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The Weekly Florists' Review* 



.Januabx 4, 1906. 



NEPHROLEPIS PIERSONI 



ELEGANTISSIM3 



Grand stocky in all sizes. Very popular in New York and all the larg^e cities* 



UNPRECEDENTED SALE OF LARGE SPECIMENS 



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 Review when yoo write. 



PACIFIC COAST. 



CHRISTMAS ON THE COAST. 



After a T\eek's review I am sure it 

 is safe to say that never within the last 

 ten years has there been such a Christ- 

 mas trade as was enjoyed by the florists 

 of San Francisco and, indeed, the entire 

 Pacific coast, this season. The weather 

 was of the ideal California variety — 

 plenty of sunshine and not a drop of 

 moisture or a semblance of fog to in- 

 terfere in any way with the good-na- 

 tured public. Early in the week the 

 trade, which usually begins about three 

 days ahead of Christmas, began, and by 

 the end of the week thei'e was a verit- 

 able stampede and the florists were liter- 

 ally overwhelmed with orders. In very 

 few stores were there anywhere near 

 enough clerks to handle the business of- 

 fered. ! 



The dealers handling green goods, 

 wreaths, berries and other decorative ma- 

 terial found that the chance to obtain 

 additional supplies late in the week was 

 very slim and on an average, nine out 1 

 of "ten retailers were sold out by Satur- 

 day morning. Flowers were not espe- j 

 cially scarce, except fancy roses, and | 

 these commanded any price the florist ' 

 chose to ask. Violets were in ample sup- 

 ply, but the wily Italians, who entirely ; 

 control that branch of the business, made 

 up tlie quantity of bunches offered by ^ 

 reducing the number of flowers per , 

 bunch. Twenty-five flowers and fifteen 

 leaves was the usual size, and from $1.50 

 to $2 per dozen bunches the price the ' 

 stores had to pay. Valley was plentiful 

 enough, but most of the stock offered 

 showed the result of too much forcing, j 

 A few late indoor mums were shown, but 

 the bulk of this flower was from the | 

 outdoor stock, and although the season 

 is getting late the blooms were fairly 

 up to the mark and proved a great boon 

 to the retailers, who in many cases had 

 to resort to them to fill orders for high- 

 er priced stock, when otherwise sold out. 

 A few Paper White narcissi and some 

 Ard Righ daffodils were seen. 



From appearances early in the week, 

 there were to be few outdoor poinsettias. 



but a few days before Christmas a good 

 many hundreds were expressed from Los 

 Angeles and San Diego and these helped 

 much to brighten the show windows. Pot 

 plants sold well, although not quite as 

 freely as did cut flowers. There was a 

 scarcity of primulas, Roman hyacinths 

 and valley in pots, but everybody was 

 well supplied with palms and ferns. 



Christmas bells, in spite of the fact 

 that the department stores handled them 

 by thousands, were eagerly bought and 

 no one seemed to have laid in a large 

 enough supply. Red berries and huckle- 

 berry were brought in by the ton, but by 

 Saturday night all the retailers were 

 cleaned out. 



I have yet to meet a retailer who is 

 not perfectly satisfied with the business 

 done, and that is saying a good deal. 



G. 



VICTORIA, B. C 



Current Comment. 



Christmas business has been, so far 

 as I can gather, a slight improvement 

 over former years. The amount of holly 

 shipped away was not quite so much as 

 usual, but the quality was very good. 



Mrs. Farrington, of Fairview Green- 

 houses, has been showing some remark- 

 ably good carnations in her window 

 lately. 



G. E. Wilkerson has bought land about 

 three miles out and has ordered glass 

 for a house 200 feet long. 



Mrs. M. H. Flewin, of Flewin 's Gar- 

 dens, has leased the Invertavish Nursery 

 for jfour years. 



On December 12 A. Ohlson read a pa- 

 per before the local horticultural society 

 on the outdoor cultivation of the rose 

 and gave practical illustrations of prun- 

 ing. The lecture was well attended and 

 Mr. Ohlson 's efforts were much appre- 

 ciated. 



A. J. "Woodward has just finished four 

 new houses, each 26x300 feet. This 

 gives him a little over three acres under 

 glass. His establishment is now one of 

 the largest, if not the largest, on the 

 Pacific coast. Mr. Woodward has ideas 

 of his own, which are somewhat startling 

 to other florists. All his crops are grown 

 in the ground, just as if they were out- 



side, and watered winter and summer 

 with sprinklers. Added to this, no white 

 help is employed, all work being accom- 

 plished by Chinese. Under these condi- 

 tionsj which to most of you will seem 

 totally at variance with the ordinary 

 regulations of a well-conducted establish- 

 ment, there can be no higher tribute paid 

 to Mr. Woodward than to say he succeeds 

 and that his product commands a good 

 figure in many markets. On some future 

 occasion I will send a report of his 

 place, with a short sketch of how it is 

 managed. E. A. W. 



SEATTLE, WASH. 



Holiday Trade. 



* ' It was simply wonderful. ' ' This ex- 

 pression from the retailers, in speaking 

 of the Christmas trade, seems to sum up 

 the story. The weather was warm and 

 rainy, but this makes no difference to 

 a Seattle crowd, they are so used to it. 

 The flower stores were lined with cus- 

 tomers five and six deep and the busi- 

 ness was immense. The only complaint 

 I have heard was in one of the leading 

 stores, where the manager was lamenting 

 his inability to secure clerks who could 

 properly explain how to care for the 

 plants they sold. 



The call was more for the inexpensive 

 plants, such as primulas, cyclamens, pep- 

 pers, etc. A few made-up baskets of 

 plants were attempted and sold readily, 

 but the lack of good material to make 

 them with was quite noticeable. For 

 some reason Lorraines do not sell at all. 

 In showing a plant to a customer a few 

 flowers will drop off; that seems to queer 

 them. 



In cut stock, poinsettias brought $1 

 each. The Washington Floral Co. had 

 a lead on these, having about 600 ex- 

 ceptionally well grown plants. Carna- 

 tions were practically cleaned up on 

 Saturday and no roses were to be had. 

 Carnations sold at from $1.50 per dozen 

 up and roses from ^2.50 per dozen up. 

 Violets shipped in from California 

 brought 50 cents and 75 cents per bunch. 

 Holly brought $1 per pound. Mums 

 were plentiful and brought up to $6 per 

 dozen. Western King is the variety that 

 is held best for Christmas, but both 



