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Auot'ST 31, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



8J9 



tion of prices of three of the principal 

 greenhouse crops, namely, roses, carna- 

 tions, and violets, during the past five 

 years. These figures were obtained by a 

 careful study of the quotations given in 

 the trade journals. Four principal mar- 

 kets were selected, namely, Chicago, Bos- 

 ton, Philadelphia, and New York. The 

 quotations for fancy stock were left out 

 of consideration, it being thought best 

 to consider only medium or average con- 

 ditions. I shall not take the time here to 

 give these figures in full, but a study of 

 the table reveals the fact that there has 

 been a constant upward tendency in the 

 price of roses from 1900 to the present 

 time. 



Average wholesale price per 100 roses, 

 carnations, and violets, 1900 to 1904, 

 inclusive, in the four principal cut 

 flower markets. 



Year. Market. Roses. Carnations. Violets. 



1900— Chicago $i.43 $1.38 $0.79 



Boston 4.99 1.22 69 



Philadelphia.. 5.87 1.31 69 



New York 4.39 1.13 70 



Average 4.79 1.26 72 



1901— Chicago 4.41 1.62 75 



Boston 5.78 1.54 54 



Philadelphia.. 6.38 1.84 K2 



New York 5.02 1.30 62 



Average 5.40 1.57 88 



1902— Chicago 5.14 1.80 .97 



Boston 5.58 1.59 62 



Philadelphia.. 6.90 1.74 .85 



New York 5.34 1.28 64 



Average 6.74 1.60 77 



1903-Chicago 6.94 2.60 1.17 



Boston 6.41 2.14 56 



Philadelphia .. 10.68 3.29 1.30 



New York 6.84 2.18 61 



Average 7.09 2.55 91 



1904— Chicago 6.79 2.62 1.18 



Boston 5.73 1.75 72 



Philadelphia.. 8.52 3.23 75 



New York 6.19 2.70 66 



Average 6.81 2.57 83 



General average .'5.97 1.91 78 



It appears from the table that the 

 average price of roses per hundred for 

 each of the past five years was: 1900, 

 $4.79; 1901, $5.40; 1902, $5.74; 1903, 

 $7.09; 1904, $6.81, The average for the 

 five years was $5.97 per hundred. 



The average price of carnations was: 

 1900, $1.25; 1901, $1.57; 1902, $1.60; 

 1903, $2.55; 1904, $2.57. The average 

 price of carnations for the past five years 

 was $1.91 per hundred. 



The average price of violets for each 

 of the past five years was: 1900, 72 

 <?ents; 1901, 68 cents; 1902, 77 cents; 

 1903, 91 cents; 1904, 83 cents. The aver- 

 age for the five years was 78 cents per 

 hundred. 



After quoting certain figures to show 

 the immense area now under glass the 

 speaker said : 



Passing now to the work of the Bu- 

 reau of Plant Industry m this great field 

 I will try to give you as briefly as I can 

 a general idea of our facilities for the 

 work, the various lines of investigation 

 that we have under way and the manner 

 in which the work is conducted. 



From this point the speaker's address 

 was illustrated with lantern slides. He 

 «tated that the object of the illustrations 

 W'ould be to conduct his hearers, figur- 

 atively speaking, through the various 

 branches of the Bureau of Plant Indus- 

 try in order that they might see, as well 

 as photographs could show, the nature of 

 the work being done by the bureau in the 

 interests of floriculture and horticulture, 

 how the work was conducted, and its 

 practical ai)p]ication. 



Attention "was first called to the 

 grounds of the Department proper, how 

 they were handled, and the efforts that 

 are made to utilize them for object les- 

 sons both for the visiting laymen and for 

 those interested directly in "various eom- 

 merci^l lines. Brief mention was made 



Nicotiana Sanderae, an Over-rated Novelty* 



of the school garden work that is being 

 done under the auspices of t!ie Bureau of 

 Plant Industry. 



In describing the facilities which the 

 Department now has for carrying on the 

 work under glass the speaker called at- 

 tention to the new establishment which 

 has recently been completed by the Lord 

 & Burnham Co. This plant consists of 

 thirteen houses of the most approved con- 

 struction. In addition to these there are 

 seven or eight houses in other portions 

 of the grounds, and one large conserva- 

 tory devoted entirely to economic plants 

 and ornamentals. The thirteen houses re- 

 cently constructed constitute, however, 

 the real working equipment for carrying 

 on the various lines of investigation that 

 are under way. Illustrations of the 

 houses were shown and it was pointed 

 out how certain of them were devoted en- 

 tirely to the investigation of plant dis- 

 eases and how others are used for the 

 purpose of developing plants connected 

 with the breeding investigations carried 

 on by George W. Oliver. Some of the 

 houses are used for special collections, 

 such as cacti, and others for the propa- 

 gation of special plants, such as the 

 mango and mangosteen, and other crops 

 that are being studied with a view to 

 introducing them into the south and 

 other portions of our tropical possessions. 

 The speaker also called attention to a 

 unique feature connected with the heat- 

 ing of these houses, the steam being se- 

 cured from a large power plant in the 

 neighborhood. He stated that it is hoped 

 ultimately to conduct a series of ex- 

 periments for the purpof^e of tletermin- 

 ing the best, methods of handling and 

 paying for steam secured in this way. 



Passing from the descriptive matter 

 pertaining to the liouses j)roper to the 



work which is actually being conducted 

 in them, the speaker called special atten- 

 tion to the work that is being conducted 

 on carnations and roses. The work on 

 carnations this year has to do mainly 

 with testing carnations grown under glass 

 all summer as compared with those 

 grown in the field. Work is also under 

 way having for its object the solution 

 of difficulties relating to selection in the 

 growing of carnations. A system of 

 rigid selection based on a scale of points 

 will be inaugurated the coming year, the 

 object being to determine the practica- 

 bility.yOf improving some of the more im- 

 portant varieties now in use. Considera- 

 ble work in the matter of growing new 

 seedling carnations is also being conduct- 

 ed by E. M. Byrnes, and a portion of 

 the house is devoted each year to the 

 new seedlings. Selection for resistance to 

 disease is also a feature of this work. 



Attention was next called to the work 

 on roses and violets in the matter of se- 

 lection, feeding experiments, study of 

 diseases, etc. 



One of the special features of the Bu- 

 reau 's work is the autumnal flower exhi- 

 bition, consisting mainly of chrysanthe- 

 mums. This work is carried on primarily 

 with a view to encourage a greater in- 

 terest in horticulture. The chrysanthe- 

 mum shows conducted every year by the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry and by the 

 Propagating Gardens under the War De- 

 partment are attended by great numbers 

 of people from the city, and are very 

 popular. 



The speaker then passed to the con- 

 sideration of some of the special diseases 

 under investigation by the bureau. At- 

 tention was called to the nematode or 

 root-rot disease of roses and the experi- 

 ments that have been conducted for the 



