20 



The Florists^ Review 



DSCBMBEB 24, 1914. 



stock beds of carnatioDS were visited 

 by a spot or blight disease last spring. 

 The effect of the blight was that some 

 plants would dry up entirely, while on 

 others two or three shoots would remain 

 unharmed. The plants have now grown 

 out of the trouble, but the supply is not 

 what it would otherwise have been. The 

 carnation growers of this neighborhood 

 would like to hear through The Review 

 from other growers who may have expe- 

 rienced this trouble this year. 



A. N. Pierson, Inc., of Cromwell, al- 

 ready has several thousand roses graft- 

 ed. Carnation propagating is also well 

 under way and the demand for cuttings 

 is already brisk. 



The Connecticut Horticultural Society 

 held its annual meeting December 11, 

 with a large attendance. The following 

 officers were elected: President, War- 

 ren 8. Mason, Farmington; first vice- 

 president, George H. HoUister; seconc^ 

 vice-president, Carl Peterson; third vice- 

 president, O. F. Gritsmacher; secretary, 

 Alfred Dixon; treasurer, W. W. Hunt; 

 librarian, W. T. Hall; botanist, C, H. 

 Sierman; pomologist, G. H. Hollister. 

 County vice-presidents — Middlesex, 

 Alex. Gumming, Cromwell; Fairfield, 

 C. H. Plum, West Redding; New Haven, 

 John H. Slocombe, New Haven; Wind- 

 ham, Frank M. Smi.th, Willimantic; 

 Tolland, Theodore Staudt, Rockville; 

 Litchfield, Walter Angus, Chapinville. 

 The next meeting of the society will be 

 held January 8, when the work for the 

 coming year will be outlined. The so- 

 ciety greatly regretted to see the retire- 

 ment of John P. Huss from the presi- 

 dency; he has served the society faith- 

 fully for the last six years. R. C. S, 



MTLWAUKEE. 



The Market. 



Bearing out the old adage that ' ' no 

 two things are exactly alike," this 

 year's Christmas is quite different from 

 the holiday season we last experienced. 

 Stock in general is in much better con- 

 dition this year, both as to quality 

 and quantity. Last year it was neces- 

 sary to turn down some orders, espe- 

 cially for carnations. While the qual- 

 ity was fair last year, it was nothing 

 to boast about and the general opinion 

 was that the business was there if only 

 stock could be had to take care of it. 

 This year there is an abundance of stock 

 and the quality is fine. PVom present 

 indications, however, the Christmas 

 trade will not show much increase over 

 last year. There is not as much life in 

 the market as there should be, perhaps 

 partly because of the great conflict in 

 Europe and partly because everyone, 

 from the pauper to the capitalist, is 

 zealously hoarding his surplus cash 

 rather than investing it in florists' 

 stock. However, everybody in the trade 

 is boosting and business is expected at 

 least to hold its own this year. 



The only stock in which there is a 

 real shortage is Wisconsin-grown vio- 

 lets, and the entire cut of these will be 

 disposed of readily at top-notch prices. 

 Boses are in good supply and the qual- 

 ity is fine. Short-stemmed stock, of 

 course, is in great demand and the sup- 

 ply will hardly be sufficient. Buyers of 

 roses need not go without stock, how- 

 ever, as there are plenty of the different 

 varieties in the long-stemmed grades. 

 The supply of the Russell rose, which 

 has become a prime favorite, will be 

 large enough to take care of all orders. 



It Points 

 theW^ 



No man concerned with the publica- 

 tion of The Review is so foolish as 

 to believe it impossible for a florist 

 to do a wholesale business without the 

 use of this paper's advertising columns. 

 But this much is certain: The man 

 who sells his stock by other means 

 chooses a more costly way of getting 

 business. And the extra cost he takes 

 either from his profits or from his cxis- 

 tomers. 



There lies ahead of the craft a won- 

 derful opportunity for the development 

 of the wholesale mail order plant trade. 

 Thousands of florists have large facili- 

 ties for selling to the public and few 

 facilities for producitg what they sell. 

 They must buy. For the man who can 

 grow the stock the retailers need there 



The prices charged for this rose cause 

 no criticism in the trade, as all realize 

 the fine quality of the flowers. The sale 

 of Christmas plants has been exception- 

 ally good and buyers are receiving some 

 extra fine stock. American Beauties are 

 good this year, but are running mostly 

 to long stems. The supply seems to be 

 amply sufficient to take care of the 

 demand. 



Various Notes. 



The Edlefsen-Leidiger Co. had a num- 

 ber of good decorations last week. An 

 exceptionally large one was for a ban- 

 quet at the Wisconsin hotel, which 

 kept the firm exceedingly busy for a 

 time. They say that business has been 

 really better than they expected so far 

 this season. 



F. Gutermuth & Co. had a small fire at 

 their establishment, at Twentieth street 

 and Atkinson avenue, on the night of 

 December 14. The damage, however, 

 was slight. 



F. Choles, of the New York Flower 

 Co., Madison, Wis., was in Milwaukee 



December 19, attending to his purchases 

 for Christmas. 



D. M. Wigle, of Rochester, Minn., was 

 also a visitor last week. 



The Holton & Hunkel Co. is making 

 up baskets in large quantities. These 

 baskets are attractive and are being 

 disposed of rapidly. The novelty 

 wreaths made by this firm this year 

 found such a ready sale that the supply 

 is already almost exhausted. 



H. J. S. 



LANCASTEK, PA. 



Club Meeting. 



The Lancaster county florists held 

 their monthly meeting in the Chamber 

 of Commerce rooms, Thursday evening, 

 December 17, with a good attendance 

 of members. Maurice J. Brinton, of 

 Christiana, read i^ paper on "Lilies 

 and Other Bulbs for Cutting." Mr. 

 Brinton forces upwards of 100,000 lil- 

 ies; in fact, he has lilies to cut every 

 day of the year. He also grows Paper 



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