Rensselaer Union, Volume 7, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1875 — The New York Flower Market. [ARTICLE]

The New York Flower Market.

About three years ago several flower Kdeners applied to the Department of blic Parks for''permission to use the sidewalks and gutters bordering upon the open squaw opposite Clinton Market for the exposure and sale of their products. The permission was granted. The market was placed in charge of the Superintendent of Markets, and a fee was imposed upon each tradesman taking hi 9 stand along the square in the morning. At first the number of dealers was small, but it lias increased each year, until now it has become so great as to merit some attention, and is also becoming a source of revenue to the city. The flower merchants are very early risers, each man being in his position by three a. m. The season is now at its height, and on Saturday morning, May 22, at three o’clock there were more than a hundred wagons in line on the marketplace, and the dealers and their assistants, numbering several hundreds, were busily arranging their pots and baskets to the best advantage, wfiiile there were a crowd of men, women and children present as purchasers.' The air was laden with the mingled perfume ot many flowers, and as tins light grew stronger a* pretty and animated scene was discovered. Along tlie outer edge of the walk stood the taller plants, standard roses, towering ivy vines trained upon trellises, and lilies bending with blossoms. Then there were heliotropes of huge size and lesser roses, thrifty and strong. Inside of this line were baskets of verbenas in variety, and ivies, pansies, dwarf roses, coleuses and innumerable border plants, forming a parterre of pleasing appearance. By four o’clock there had l>een a perceptible reduction of the stock in the hands of the dealers, much of which had been transferred to early buyers, and women were trudging off with loaded baskets on their heads or hanging upon their arms. The prices are so low as to astonish purchasers at the flower stands and conservatories. Heliotropes of three feet in height, with tree-like trunks and heads full of rich blossoms, which the dealers assured inquirers would blossom all through the season, w ere sold at fifty cents each. Mos 3 roses of healthy appearance, and with the promises of early bloom, were sold for from seventy-five cents to a dollar and a quarter. Baskets of verbenas, containing a great variety of colors, were sold f6r fifty cents and a dollar, some of them being more densely packed and richer in variety than others. Small baskets of coleus, containing a large variety of plants, were sold at sevepty-five cents, and close bargainers would get lower prices. Fine white lilies, standing high and strong in their pots, were sold for fifty cents each. Ivy vines, full of lusty shoots, prettily twined upon rustic frames, were sold readily at half a dozen for a dollar. A few of the choicer roses and smaller plants of which there was a scarcitybrought higher prices. Baskets of assorted flowers, containing verbenas,, a coleus or two, heliotrope, and a few ornamental shrubs, were sold at fifty cents. — N. T. Evening Post.