"^ ■ 



January 26, 1911. 



The Weekly Rorists' Review. 



9 



Edtrar Kntgbt. Lady Wlgand. 



Two Fine Forms of the Predominant Commercial Orchid, Gittleya Trianae. 



of the collectors offer to these orchid 

 lovers to go into the woods and pick the 

 grand varieties especially for them, at 

 so much a case. The order is secured, 

 and a few tags, generally written in 

 French, "grand variety," etc., tied to 

 ■"any old plant," make the case of 

 gems that the orchid lover expects to 

 get for a few dollars. Perhaps these 

 ouyers think the collector does not know 

 the price of the grand varieties, and 

 that if they find a $500 plant they will 

 put it in the $50 case! When the 

 buyer discovers that the collector has 

 heen making a fool of him, he drops 

 that one and another steps in with the 

 same story, secures the order, and works 

 the grand variety scheme for two or 

 three years. 



The Cut Flower Orchid. 



Cattleya Trianae is not imported for 

 other purposes than the cut flower busi- 

 ness. Well grown, and with the right 

 plants, it is expected to get from it half 

 a crop of flowers the first winter after 

 it has been planted. These flowers that 

 come before the bulk of the crop is cut 

 bring the best prices, and in this way 

 the investment pays amply for the coal 

 and labor. The second crop is undoubt- 

 edly the best the olants will ever pro- 

 duce, and spikes of five and six flowers 

 are not uncommon, while the bulk of 

 them ought to be of three and four 

 blooms. Should the prices of the flow- 

 ers happen to be $1 per bloom, as it 

 was in the latter part of 1910, every 

 plant pays its happy owner three or 

 four times what he paid for it. This 

 high price demoralizes the business and 

 does great harm to the trade, making 



people believe that the orchid is the 

 flower of the millionaires. 



Prices of orchids vary as with every 

 other flower, but it is a peculiar fact 

 that orchids hold better than any other 

 flowers. The long period of excellent 

 prices this season still is fresh in every- 

 one's mind. Although there have been 

 times when orchids sold at 15 cents, 

 these prices seem to be gone for good, 

 unless another panic appears. 



Where the Industry Centers. 



The growing of orchids is concen- 

 trated around New York. Boston and 

 Philadelphia have a supply about equal 

 to the demand, but the other big cities 

 do not grow enough for their local sup- 

 ply. Chicago has started in earnest, but 

 the more it grows, the higher the prices 

 and the scarcer the blooms. The* east 

 supplies Chicago, but they do not get 

 the best blooms or none at all when 

 they are scarce in New York. San Fran- 

 cisco has orchids in quantity and that 

 market is generally well supplied; no 

 doubt it comes after New York as the 

 next good market in the country. The 

 California growers of orchids are far 

 ahead of the eastern growers, if we are 

 to judge from the reports we hear. 

 Phalsenopsis and other valuable orchids 

 are grown there in quantities, and they 

 grow them magnificently. The other big 

 cities are not in it. St. Louis has no 

 orchids to speak of, and we doubt if in 

 a city like Salt Lake City an orchid 

 has ever been seen. 



We may expect this year an immense 

 number of Trianae flowers, as more 

 plants were imported last year than in 

 the four or five previous years put to- 



gether. If the demand will absorb all 

 the flowers is to be seen, but whatever 

 happens, thp increased production will 

 increase the demand. The only trouble 

 is the concentration of the growers 

 around New York. If the plants were 

 well distributed, there would never be 

 a glut and prices would become normal. 



Florists, as a whole, are conservative. 

 It takes people like Joseph Heacock, 

 Young, Peirce, Poehlmann, Carbone and 

 others of their style to break away from 

 the routine and start ahead of the oth- 

 ers. Eventually many will follow. We 

 will never see the day when orchids will 

 be as plentiful as mums are in autumn. 

 By the time the popularity of the cat- 

 tleyas requires immense quantities to be 

 grown, they will be extinct in their na- 

 tive habitats, and the florists will be 

 struggling to raise from seed enough for 

 the supply. Those who have had some 

 experience in this work know how diffi- 

 cult it will be to furnish a few flowers 

 from home grown plants. 



In my next article I will take up the 



question: "Does Orchid Growing 



Pay?" I will show what can be done 



with orchids, and the results they bring. 



Louis F. Carrillo. 



Wobum, Mass.-y-J. J. Aylward & Co., 

 who since the spring of 1910 have been 

 proprietors of the store formerly occu- 

 pied by E. F. Hovey & Co., at 398 Main ' 

 street, have completed a thorough reno 

 vation of the establishment and it is 

 now not only modern, but particularly 

 attractive in appearance. Their new 

 display refrigerator is a work of art. 

 The firm has greenhouses on Willow 

 street. 



