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Mav 11, 1922 



The I'lorJstii* Review 



43 



BOSTON. 



The Market. 



A distinct improvement in market 

 conditions began to manifest itself May 

 6 and not only did prices improve, but 

 clearances were better than for some 

 time; the present week sees a continua- 

 tion of improved conditions. There has 

 l>een no cessation in buying by retailers 

 during the slump period, but heavy 

 crops of various spring flowers clogged 

 the markets. It is at these times that 

 publicity advising the general public 

 that flowers are cheaper would be truly 

 effective. No doubt, in time there will 

 be campaigns properly financed in all 

 leading flower-growing and distributing 

 centers to cover this. 



The coming Mothers' day has acted 

 as a tonic and has been responsible for 

 much of the improvement noted. Roses 

 are in large supply and, in consequence, 

 have not advanced like carnations. 

 Roses are, however, holding their own 

 and moving a little better than they did 

 a week ago. Lack of excessive heat has 

 kept quality good. Carnations are mov- 

 ing up and as much as $15 per hundred 

 is proposed for the end of the week. 

 The sharp advance in this flower is the 

 worst feature of the Mothers ' day trade. 

 (Jrowers and retailers are doing what 

 they can to remedy it, and on all hands 

 buyers are urged to purchase white and 

 lolored flowers rather than carnations 

 only. The occasional sharp advances in 

 carnations hurts their sale at other 

 periods and is responsible for a growing 

 inclination not to buy them at all. It 

 is hard to convince people that these 

 swift advances are necessary. 



Sweet peas are still much overdone 

 and values are low, $1.50 per hundred 

 being top price for fancy stock. Callas 

 and Easter lilies are down in the dumps. 

 Tf the continued flood of snapdragons 

 could only have been delayed until 

 Memorial day, how much better it would 

 be for the growers! Marguerites are 

 arriving in shoals and prices are quite 

 low. There are still some daffodils and 

 tulips and small lots of irises. Such 

 gladioli as Mrs. Francis King and Amer- 

 ica are arriving in fair numbers, but are 

 not selling well. 



Oypsophila elegans is in good supply 

 .Tnd demand. Delphiniums are good. A 

 limited number only go to the whole- 

 sale markets, most being shipped di- 

 rectly to the retailers. Some nice salpi- 

 glossis and other annuals are coming 

 in. Of Cattleya Mossise there is now an 

 ample supply, as well as some odon- 

 tiodas, odontoglossums and Dendrobium 

 chrysotoxum. Fair supplies of both 

 gardenias and valley are coming in. A 

 good assortment of pot plants is avail - 

 ;il)le, prominent being hydrangeas, cal- 

 ceolarias and show pelargoniums. 



Various Notes. 



.\t Penn 's last week was noted a fine 

 assortment of flowering plants, which 

 included tuberous-rooted begonias, glox- 

 inias, show pelargoniums, Calceolarias 

 Stewartii and Lymanii, azaleas and 

 fuchsias. Business here continues ex- 

 tremely good. Great preparations are 

 being made for the Memorial day trade. 



The great show of native ferns and 

 flowers staged by Albert C. Burrage for 

 tlie Massachusetts Horticultural Society 

 was the chief local event of horticul- 

 tural interest last week. It attracted 

 many thousands of visitors, including a 

 considerable number from outside the 



state. The forcing of so many varieties 

 of native flowers in Mr. Burrage 's 

 greenhouses proved to be no simple mat- 

 ter. Some late blooms* refused to re- 

 spond at all, while others came along 

 too quickly. It was surprising to see so 

 much material flowering far ahead of 

 its natural time. The show has given 

 a great incentive to wild flower preser- 

 vation, and one of the first flower sanc- 

 tuaries will be at the Arnold Arboretum, 

 the woodlands of which will prove ideal 

 spots for naturalization of many plants, 

 and here they will be well protected by 

 officials and police. 



Prof. H. F. Tompson, professor of 

 market gardening at the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural College, Amherst, and in 

 charge of the Lexington experiment sta- 

 tion, will address the Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Club May 16 on vegetable 

 growing. 



April gave us a deficiency of a little 

 over four inches of rain, but our serious 

 drought ended May 4 and 5, when a 

 2-day rainstorm gave us just four inches 

 of rain, put out the numetous foresj- 

 fires raging and wonderfully improved 

 vegetation. 



The Chestnut Hill Garden Society will 

 hold its annual flower show during the 

 week of May 20 in tents on the grounds 

 of E. B. Dane, Chestnut Hill, and a 

 grand exhibition is assured from the 

 many estates in Brookline and Chestnut 

 Hill. 



John Eisemann, well known as the 

 Beacon Florist, received an order by 

 wireless from Colonel W. A. Gaston, 

 senior member of the flrm of which the 

 late Richard M. Saltonstall was a mem- 

 ber, asking Mr. Eisemann to make the 

 finest presentable casket cover for his 

 deceased friend. Mr. Gaston sailed for 

 Europe two days before Mr. Saltonstall 

 died and was advised by wireless of his 

 death and at once sent a message to Mr. 

 Eisemann. The casket cover was beau- 

 tifully made of cattleyas, delphiniums, 

 valley and adiantum. Mr. Eisemann had 

 charge of the flowers at the funeral and 

 says he never saw such a wealth of 

 flowers. Several leading Boston retail- 

 ers had three truckloads each of designs 

 and this in spite of all obituary notices 

 carrying the request. "Please omit 

 flowers." 



John Curley, the esteemed salesman 

 and grower for Fred W. Holbrow, of 

 Dorchester, is proud of the arrival of a 

 haby girl. This makes number seven. 

 Maurice Saunders, of the Symphony 

 Flower Shop, is also passing cigars over 

 the arrival of a son and heir. 



D.aylight saving started here April 

 .30 and will continue until the end of 

 September. About eighty per cent of 

 the population of New England have 

 adopted "summer time" and a greater 

 part of the objection to it seems to have 

 passed away; at least, few people now 

 criticize the change, even in the rural 

 districts. 



Boston's first radio exhibition opened 

 in Mechanics' building, May ."?, and 

 florists were again called upon for mucli 

 decorative material for the numerous 

 booths. The more exhibitions held of 

 this kind the better it is for the flo- 

 rists' trade. 



J. T. Butterworth 's f'attlcya Mossia' 

 arc now in fine crop, th.at beautiful va- 

 riety, Mrs. J. T. Butterworth, standing 

 out above all others in excellence. The 

 grand collection of miltonias is now 

 coming into flower and will soon make a 

 notable display. Other orchids flowers 

 ing well at this time are Dendrobium 



chrysotoxum, odontiodas and odonto- 

 glossums. 



The Boston Traveler remarks^ "The 

 flowers that bloom in tlje spring, tra, la, 

 are always objects of much interest, but 

 this year's early importations from 

 Britain included one item of more than 

 usual moment, that of the Lady Astor. " 



John Eisemann, of the Beacon Flower 

 Shop, is making tremendous prepara- 

 tions for the Memorial day trade and 

 has for a long time been getting thou- 

 sands of magnolia and other wreaths 

 ready. A large storehouse was specially 

 engaged to accommodate these, and or- 

 ders are already pouring in. 



At Carbone's, in addition to the big 

 line of flowers and plants, a special fea- 

 ture is now being made of garden fur- 

 niture, vases, sun dials, bird baths and 

 numerous other accessories for use in 

 Italian and other formal gardens; a 

 heavy business in these is being done. 



The coming quarantine hearing in 

 Washington May 15 is proving of much 

 interest to many local growers, some of 

 whom will attend the hearing. All are 

 hoping that the hitherto unbending, 

 stiff-backed policy of the federal hor- 

 ticultural board will be changed, so that 

 growers can import some stock much 

 needed. W. N. C. 



CHICAGO. 

 The Market. 



The strength the market showed at 

 the beginning of last week was neither 

 pronounced nor persistent; it faded out 

 after a day or two. The supply of flow- 

 ers was not large, but it was more than 

 adequate. The conditions were not sim- 

 ilar in all the wholesale houses, some of 

 them reporting light receipts and fair 

 daily clearances of all good flowers, only 

 low grades being slow to move, while 

 others reported rather larger receipts 

 and a daily carry-over. Nobody said 

 businees was bad, but everybo(iy said it 

 might easily have been better. 



A few warm days, the first of the sea- 

 son, had a pronounced effect on the 

 quality of stock. Many open roses were 

 seen, together with soft carnations and 

 sweet peas. There were fears that the 

 warm weather, if long continued, would 

 force the Mothers' day si»fiply into the 

 market too soon and create a scarcity 

 at the time of the big demand, but 

 gradually the fear of shortage at the 

 end of the present week has passed. 



Mothers' day orders have been arriv- 

 ing in a perfect flood. There now is no 

 question of the demand; it already has 

 made itself felt. Nor is there question 

 of supply; good carnations will be short 

 of the needs of tlie week, but there are 

 likely to l)e ;( good many too old or poor 

 to be safe to ship and other flowers will 

 lie moderately plentiful. Tliere will be 

 good cuts of roses and the supply of 

 peonies will be much larger than at any 

 previous Mothers' day. The peony will 

 go a long way toward making up for 

 the shortage of carnations. The peony 

 is big, showy, fresh and fragrant; that 

 the people like it is amply demonstrated. 



The orders received by the larger 

 wholesale houses are notable for their 

 size as well as for their number. Car- 

 nations lead in demand, followed by 

 roses, peonies and sweet peas. These 

 could be sold, it seems, in almost unlim- 

 ited numbers, but the full success of the 

 day will depend on the ability to make 

 clean sales en snapdragons, of which 

 there is a large supply; on Darwin tulips 



(Conttnued on imrp i*!-) 



