'-tr».^-*— ^.^ 



640 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



August 2, 1906. 



since tjie last report, and everything is 

 now growing finely. 



Variotu Notes. 



The I Missouri Floral Co. 's new store 

 at 920-922 Main street is in one of the 

 best locations on the street for a flower 

 store. .With C. E. Hunt in charge, they 

 will no doubt build up a fine trade in 

 a short time. They had quite a large 

 display of gladioli in their large show 

 window tnis week. 



The store of Miss Peterson & Co., on 

 West Ninth street, has quite a neat ap- 

 pearance. This being the only store on 

 that good street and in that part of the 

 city, where most of the large office 

 buildings are located, they surely will 

 build up a large trade. A visit at the 

 store found them very busy grading 

 asters, of which they seemed to have 

 an abundance. 



Mr. Fruedenthal has been busy this 

 week with funeral work. He seems to 

 have good luck, as most of the other 

 stores are idle and the clerks are com- 

 plaining of the trade being dull. The 

 day that we called on him his cooler 

 was well stocked with carnations and 

 asters, but no roses were in sight. He 

 had just received several large cases of 

 Boston ferns that were shipped in from 

 Independence, Mo. Mr. Fruedenthal 

 does a large business in ferns. 



The W. L. Bock Flower Co. is mak- 

 ing quite a change in its Walnut street 

 store. The entire interior is being re- 

 modeled. They are putting in new fix- 

 tures and are doing away with their 

 counters, and rearranging so that they 

 mil have a great deal more room. The 

 wall will be paneled with burlap and 

 mirrors. They are also putting in a 

 fine mantel. Mr. Rock says that the 

 store as it used to be was entirely too 

 small, especially on holidays, to accom- 

 modate them. Their show window looks 

 quite yellow this week, being heavily 

 banked in Golden Glow, with all the 

 vases to match the window, which has 

 the appearance of chrysanthemum time. 



Mr. Chandler is cutting asters by the 

 thousand, and supplying all stores that 

 are not growing any. What he does not 

 sell in that way he passes over to the 

 commission house, and Mr. Bastian does 

 the rest. Mr. Chandler also grows large 

 quantities of dahlias. He has a great 

 number of seedlings which he is now cut- 

 ting. They can be seen among the other 

 standard varieties he grows. 



William A. Bastian, the commission 

 man, says business is quiet. There is 

 little demand for anything except fancy 

 ferns. Mr. Bastian doesn't seem to be 

 discouraged, for he knows that there are 

 better days coming. 



The proprietors of the Monroe Green- 

 houses, 3701 East Seventh street, are 

 adding one more house, 25x90 feet, and 

 enlarging their boiler room. This is a 

 new firm, being only one year old. They 

 are growing mostly bedding plants, with 

 a few thousand carnations. Mr. Smith, 

 one of the proprietors, is well pleased 

 with the last spring's trade, and he 

 thinks the future is bright. Their loca- 

 tion is in the east part of the city, 

 with no opposition near and in a good 

 residence district. If properly managed, 

 they ought to build up a good trade. 



Busy. 



Hiawatha, Kan. — Miss Susan Mar- 

 grave has taken charge of the business 

 of J. W. Margrave & Co., since her 

 father's death. 



PHmADELPHIA. 



The Market 



The increase in the supply of asters is 

 more pronounced than a week ago, mak- 

 ing the shortage of carnations lees ap- 

 parent, giving the buyers a chance to 

 take only the best and leaving a balance 

 of poor stock to be sold in job lots at 

 low prices. Gladioli are abundant, the 

 variety America being eagerly sought at 

 high prices. There is no change in the 

 supply of other flowers. The demand is 

 fair for the season, but irregular. Water 

 lilies and outdoor flowers are in over- 

 supply. There is no market for greens 

 and growers will do well to cut down 

 shipments of smilax and asparagus until 

 conditions change. 



A Chat With Mr. Rice. 



M. Eice, who has just returned from 

 Europe, consented to chat about his 

 trip for the benefit of the Review 

 readers. "But first," Mr. Rice said, 

 "let me show you this letter." 



The letter was exactly what any one 

 who knew Mr. Rice would have ex- 

 pected. It came from a man in the 

 west, and began as follows: "I have 

 seen in the Review about you checking 

 up orders of the great Kaiserin Auguste 

 Victoria. Can you send me a few dozens 

 or a hundred and at what price? * * 

 I would like your catalogue." etc. 

 "Now," Mr. Rice asked, with the joy- 

 ous laugh, "what good are your news- 

 papers, anyway!" 



To appreciate the satire of this 

 speech, it is only necessary to recall 

 that Phil mentioned that Mr. Rice was 

 homeward bound on the floating palace, 

 the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, and in a 

 later issue that he was home again 

 checking up orders in his warehouse, and 

 as all the world knows, Mr. Rice dis- 

 tributes supplies, not Kaiserins. Well, 

 the thing was rather staggering, the in- 

 terviewer being interviewed, so to speak. 

 The darkest cloud has a silver lining, 

 and these were consoling reflections. 

 Mr. Rice is a thorough business man 

 who, while he believes firmly in the Re- 

 view, never misses an opportunity of 

 jollying Phil about the paper. Then, 

 though the writer of this letter had 

 mixed things up, he evidently read the 

 Review regularly and felt kindly 

 toward the man whose name had be- 

 come as a household word, and believ- 

 ing that he was about to add a new 

 department, wished to encourage him in 

 his first venture in greenhouses. Then, 

 he had asked for a catalogue. This 

 was consolation. Mr. Rice is never hap- 

 pier than when people ask for his cata- 

 logue, and had the western man only 

 written ' ' kat-a-log, ' ' it would have been 

 a positive triumph. These thoughts so 

 cheered Phil that he enjoyed the joke 

 and proceeded with the interview in 

 earnest. 



Mr. Rice had enjoyed his trip im- 

 mensely, the weather had been cool and 

 pleasant, the return voyage smooth. The 

 flowers in Italy during May were gor- 

 geous, and the public gardens, especially 

 at Monte i^arlo, beggar description. Mr. 

 Rice had always been impressed by the 

 taste shown by the florists abroad in 

 their arrangement of set pieces, and one 

 florist in Munich had designs of such 

 rare beauty in his window that Mr. Rice 

 introduced himself, complimenting him 

 on the work, whereat the German artist 

 was much gratified. Wages are steadily 

 advancing abroad, due probably to the 

 vast numbers who are emigrating to 



this country. The style of living among 

 the workers is not to be compared with 

 that seen here. The freshly arrived 

 immigrants who excite our wonder by 

 living in shacks herded together are do- 

 ing pretty much what they do at home 

 in Italy or Hungary. Mr. Rice spoke 

 hopefully of the coming season, promis- 

 ing in a few weeks to give the Review 

 readers some ideas about the importa- 

 tions now pouring into his firm's ware- 

 houses. 



Recent Importations* 



Through the courtesy of Harry Bayers- 

 dorfer I am able to give the Review 

 readers a few ideas of the wonderful new 

 supplies that are almost daily pouring 

 into his firm's great warehouses in this 

 city. 



The combinations of color in water- 

 proof pot-covers are varied and tasteful. 

 Many new designs are seen that will af- 

 ford opportunity for displaying certain 

 varieties of plants to advantage. The 

 covers as now made are very durable. In 

 plant hampers and baskets, to quote 

 Bayersdorf er 's words, "There is every 

 style and every grade, from the cheapest 

 to the most expensive." This is a fact. 

 The variety is endless. A particularly 

 attractive basket is of Japanese style, of 

 wood and rattan, with long, graceful han- 

 dles. The improvement in the French 

 baskets is very marked. The colors are 

 softer and effects more pleasing than of 

 old. Of grass-growing novelties there 

 is a wide field for selection. There is 

 Pat's head, and the jolly boys, and dear 

 knows how many others, besides all sorts 

 of pigs, to say nothing of birds and 

 fowls, enough to please the most critical. 



Mr. Bayersdorfer is a tremendous 

 worker, devoting his whole energy while 

 abroad to selecting an immense stock. 

 He believes that American florists can 

 give ideas to their brethren, both in 

 London and La Belle Paris itself. 



Riverton* 



The most progressive paper dispatched 

 its Philadelphia representative across the 

 Delaware recently to see what was doing 

 at Dreer's nurseries. There is always 

 something doing at Dreer's, and the 

 Philadelphia representative looks for- 

 ward with pleasure to these trips. On 

 this particular occasion, however, things 

 seemed dark. The two months from the 

 end of May to the end of July had been 

 cram full of work and worry. The work 

 and worry had brought good results, but 

 bad effects remained. The mere sight of 

 plants, usually a pleasure, was distaste- 

 ful. 



The Bristol boat was overcrowded and 

 it was very hot. Do you wonder that 

 Phil's first words to J. D. Eisele were, 

 "Let's get a little boat and go out on 

 the river." But Mr. Eisele, who had 

 been through a much harder mill him- 

 self, was not going to play truant. "Yes, 

 the hottest thing we could do, ' ' he re- 

 plied, as he led the way to the green- 

 houses; in two minutes Phil forgot all 

 about fancying the water cold, or G. C. 

 W. 's joyous essays on subjects and 

 items, or even David Rust's advice to 

 enjoy life, so inspiring was the too brief 

 time spent with Mr. Eisele. 



Asparagus Colemanii is a beautiful 

 thing, a sport fiom A. Sprengeri. It 

 originated with the gardener for Mr. 

 Coleman, of mustard fame, and was 

 named by him after his employer. It 

 may be described as a refined form of 

 Sprengeri. It is a strong grower, with 

 stems two to two and a half feet long, 



