 90 cents to $1.85 

 per hour. 



The Horticultural Club met at the 

 Parker Hous«' January 4. Harlan P. 

 Kelsey, of/Salem, gave an interesting 

 talk on /^'Nomenclature," a general 

 discussion following his address. 



Fire in a head house of the green- 

 hous/6 range of Wilfrid Wheeler, of Con- 

 cora, formerly commissioner of agri- 

 culture for Massachusetts, December 31 

 destroyed the head house and damaged 

 two other greenhouses, to the extent of 

 several thousand dollars. The houses 

 contained vegetable crops. 



The A. Leuthy Co., of Roslindale, 

 reports a remarkable call for small ta- 

 ble ferns for Christmas. The firm had 

 hardly a salable plant left. They are 

 working up a big stock of bedding gera- 

 niums and anticipate increased demands 

 for all bedding plants. 



Patten & Co., of Tewksbury, Mass., 

 were the first to send in Freesia Purity 

 this season. These were grown in pans 

 on the shelves of the company's largest 

 carnation house and were of fine quality. 



December, 1921, proved to be a pleas- 

 ant month, somewhat colder than nor- 

 mal. December 22 and 30 temperatures 

 fell to zero; December 18 the thermome- 

 ter registered 60 degrees in the shade. 

 We had nineteen clear days, four par- 

 tially clear and eight entirely overcast. 

 When we read of continuous drenching 

 rains in "sunny California" for ten 

 days, we are thankful we live in a land 

 where sunshine is abundant and where 

 winter sports of all kinds make life 

 worth living. 



All available space has been taken for 

 the great series of union meetings open- 

 ing in Horticultural hall January 17. 

 The Gardeners' and Florists' Club will 

 furnish a large group of plants for the 

 loggia. The Massachusetts Nurserymen's 

 Association will have an attractive 

 booth and will use evergreens abun- 

 dantly. Loring Underwood's illustrated 

 lecture on "Old New England Gardens" 

 will be given the first evening. 



W. N. Craig spoke before the Worces- 

 ter Garden Club December 29 on "Trees 

 and Shrubs," speaking particularly of 

 the care to be given trees damaged by 

 the great ice storm. 



"What has become of the Boston Flo- 

 rists' Association!" is a query occasion- 

 ally heard. B. F. Letson, the esteemed 

 manager of Carbone's, was elected 

 president a year ago, but no meetings 

 have been held for many months. At its 

 inception, growers and retailers were 

 about equally divided in its member- 

 ship. More recently petty jealousies 

 caused most of the retailers to stay 

 away and growers practically had to 

 "go it alone." Now, with the New 

 England branch of the National Flower 

 Growers' Association and the reinstated 

 Retail Florists' Club having regular 

 meetings, it looks as though the Florists' 

 Association was doomed to die a nat- 

 ural death. 



William R. Nicholson, of Framing- 

 ham, specializes in early-blooming wall- 

 flowers, of which he has some fine va- 

 rieties, and his shipments of these find 

 a ready market. Myosotis is another 

 specialty in which Mr. Nicholson does 

 well, while his mignonette has no equal 

 in this section. 



A happy new year to readers of The 

 Review! Take courage from the fact 

 that the digits 1-9-2-2 do not equal thir- 

 teen. W. N. C. 



The Boston Box Co. is now in the proc- 

 ess of moving to its new factory, at 59 

 to 65 Clinton street, Maiden, Mass. 



CHICAGO. 



Latest Report. 



As tlie paper goes to press word comes 

 from the market that short roses have 

 become extremely scarce by comparison 

 with the demand. Quotation of price is, 

 at the moment, only nominal, as shorts 

 are difficult to supply in quantity at 

 any price. The prices of the cheaper 

 roses, therefore, are rising while the 

 prices of the better roses are easing. 



The Market. 



Relatively New Year 's was better 

 than Christmas. Of course, the volume 

 of sales was nothing like so large as for 

 the day when florists assist Santa Claus, 

 but the business done the last two days 

 of 1921 exceeded last year, prices were 

 better and the market New Year's day 

 was much cleaner than on Christmas 

 morning. Indeed, the market was prac- 

 tically bare when the old year went out; 

 all that were left were a few long roses, 

 some Paper Whites, some poinsettias 

 and a few odds and ends. 



After Christmas there were two ex- 

 tremely dull days, doubtless because 

 everybody who ever has flowers in this 

 life had been well supplied on the gift 

 days. Large quantities of stock left 

 over from Christmas were hauled to the 

 (Continued on paffe 44.) 



