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J 380 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Apbil 27, 1905. 



\ 



in France. The plants are grown on and 

 flowered without losing the foliage made 

 the previous autumn. I have had plants 

 of the ordinary Hortcnsia form flower 

 heads in the autumn, and though kept 

 growing they have failed to develop 

 properly, being almost devoid of color, 

 this, of course, being from want of sun 

 and light." 



BOSTON. 



The Easter Market. 



"^3 general verdict is that the trade 

 in plants and cut flowers was larger and 

 better than ever before. A few of the 

 n-tailers were not quite satisfied and at- 

 tributed any falling off to the large 

 number of stores of a miscellaneous na- 

 ture which handled plants, generally at 

 very low prices. There was a very no- 

 ticeable sliriukage in receipts of cut 

 flowers during the ten days before April 

 22 and prlcjs luled higher on these days. 

 On Good Friday carnations were at a 

 premium, there not being nearly enough 

 to go around. The contrary was the 

 case on Easter eve, for large quantities 

 sold at I'.alf what they ^vould havo 

 brought twenty-four hours earlier. The 

 quantity of cut flowers ihrrwn upon the 

 markets f.nd commission houses on April 

 22 was euojmous and, while good prices 

 were secured early in the morning, a 

 heavy slump occurred later in the day, 

 more ebi)ecial)y in the poorer grades of 

 roses and white carnations. 



There was no striking advance on 

 roses. Beauties were pJcntitul, the best 

 fetching $40 to $45 per hundred. Liber- 

 ty sold all the way from $4 to $18. 

 Brides and Maids sold at from $2 -o .$12, 

 very few reaching tlie latter tieure and 

 plenty going at the former price. Very 

 few hybrid roses appeared on the mar- 

 ket, and none of good quality. 



in carnations the best Patten, Enchant- 

 ress, Flamingo, Mauley, Lawson and 

 Fair Maid made $5 to $6. There was a 

 heavy surplus of some varieties, es- 

 pecially whites, some ren«aining unsold. 

 I>{icholson'8 Prosperity made -"filO, the 

 highest of anj' carnation on the market. 

 A fair quantity of violets appeared. 

 Doubles averaged $1, while extra good 

 singles made up to $1.30. 



The prevailing price on lilies .•ip]>eared 

 to be 12Va cents per flower. Ihese sold 

 well and showed a hardening tendency as 

 the day advanced. Callas brought $10 

 to $12.50 per hundred. Bulbous stock 

 sold better than usual. Double daffodils 

 made $2.50 to $3; singles, like Oohlen 

 Spur and Trumpet ^Major, $2 to $2.50. 

 Narcissus poeticus made $2. Tiilii)S 

 varied from $2 to $4 and Spanish iris 

 all the v.ay from $2 to $5. Sweet peas 

 were unusually fine, at prices from 75 

 cents to $2. Some extra fine white 

 stocks were shown, the best making $6. 

 Valley averaged from $3 to $4 and mar- 

 guerites 75 cents to $1.25, the yellow 

 selling best. Spiraja sold at from $1.50 

 to $2 ])cr hundred, proving a rather 

 slow seller. Pansies made 50 cents per 

 hundred. There was the usual assort- 

 ment of other seasonable flowers, delud- 

 ing some very fine candytuft, antirrhin- 

 ums, myosotis, English primroses, anem- 

 ones, cornfiowers, lilac, etc. 



It is each year heecming more ap- 

 parent that plants are taking ircceuenee 

 over cut flowers at Easter. Tiif: sale of 

 these in Boston was larger than ever 

 before and the quality better. Lilies, of 

 course, were in largest request. They 



appeareu more free from diMabo than 

 for several years. The lateness of the 

 season seemed to make them more 

 abundant. The growers cleaned out 

 every pot of these. Hardly any Harrisii 

 are grown for this market, longiflorum 

 seeming to have the call. Only one or 

 two lots of L. candidum were seen and 

 these a ghost of what they ought to have 

 been. Crimson Rambler roses seemed to 

 sell in largest quantity, next to lilies. 

 A perceptible difference could be seen 

 in stock which had been grown along in 

 pots and those which had been potted 

 last fall. Some ' nice Dorothy Perkins, 

 F'arquhar and Baby Ramblers were seen, 

 also various hybrids. Azaleas, owing to 

 the lateness of the season, were less 

 numerous, but sold well. Acacias were in 

 small supply, but marguerites, rhododen- 

 drons, spiraeas, pink and bl,ue hydran- 

 geas, genistas, Canterbury bells and 

 bulbous stock in variety were seen in 

 quantity. Smaller lots of boronias, kal- 

 mias, andromedas, clivias, clematis, eri- 

 cas anu epacris were displayed. In 

 palms, kentias sold weil and there v,as 

 also. a good call for ferns and assorted 

 fern dishes. 



The weather earJy on Saturday was 

 dark and threatening. This caused a 

 feeling of hesitancy on the part of re- 

 tail buyers, but happi!/ toward noon the 

 sun broke through the clouds and the 

 remainder of the dny was clear and 

 bright, without wind, a good day for 

 moving plants. Easter Sunday, although 

 cool, was clear and Easter weather con- 

 ditions were certainly very satisfactory. 



Easter With the Growers. 



Thomas Roland, of Nahant, reports 

 that his stocks of Crimson and Pink 

 Ramblers and hybrid roses, hydrangeas, 

 genistas, acacias and Canterbury bells 

 were cleaned out and that he was well 

 satisfied with Easter trade in plants. 



E. N. Peirce & Co. sold out all of 

 their immense stock of lilies, sending 

 out about 25,000 pots of longiflorum 

 during Easter week. 



W. W. Edgar had a big sale for 

 azaleas, genistas. Ramblers, and hybrid 

 roses, hydrangeas and spiraeas. He sent 

 in some nice spikes of Lilium candidum 

 to the Park street market. 



A. Leuthy & Co. state that azaleas sold 

 unusually well, every plant going. Eas- 

 ter lily trade was less brisk than some 

 years, probably owing to practically 

 everyone having them. Genistas of all 

 sizes sold freely. Clivias sold well in 

 limited quantitidl. Kentias afid arecas, 

 especially in latter sizes for decorative 

 work, were in good demand and on ferns 

 and fern combinations they had an aver- 

 age trade. 



Frank T. White's spiraeas from home- 

 grown clumps were away ahead of any 

 imported stock. E. Sutermeister also 

 had very fine stock of these. 



Mann Bros, had an unusually fine 

 trade in rhododendrons and Pink and 

 White Ramblers. 



William Sim had the finest single vio- 

 lets seen. His Easter pick of these was 

 50,000. He also had 40,000 sweet peas. 



William Nicholson sold 5,000 margue- 

 rites early on April 22, yellow taking 

 the best. His Prosperity carnations 

 again made top notch prices. 



Tailby, of Wellesley, sold 5,000 double 

 yellow daffodils very quickly. He says 

 he never saw this flower sell better for 

 Easter. He had unusually fine pots of 

 lily of the valley and splendid Spanish 

 iris. 



Oscar L. Dorr sold 75,000 Campbell 

 violets at the Park street market at an 

 average price of $1 per hundred. 



W. H. Elliott had superb Liberties for 

 Easter. In the culture of this fine rose 

 he is hard to beat. 



The Beauties, Brides, Maids and Wel- 

 lesley from Waban Conservatories were 

 wonderfully fine. The last named is a 

 fine seller. 



Charles E. Holbrow, of Brighton, ha-J 

 remarkably fine Rambler roses at the 

 Park street market. 



At the Retail Stores. 



Galvin's stock of Easter lilies at Tre- 

 moiit street and Back Bay Conservatories 

 was immense and of fine quality. He 

 had the best acacias seen, also fine gar- 

 denias, Pink Ramblers and other season- 

 able pot plants. 



Carbone carried a fine lot of ericas, 

 boronias, clematis, kalmias, Dorothy 

 Perkins rose and Azalea Temperance. 



Doyle had a superb stock of lilies. 

 Those in 10-inch pots, three stems to a 

 pot went well. His Ramblers were the 

 best seen. He also had fine Canterbury 

 bells. 



McMulkin's Easter window, composed 

 entirely of white flowers relieved by a 

 few plants of Baby Rambler and Colmar 

 grapes, was very beautiful. 



Houghton & Clark had extra fine aza- 

 leas, genistas, gardenias, ericas and kal- 

 mias. 



Hoffman, on Massachusetts avenue, 

 made a specialty of Easter lilies, yellow 

 marguerites and Crimson Ramblers. His 

 large windows were very effectively ar- 

 ranged. 



Wax Bros, have extra fine Ramblers, 

 azaleas, marguerites and pink hydran- 

 geas. 



Various Notes. 



All the commission houses did a big 

 Easter business, Welch Bros. ' being of 

 enormous volume. The dealers in green- 

 ery also were kept busy, Henry M. Rob- 

 inson & Co. especially so. 



Trade since Easter has been very 

 good, a large number of weddings and 

 jtlenty of social activity causing a good 

 demand for flowers. Prices are holding 

 up remarkably well. 



Geo. E. Buxton, of Nashua, is suffer- 

 ing from an attack of lumbago. 



S. J. Goddard has completed a new 

 sixty-foot propagating house. His rooted 

 cutting trade had far outgrown his fa- 

 cilities for handling it. 



Edward Wood, of Lexington, had 

 some nice Spiraea Van Houttei for Eas- 

 ter. This makes a . pretty plant for 

 church decorations. 



Governor W. L. Douglas has appointed 

 April 29 as Arbor day for promoting 

 forestry and restocking the state's tree- 

 less lands. 



The committee on ways and means of 

 the state legislature has reported a bill 

 for the suppression of the brown tail 

 and gypsy moths. The bill calls for the 

 expenditure of $75,000 in 1905, $150,- 

 000 in 1906, and $75,000 in 1907, and 

 $10,000 additional each year for natural 

 parasites. 



Bay State Nurseries are doing the big- 

 gest spring trade in their history. Over 

 100 men are kept busy getting orders 

 out. 



Growers of Easter plants complain of 

 tlie competition of 10-cent and other 

 stores, which sold quantities of Easter 

 plants at absurdly low rates this year. 

 Some concerted action among members 



