The Florists' Review 



NOVOHBBB 26, 1914. 



fl 



Katabllshed, 1897. br a. L. ORANT. 



Published every Thursday by 

 Thk Plokists' Publishing Co., 



631-S60 Oaxton BuildlOK, 



608 South Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele., Wabaah 8196. 



Reiri<*tered cable address, 



Florrlew. Chicago. 



Entered as seeood class matter 

 Deo. 3, 1897. at th« post-offlc* at Chi- 

 cago. III., uadsr 4te Act of Jlareh 

 8. 1879, 



Subscrtptfon prlee, $1.00 a year. 

 To Canada. ;|2J)0: to Enrope. fe.OO. 



AdvertisiBir -rat^s quoted upoo 

 request. Only strtotly trade ad- 

 vertlslnff accepted. 



ss^aaa^i^ai 



EBE^^^OX^E^ 



NOTICE. 



It is impossibls to Kuarant** 

 til* iBsartion, discontinuanea 

 or altaratioB of any advartUa- 

 maBt ualass iBstructioas ara 

 roeaivad by 



5 P. M. TUESDAY. 



BOCIETT OF AXEKIOAV FL0BI8T8. 

 Inoorporatsd by Aot of OentrMs, March 4, 1901. 



Offloers for 1814: President, Theodore WIrth, 

 MlnBeapoils; Tlce-prasldent. Patrick Welch. Bos- 

 ton; secnury. John Tonnf, 5S W. 88th St., New 

 York City; treasurer, W. F. Kastlnc, BaSslo. 



Officers for 191B: President. Patrick Welch, 

 Boston: rice-president, Daniel MacRorie, San 

 rraaclsco: secretary, John Tonnf, U W. 28th 

 ■t.. New T<ffk City; treasorer. w. F. Kasttng, 

 Buffalo. 



Thlrty-llrst snnual conTsntlon. Baa Francisco, 

 Cat., August 17 to aO, 1916. 



Besulta bring advertising. 

 The Seview brings results. 



Abundant as pompons have been this 

 season, there will be still more of them 

 another year. But varieties wUl be se- 

 lected with greater care. 



If, instead of trying to take trade 

 away from one another, florists will seek 

 to create new buyers, it will be vastly 

 more to their advantage. 



If business houses find those placards 

 have shut off the war talk, they might 

 replace them with some reading, "Don't 

 talk 'bad business.' We're looking for 

 good times." 



There is little doubt the Manetti 

 stocks will come along, many already be- 

 ing on the way, but their safe arrival is 

 so important to many people that word 

 of their being on the place will be a re- 

 lief to more than one greenhouse mana- 

 ger. 



PLENTY OF STATICE. 



Statice, a German commodity, will 

 not be scarce for Christmas, as many, 

 with reason, feared it would be. It 

 develops that statice is being exported 

 from Germany both through Copenha- 

 gen and Rotterdam, and that jobbers 

 in florists* supplies in the latter city 

 have received considerable quantities 

 from Germany that represent the cus- 

 ^mary purchases of England, France 

 and other European countries, and 

 which the Hollanders are seeking a 

 market for. Freight and insurance 

 make imports cost more than in normal 

 seasons. 



BILL, THE FLOSISTS' FBIEND. 



Of all the friends that I hare met, 

 The one that's never (ailed me yet 

 Is Bill, and I don't think he wifl. 

 That good, old. faithful Dollar Bill, 



— Southern Merchant. 



DON'T GKOWL. 



A wise man once remarked, "Things 

 are liever so bad that they couldn't be 

 worse." Yet here and there we meet 

 men who are grumbling and complaining 

 about business, men whose only tone 

 is one of pessimism and whose sole 

 topic is "htrd times," who spread un- 

 rest and depression wherever they go 

 and infect everyone they meet. In 

 xealiiy, kowever, ^'bad busiBess" is 

 mere often mental d^reasion than 

 actual business depression. 



In Chicago, in a little, ineonspicnons 

 shop on Michigan avenue, there is a' 

 florist who is totally blind. He has not 

 left his store for over three years, and 

 he probably does not expect to. He does 

 all the work in the store and serves a 

 fickle transient trade. He seems to 

 care only for his flowers, which, though 

 he can never see them, he handles and 

 moves with a touch almost of vener- 

 ation. 



But the wonderful thing about this 

 man is that in spite of his physical 

 affliction and its tremendous handicap, 

 he is an optimist. The other day he 

 was asked how business was, and, in 

 that little shop that few enter, he 

 answered, smiling: 



"Oh, I don't suppose I can complain. 

 Things could be worse." 



Moral: Don't grumble. There's al- 

 ways something to be thankful for. 



THE OBEENS SITUATION. 



With the arrival of Thanksgiving, in- 

 terest in Christmas greens begins to 

 awaken. Apparently the situation to- 

 day is as follows: 



Bouquet green has declined in popu- 

 larity with the recent high prices to 

 the point where it is of less importance 

 than in many years. The green that 

 was picked early this season is of 

 doubtful quality, due to weather con- 

 ditions; the smaller quantity of late 

 picked green is good. Each year it be- 

 comes necessary to go farther away to 

 get good green. Jobbers are oflEering 

 at all the way from 2 cents to 4% cents 

 f. .b. the woods and there seems to be 

 no firm basis anywhere. 



First-class, darK green, well-berried 

 Delaware holly never again will be 

 abundant. There always will be some 

 good holly, but much more that is de- 

 ficient in one quality or another. Most 

 of the holly of the future will come 

 from the south and one might almost 

 say southern holly never is strictly first- 

 class judged by the standards of the 

 old days, although it frequently is bet- 

 ter than some of the stock nowadays 

 shipped from Delaware. Really good 

 holly may be expected to be worth its 

 price, and bring it. Some of the holly 

 shippers recognize that while good 

 holly gets scarcer every year, poor 

 holly becomes more abundant — they are 

 declining orders for bulk holly, but are 

 offering to make up wreaths to any 

 specifications. 



Boxwood has come into prominence 

 as a Christmas green, especially for flo- 

 rists' use. Bouquet green and holly 

 are peddled everywhere, but boxwood 

 still is a trade specialty, used for 

 wreaths, balls, bells, etc. The supply 

 is limited and the tendency is toward 



slightly higher prices per pound, espe- 

 cially for the best grade. 



There is general confidence in a first- 

 class Christmas trade, in spite of slow 

 conditions during t^ autumn. | 



THE DEATH OF MISS OHANDLEB. 



Arthur Cowee, of Berlin, N. Y., sends 

 The Review details of the accident that 

 resulted in the death of Miss Bessie 

 - Chandler, who was well known to those 

 i^of the trade who are regular attendants 

 at S. A. F. conventions. For many 

 years the Misses Bessie and Aleda 

 Chandler, the latter being one of Mr. 

 Cowee 's regular force, have assisted 

 him in staging and explaining his 

 gladiolus exhibit at the eonvention. No- 

 vember 5 Miss Bessie Chandler was one 

 of a party returning home to Cambridge, 

 N. Y., after an auto ride, when a pas- 

 senger train on the Delaware & Hudson 

 struck the machine. One young woman 

 was killed instantly. Miss Chandlei 

 lived four hours, and another of the 

 party died next day. The two others 

 in the car were seriously injured. The 

 Chandler girls were nieces of Mrs. 

 Jerome fe. Rice, widow of the widely 

 known seedsman. Mrs. George Coulter, 

 one of those killed, was the only daugh- 

 ter of Cyrus Hatch, a traveling sales- 

 man for the Jerome B. Rice Seed Co. 



CHICAaO. 



Tlie Market. 



November 23 the market snapped 

 back to normal. The change in condi- 

 tion from one Monday to the next was 

 one of the most remarkable in the 

 history of a season full of unusual 

 features. A week of midwinter weather 

 followed weeks of Indian summer. 

 With the check given roses and carna- 

 tions, the chrysanthemum crops were 

 finishing off earlier than usual, and in 

 the closing days of last week a change 

 began to be apparent, but it was not 

 until November 23 that its full force 

 was felt. 



While conditions this week are far 

 better than at any time heretofore this 

 season, it should be carried in mind 

 that the present situation is not abnor- 

 mal; as a matter of fact, the situation 

 this week would be almost exactly 

 normal if it were not that the price 

 on carnations still is too low. There 

 has been a good advance, but carna- 

 tions are not yet bringing as much 

 money as they did last year. The 

 probability is that there still are too 

 many pompon mums, offered cheaply, 

 which can be used in place of carna- 

 tions. 



The cold weather checked the rose 

 crops and at the same time the dull 

 skies took the color out of Killarney. 

 It gives Killarney Brilliant the oppor- 

 tunity to show its real winter worth, 

 for the color of most- of the Killarneys 

 is such that they are scarcely salable. 

 Brilliant, on the other hand, still has 

 good, rich color. Red roses are scarce. 

 It is not possible to supply all the 

 Milady and Richmond that are called 

 for. Also, there is special demand for 

 Bulgarie and Ophelia, which cannot be 

 met. Russell is the best rose on the 

 market, and the best seller. Shawyer, 

 while not abundant, is popular. Neither 

 Sunburst nor Ward are equal to the 

 demand. Most of the roses are long 

 in stem and short stock is difficult to 

 procure. Beauties have shortened up 



