The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-07-26
DECLINE OF THE TUBE ROSE'


Market-American Beauty's Rise.
One of the flowers that are almost
rare to-day is the tuberose, which mas
lost it's place in gardens and is seen no
more frequently in the florists shops.
Unlike many other rare plants, there Is
| no search to-day for the old-time favor
lite. It's disappearance is doubtless que
to the little demand that has existed for
it during the past ten years. somewhat
| longer ago it had q place in nearly every
garden, even if It's former popularity
had SO far declined that it was not TO
be found in the florists shops. Like all
other flowers that go out OF FASHION, the
| tuberose became a speciality OF the
street vendors. Not many summers ago
| they used TO offer ON Broadway stalks
of the heavy-scerted, pallid blossoms.
| Later the roses stood in tubs awaiting
the selection of purchasers who still had
taste for the brittle little roses. Now
| these survivors have to grow their own
! tuberoses or search for them In more
| spots than those occupied by the street
flower sellers, for they have given the
| tuberoses up altogether, and the flowers
are scarcer now than orchids The pub
lie seems reconcihd to getting along
without them, and nobody 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 flor
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 roses domi-
mated the field, and the costly, modlsh
bouquet was at one time made chilly or
them. Yet they are seen to-day only IN
the gardens or cdnserVatories of per-
sons who cultivate roses or in the gar
dens of the South, where they grow lux
uriantly. The search Of the New York
florists shops reveals few of them, even
when the season is at its height. Those
| found have little of the fragrance that
used to be one of the noticeable qualities
or the Marcnal Mel IN the days or its
popularity, and is still characteristic of
those in the South.
The other morning a Sun reporter
happened to be in one Of the wholesale
flower stores that line each side of an
uptown block near Broadway. 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 fashioned 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 Mareehal Mel. The
dealer said that both of them had prac-
tically disappeared from the flower mar
kets of the day.
"Tuheroses went long ago" he added
and nobody regretted their going.
They first began to lose their popularity
after they We're tacitly accepted as the
proper thing for funerals, They held
that reputation Cor years and became
so closely associated with these services
| that they We're never used for anything
else. After while they were forgotten
there, too, and nobody ever thinks Of
trying to revive them. They belonged
| to a period in which taste was not as
! highly developed as it is to-day The
1 Marechal Mel, with it's pale yellow pet
ais, could not hold its own against the
large and brilliant roses in demand to-
! day
THE American Beauty has practically
become the only rose in general demand
Every purchaser who can pay the price
wants it, 1t is more snowy and bril-
| liant than any that ever preceded 1t and
more decorative for every purpose. All
other species of roses have had to take
back seat since it was put on the mar
ket. Fragrance plays no part now in
making a flower popular, except violets
Persons who want them to smell sweet
becuse 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 fragrance of the
Marechal Mel that recommended it,
and that was not compensation enough
| for its lack of other qualities. Even the
Baroness Rothschild, which used to be
| thought so beautiful with its pink
petals, disappeared before the American
| Beauty, and the Jacqueminots only
hold their own when they are large and
in the highest state of Development
New York Sun