p~...-.V. 



NOVEMBEK 23, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



23 



OBITUARY. 



Denys ZirngiebeL 



Denys Zirngiebel, whose critical ill- 

 ness was referred to in the Eeview issue 

 of November 9, died at his home in 

 Needham, Mass., on November 16, aged 

 76 years, 9 months and 10 days. For 

 over half a century the deceased has 

 been closely associated with Boston hor- 

 ticulture and his removal is a distinct 

 loss to the members of his profession, 

 by all of whom he was ever held in the 

 highest esteem. 



A native of Switzerland, he secured an 

 ■excellent horticultural and botanical 

 training before coming to America some 

 fifty-seven years ago. His first position 

 was at New Orleans, on a plantation, 

 where he had only been located a short 

 time before being Called to the Harvard 

 Botanic Gardens in Cambridge. For 

 nearly fifteen years he had the manage- 

 ment of these gardens, under the well 

 known Prof. Asa Gray, and there he 

 largely added to his already wide knowl- 

 edge of plants. 



In 1865 he bought land at his late 

 home in Needham and built greenhouses 

 in 1866. His present houses are the 

 third range erected since his residence 

 there. Mr. Zirngiebel was a pioneer in 

 the introduction of many florists' flow- 

 ers. His name is perhaps best known as 

 a raiser of prize pansies, in which he did 

 a great business and attained a national 

 reputation. In carnations, too, he led 

 the way by bringing over some of the 

 leading French perpetual blooming sorts 

 from which have emanated our present 

 magnificent types. To mention all the 

 flowers introduced or improved by Mr. 

 Zirngiebel would require much space. 

 Suffice it to say that up to the last he 

 Avas ever on the alert to get new things 

 and as keen an observer as in his younger 

 days. 



For many years he had been a mem- 

 ber of the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society and was a frequent exhibitor at 

 its shows, securing many medals, cer- 

 tificates and premiums. He was a stall- 

 holder in the Park street flower market, 

 liis son who was associated with him in 

 business, being the salesman. Another 

 son is in the florists' business on his own 

 account nearby and his only daughter, 

 married, lived close to him. For a num- 

 ber of years he belonged to the S. A. F. 

 and when that society visited Boston in 

 1890 the deceased worked hard for a 

 successful convention. 



Few men in America had a wider and 

 more intimate knowledge of plants, 

 whether viewed from a botanical or com- 

 mercial point of view, and it has fallen 

 to the lot of few to live more useful 

 lives. He has done much to advance 

 floriciiltural interests for which he will 

 loiiij be tenderly held in remembrance. 



Fuiioral services at Needham on No- 

 vember 18 were very largely attended, 

 many of his confreres from the Park 

 ?!tioet market and elsewhere being among 

 those to pay the last tribute of esteem. 



W. N. Craig. 



THANKSGIVING ADVERTISING. 



John L. Parker is a florist and druggist 

 at Birmingham, Ala. He is a believer in 

 advertising and he applies the publicity 

 more or less to both ends of his business 

 fit the same time. "Purity at Parker's" 

 won't fit every business, but the rest 

 of the advertisement reproduced here- 

 with will be a help to any flower store. 



Get up something along this line and 

 print it in your local paper, if you can 

 get it in a few days before Thanksgiv- 

 ing, and remember that Christmas is not 

 far away. A little good newspaper 

 advertising the first three weeks in De- 

 cember will bring in many people who 



Denys Zirngiebel. 



would not otherwise remember that cut 

 flowers and plants are among the most 

 acceptable of Christmas gifts. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market 



The weather reminds one of a Cana- 

 dian Indian summer, just the weather 

 the florists will not stand for, because it 

 makes business just as mild as itself and 



"Purity at Parker's." 



DON'T forget the flowers 

 for the Thanksgiving 

 table, and the decorations 

 for dining room. Better 

 order from us NOW, and 

 you'll be sure to get them 

 on time. 



Careful attention given to out-of- 

 town orders. Flowers packed by us 

 keep fresh and fra^ant. 



John L. Parker 



Two Drug stores 



Woodward Bldg. Five Points. 

 — Down-town store open all night. — 



J 



A Retailer's Thanksgiving Adv. 



continues the outdoor .street merchants 

 as a menacing factor for the legitimate 

 winter trade. 



Violets seem to have reached their top 

 for the present at $1.25. Even the horse 

 show could not budge them, and that, too, 

 was for the specials. It was a disap- 

 pointment. Perhaps there will bo no ad- 

 vance above this before Christmas. It is 

 a fair price and if it can be maintained, 



and raised on special occasions to $1.50, 

 no one will have cause for complaint. 



Narcissi and sweet peas are here and 

 plenty of lilies of all kinds, including 

 valley. Cattleyas are advancing and 

 "cyps" are extra good. Carnations are 

 quite independent. Good novelties 

 touched $4 often, some even higher. All 

 grades are selling well and the general 

 quality was never better. 



Eoses were last week too abundant for 

 satisfactory disposal. While the very 

 best are always sure of recognition at 

 good prices, many thousands have to go 

 at "buyers' option." Chrysanthemums 

 have passed their zenith and the rosarians 

 begin to rejoice at the retreat. Such a 

 mum year one does not remember, not so 

 much for prices as for quality and 

 novelty. 



The Rosary. 



I see the Detroit Free Press has been 

 using some "hot air" in behalf of one 

 of the citizens of "the beautiful city." 

 But none of us believe Phil Breitmeyer 

 ever said the saucy things attributed to 

 him. His trip here was not a "disap- 

 pointment," and he did get some "new 

 ideas" about store decoration which Be- 

 troit will soon see in execution. He was 

 particularly impressed by the Rosary, 

 the wonderful beauty and unique concep- 

 tion here achieved in white birch bark 

 never having been equaled in this country. 

 It is a triumph of Mr. Troy's artistic 

 genius. Florists visiting New York may 

 well give a day to observation of this 

 and other great studies in decorative art 

 as illustrated by a score of the finest flo- 

 rists' stores in the world. The wonder is 

 any florist anywhere fails to make this 

 the great distinctive feature of his busi- 

 ness. An attractive store, with some 

 original ideas, will do more to build up 

 business than all other methods put to- 

 gether. 



The Eosary carries out its scheme of 

 rustic beauty to the minutest detail. The 

 office, the ceiling, the ice-box, the chairs, 

 the legs of the tables, the palm vases, the 

 entire front, all are in birch bark and 

 built to last a score of years. The vases 

 for cut flowers are of solid silver. Here, 

 as in front of many other stores, a grand 

 assortment of evergreens in tubs is seen, 

 adding to the charming rustic effect and 

 opening the blase eyes of even the New 

 Yonkers, to whom the beautiful in every- 

 thing is summed up as a daily feast for 

 the eyes and who will not * * sit up and 

 take notice" unless something away out 

 of the ordinary appears. 



Various Notes. 



C. H. Grant has done himself credit 

 in the opening of the Abraham & Straus 

 large retail floral department. His many 

 years of experience with the best retail 

 stores of New York gives him ability to 

 steer the ship into paying waters. In 

 his palm department, among other fea- 

 tures, is a contract for 1,000 Scottii ferns 

 in 6-inch and 7-inch pots, an indication 

 of the enterprise of the big house that 

 secured his services. 



At the auction last week, one of the 

 most interested of the old-time buyers 

 was the venerable James Mallon, of 

 Brooklyn, stocking up for the winter 

 decorations. Property of the firm held 

 for half a century, where the original 

 store stands, has advanced rapidly in 

 value. The branch on Fulton street, 

 where the sons preside, has been very 

 greatly improved this year and business 

 ' there is uniformly good. 



