578 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



August 3, 1905. 



NEPHROLEPIS PIERSONI 



ELEGANTISSINA 



Grand stock, in all sizes. Very popular in New York and all the largfe cities. 



INPRECEDENTED SALE OE LARGE SPECIMENS 



A splendid investment to plant NOW for tiie Fail Trade. 



Prices from 75c each; $9.00 per doz.; $50.00 per 100, up to $2.00, 

 $3.00, $5.00 and $7.50 each. Satisfaction Guaranteed. 



F. R. PIERSON CO., TARRYTOWN, N. Y. 



Mention The Kevlew when you write. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



U. S. TESTING GARDEN. 



In some special cases, notably in Cali- 

 fornia, close co-operation has been ef- 

 fected between the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture and the state experiment 

 stations, having for its object the estab- 

 lishment of important testing gardens 

 and other allied work. With the assis- 

 tance of the officers of the California 

 experiment station a testing garden has 

 been established at Chico. The land for 

 this garden has been donated to the ex- 

 periment station, to be held in trust by 

 the station for the use of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry. It is planned to 

 carry on extensive work here in the mat- 

 ter of testing grains, fruits and other 

 crops especially adapted to the Pacific 

 Coast. 



SAN FRANCISCO. 



The Market 



The weather continues favorable for 

 handling flowers, but business has gone. 

 Up to a week pgo there was something 

 doing in a social way, but now even 

 that has entirely stopped and funeral 

 work has disappeared completely. Car- 

 nations had a severe roasting from the 

 hot spell a couple of weeks ago and as 

 a result they are not yet up to color or 

 size, although the quality seems to be 

 improving in the dark weather we are 

 now having. Roses are also small and 

 weak from the same cause, but are 

 improving daily. Asters are not yet very 

 plentiful ; it will be more than a 

 week before we have them in quanti- 

 ties. Outdoor stock of all kinds is plen- 

 tiful except long-stemmed peas, which 

 are very scarce. Gladioli are being 

 sold by the growers at from $1.50 to 

 $2.50 per hundred. Lilies and valley 

 are almost out of the market and tube- 

 roses are being sold in considerable quan- 

 tities. Maidenhair is extra good now. 

 but asparagus is scarcer. All kinds of 

 green stuff and wild flowers are getting 

 shorter in supply. Owing to the con- 



tinued cold weather we may expect peo- 

 ple back to town early next month, 

 when business should commence again. 



Vaiiofis Notes. 



D. H. Lenox, of Los Angeles, is here 

 on a visit. Mr. Lenox recently disposed 

 of his retail business and will take a 

 few months' rest before opening a new 

 establishment. 



Frank Armanino is cutting quantities 

 of Kaiserin roses at present. He re- 

 cently leased the greenhouses of the 

 late Charles Hasselbacher, near Berke- 

 ley. 



The Cox Seed Co. has erected a new 

 office building at the entrance to its 

 grounds at Glen Echo. 



John Vallance is back in town. He 

 spent several weeks on his ranch at 

 Livermore. 



Charles Holtze, of Seattle, is in San 

 Francisco renewing old acquaintances 

 and incidentally looking up stock for 

 the coming season. He reports a very 

 fair spring trade and prospects good for 

 another active season. 



John Cooke, the pioneer florist, is 

 dangerously ill at his residence in 

 Berkeley. 



J. H. Gilniore has taken charge of the 

 greenhouses of Domoto Bros., at Elm- 

 hurst. 



The joint committees appointed by 

 the California State Floral Society and 

 the Pacific Coast Horticultural Society 

 have arranged for the coming exhibi- 

 tion to be held in the nave of the Ferry 

 building, November 9 to 11. 



S. Clack is on his annual trip to Ore- 

 gon and Washington. 



A visit to the grounds of Thorsted & 

 Co., at Fruitvale, shows the outdoor car- 

 nations in splendid shape and ready to 

 be transplanted under glass. This firm 

 is at present erecting another liouse 27x 

 200 feet, making seven houses in all. 

 G. 



THF JAPANESE QUESTION. 



The Japanese as a Gardener. 



The Japanese are naturally fond of 

 flowers and make fair gardeners, even 

 in this country, where we do not trend 



toward the dwarfing of vegetation or 

 the manufacturing of grotesque designs. 

 They are not suitable for heavy work, 

 but for the ordinary care of greenhouses 

 and the growing and care of plants they 

 have good success, and,' although not 

 rapid workers, accomplish a fair day's 

 work. They are patient and sober but 

 not as reliable as Chinese as a whole. 

 They have made great strides in the line 

 of gardening in private places and have 

 displaced many hundreds of white gar- 

 deners in this section. They usually 

 work at from 50 cents to $1 per day 

 less. 



The Japanese as a Wholesaler. 



One of the largest establishments in 

 California is owned and managed by 

 Japanese, not one of whom can more 

 than barely make himself understood in 

 English. About fifty men are employed 

 and the products are sent daily to San 

 Francisco. A large portion of the plant 

 is devoted to the growing of ferns and 

 palms, and, although the quality of the 

 stock is not up to that produced by 

 other growers, it is sold cheaper and is 

 eagerly bought by the smaller stores on 

 that account. Carnations and roses are 

 also grown in large quantities and have 

 the same fault; the quality is never first- 

 class. I think this condition will be 

 found with all the Japanese growers. 

 They certainly as yet are no competition 

 with the rest of the growers when qual- 

 ity is considered. There are about 500 

 men employed in the various wholesale 

 places in the vicinity of San Francisco. 



The Japanese as a Retailer. 



Said one of the largest Japanese grow- 

 ers to me a few days ago : "If the 

 white men do not buy our flowers we 

 will start retail stores all over town and 

 market our own products. We are bound 

 to get the best of the florists' business." 

 As yet the Japanese have not started 

 many stores, probably half a dozen in 

 Oakland and San Francisco, but those 

 that are established are doing consider- 

 able business in a small way, and I do 

 not see what is to prevent them from 

 carrying out the project as outlined to 

 me. They are keen business men, crafty 

 and cunning, and they pursue the same 



