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472 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



AuacsT 4, 1904. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



Santa Cruz, Cal. — A. Mitting, of the 

 California Carnation Co., Loomis, Cal., 

 is here with his family for the summer, 

 and all are greatly enjoying the sea 

 breezes. 



SHIPPING HOLLY. 



Will some one who has had experience 

 in shipping hoily kindly illuminate our 

 darkness? Holly grows extremely well 

 in the neighborhood of Victoria, B. C. 

 Every Christmas larg^ quantities are 

 shipped to San. Francisco and other 

 Pacific coast points. The holly is 

 packed in barrels and covered with an 

 old sack tacked on. We pack twenty- 

 five to thirty pounds in a barrel, ac- 

 cording to the amount of berries. Last 

 Christmas we had an unpleasant ex- 

 perience. Of four barrels cut from the 

 same tree, on the same day, two had lost 

 every leaf on arrival at San Tranciseo. 

 The journey takes about three days by 

 steamer. In another shipment of nine 

 barrels two more were spoiled from the 

 same cause. The consignee wrote us that 

 "fully half the holly arriving in San 

 Francisco last Christmas was a total 

 loss." Of four barrels sent to Seattle, 

 only six hours by boat, two also were 

 spoiled. This is the first mishap we havo 

 had in four years and we are completely 

 puzzled. Most of the holly was cut and 

 packed wet, but this should not have any 

 effect on the leaves, as it is generally 

 raining about that time and we always 

 have to cut and ship in that state. We 

 always ship as soon as possible after cut- 

 ting. We have taken the matter up 

 with the steamship companies but they 

 can throw no light on the subject, 

 neither can the consignees. Any sugges- 

 tions will be thankfully received. 



E, A. Wallace. 



COAST CONDITIONS. 



I have during the past month met a 

 half dozen gardeners, recent arrivals 

 from various eastern states, who were 

 thinking of locating in the neighborhood 

 of San Francisco, in the business of 

 raising cut flowers for market. In my 

 conversations with them J found them 

 generally men with many years' experi- 

 ence in growing and, as I am often asked 

 for an opinion as to the prospects of 

 building up a lucrative trade hfre, I 

 think a few words as to how we are sit- 

 uated may be of interest. 



The season just ended showed more 

 than ever that we have a much greater 

 demand for fancy stock of almost all 

 kinds than we are producing. New 

 houses and new soil have a marked habit 

 of well satisfying the grower, both as 

 to quantity and quality, but after the 

 third year it is a much more diflScult 

 proposition to cut the same quantity 

 of fancy stock, even with far more at- 

 tention to detail, and it is a fact that 

 many growers do not bring into market 

 the goods that at one time gave them 

 the reputation of handling only first- 

 class stock. Nature has been so lavish 

 with her natural gifts to Californiana 

 that the ordinary flower grower in time 

 gets careless and he spends too little of 

 his time in reglazing, whitewashing and 

 fumigating and too much in kicking 

 about the prices his products bring. 



Growers do not specialize enough. I 



100.000 Calla Bulbs 



BEABT TO 8BZP 



I-inch diameter per I000» $25.00 



I ;^-ijich diameter ** 35.00 



2-iach diameter per )000» $45.00 



2'A-inch diameter ** 65.00 



3-inch diameter per tOOO, $95.00 



ASPABAOUB PLVMOSUB VAXTUB— Strong, 2-incb per 1000, t20.00 



CABNATXOXrS— Field-Krown, now ready— G. H. Crane, Succesa, America.... " 80.00 



Hew Crop Giant Klxed PAVST SESD }4 oz.. $1.00: 1 oz., 4.00 



New Crop Improved SHASTA DAISY SEED . . . .trade pkt., 26c ; 1 oz.. 6.00 ; 1 lb.. 60.00 



260 plants or bulbs at 1000 rate. Obargres prepaid to your city. Terms casb with order. 



CALIFORNIA CARNATION CO., LOOMIS, CAL. 



Mmtlon The RcTlew wb*ii yon write. 



have met many during my years of ex- 

 perience and observation who seemed to 

 have a peculiar ability to handle cer- 

 tain kinds of stock. Whether it was 

 that their houses or their situations were 

 particularly suited to that special kind 

 of rose or carnation, or whether the 

 grower had the knack of handling the 

 article right, it is not always possible 

 to tell; generally it is a happy com- 

 bination of all three conditions, I sup- 

 pose. I have known many growers who 

 come under this head, who, not being 

 satisfied with a handsome return for 

 their outlay of time and trouble, have 

 branched out into a general line of 

 greenhouse stock, with the result that 

 they passed over to the list of "has 

 beens. ' ' 



I think a good test of a grower's abil- 

 ity is to give him a couple of houses of 

 Beauties to handle for a couple of years. 

 I have noticed that the man who is suc- 

 cessful with this queen of roses can gen- 

 erally be relied on to handle almost any- 

 thing else. Eternal vigilance is neces- 

 sary, even in this land of sunshine, to 

 grow paying crops, and many a grower 

 who started in with a half dozen houses 

 of roses finally drifted into carnations 

 and other easier handled stock. But 

 fancy stock, even at this time of the 

 year, is in good demand at fair prices, 

 with little of it to be had considering 

 the acreage of glass hereabouts. Good 

 rosea are scarce and I am afraid they al- 

 ways will be. Fancy carnations are never 

 over-plentiful and there is a greater mar- 

 ket now than ever. 



Orchid growing is still in its infancy 

 here and offers a rich field to the suc- 

 cessful man. With outdoor hardy stock 

 the Chinese and Japs have largely mo- 

 nopolized it, except the violet, and that 

 is a money maker under the right con- 

 ditions. With ferns, asparagus and 

 other green stuff, I think we are well 

 supplied; many houses that originally 

 were devoted to more difficult Btock have 

 been filled up with ferns, palms and gen- 

 eral house plants, all of which are fair 

 paying crops. 



I have met many eastern growers who 

 have come to California during the past 

 few years, men well up in the profes- 

 sion in their own localities, who made a 

 dismal failure here. There is usually 

 but one reason for it. It is because our 

 conditions are so different from those 

 anywhere elpe that the grower, no mat- 

 ter how well he may be acquainted with 

 his business, makes a flat failure when in 

 business for himself. 



My advice to eastern greenhouse men 

 who intend to settle in California and 

 raise cut flowers for market is to serve 

 a year at least in some of our large com- 



Qraocaria Excelsa, 



From 2K-inch pots, extra stronsr planti, 

 witb 2 and 8 tier, 6 to 8 inches high. 



at 916 per 100. 



Qrancaria Imbricata, 



From 2-inch pots, 4 to 6 inches hiRh, 

 910 per 100 and from 2^-incb pots 

 6 to 8 inches high. flS.BO per 100. 



F. LUDEMSNN, 



3041 Baker Street, 



San Francisco, Cal. 



3 



SPARAGUS 

 PLUMOSUS NANUS. 



From flats, $1.76 per 100 ; $15.00 per 1000 

 Strong 2-in. plants, 2.00 '" 20.00 



New Crop Shasta Daisy Seed, 



Trade packet.... 25c: loz. ..$5.00; lib.. .$60.00 

 Charges prepaid. Terms cash or C. O. D. 



Loomis Floral Co., Loomis, Cal. 



Mention The Rerlew when joo write. 



merclal places so as to get "on to the 

 ropes." I might add in conclusion that 

 we do not have weather here that reg- 

 isters 20 degrees below zero, nor do we 

 grow violets, mignonette or callas under 

 glass, and the grower who is used to 

 these conditions and the growing of 

 these articles will leave all that behind 

 him when he comes to California. G. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



The Market. 



Cool weather still stays with us and 

 we are beginning to think we will have 

 no summer before October or November, 

 which are sometimes our warmest 

 months. Flowers of all kinds are plen- 

 tiful and trade is about the same as it 

 has been for the past few weeks, rather 

 dull. Funeral work comes in very handy 

 at times and an occasional wedding or- 

 der is not to be despised. Album and 

 rubrum lilies are more plentiful and are 

 good sellers. Kaiserin is the best white 

 rose now and some very good ones are 

 shown. Carnations are in good supply 

 acd of good quality. Asters are daily 

 getting more plentiful and are eagerly 

 bought up by the stores, but we have 

 only the smaller flowers offered as yet. 

 Outdoor stock of all kinds is very plenti- 

 ful and cheap. 



Various Notes. 

 A visit to the greenhouses of John H. 



