The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-06
THE HARVEST OF THE FLORISTS.
Largest Easter Trade This Tear Ever
Known. Here.

Known. Here.
Eastertide is the one season Of the year
that tends TO hi The Golfers OF the florists
to OVERLOOKING This wear preparations
for the rush were made many weeks In
advance All of the forcing houses of the
local florists and many OF the flower
growers of the South have been worked
over time to supply the enormous demand
The result is that there are more flowers
on the market to be sold at reasonable
prices than never before.
over j month ago the influx Of the per
fumed blossoms commenced Niolets by
the hundreds of thousands, large and
small, blue and white, wiki odor and
without. have been displayed on the
streets for sale at extremely low prices
Two years ago these sweet-scented
blooms sold readily for one dollar a hun
dred- Today a large b0utonniere can be
purchased on any street corner for .
cents and fairly good bunch can be Sc
cured for 10 cents. The reduction in price
is accounted for By the extraordinary
supply. the florists claim. and as result
everybody is wearing viOlets. The violet
has always been a favorite flower. but II
has been too expensive for general use
this early in the season. During the last
year violet farms have been established
in large numbers in the Southern States
and have been conducted in very sue
cessful manner
The most popular flower. next to the
violet, observed in the florists shops and
the market stalls this season is the Eas-
ter lily There are more lilies on sale TINS
year than ever before, and the prices
range anywhere from $50 to SO THESE
plants are used for almost every purpose
on Easter Day They can be found IN
the churches in the homes, and in the
large stores. where they are used to as
sist in tt general schemes of decora-
tion. A score Of the large business houses
along the Avenue and Seventh Street use
the pure white and green of the Easter
Ely to heighten the effect Of their window
and counter displays In the churc1es
large and small plants are to be found
beside the affairs. and in the Catnol1c
houses of worship the sanctuaries are
banked with the growing plants, large and
small The general utility Of these plants
for decorative purposes is. more than
anything else. responsible for its popu-
larity Years ago, before the lily had
been developed to its present stage, the
Gala lily was the most popular plant
The purity of tie flower ana the intense
green of its foliage appealed to the artis-
tic tastes of the decorator, although there
was too great a lack of grace and Iullness
to make it as adaptable to all purposes,
and the present Easte, lily soon took Its
place. Florists grow callas TO a large eX-
| cent however. and every year there is a
demand for them, but il is growing small
| er each season
Another very popular plant this year
! is the heather The variety displayed toI
| sale IN this city originally came from the
! Cape Of Good Hope, and IS known as Ef-
/ ric2- The plant can only be grown N q
I certain part Of Long Island. and the bios
[ SONS are pink, white. or yellow, the pot
| ted plant selling at from 81 70 SO The
| English primrose and the WhlIe mac also
sell in great numbers and at reasonable
/ prices
OF the cut flowers. except ~iolets, the
| American Beauty rose IS perhaps The
most popular A; new and popular rose OF
/ a rich, dark red color, called the Jlrlch
/ Drummer, is a close second IN popular IA
Vor and Is about as expensive as the
American Beauty Both Of these roses
/ bring the florists from q to 81 per Dozen
! The OId-faSniODed Jack ana the pure
white Brides roses are also popular
! This is undoubtedly the greatest E-as-
! ter season We have ever known SAID a
! leading Washington florist today Al
! though there has been a steady increase
( in the number OF flowers sold each year
! for some time past, business this year
! far surI'asses anything We have ever had
I Pre- cticz1Ily every florist in the city has
/ been booking orders for tomorrow a
month ahead and It is q safe guess that
many of them will have to refuse orders
! tonight. Even now 1 can see the end OF
I my supply OF Easter Hires. and I cannot
I purchase any more 1T any price The
1 street-coruer flower sellers do not hurl
| our business TO q great extent, because
| OF the enormous demand Every train
! that has come u this city from the South
/ for months back has been bringing In its
/ quota of vIolets. The farmers seem &c
! find this fragrant bloom more profitable
/ than cotton or tobacco. They ship them
/ North by the carload and the flowers are
/ sold through commission merchants tC
/ the highest bidders The same thing has
! been done with almost every popular
/ plant and the result is that. as I said be
| fore, this season IS the greatest ever
| known"
| The flower shops were crowded through
( out the morning and all o. them viii re-
| main open until a late hour tonight