The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1904-03-20

short; the florists say this shortage is not
oecasioned by the war, but is owing TO
climatic conditions which existed over there
during last year, which ruined the bulbs
In Japan are also great lily farms, and any
number of these plants are exported from
there each year TO all parts OF the world.
The other popular flowers at Easter pc
sides the lilies are the roses, carnations,
tulips and hyacinths. OF the roses II is
estimated that this coming Easter there
will be 10000 sold while the sale OF car
nations and tulips will be about 5000 each
All of these flowers are very popular among
men, and ii is they who buy great many
flowers at any season, be 1t Christmas. New
Years or Easter: one reason n gwen s,,en Tor ;s
that they are the easiest things they can
purchase for gifts, requiring no effort In
selection. A man simply goes TO a norlst
and orders box or basket of flowers, and
the florist, who is an artist In his line,
knows exactly what is wanted. The Horst
understands thoroughly the blending OF col
ors and how they should be arranged' SO
the man who is purchasing simply pays the
money and the florist does the rest The
wise man Will never offer a suggestion
about how the flowers should be combined,
for the florist knows this better than any
one else
Men are also great admirers of palms.
and many of them buy jardinieres filled
with them. These plants are quite IA
them surprise their wives by giving them
palms on Easter Such a present as this is
quite expensive; besides palms there are
other kinds of rare plants that can be pur-
chased, the prices on all OF which are very
high.
THE AMERICAN BEAUTY.
The popular flower, and of which, for
wonder, there will be no scarcity this Eas
ter, is the American Beauty rose. This,
while it is popular among buyers, is not
sought by the florists, and they would be
glad to see the day that this flower is no
longer in demand by the fashionable set.
OF all the roses it is the greatest favorite
and the most expensive. The quality and
price of it, as every one well knows who
has ever purchased it, is wholly determined
by the length of its stem, and a rose OF
this variety which has stem that reaches
to the floor is very costly.
The American Beauty well deserves Its
name, and its general appearance suggests
richness. 1t is large and of deep bril-
liant red. and the very way that the bud
is attached to the stem suggests that its
name might imply pride. 1t is often said
that the name of a book has much to do
with it's sale a book having an attractive
title being nearly always popular. Florists
say no doubt that the same thing applies
to flowers, and that the name OF the Amer
lean Beauty rose is half of its popularity
for anything with the name American at
tached to it is naturally attractive TO the
people of this country, and particularly so
if the thing so named has the appearance
or pride ana independence
The range in price of this rose is very
large, and this spring il can be bought
anywhere from s. to SIS dozen. Now by
the prices that are demanded for the bet
ter grades of them one would think that
the profit the florist derives is very great,
whereas, the profit on the American Beauty
roses is smaller than on any other flower.
The reason for this is that it is impossible
for the local florists to raise them, owing
to the time il takes for them TO develop
and because they would not be compensated
for the care which is necessary in raising
the plants. All of this variety of rose sold
in this city comes from the East and from
Chicago, the largest supply coming from
the latter place. on account of its nearneSS.
The florists here have TO buy them from
ing of these plants and the prices paid are
high 1t is through these wholesale con-
Germs that the prices are kept up, and it is
for this reason that the florists would like
10 get the American Beauty rose out of ex-
iStence.
The demand, however does not decrease
but instead is growing larger all the time.
1t is on account of the great demand that
there is generally such shortage in the
supply, but this spring people who admire
this rose can buy as many of them as they
like for they are plentiful and not as ex-
pensive as ordinarily. The florists have
roses similar to the American Beauty in
everything but price. but they could not
make them go, for the people demand the
American Beauty and none other will do
just as well. The rose that was substituted
would have been much cheaper because the
local men could have grown them, but the
people would not make them popular.