SKFTEMBKtt 10, 1914. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



lo the Tulip Fields of the HoUaad Bulb Farm» Near Victoria, B. C. 



vided at the Halles; the flower market 

 is, consequently, held daily on the 

 "carreau," or open square in front of 

 the maiket; but the covered passage 

 between the fish market and vegetable 

 market is also utilized. The hours of 

 business are thus limited by the rule 

 that the "carreau forain" (hawkers' 

 square) shall be cleared at 8 a. m. in 

 summer and 9 a. m. in winter. 



"The Paris flower shops, numbering 

 some 500, make their purchases at the 

 Ilalles about 5 or 6 a. m. That is a 

 fouple of hours after the opening of 

 the market. Towards the closing hour, 

 flowers that will not keep are sold at 

 reduced prices, and it is at this moment 

 that the owners of the 600 street flower- 

 barrows of Paris buy thei^ stocks. 

 There is a good deal of ill-feeling on 

 this subject, the shopkeepers com- 

 plaining that the hawkers spoil their 

 trade, and even purposely plant them- 

 selves opposite flower shops, while the 

 growers in the south fear that if the 

 hawkers were suppressed or even handi- 

 capped by new regulations large quan- 

 tities of flowers would be thrown away 

 daily instead of sold, and that the 

 poorer population, who are constant 

 and large buyers of these cheap flowers, 

 woyld thereby be deprived of a harm- 

 less luxury." 



nations of the world, not only in the 

 slaughter of thousands of her best men, 

 but in the complete wrecking of the na- 

 tion in all industrial pursuits. Refugees 

 pouring into Antwerp bring terrible 

 stories of the devastation of the land. 

 From end to end of the little kingdom 

 is nothing but misery, suffering and 

 starvation. Her lands are laid waste, 

 mines are idle, towns have been wrecked 

 and burned and industry is at a stand- 

 still. Public buildings have been turned 

 over as quarters for refugees. At Os- 

 tend bath-houses are being used to shel- 

 ter thousands pouring into that resort. 

 Wives of men at the front, aged fa- 

 thers and mothers and little children 

 stream in constant procession to the 

 cities of refuge. Among the thousands 

 not a single able-bodied man of fight- 

 ing age may be found unless in uni- 

 form. 



THE FLOWER TRADE IN PARIS. 



With the German army at the gates 

 of Paris it may be surmised that the 

 business of the florists there is not so 

 brisk as to prevent their taking time 

 to discuss the war news, but the follow- 

 ing facts, compiled by M. Rolet, will be 

 of interest as showing the normal 

 flower trade in France. 



"The Riviera trade is said to have 

 begun in 1871. In November of that 

 year the first consignment of southern 

 tlowers was put on the Paris market. 

 i^ast year 229,271 packages, valued at 

 over $400,000, were received during the 

 i"onth of February at the Paris Halles. 

 inis total included 32,000 packages of 

 pinks, sold at 5 cents to 40 cents per 

 •lozen; 23,000 baskets of mimosa, at 60 

 < ents to $2 per basket; 16,400 packages 

 <'i violets, of which 1,000 were Parma 

 -'olets, sold at 30 cents to $1.65 per 

 j'ackage, and the rest Russian violets, 

 quoted at $1.65 to $6 per 100 bunches; 

 •'nd 16,800 packages of roses, worth 

 ^ cents to $1 per dozen. The average 

 "aiiy quantity of flowers sold at the 

 ^9f!^\ ^s now estimated at 1,000 to 

 -'^'^'JU baskets; the yearly value of such 



sales is $6,000,000, or twice what it 

 was a few years ago. 



The Halles Centrales are the mbst im- 

 portant of the ten cut flower markets 

 in Paris, the other large center, the 

 March6 de la Cite, being principally 

 frequented by nurserymen and venders 

 of plants in pots. The unit of sale 

 varies with the flower. Roses, tulips, 

 camellias and carnations are sold by 

 the dozen; narcissi, fuchsias, ordinary 

 violets, by the hundred; anemones and 

 mignonette by the bundle ("botte"); 

 Parma violets by the bunch; lilac. 

 Guelder roses, etc., by the "gerbe," or 

 sheaf. No building has so far been pro- 



HOLLAND BULBS IN AMERICA. 



The war in Europe has reopened with 

 added force the old question of the 

 production in this country of articles 

 up to this time imported from the Old 

 World. There are some people who 

 believe that in the vast area covered 

 by this country there is a place where 

 every article now imported from Eu- 

 rope can be produced. Some believe 

 that the bulbs that we now get from 

 Holland and France can be grown 

 equally well in this country, and the 

 Department of Agriculture has spent 

 much money in endeavoring to prove 

 this statement. The region generally 

 accepted as the best for this purpose 



W. J. Van Aalst and Part of his Holland Bulb Farm, Near Victoria, B. C. 



