'"W 



14 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



January 5, 1911. 



2>i 



MILWAUKEE. 



The Market. 



Tlio riovver business for the holidays 

 was satisfactory all around; if in some 

 cases it was not ahead of last year, 

 it still can go on record as an excellent 

 business. Market conditions were much 

 different from those of other seasons. 

 Owing mainly to the unfavorable grow- 

 ing weather, the supply in all lines was 

 just about equal to the demand. This 

 was proved by the liigh prices which 

 prevailed several weeks before the 

 grand rush. Especially was this true 

 ■ of carnations.. Still a good many who 

 had some holiday experience had hopes 

 of a larger supply than tlie one which 

 really came in. With most carnation 

 growers the daily cut was not large 

 enough to practice tlie pickling act. 

 The supply in roses was just about 

 equal to the demand. .\11 other stock, 

 of whicli there was a good supply, 

 was cleaned up. We have it from a 

 reliable source that tiie supply of cut 

 flowers was about one-third less than 

 last year. Tliis undoubtedly was the 

 cause for the brisk sale of pot plants, 

 for never before were there so many 

 plants oflfeit'd and disposed of as dur- 

 ing this year's Christmas week. The 

 New Year's orders were mainly filled 

 with cut flowers. 



Various Notes. 



M A. McKenney Co. reports a highly 

 satisfacy)ry trade in cut flowers and 

 pot plants for the holidays. As they 

 had more or less trouble with pickled 

 carnations in other years, they say 

 they went easy on them and asked 

 buyers to take something else. 



"We had our share of decorations 

 and, taking it all in all, we are well 

 satisfied with the amount of business 

 done for both Christmas and New 

 Year's," say J. M. Fox & Son. 



For the Currie Bros. Co., Roy Currie 

 said that tnej- sold at least again as 

 many pot plants this year for Christ- 

 mas as last year. .lanuary 2, when 

 they expected to rest, they had their 

 hands full of work for a Masonic 

 funeral at Mayville, Wis. 



The Wisconsin Floral Co.. in the 

 Caswell building, reports surprise at the 

 way cut flowers sold, for they expected 

 pot plants would be first in line. The 

 New Year sales were exceptionally sat- 

 isfactory. 



Wm. Zimmermann could have dis- 

 posed of a good many more carnations 

 if they could have been had in time. 

 The large supply of pot plants and 

 cut flowers which Wm. Edlefsen had 

 at his North Milwaukee place twas 

 quickly disposed of by the Edlefsen- 

 Leidiger Co., plus large lots supplied by 

 our local wholesalers. 



The Stewart Floral Co. reports that 

 medium sized foliage and blooming 

 plants were the best proposition. Their 

 trade does not call for cut flowers at 

 such high prices as prevail during the 

 holiday season. 



Holton & Hunkel Co. says they were 

 on pins just before Christmas, because 

 with orders for carnations coming in 

 from all directions, their supply be- 

 came exh:iusted ahead of time, causing 

 a great deal of unlocked, for worry. 

 In all other lines they cleaned up in 

 good order. The supply of local violets 

 was fully up to the demand, which 

 was ♦'he best for some time past. 



C. C. Pollworth C». reports being 

 more than pleased with the holiday 



business. At their Wauwatosa plant 

 they had a fine lot of cyclamens, 

 azaleas, various begonias, poinsettias, 

 primulas, etc., which they cleaned up 

 long before Christmas. They did not 

 handle holly in such large quantities 

 as in previous years, owing to the fact 

 that produce commission merchants 

 stock up grocers, who seem to handle 

 it more for glory than for profit. 



E. O. 



NEW YORK. 



The Market. 



The new year opened gloomily. It 

 rained all day and all night, and was 

 still weeping Monday. The retailers 

 felt the chill, and the general verdict 

 for the holiday is that it was hardly 

 as good as a good Saturday. However, 

 there were many plants and plant com- 

 binations used as New Year's gifts and 

 large quantities of roses and violets 

 were bought by the large hotels, for 

 distribution to their guests, one firm 

 alone having an order for 30.000 violets 

 for this purpose. This may bo taken as 

 a general custom with the best hotels. 

 Roses cleaned up well last week and 

 on Sunday. January 1, there were none 

 left unsold. The street was, however, 

 flooded with violets, late as usual, where 

 they should be early, and in consequence 

 there were thousands left over, to be 

 sold at any price offered Monday morn- 

 ing, and more arriving on the early 

 trains. It looks as if a lower range of 

 violet values is already established. 

 The situation is a serious one. For 

 Christmas, the delay in arrival of the 

 violets v-aused enormous loss. Thou- 

 sands of boxes, sent by a so-called spe- 

 cial train, which crawled in after every 

 regular train had passed it, reached New 

 York in the early morning, half a day 

 late, and after the retailers could wait 

 no longer. These canceled orders 

 knocked the bottom out of the violet 

 market Christmas, and stock that would 

 have sold clean for $1 and over fell to 

 under 50 cents. The express company 

 seems most to blame. The growers with 

 their grievances must look to the com- 

 pany for redress. A united protest 

 would wake up this autocratic corpora- 

 tion to a sense of its responsibilities. 

 The wholesalers kept their men all night 

 at the station waiting. The antiquated 

 method of distribution of the boxes on 

 arrival is another cause of general com- 

 plaint. The time used in checking and 

 collecting could easily be saved, and 

 the allotments made instantly upon 

 arrival. Another complaint early this 

 week was the discovery of short count 

 in many of the bunches, amounting in 

 some cases to over twenty per cent. 

 Buyers of violets by the bunch have 

 always paid for fifty. 



In roses. Killarney still dominates the 

 market, but the great shipments of the 

 last month can hardly be continued 

 much longer. The crop is diminishing, 

 but it has caused a result quite unex- 

 pected when it was put upon the mar- 

 ket; it has reduced th^ average price 

 of roses for special holiday require- 

 ments nearly fifty per cent. Everybody 

 seems to grow it, who grows roses. It 

 is the most generally popular member 

 of the rose family ever introduced. 



Carnations held well during the holi- 

 day season. The stock was everywhere 

 superb. There seem to be few common 

 kinds grown. The quantity arriving of 

 all kinds 'n now sufficient for all needs 

 and prices are lower. Of orchids there 



is now a great abundance, and prices 

 are down about twenty-five per cent. 

 These, and the gardenia, are society's 

 choice, and more of them are worn than 

 ever before. Valley is overabundant, 

 and the street merchants are the outlet 

 for it and the violet surplus. Without 

 them, and Charley Trepel, the barrels 

 would be fuller than they are. Lilies 

 are lower and always abundant. Of 

 lilac, stevia, mignonette, poinsettias, 

 hyacinths and narcissi the less said, 

 perhaps, the better. There seems no 

 limit to the supply. Smilax and other 

 greens are plentiful. Sweet peas are 

 improving rapidly. 



The market is dull and steady at 

 present quotations. With the advent 

 of clear, crisp, winter weather will 

 come stability and improvement. 



Various Notes. 



The January meeting of the New 

 York Florists' Club will take place 

 Monday evening, January 9, in the 

 Grand Opera House building. Twenty- 

 third street and Eighth avenue. Presi- 

 dent Nugent will inaugurate his regime 

 by giving a smoker to the club, which 

 will include a collation and music. 



' ' Should auld acquaintance be for- 

 got?" is the motto on M. A. Bowe's 

 New Year's cards, as he retires from 

 his old home on Broadway to his new 

 store at 60 West Thirty-third street. 



.Myer has closed all his busy holiday 

 branches and is concentrating at his 

 store on Fifty-eighth street and Madi- 

 son avenue, which will soon be en- 

 larged. 



John F. Sharkey had a big New 

 Year's, with dinner work. 



M. C. Ford says his sales of Amer- 

 ican Beauties and carnations during 

 the holiday season broke all records. 



Siebrecht & Siebrecht handle a big 

 lot of orchids every day, from the big 

 conservatories at New Rochelle. 



P. J. Smith is still under the 

 weather. 



Badgley, Riedel & Meyer were un- 

 fortunate in having a part of their 

 surplus in the bank that failed last 

 week. 



Brooklyn. 



John V. Phillips reports the best 

 holiday business of his life. 



R. G. Wilson says business was never 

 better than now. He has dropped all 

 outside enterprises and is giving his 

 two big places in Brooklyn all his at- 

 tention. He has been receiving from 

 Charles Weber blooms of the new car- 

 nation, Brooklyn, with 3-foot stems. 



Hugo Jahn says he had a great holi- 

 day business. Next week he has the 

 decoration for a big wedding and re- 

 ception. 



S. Masur says Christmas and New 

 Year's were his biggest ever. He oc- 

 cupied two extra stores. 



The special meeting of the directors 

 of the Greater New York Florists' As- 

 sociation was held Tuesday, January 

 3. Manager Crawbuck reports a large 

 New Year's trade. 



W. H. Kuebler says his supply de- 

 partment has increased 100 per cent 

 over last year. 



Harry Crawbuck supplied all the 

 green goods for the Unity Club's big 

 decoration New Year's eve, and has the 

 contract for the old guards' ball, Jan- 

 uary 20. 



E. W. Wiles says his December laurel 

 Dusiness was enormous. He will soon 

 move to larger quarters. 



