The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1899-09-27
DECLINE OF THE TUBEROSE.
n Has Disappeared Altogether from
the Market-The American
Dcaufy's Rise.

One of the flowers that are almost
rare to-day is the tuberose, which has
lost its place in the gardens and is seen
no more frequently in the florists
shops. Unlike many other rare plants,
there is no search to-day for this one
time rare favorite. It's disappearance is
doubtless due to the little demand that
has existed for 1t during the past ten
years. Somewhat longer ago it had
place in nearly every garden, even If
it's former popularity had so far de-
clined that it was not to be found in the
florists shops. Like all other flowers
that go out of fashion, the tuberose be-
came speciality of the street vendors.
Not many summers ago they used to
offer on Broadway stalks of the heavy
scented, pallid blossoms. Later the
roses stood in tubs awaiting the selec-
ton of purchasers who still had taste
for the brittle little roses. Now these
survivors have to grow their own tube
roses or search for them in more re-
mote spots than those occupied by the
street flower sellers, for they have
given the tuberoses up altogether, and
the flowers are scarcer now than or
chids. The public seems reconciled to
getting along without them, and no
body inquiries to-day after the vanished
flowers.
Another blossom at one time in great
demand is now seldom seen. This is
the Marechal Mel rose, once the most
cherished and expensive that the for
lists sold. Now the fragrant yellow
blooms, with their rich, green leaves
and thick, graceful petals, are rare in
the florists windows. No rose sold to-
day is nearly so fragrant, and only two
or three species are its superiors In
beauty. The Marechal Mel rose dom
mated the field, and the costly, modish
bouquet was at one time made chiefly
of them. Yet they are seen to-day only
in the gardens or Conservatives of
persons who cultivate roses or in the
gardens of the south, where they grow
luXuriantly. The search of the New
York florists shops reveals few of
them, even when the season Is at it's
height. Those found have little of the
fragrance that used to be one of the no
ticeable qualities of the Marechal Mel
in the days of it's popularity, and is still
characteristic of those in the south.
The other morning Sun reporter
happened to be in one of the
wholesale flower stores that line each
side of an uptown block near Broad
way. On the long tables stretching
from one end of the room to another
were flowers of every description. The
supply was smaller than that to be seen
on winter morning, but it was rich in
beauty and variety. Some old-fash
toned country flowers, unfamiliar in
the company of the cultivated exotics
about them, were to be seen, but there
was no trace of the tuberose or the
Marechal Mel. The dealer said that
both of them had practically disap-
peared from the flower market of the
day.
"Tuberoses went long ago." he added,
"and nobody regretted their going.
They first began to lose their popular
ity after they were tacitly accepted as
the proper thing for funerals. They
held that reputation for years and-be-
came so closely identified with these
services that they were never used for
anything else. After awhile they were
forgotten there, too, and nobody ever
thinks of trying to revive them. They
belonged to period in which taste was
not as highly developed as it is to-day.
The Marechal Mel, with its pale yellow
petals, could not hold it's own against.
the large and brilliant roses in demand
to-day.
1.-THE American Beauty has practic-
ally become the only rose in general de-
mand. Every purchaser who can pay
the price wants it. 1t is more snowy
and brilliant than any that ever preced-
ed it and more decorative for every pur-
pose. All other species of roses have
had to take a back seat since it was put
on the market. Fragrance plays no
part now in making a flower popular,
except violets. Persons want them to
smell sweet because it is usually an
evidence of their freshness. But in the
case of other flowers it makes little or
no difference. 1t was chiefly the fra
GRANGE of the Marechal Mel that rec
commended it, and it was not compensa-
ton enough for its lack of other quail
tiles. Even the Baroness Rothschild,
which used to be thought so beautiful
with its pink petals, disappeared before
the American Beauty, and the Jacque-
minots only hold their own when they
are large and in the highest state of de-
velopment."- Y. Sun.
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