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30 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



Febrdabt 13, 1008. 



Seed Trade News. 



AMEBICAN SEED TRADE ASSOCIATION. 



Pres., George S. Green, Chicago; First Vice 

 ares., M. H. Duryea, New York; Sec'y and 

 rreas., O. E. Kendel, Cleveland. 



Wm. F. Dreer, of Philadelphia, passed 

 through Chicago February 9, en route 

 to Santa Barbara, Cal. 



Some of the mail order houses that 

 put Red Wethersfield onion at $1.35 in 

 their catalogues are sorry for it now. 



Sweet corn is being offered freely at 

 present and the offers include most of 

 the standard and supposedly very scarce 

 varieties. 



At several points the shortage of some 

 of the standard varieties of lettuce is 

 causing more anxiety than the scarcity 

 of onion seed. 



The seedsmen who do a retail or cata- 

 logue business express themselves as fair- 

 ly well satisfied with all stocks save late 

 varieties of sweet corn. 



The Lohrman Seed Co., of Detroit, 

 Mich., has completed its plans for a 

 new store, to cost $4,000. Building op- 

 erations will begin at once. 



Market gardeners, it is reported, are 

 buying seeds more freely than usual this 

 season. This is a good sign; it indicates 

 prosperity for the seedsmen. 



The a. L. Randall Co., Chicago, which 

 does a large business in cut flowers and 

 florists' supplies, is figuring on handling 

 special strains of florists' flower seeds 

 next season. 



The season in the seed trade usually 

 is counted as really opening February 10. 

 This year the early catalogues brought 

 some extra business in the first part of 

 January, but the rush now will soon be 

 on in earnest. 



Seed of the Holland cabbage is said 

 to be quite scarce. It has been reported 

 that the Racine and other Wisconsin cab- 

 bage growers will cut their acreage of 

 Holland cabbage the coming season, 

 owing to the scarcity of seed. This re- 

 port is, however, thought to be prema- 

 ture, as there is likely to be seed enough 

 to go around. 



Red clover seed at $21 per hundred 

 pounds makes the farmer think the seeds- 

 men are robbers. When he sees it of- 

 fered at $14.50 to $16.50 in the cata- 

 logues and is asked $19 to $21, he can- 

 not understand what sort of a proposi- 

 tion he is up against, but when he has 

 some seed to sell his brain works easier 

 and he rides smoothly on the rise of 

 the market. 



At recent trade sales in London large 

 quantities of Japanese lily bulbs were 

 offered at auction. It was only in a 

 few instances that prices were run up 

 high. Though there was a lively com- 

 petition among some of the buyers of 

 large quantities, it was evident that the 

 auctioneers were in the hands of the 

 buyers, and many lots were sold at low 

 prices. Those who bought for retail 

 trade ran the prices up for the extra 

 large bulbs. It is easy to estimate the 

 size of bulbs, by the numbers there are 

 in the cases, and in almost all instances 

 the fewer bulbs there were in a case 

 the higher the prices went. Lilium aura- 

 tum was in demand. 



The demand for seed sweet corn is 

 steady, and the supply in most cases just 

 enough to keep things interesting. 



Kentia seeds in the London horticul- 

 tural auction rooms recently have sold 

 in quantity as low as $1.44 per thousand 

 seeds. 



The California seed travelers report 

 bookings of fairly good business, even 

 though their prices are uniformly high 

 and, in the opinion of the purchasing end 

 of the trade, altogether out of line. 



The fourth annual convention of the 

 Canadian Seed Growers' Association was 

 held at Ottawa February 4 and 5. The 

 officers for the ensuing year are: Presi- 

 dent, James W. Robertson, MacDonald 



John C. Leonard. 



(In charge of Pea and Bean growing branch for 

 the Leonard Seed Co.) 



College, St. Aune, Que.; secretary-treas- 

 urer, L. H. Newman, Ottawa. 



Some of the European horticultural 

 papers are printing letters from Ameri- 

 can correspondents that greatly exag- 

 gerate the seed shortages in this coun- 

 try and tend to convey the idea that 

 it is not at all a question of price, but 

 of supply at any price, with the seed 

 trade in this country. Except for a very 

 limited number of items, the facts jus- 

 tify no such statements. 



Ralph M. Ward & Co., New York, 

 have a new strain of Lilium .longiflorum 

 giganteum which they will introduce to 

 the trade under the name of Wardarai, 

 the name Arai being that of the grower 

 of the bulbs in Japan. 



J. J. Grullemans & Sons, well-known 

 Holland bulb growers, say: "We never 

 recommend double daffodils for earliest 

 forcing. Henry Irving and obvallaris, 

 the latter especially, if imported from 

 Guernsey, may be looked upon as the 

 earliest of all — although we must admit 

 that French grown Trumpet Major are 

 still better for very early forcing. It 

 is not, however, advisable when trying to 

 place our goods, to recommend French 

 grown bulbs." 



THE CANNERS' CONVENTION. 



The seed trade was well represented at 

 the annual convention of the canners, 

 held at Cincinnati, February 3 to 8. 

 The firms that had from one to three 

 or four men each on the ground were: 



Livingston Seed Co., Columbus, O. 



Jerome B. Rice Seed Co., Cambridge, N. Y. 



Leonard Seed Co., Chicago. 



Everett B. Clark Co., Mllford, Conn. 



S. D. Woodruff & Sons, Orange, Conn. 



Rogers Bros., Alpena, Mlcb. 



Hogg & Lytle, Port Hope, Ont. 



D. M. Ferry & Co., Detroit. 



Cleveland Seed Co., Avon, N. Y. 



Manitowoc Seed Co., Manitowoc, Wis. 



Madson Seed Co., Manitowoc, Wis. 



S. M. Isbell & Co., Jackson, Mich. 



Covington Seed Co., Covington, Ky. 



W. H. Grenell, Saginaw, Mich. 



N. B. Keeney & Son, Le Roy, N. Y. 



J. Cbas. McCullough, Cincinnati. 



J. M. McCullougb's Sons, Cincinnati. 



The headquarters was the Sinton hotel, 

 the exhibits of machinery and supplies, in- 

 cluding seeds, being in the south wing of 

 Music hall, a large building occupying al- 

 most an entire square. The machinery dis- 

 play, as usual, was large and of much 

 interest, not only to those interested 

 in purchasing, but the general public. 

 The seedsmen were much in evidence, a 

 number of firms having nice displays. 

 Almost the first thing that caught one's 

 eye as he entered the door was the 

 brilliantly lighted booth of Leonard Seed 

 Co., in charge of John C. Leonard. The 

 booth was tastefully done in red, with 

 a crape paper roof in pea green. The 



Display of the Leonard Seed Co., Chicago, at the Canners' Convention, Cincinnati, Fefa.|.3-8. 



