Mat 6. 1821 



The Rorists^ Review 



27 



NBW YOItK. 



The Market. 



The week ending April 30 was nothing 

 to boast of as a business week in the cut 

 flower market. Arrivals of stock were 

 not particularly heavy, but clearances 

 on some days were hard to effect and 

 price concessions in several lines were 

 the rule rather than the exception. It 

 used to be that a duU market during the 

 lilac season was attributed to the lilac, 

 but that season was well on and lilac 

 arrivals were so small that they affected 

 nothing at all. Even the local lilac crop 

 was damaged by the late severe frosts, 

 so this commodity is not at all in the 

 way this season. Rather, the trouble 

 was with the general demand. On some 

 days it was good, on others so light as 

 to occasion concern. The steady buyers 

 seeined to be the Greek florists, who, 

 judging from their ample purchjases, do 

 a day to day business which is satis- 

 factory to them. The conservative buy- 

 ing of the more prominent stores has 

 been particularly noticeable of late, and 

 is the cause of much comment. 



The arrivals of peonies are increasing 

 in number of shipments, but there are 

 not anything like so many as there 

 usually are at the opening of the peony 

 season. Paeonia festiva maxima is in 

 and brings as much as $2 per dozen for 

 the limited supply. 



Boses are plentiful and move slowly, 

 ■> although the quality is excellent for this 

 time of year. American Beauty is in 

 crop again, and, with an increased sup- 

 ply, the price range has dropped. The 

 supply of hybrid teas continues to be 

 heavy and the long stemmed grades 

 suffer somewhat through the abundance 

 of flowers in . medium and short grades. 



The supply of orchids has shortened 

 considerably and prices have advanced 

 somewhat on the lower grades. Spray 

 orchids are rather scarce, but there is 

 little demand for them. 



Carnations are in fair supply, although 

 for a day or two arrivals have been 

 lighter than for some time previous. It 

 is thought that some growers are holding 

 their cut back for Mothers' day business. 



"White lilies continue abundant, with a 

 demand that is not at all active. Lily of 

 the valley is plentiful, a great deal of 

 frame-grown stock arriving, which re- 

 duces the prices obtainable for indoor- 

 grown stock. Gardenias have shortened 

 up somewhat, but the quality of arrivals 

 is poor and the demand small. 



Sweet peas are plentifi^l, but the qual- 

 ity is poor, many growers being near the 

 end of their cut. 



The supply of bulbous flowers is de- 

 clining. A few Victoria and Emperor 

 narcissi are still coming and of good 

 quality. Tulips, excepting outdoor or 

 frame-grown Darwins, are about done 

 and the Darwins in many cases are badly 

 spotted. 



Herbac ous flowers are in heavy supply 

 and meet with a moderate demand. The 

 choice is large, the list including iris, 

 lilac, gladiolus, calendula, delphinium, 

 pansy, mignonette, ageratum, alyssum, 

 cornflower, centaurea imperialis, didis" , 

 pyrethrum, stocks, snapdragon, callas 

 and daisies both in white and yellow. 



Various Notes. 



Dr. N. L. Britten, director-in-chief of 

 the New York Botanical Garden, Bronx 

 park, has returned from Trinidad, B. W. 

 I., after a trip of two months, during 



which he, with Mrs. Britton, who accom- 

 panied him, collected botanical speci- 

 mens embracing more than 1,500 va- 

 rieties, among them some of great rarity. 

 One is Hyptis melanosticta, a rare plant 

 said not to have been seen by botanists 

 since 1S60. A plant supposedly entirely 

 new to science was discovered. It is a 

 woody climber of the blueberry family. 

 Its branches are covered with tubular 

 scarlet flowers about an inch long. A 

 new species of cactus was also disci v- 

 ered. The collected specimens are to be 

 taken into the permanent collection at 

 the garden and will shortly be on view 

 to the public. Professor L. H. Bailey, 

 formerly of Cornell University, return- 

 ing from a botanical research trip to 

 Venezuela and accompanied by his 

 daughter, met Dr. and Mrs. Britton in 

 Trinidad and joined in some of the 

 excursions. 



Charles Thorley was a member of a 

 dinner committee which arranged a din- 

 ner at the Hotel Commodore on April 

 25. The dinner was in honor of Amer- 

 icans who are opposed to government Dy 

 blue laws. About 600 persons were 

 present and a perm., ent organization 

 vras formed, to be known as "The 

 American People's League." 



Mayor O'Keefe, of Boston, was a 

 visitor in town On May 2. 



Lewis & Valentine, of Eoslyn, L. I., 

 have been awarded the contract to lay 

 out and plant the new town hall park 

 at Hempstead, L. I., at a figure some- 

 thing over $11,000. 



John Miesem, the lily grower of Elm- 

 hurst, L. I., is around again after being 

 bedridden for two weeks with aural 

 abscesses and threatened pneumonia. He 

 says this was his initial bed-sickness, and 

 it was quite enough. 



An association of women has been 

 formed, whose object is the restoration 

 of Central park to its aspect of thirty 

 years ago, and it has the support of 

 Park Commissioner Francis D. Gallatin. 

 As a starter, it is proposed to set out a 

 double row of elms along each side of 

 the Mall, at a cost, including planting, 

 of $300 each. New soil is to be brought 

 in from nearby districts to replace the 

 old soil along the Mall for a space, ap- 

 proximately, of fifty feet around each 

 elm, which will be fifty feet to sixty 

 feet in height. This will be a tree- 

 moving proposition perhaps never be- 

 fore attempted, and progress will be 

 watched . 



The two displays of tulips at the 

 New York Botanical Garden at Bronx 

 park are attracting thousands of visitors. 

 One planting is located on the beds ad- 

 joining conservatory range No. 1 ; the 

 other is in the garden plantings almost 

 opposite Pordham hospital, on Southern 

 boulevard. 



The various seed houses in the down- 

 town district are enjoying a lively busi- 

 ness due to the early season. Practically 

 all of them are handling quantities of 

 transplanting stock, and judging by 

 some of the prices obtained, 40 cents 

 per dozen for lettuce and tomato plants, 

 this business should prove quite profit- 

 able. 



Alfred Demeusy, the Flatbush carna- 

 tion grower, died suddenly Sunday night. 

 May 1, of heart lailure. Obituary notice 

 appears elsewhere in this issue. 



The long-talked-of commercial aero- 

 plane service between New York and 

 Chicago opened Wednepday, May 4, the 

 first plane leaving Hazelhurst field, 

 Mineola, at 9:30 a. m. on that day, with 



Aviator Diggins as pilot. Charles 

 Schenck, of Traendly & Schenek, was a 

 caller on Mayor Hylan May 2, and it 

 was understood that the mayor would 

 "Say It with Flowers" to Mayor 

 Thompson in celebratiom of the occasion 

 of the first flight. 



A meeting of the executive board of 

 the Allied Florists' Trade Association 

 of New York was held at the oflace of 

 the New York Florists' Club, at the 

 Eighteenth street flower market, April 

 25. After considerable discussion, it 

 was decided to pay over twenty-five per 

 cent of all funds collected to the na- 

 tional publicity campaign of the S. A. 

 F. Details of plans for advertising 

 Mothers' day and Memorial day were 

 discussed, and contracts with the news- 

 papers were authorized, covering space 

 prior to these days. Ways and means 

 to increase growers' interest in the ob- 

 jects of the association were consid- 

 ered. Through the commission houses 

 letters had been sent to all growers 

 shipping to the New York market, so 

 that they were in possession of full in- 

 formation as to the movement. F. B. 

 Pierson volunteered to assist his dis- 

 trict leaders in personal efforts to bring 

 growers in their territory into line. It 

 was agreed that there was a lack of 

 interest shown by many, but it was be- 

 lieved that personal contact with them 

 would change conditions. It was re- 

 ported that many retailers had ex- 

 pressed a willingness to cooperate by 

 submitting to the proposed assessment 

 of one-half per cent upon all purchases, 

 commencing May 1. Others seemed to 

 be waiting to see how the plan was 

 likely to work before agreeing to it. 

 The prospects for success seemed to the 

 board to be rosy, and, with the full co- 

 operation of the retailers, they could 

 be materialized. J. H- F- 



OHIOAGO. 



The Market. 



Business began to hum April 29 and 

 has gathered volume with each passing 

 day. It is unusual for Saturday to be 

 a heavy shipping day, but April 30 

 nearly all the large shippers had a run 

 of orders almost like a Monday or a 

 Friday and the market had an air of 

 activity until the closing hour. Indeed, 

 the orders were so numerous and so 

 large it was impossible to fill them all. 

 There were enough long roses, but 

 shorts were cleaned up and carnations 

 were not to be had in quantity. 



The present week has started well, 

 with every indication of a strong finish. 

 The supply of flowers, while consider- 

 able, is not so large as in the corre- 

 sponding week of some other years, 

 while the demand appears to be much 

 the strongest ever known for Mothers' 

 day. 



The rose is the principal reliance. 

 The supply is only moderately large 

 and as early as May 2 some of the ship- 

 pers were declining further orders for 

 shorts. So large a proportion of the 

 orders run on the grades at from 10 

 cents to 20 cents, calling for large quan- 

 tities, that many houses have consist- 

 ently declined to furnish shorts unless 

 a fair proportion of long stems also 

 were ordered. It looks as though late 

 buyers will have to pay 20 cents to 35 

 cents for their roses simply because 

 there will be none of the lower-priced 



