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The Horists' Review 



« 

 August 5, 1915. 



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I THE AZALEAS i^ i 

 I <^ ARE DOUBTFUL I 



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ONCE MORE BRITAIN SAYS "NO.' 



Belgian Plants Again Barred. 



' Great Britain again has declined to 

 ' permit the unmolested passage to this 

 country of ships loaded at Rotterdam 

 'with Belgian products — and that means 

 ; no azaleas this year. 



The news of the affirmation of Eng- 

 land's recent orders in council came 

 July 30 in a cable message from Consul 

 General Skinner at London and was 

 made public in the diplomatic corre- 

 spondence published by the United 

 States August 4. 



The British government, as reported 

 in The Review several weeks ago, holds 

 shipments from Belgium to be the same 

 as goods of German origin, taking the 

 position that the Belgian territory dom- 

 inated by Germany is practically Ger- 

 Jwian territory. At the time England 

 ^rst announced its ban on Belgian prod- 

 ucts The Review asked the State De- 

 partment at Washington to make cer- 

 tain representations to the British gov- 

 ernment, in the hope of getting plant 

 shipments passed, and for a time it 

 looked as though these efforts would be 

 successful; those who consulted the for- 

 eign trade advisers in the government 

 offices at Washington were told that 

 the matter of bringing horticultural 

 supplies -out of Belgium had been taken 

 up by the State Department and that 

 there was hope of success, and last 

 week the department notified The Re- 

 view of the receipt of a cable from 

 Consul General Skinner at London 

 reading: 



Shlpmeutg from Belgium before Cabinet. I 

 liave private adrices that plan being worked out 

 which will enable exports to go forward and pay- 

 ments to be made under certain superTision. 

 Uecision expected some days hence. 



Apparently there are so many other 



interests seeking to procure Belgian 



goods via Rotterdam that the English 



government fears to make an exception 



in favor of Belgian plant shipments, 



which are a small item as compared 



with other lines. 



Hope Springs Eternal. 



There still are those in the trade who 

 expect the azaleas and other Belgian 

 plants to come along in due time. Some 

 of these figure that the embargo of the 

 English will be relaxed, but for the 

 present it seems to be becoming stead- 

 ily more strict. Others figure that ship- 

 ments will slip through, one by one, in 

 spite of the British, but the fact is the 

 Holland-America line refuses to load 

 any freight in any way likely to cause 

 the detention of a steamer. Still others 

 count on supplying their needs through 

 Holland houses, some of which have 

 ' advertised that they already have the 

 ^ azaleas and other Belgian plants "safe 

 on Holland territory," though it is 

 difficult to see what difference that will 

 make to the English or the shipowners, 

 neither of whom will have any doubt 

 of their Belgian origin. There will be 

 no troubles other than those of trans- 

 portation in getting Belgian plants 

 into Holland — it will be getting them 



out of Holland that will be difficult. 

 Belgian goods form a large part of the 

 vast accumulation of American bound 

 merchandise already tied up in Rotter- 

 dam. 



So long as the British embargo is 

 enforced, what we may expect is well 

 illustrated by the shipments of bay 

 trees and other plants that reached New 

 York last week. One custom house 

 broker received nearly 500 tubs of bay 

 trees, destined for a number of con- 

 signees, practically all of which were a 

 total loss. They had left the Ghent 

 district in March and April and, after 

 all the red tape had been unwound, 

 reached New York after nearly four 

 months on the way. Plant imports sim- 

 l)ly can not be made except when their 

 right to move, and move quickly, is 

 recognized by all. 



About the only chance for the azaleas 

 to come across this season is that the 

 British will change their minds about 

 stopping money going into Belgium. 



IMPORTERS PASS RESOLUTIONS. 



J. McHutchison, secretary of the 

 Horticultural Importers ' Association, 

 of the firm of McHutchison & Co., New 

 York, wrote as follows August 2: 



"Enclosed please find copy of reso- 

 lutions adopted by the Horticultural 

 Importers' Association at a recent spe- 

 cial meeting with regard to fall im- 

 portations of azaleas and other plants 

 from Belgium which are at present 

 under embargo by the British authori- 

 ties. 



"There is still some uncertainty as 

 to whether or not fall shipments will 



come. Cablegrams from our Belgium 

 and Holland coimections intimated that 

 fall shipments of azaleas, etc., would 

 be made, and when we cabled for defi- 

 nite statement we received the cable 

 response, 'Shipments permitted, but our 

 State Department at Washington still 

 insists that the matter is still under 

 consideration by the British Cabinet 

 in London, and that they have not yet 

 rendered their decision.' 



"The point of our protest is that 

 inasmuch as azaleas are exclusively of 

 Belgian origin and production, and for 

 Belgian interest, they do not come prop- 

 erly within the regulations governing 

 order in council goods, but the British 

 authorities contend that if the pro- 

 ceeds of sales reach the Belgians either 

 directly or indirectly there is a prob- 

 ability of the proceeds ultimately bene- 

 fiting the Germans through taxation, 

 duress or other process." 



The resolutions unanimously adopted 

 by the Horticultural Importers' Asso- 

 ciation at a special meeting held at. 

 New York, July 22,. — JfQS, are as 

 follows: 



Whereas, The British order in council effectlTe 

 March 16, 1915, was Intended to stop the export 

 trade of the nations at war with Great Britain, 

 but is at present so interpreted by the British 

 authorities as to also stop the exportation of 

 azaleas and other Belgian plants to the United 

 States, because they are grown in that part of 

 Belgium now occupied by the enemies of Great 

 Britain, and 



Whereas, This interpretation of the order in 

 council by the British authorities will do incal- 

 culable damage to the interests of the American 

 florists and the Belgian growers, without un- 

 favorably affecting the interests of the enemies 

 of Great Britain, since it is generally known 

 that azaleas are only grown in the Vlcinty of 

 Ghent, Belgium, and that the enemies of Great 

 Britain also must get them there, and 



Whereas, It can be clearly shown that these 

 azaleas and other Belgian plants are of Belgian 

 production and origin, exclusively grown by Bel- 

 gians, for Belgian interests, and that none other 

 than Belgians get any revenue or beneflt from 

 their sale. Therefore be it 



Besolved, That the Horticultural Importers' 

 Association respectfully requests our State De- 

 partment to use Its influence to have the British 

 authorities permit these shipments of azaleas 

 and other Belgian plants and bulbs to be exported 

 here the coming fall, datli^g from August 20, and 

 be it also 



Besolved, That the secretary of this association 

 be instructed to present this resolution pprsonally 

 to the Department of State at Washington. 



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I NEW FLOWER STORES | 



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sterling, HI.— The Sterling Floral 

 Co. has opened a downtown brant^ at 

 the Corner Drug Store. Carnations 

 were given away as souvenirs on the 

 opening day. 



Oakfield, N. Y. — James J. Bates, pro- 

 prietor of Bates' Flower Shop, former- 

 ly of Akron, N. Y., has sold his prop- 

 erty in Akron to C. A. Vail, and started 

 in business in Oakfield. He has pur- 

 chased a tract of land and dwelling at 

 50 Drake street, where he will continue 

 in the florists' business under the name 

 of Bates' Flower Shop. 



Atlanta, Ga.— The C. A. Dahl Co. 

 has leased the Nunnally store, at 103 

 Peachtree slreet, where a flower store 

 of the most up-to-date type has been 

 opened. R. I. Gresham, of the Dahl Co., 

 was recently in the east gathering 

 ideas on the construction and finish 

 of retail flower stores. The Dahl Co. 

 has a nursery of 200 acres near At- 

 lanta and large greenhouses on Forrest 

 avenue. 



Great Fails, Mont. — Geo. T. Barker, 

 formerly of San Francisco, is opening 

 a store at 612 South Second avenue. 



Rock Springs, Wyo.— L. B. Weathold- 

 er, of Evanston, has opened a store 

 next to the Rock Springs National 

 bank. Mrs. Nellie Saleen is in charge 

 of the store. 



Hannibal, Mo. — Saturday, July 30, 

 was opening day for the retail store 

 of the Yankee Produce Co., at 316 

 Broadway. The company, which is 

 owned by Walter Griffen, has operated 

 about 12,000 feet of glass at Oak wood, 

 three miles from here, for five years. 

 Vegetables were grown until two years 

 ago, when flowers were taken up. The 

 business in these grew so fast that it 

 was necessary to open the store, which 

 is known as Griffen 's Flower Shop. It 

 is in the downtown shopping district 

 and embodies the most modern ideas in 

 arrangement. From the amount of 

 business on the opening and. succeeding 

 days, Mr. Griffen does not expect to 

 be troubled with a dull summer. 



