Dbcembeb 29, 1904. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



303 



and October, but for some time have not 

 done well. They seemed to be dormant 

 for a while and drop a great many leaves. 

 Lately tney have been putting up some 

 \ety good ground shoots that we thought 

 would right things but they are coming 

 with open buds. Besides, the foliage of 

 the new growths is dropping oflf and not 

 of a good color. We have kept a night 

 temperature of 60 degrees and given good 

 ventilation. We have used lime and ashes 

 at different times. They have been wa- 

 tered regularly. We are at a loss to know 

 what the trouble is or how to remedy it. 

 Please tell us what to do. D. & C. 



This trouble is very apt to attack roses 

 which have remained such a long time in 

 pots. They do not seem ever to take so 

 kindly to the bench as plants which have 

 been rooted during the winter and prop- 

 erly cared for till planting time, June. 



Be careful in watering, keeping them 

 rather on the dry, side. Keep the tem- 

 perature 56 degrees at night and not to 

 exceed 75 degrees during the day. Give 

 plenty of ventilation on every favorable 

 opportunity and refrain from all kinds 

 of feeding until the plants regain their 

 health. Keep the benches clear of dead 

 and decaying leaves and syringe every 

 bright morning, but be sure the foliage 

 has time to dry before sundown. 



BlBES. 



TO ROSE GROWERS. 



Sample copies of this issue of the Ee- 

 VIEW are mailed to those of the rose 

 growers who are not already on our sub- 

 scription list lor the purpose of attract- 

 ing their attention to the introductorv 

 article on the "History and Culture of 

 Grafted Eoses for Forcing," by Alex- 

 ander Montgomery, Jr., of Waban Eose 

 Conservatories, Natick, Wass., which will, 

 we believe, so clearly indicate the value 

 of what is to come that we shall have 

 immediate instructions, accompanied by 

 a dollar, to send the paper regularly. Mr. 

 Montgomery's contribution on this sub- 

 ject, and there is none more competent 

 to discu)» it, will alone be worth far 

 more than the price of a year's subscrip- 

 tion to every grower of the rose, be he 

 veteran or novice. And this series of 

 articles is but one of many we shall pub- 

 lish in the year to come, for the Eeview 

 is representative of the whole trade and 

 covers its field fully, treating of all sub- 

 jects as thoroughly and as interestingly 

 as Mr. Montgomery treats of his. 



HOW MUCH COAL? 



How much coal does it take to heat 

 one square foot of greenhouse glass for 

 an ordinary season; how many pounds 

 of coal per square foot of glass? 



H. 0. 



"Coal" is a very vague torm; it all 

 depends on the kind of coal, making due 

 allowance for the condition of the 

 greenhouses, etc. • It would be interest- 

 ing to compare the results in several 

 different establishments. Set down the 

 number of tons of coal you burned last 

 season, multiply it by 2,000, to get the 

 number of pounds, and divide by the 

 number of feet of glass you had to heat. 

 Then send the result to the Eevtew, and 

 don't forget to mention the kind of coal. 

 Sign your letter, but we will not publish 

 your name if you would rather not 

 have it. 



Rose General Mac Arthur. 



THE RETAILER'S VIEW. 



Ernst Wienhoeber, than whom no one 

 in Chicago has a patronage of higher 

 average class, says that he does not 

 regard Christmas as an unmixed bless- 

 ing. "The holiday is always preceded 

 by a quiet period and followed by a dull 

 spell," said he, "so that if you take a 

 stretch of three weeks or so, with Christ- 

 mas day about in the middle, the total 

 business is not so very much in excess 

 of any other equal period of good, ac- 

 tive, average business. 



"Then this matter of the increased 

 cost of cut flowers is a serious one. I 

 think our trade will pay as good prices 

 as most other retailers can command, but 

 we cannot increase our charges in any- 

 thing like the proportion in which the 

 cost of stock increases. To do so would 

 at once give the impression of attempted 

 extortion and drive away even our 

 wealthiest and most liberal patrons, those 

 whom we do business with right along. 



"The result is that at Christmas we 

 do business at a narrower margin of 

 profit than at any other season of the 

 year. It is just the reverse with nearly 

 every other line. You don 't find the 

 jewelers, the furniture dealers or any 

 other class of merchants offering their 

 closest prices at the holidays. 



"But the question of cost of stock 

 is no more serious to the retailer than 

 the matter of quality. No matter how 

 much you pay, you cannot be sure of 

 freshness because the existence of the 

 very demand which is the wholesaler's 

 justification in charging the increased 

 prices necessitates an accumulation of 

 stock to fill orders. It wouldn't be fair 

 for the wholesalers to give one man all 

 the fresh cut and the others nothing but 

 pickled stock, so we all fare about alike, 

 and the day after Christmas those of us 



who have a regular patronage begin giv- 

 ing credit to customers who received un- 

 satisfactory flowers; indeed, we are often 

 glad to have the opportunity to erase 

 the charge ; too often the customer makes 

 no complaint, but simply stops buying. 



"With those who have the trade of 

 the well-to-do, people who do not feel 

 the need of economy after the Christmas 

 purchases, I believe that the unsatisfac- 

 tory quality of the Christmas cut flow- 

 ers is the greatest cause of the drop- 

 ping off of business almost always felt 

 just after the holiday. 



"And plants will not by any means 

 take the place of cut flowers. They may 

 supplement the supply, but some of them, 

 like the Lorraine begonia, for instance, 

 are equally unsatisfactory to handle un- 

 der holiday conditions. No, I would by 

 no means regret it if the ordinary run 

 of business were not interrupted by 

 Christmas." 



CHRISTMAS BELLS. 



The sales of folding red paper Christ- 

 mas bells have been something enormous 

 this year. The trade began in early sum- 

 mer and kept up until Christmas Eve. 

 Time after time the wholesalers had to 

 return to the sources of supply. It ia re- 

 lated that one jobber placed his first 

 order for fifty dozen with fear and 

 trembling and that on the next trip of 

 only a few days one of his traveling men 

 sold 120 dozen. The large sales are 

 partly accounted lor by lower prices. The 

 American manufacturers make the bells 

 by machinery in quantity and at con- 

 siderably less cost than previous prices 

 on German bells. The reduction in prices 

 has put the bells more or less into the 

 department stores this season, and proba- 

 bly they will handle them still more ex- 



