24 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBKB 1, 1914. 



BOCHESTEB, N. Y. 



The Market. 



Little improvement can be seen in the 

 florists' business of the last week, but 

 we are glad to report a good medium 

 trade. The good weather helped along 

 the asters, and thousands were on the 

 market for the ' ' blessing of the graves, ' ' 

 which took place September 26. Medium 

 stock sold at 10 and 15 cents per bunch, 

 but the better grades brought 25 to 35 

 cents per dozen. The aster supply from 

 now on will be slim. Fortunately carna- 

 tions have been making good headway. 

 Already Enchantress, Enchantress Su- 

 preme and whites are making a good 

 showing, retailing at from 50 to 60 cents 

 per dozen. Golden Glow chrysanthe- 

 mums are coming in well and sell fast, 

 but an early white variety is small and 

 scarcely salable. Fine gladioli are sell- 

 ing well. Valley is arriving in good 

 condition and has been used quite freely. 

 There seems to be an abundance of 

 Easter lilies. Callas have just started 

 to come. Sweet peas hold their own, but 

 the market for them is slow. Eoses of 

 all descriptions are of fine quality, with 

 good stems and foliage. American 

 Beauties are specially fine. Good or- 

 chids are on the market, but not in any 

 great quantity. Cosmos, candytuft, zin- 

 nias and other outdoor flowers are in- 

 cluded in our stock. The supply of 

 green goods meets all requirements. 



Various Notes. 



Harry Merritt is cutting good Delight 

 carnations from the old plants. 



Among trade visitors last week were 

 D, R. Heron, of Olean, N. Y., and Ste- 

 phen Greene, of H. Bayersdorfer & Co., 

 Philadelphia. 



H, E. Wilson's store at 88 East Main 

 street is undergoing extensive repairs. 

 The room at the rear of the store is 

 being transformed into a workroom and 

 will include a large new icebox of local 

 make. A double floor, ceiling and walls 

 will help to make the room warm and 

 comfortable, so that at Christmas and 

 Easter, when the weather is usually bad, 

 work will not have to be done in the 

 damp cellar. 



The Lady Florists' Association was 

 entertained by Mr. and Mrs. C. Dickin- 

 son, of Spencerport, N. Y., at a sausage 

 and corn roast at their residence, Tues- 

 day afternoon, September 22. The 

 guests were met at the trolley by Mr. 

 Dickinson with a hayrack and driven 

 to the Dickinson home, about one-half 

 mile from the village, where they spent 

 a most enjoyable afternoon. 



Richard Roe, of Wilson 's, has been 

 spending a two weeks' vacation with 

 relatives in Ottawa, Canada. 



Reports from the office of the Lord 

 & Burnham Co. show that boiler business 

 is quite brisk. Recent sales include one 

 W-36-8 for Chas. Lee, of Barnard; one 

 W-36-9 for Frank Bennett, of Barnard; 

 one W-18-4 for Edwin Potter, of Phoe- 

 nix; two 36-10 for T. B. Pengelly, of 

 Irondequoit; two W-36-10 for Chas. 

 Cole, of Irondequoit, and one W-36-8 for 

 L. H. Neubeck, of Buffalo. 



The larger part of the Rochester Flo- 

 rists' Association held the much talked 

 of clam-bake Friday afternoon, Septem- 

 ber 25. The weather, unfortunately, was 

 not of the best, owing to the sudden cold 

 change. After a trip through the aster 

 fields came the dinner of clams, corn, 

 chicken and fish, under the trees. Guests 

 of the Florists' Association present 

 were: J. P. Rice and G. J. Colburn, of 



Geneva, and Robert Bard and J. Boult- 

 man, of Syracuse. The committee of ar- 

 rangements was comf)osed of C. W. 

 Grossman, G. B. Ogston, George B. Hart, 

 Charles H. Vick, Michael Keller and 

 President John Dunbar. H. J. H. 



FITTSBUBaH. 



The Market. 



A VISIT TO DAYTON, O. 



As a floral center Dayton, O., is not 

 far behind her neighboring city, Spring- 

 field, sometimes known as the "rose 

 growing center of the world. " In its 

 lavish use of flowers and plants for civic 

 decoration, Dayton perhaps is a model 

 for cities of the middle west. The 

 example of the National Cash Register 

 plant stimulates civic endeavor and the 

 effect of holding the S. A. F. convention 

 in Dayton several years ago still is 

 apparent in the gardens of the city. 



September 26 and 27 I took a run 

 around among some of the growers in 

 and about Dayton. Schieble Bros., at 

 Miamisburg, a few miles south of Day- 

 ton, were first visited. These men are 

 primrose specialists and their stock 

 proved the statement. They do a whole- 

 sale business almost entirely. It was 

 growing dusk as I entered the place. 

 There were indications in the air of the 

 season 's first frost, and the preparedness 

 of the Schiebles was indicated by the 

 smoke, which was curling from the 

 stack, for there were poinsettias to be 

 kept comfortable. The appearance of 

 the place would never indicate that ten 

 feet of water covered the site at the 

 time of the Miami valley's big flood. 



A "visit to the establishment of the 

 Advance Floral Co., near the National 

 Soldiers' Home, revealed another well 

 kept place. The sweet peas, just 

 strung, looked thrifty and the mums 

 had stems as long and sturdy as any 

 one would care for. The manager, E. E. 

 Schaefer, says he has quit removing 

 soil from the benches, a dose of formal- 

 dehyde sterilizing the soil for the next 

 crop. 



Fred.' W. Ritter, at his greenhouses 

 on River street, has been hustling off 

 his primroses and soon a big patch of 

 variegated vincas will be moved. Mr. 

 Ritter expects to give up the business 

 in a year or two. One wonders why, to 

 look at him, but he claims to be 68 years 

 of age, and so is entitled to a rest. 



Warren G. Matthews, flood sufferer, 

 is indomitable in his determination to 

 build a great establishment from the 

 ruins of the wrecked greenhouses. And 

 so today his new greenhouses, filled in 

 every nook and corner with a thrifty, 

 clean, bright lot of stock, are the result 

 of his ability to overcome obstacles. 

 The Matthews greenhouses seem to be 

 run as much aifter the fashion of a 

 systematized factory as any place I 

 ever have visited. 



The places of W. J. Engle, southeast 

 of the city, and of C. H. Mahan & Co., 

 just across the road, where vinca vines 

 by the thousands were growing, show 

 persistent and painstaking work on the 

 part of their owners. Mr. Engle 's peony 

 fields are as clean as a Dutch garden. 

 Mr. Mahan is in the midst of erecting 

 six greenhouses. Three are already 

 occupied with a thrifty lot of cyclamen 

 plants. ■ In nearly 100 seed flats are 

 coming on about 40,000 seedlings. 



At the place of Mr. Shoup, a mile or 

 so from the Engle and Mahan places, 

 were seen acres of iris, mostly of the 

 German variety. Mr. Shoup is handling 

 irises exclusively and his collection is 

 one of the best in the country. 



K. W. H. 



Trade conditions are showing a flight 

 improvement, although prices continue 

 about the same on all kinds of !-tock 

 Outside flowers, gladioli and aster , are 

 nearing the end of the season, and 

 while we have had no frost, the con-' 

 tinned dry spell is showing its <lfect. 

 Roses are quite plentiful and good. Car- 

 nations are a little better and have 

 longer stems, but lilies and valley have 

 been short of the demand. There are 

 some good chrysanthemums cominj' and 

 in a few more days we shall have them 

 in such quantities that the shortage in 

 other lines will not be noticeable. The 

 retailers all seem to be doing a fair 

 amount of small business, but large 

 orders are scarce and pfobably will be 

 so until late in October. 



Various Notes. 



The next meeting of the Florists' 

 Club will be held Tuesday, October 6, 

 at 8 p. m. in the Fort Pitt hotel. Dahlias 

 will be on the table. There will be a 

 talk by John W. Jones, on "What I 

 Saw About Philadelphia," and Neil 

 McCallum will speak on "A Trip to 

 Boston. ' ' We are assured of an interest- 

 ing and instructive evening. The club 

 is prospering in every way and its well 

 attended meetings are made interesting 

 through the efforts of President Neil 

 McCallum. 



Mrs. E. A. Williams, who arrived in 

 Europe just in time to be caught in the 

 war troubles, arrived home Wednesday, 

 September 23. In some respects she and 

 her party were greatly favored, not 

 being inconvenienced except in travel- 

 ing from place to place. The passenger 

 trains had to give way to those carry- 

 ing soldiers at all times, and frequently 

 when a train arrived at a station all 

 were ordered out and the train was 

 loaded with soldiers, while the pas- 

 sengers were compelled to wait for an- 

 other train. On these occasions the 

 scenes about them were extremely sad, 

 particularly the parting of families. 



A trip to the greenhouse establish 

 ment of Randolph & McClements shows 

 the results of the untiring push ai ' 

 energy of Samuel McClements. Paint 

 and whitewash have added much to the 

 appearance of the place, and new boilers 

 and a more convenient arrangement of 

 the heating system will be appreciated 

 this winter. Everything on the pla*^ 

 looks well, especially his chrysanthe- 

 mums and ferns. Mr. McClements 

 never pretended to be a grower, but 

 he has the stuff that makes growers 

 grow. 



One evening last week a couple oi 

 the "boys" were invited out to Sandy 

 Creek to take dinner with Walter 

 Breitenstein. He has a bungalow over- 

 looking the river, and from his porc^ 

 one can see miles and miles up an" 

 down the river, with a mountain sj 

 one's back. Walter was chef as wel' 

 as host, and served up a remarkably 

 fine dinner. Almost everything cam^ 

 from his own garden. 



In the big fire which caused soffl^ 

 damage by fire and smoke to the T'i**' 

 burgh Cut Flower Co. and the Mcr iHui" 

 Co., the Pittsburgh Cut Flower ('"■ g"' 

 a good deal the worst of it, but oo 

 good thing was that everything ^"^. 

 was damaged was beyond repair a" 

 went to the dump, and the insuran', 

 company paid for it. The inconveiii^ 

 ence for a day or two will probabi. 



