March 31, 1910. 



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The Weekly Florists' Review. 



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EASTER 



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TRADE REPORTS 



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SUMMARY OF THE SEASON. 



Was It Hot Enough For You ? 



Never iu the history of the flower busi- 

 ness has there been an Easter just like 

 that of 1910. In 1909 Easter occurred 

 April 11, and the highest temperature 

 registered anywhere in the lake region 

 in the week preceding was 74 degrees, 

 with the mean temperature of Good Fri- 

 day 30 degrees, and as low as 25 degrees 

 registered at Chicago the night before 

 Easter. This year almost the entire 

 country had summer temperatures for 

 the entire week before Easter. Good 

 Friday over the entire eastern half of 

 the United States was the warmest March 

 day the weather bureau has recorded in 

 its entire forty years' history. The offi- 

 cial readings Good Friday ran up to 80 

 and 82 degrees, while unofficial thermom- 

 eters made it even more than that. In 

 the weather bureau office that recorded a 

 mean temperature of 30 degrees on Good 

 Friday, 1909, the mean temperature was 

 67 degrees Good Friday of 1910. The 

 heat under glass was intense. 



Of course no such torridity had been 

 counted on by those who were pushing 

 along their crops to have them ready in 

 time for an early Easter — f^e earliest 

 Easter in many years. The heat may 

 have saved the day for some who were 

 behind with their crops, but it made an 

 immense amount of trouble for those 

 who would have been in time under sea- 

 sonable weather conditions. It empha- 

 sized the need of one thing that the 

 average grower has neglected. While no 

 thought or expense has been spared to 

 provide the means for forcing the stock 

 into bloom, not many growers have pro- 

 vided means for handling it to best ad- 

 vantage after it is ready; especially have 

 they neglected provision for caring for 

 forced stock ready a little too soon. 

 Cool cellars, cool houses and adequate 

 sorting and packing facilities would have 

 saved their entire cost for many a grower 

 last week. 



Where a shortage of lilies had been 

 thought quite possible, there turned out 

 to be enough. The hot weather brought 

 in thousands that otherwise would have 

 been late. While lilies sold clean at 

 fair prices in the smaller cities, the big 

 wholesale markets generally were over- 

 supplied, especially with short-stemmed 

 stock. The bulbous stock suffered rather 

 more than anything else from the heat. 

 Many a man's tulips were ready days 

 before Easter, and much beyond the 

 proper stage when delivery hour arrived. 

 The same was true of daffodils and hya- 

 cinths. The violets practically succumbed 

 to the heat, and instead of the early 

 Easter being in favor of the violet grow- 

 ers, it proved as bad a one as they have 

 had in recent years. Carnations were 

 abundant, but had spring fever — that 

 droopy feelipg. Roses were in large 

 supply, but soft. 



The Selling End. 



In practically all the wholesale mar- 

 kets the supply of stock was far ahead 



of what had been expected, and the 

 quality was. much below what it would 

 have been with seasonable temperature. 

 The wholesalers found themselves com- 

 pelled to revise their estimates of values, 

 and at the same time were confronted 

 with the necessity for a large amount of 

 sorting at a time when they were coping 

 with probably the largest volume of busi- 

 ness they ever have handled in the lim- 

 ited period of a holiday rush. The whole- 

 salers earned their commissions last week. 

 While the hot weather increased the 

 troubles of the growers and wholesalers, 

 and caused the retailers more or less dif- 

 ficulty because of the poor keeping qual- 

 ity of flowers, it was a wonderful help 

 in the selling end of the business. Not 

 in many years has there been an Easter 

 season when the weather was so pleasant 

 everywhere; hardly a cloud in the sky, 

 and no rain anywhere. Though some 

 cities report trade late in beginning, the 

 retail sales for Easter certainly set a 

 new high record, and a record that it 

 will be hard to reach another year. Re- 

 tail prices were not seriously affected by 

 the heat; the retailer who bought his 

 stock in the wholesale markets got it 

 cheaper than usual, sold more of it, and 

 made a better profit. It is the unani- 

 mous report that Saturday and Sunday 

 were the biggest days the retail flower 

 business ever has known. Saturday after- 



noon the stores everywhere, in the big 

 cities and little towns, were loaded to 

 the doors with flowering plants and cut 

 flowers. Saturday afternoon served to 

 clear out a big part of this, but a rain 

 on Sunday would have wiped out many a 

 retailer's profit. Sunday morning, how- 

 ever, proved as bright and warm as any 

 of the days preceding, and the flower 

 buyers everywhere were out in force. 

 Many a retail store was compelled to 

 close because everything salable was 

 gone; but where stock sufficed, others 

 kept open all day and did business ev«ry 

 hour. 



Of course it was a plant Easter; the 

 term has become stereotyped. Had re- 

 tailers foreseen the large supply of cut 

 stock, and its moderate price, there would 

 have been less for the plantsmen. After 

 all is said and done, the flower buyers, 

 and particularly those who buy flowers 

 only at holidays, would rather have cut 

 blooms than flowering plants; all thai 

 they insist upon is fresh stock and mod- 

 erate prices. But the retailers had looked 

 for no such inundation of cut flowers as 

 resulted from the summer weather; they 

 had stocked up with plants which had to 

 be paid for, and they were going to sell 

 those plants first of all. Consequently 

 many turned every possible buyer to 

 plants, somewhat at the expense of the 

 cut flower department. But practically 

 all the plants sold, and the wholesalers in 

 a few of the larger cities were the only 

 ones who had any special quantities of 

 cut stock left. 



This is so big a country, and the 

 flower business has become so large and 

 so diversified, that it seldom is possible 

 for a summary to show such uniform 

 experience as the trade reports of this 

 Easter. It is doubtless due to the uni- 

 formity of the weather conditions, for, 

 after all, the weather is the biggest fac- 

 tor in the flower business. 



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THE RETAIL 



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UNIQUE WINDOW DISPLAY. 



A novel window display, representing 

 a modern amusement park, with various 

 special features, was recently shown by 

 the Beyer Floral Co., of South Bend, Ind. 



The various mechanical arrangements 

 shown in the illustration were operated 

 by water and electricity in the following 

 manner: Water was forced to the top 

 of the tower, which occupied the center, 

 and ran between two glass globes, the 

 outer one of clear glass being stationary, 

 while the inner one, of many-colored 

 glass, revolved around an electric light, 

 thereby giving to the water constantly 

 changing hues, like an electric fountain. 

 The water then fell on a large water- 

 wheel enclosed in the tower, which put in 

 motion the air swing and Ferris wheel, 

 each of which held small figures repre- 

 senting pleasure seekers. As the water 

 came from the tower it tumbled down a 

 cascade of glass that had another colored 

 globe revolving around an electric light 

 and repeated the effect shown in the 



globes at the top. At the bottom of the 

 cascade was a pool containing goldfish, 

 on which floated toy rowboats, small 

 (lucks, swans, etc. 



There was over thirty feet of three- 

 rail electric track surrounding the park, 

 on which ran a little electric car, with 

 passengers, going in and out of a tun- 

 nel under the tower. The park, tower, 

 etc., were illuminated by miniature elec- 

 tric lights, and in one corner of the park 

 was a zoo and bird house, inhabited by 

 toy animals and birds, while at another 

 part of the grounds could be seen the 

 boathouse and greenhouse. Floating in 

 the air over the park was a kite, bearing 

 an advertisement of the Beyer Floral Co. 



There were a number of special fea- 

 tures and exhibitions, operated with in- 

 visible wires by a person some ten or 

 twelve feet distant, who was hidden from 

 the onlookers. These features included 

 a "Slide for Life," by a girl figure 

 from the top of the tower; a "High 

 Dive, " by a boy figure from the top of 

 the tower into the tank, where he then^ 



