42 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Mabch 17, 1010. 



itim 



BOSTON. 

 The Market. 



A little impirovement is now shown in 

 the cut flower s&Jes. The bulk of last 

 week's business was rather discouraging, 

 supplies being far in excess of the de- 

 mand, a week of clear skies and com- 

 paratively mild weather greatly* increas- 

 ing the output. Boses are still cleaning 

 up well. They are not yet in heavy 

 crop and are selling better than almost 

 any other flowers. Rhea Reid is now seen 

 of excellent quality and good color and 

 is likely to prove a much better spring 

 and summer rose than Richmond. Killar- 

 ney and White Killarney are good. Bride 

 and Maid hang fire, as usual. Beauties 

 are not abundant, but the demand is not 

 strong. Safrano and Bon Silene are in 

 evidence at all the better class stores. 

 Carnations .have been decidedly hard to 

 move of date, many purchasers preferring 

 bulbous flowers. Violets are abundant. 

 The singles are, however, nearing the end ; 

 50 cents per hundred is top price and 

 only the best flowers well bunched will 

 bring this amount, some going as low as 

 $2 per thousand. 



Bulbous stock during a large part of 

 last week arrived in such unwieldy quan- 

 tities that it was virtually impossible to 

 clean up. Narcissus poeticus ornatus 

 was slow to move even at cheap rates. 

 Double Von Sions and the best single 

 trumpets are selling fairly well, as are 

 double tulips. The bulbous glut appears 

 to be over, at least temporarily. Hya- 

 cinths are a slow sale. Sweet peas are 

 abundant and lower in price, but are 

 sold in large quantities. There is an 

 ample supply of Easter lilies. Average 

 Easter quotations are 12 V^ cents per bud 

 on pot plants and 10 cents to 12^ cents 

 cut. Callas are good and snapdragon is 

 now seen of fine quality, making $1 per 

 dozen for the best. 



There is an ample supply of miscel- 

 laneous flowers, such aa forget-me-nots, 

 marguerites, wallflowers, EngUsh prim- 

 roses, anemones, mignonettes and lupines. 

 Acacia pubescens sells at $2.50 per 

 bunch. Gardenias are much more abun- 

 dant and slower sale. The demand for 

 orchids has been rather light. Cattleyas 

 are not abundant, but there is an abund- 

 ance of dendrobiums, coelogynes and other 

 seasonable sorts. Lily of the valley has 

 sold moderately well. Green stock is 

 selling remarkably well. 



Shamrocks have been in big demand 

 during the last few days and are much 

 better than usual. Pot plant trade has 

 now commenced to boom and sales for 

 Easter promise to be larger than ever. 

 Easter lilies with the bulk of the grow- 

 ers will be on time. Among rambler 

 roses, pink colors, such as Dorothy Per- 

 kins, Lady Gay and Tause-idschon, pre- 

 dominate. Hiawatha is seen in some 

 stores, also Wedding Bells. Crimson 

 Rambler is not the leader it once was. 

 Azaleas are good and so are metro- 

 sideros, forced shrubs in variety, cycla- 

 mens, acacias, genistas and other flower- 

 ing plants. 



Various Notes. 



The members of the Gardeners' and 

 Florists' Club are asked to take the 

 electric car for Waverley, leaving Park 

 Street station subway at 1 o'clock March 

 19, for the field day with the W. W. 

 Edgar Co. All interested friends who 

 are non-members are cordially invited to 

 attend. The regular club meeting March 

 22 will be addressed by A. E. Thatcher, 



of Arnold Arboretum, on the subject 

 "New and Desirable Hardy Herbaceous 

 Plants." Mr. Thatcher is an expert on 

 hardy plants. Before coming to America 

 he was at Aldenham House, Elstree, Eng- 

 land, under the renowned Edwin Beckett, 

 where the finest private collection of 

 perennials, trees and shrubs in Britain 

 is to be found. 



Welch Bros, say the business is broad- 

 ening every year and ' that they have 

 handled not only increasing quantities of 

 cut flowers this season, but increased 

 numbers of plants. P. Welch gets about 

 quite a little, having recently been at 

 Providence and other cities, and says 

 that wherever he has been the jetailers - 

 have -had a good season and are prepar- 

 ing for a big Easter. 



The news of the death of the genial 

 and popular treasurer of the Gardeners ' 

 and Florists' Club, Edward Hatch, 

 brought out expressions of sorrow on all 

 hands. There have been few men who 

 were more popular than Mr. Hatch and 

 his will be a difficult place to fill. 



Mann Bros. , are handling immense 

 quantities of finely grown bulbous flow- 

 ers at present. Among tulips, Cramoisie 

 Brilliant, Flamingo, Thomas Moore and 

 Murillo are extra fine, while in narcissi 

 Emperor, Victoria, Barri conspicuus, 

 Golden Spur, Sir Watkin and princeps 

 are leaders. The same firm has an un- 

 usually fine lot of Easter plants in large 

 variety. 



William H. Elliott is cutting quantities 

 of fine Rhea Reid roses. The color is 

 good. Mr. Elliott never lacks- courage. 

 He essayed to grow this rose when all 

 growers and buyers condemned it. He 

 says it yielded as many flowers per plant 

 as Richmond in February. The Reids, 

 however, averaged 14 cents per bloom 

 and Richmonds only 6 cents. People are 

 now beginning to realize that Rhea Reid 

 has some merits after all. 



George Cruikshanks, of R. & J. Far- 

 puhar's, will address the North Shore 

 Horticultural Society on "Cyclamen Cul- 

 ture," March 18. 



F. L. Hardy, of Natick, at 2 Park 

 street, is handling the finest antirrhinums 

 I have seen this season. 



Herman Waldecker, of Braintree, is 

 supplying some extra fine pink lupines, 

 sweet peas and mignonettes, in addition 

 to carnations, at the older Park Street 

 market. 



J. H. Newman is still one of the lead- 

 ers among single violets. He handles 

 many thousands daily. March 12 he 

 easily disposed of 32,000 at 2 Park street. 



We are glad to report that Alexander 

 Montgomery, who had a slight shock, is 

 much better and able to be around his 

 rose houses again. 



Julius A. Zinn has much increased his 

 business since moving to Park street. 

 Some nice bouquets made by Mr. Zinn 

 himself, illustrating German methods of 

 bouquet-making before he left Europe, 

 attracted much interest. They are in 

 many respects superior tc» the bouquets 

 made up today. 



At Thomas Galvin's Tremont street 

 store one of the large windows contains 

 a pleasing landscape effect, all the plant- 

 ing being of shamrocks, Irish and Amer- 

 ican flags being used. 



E. H. Wilson will leave on another 

 Chinese exploration trip April 2 and ex- 

 pects to be away about a year. 



Everett Cummings, of Wobum, has 

 handled 90,000 to 120,000 single violets 

 per week at 2 Park street during the last 

 two months. He grows only 10,000 

 plants, but they produce a wonderful 



crop. Carnations and some vegetables 

 are also grown. Comet tomato is 

 planted when the violets are. over. 



Philip L. Carbone, on Boylstoil' street, 

 has some extra good Dendrobium Ward- 

 ianum. His Tausendschon and otjher 

 ramblers, also forced shrubs in variety, 

 are of fine quality. 



Arrangements- for the coming big 

 orchid show are now weU advanced. A 

 splendid show is certain. In the orchid 

 department there will be a number i of 

 special expert judges. 



Samuel Hudson, lately at Elm Court 

 Farm, Lenox and South Orange, N. J., 

 succeeds W. S. Grassie at the Harvard 

 Botanic (hardens. Mr. Grassie wUl biiild 

 a commercial plant at Waverley, where he 

 has secured some excellent land. 



A. A. Pembroke, of -North Beverly', a 

 recent acquisition. to the list of local com- 

 mercial, growers, is just, finishing a house 

 of sweet peas. He has had a fine lot' of 

 shamrocks this week and wiirhave a fine 

 house of sweet peas for late blooming. 

 Next season he wiU grow about 10,000 

 carnations also. 



Penn Bros., on Bromfield street, lore 

 showing some extra fine Hiawatha, Tau- 

 sendschon and other rambler roses. Their 

 store is always" neat and they- do a Jiig 

 business. Their big bunches of violets, 

 several hundreds in each, always make a 

 big hit. 



H. W. Vose is selling, through W. F. 

 Aylward, some extra well grown cine- 

 rarias and lilies. 



H. M. Robinson & Co. are fully 

 equipped for handling a heavy Easter 

 trade. They are having many calls for 

 pot lilies and their supplies of cut flow- 

 ers will be larger and more varied than 

 ever. In green supplies business is good. 



The present season has seen an un- 

 usually heavy crop of Dutch bulb travel- 

 ers. If they all carry away full books 

 of orders we can anticipate a veritable 

 avalanche of bulbous flowers in 1911. 



All the seed houses are now being kept 

 on the jump and both counter and mail 

 trade is unusually heavy. Everyone an- 

 ticipates the best season on record. We 

 are getting quite open weather for March 

 and early seed sowing in the open has 

 commenced. 



William Sim is now marketing an im- 

 mense pick of violets. His coldframes of , 

 the latter will be right for Easter. Sweet 

 peas are at present superb, a sight worthy 

 of a long journey to see. 



W. N. Craig. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



The week opens with clouds and chill 

 and the promise of another cold wave. 

 Just as well to have it over before Easter, 

 now less than a fortnight away. In 1907 

 Easter was also early, the financial panic 

 was raging and the outlook was dark. 

 Now, with prosperity wide and deep, the 

 plantsmen practically sold out and the 

 early spring assured, there seems good 

 reason to expect the best Easter to date. 

 In 1908 Easter was celebrated about the 

 middle of April; the panic was over, the 

 banks resuming specie payments, the 

 weather perfect and the plant supply 

 abundant. Last year Easter was two 

 weeks later, and more and more the diffi- 

 culties incident to a movable Easter mani- 

 fest themselves. Especially are the plant 

 growers handicapped, and in lilies and 

 blooming plants a shortage this season is 

 inevitable. No increase in prices, how- 



