284 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



is 15 to 18 inches high will check the 

 plant enough to induce it to make a 

 bottom growth, but if the plant shows 

 no inclination to set bud when 20 to 24 

 inches long I give it a short bend down- 

 ward wher-e the wood is about half ripe. 

 I do not break it but it injures the bark 

 enough to check the growth in that direc- 

 tion somewhat. In this way the plant is 

 not deprived of any foliage nor is its 

 growth otiierwise seriously interfered 

 with, but I accomplish my purpose. The 

 eyes around the bottom soon send up 

 young shoots, of which I select from 

 three to five of the strongest and cut 

 th'e rest off before they get very long. 

 They will generally grow 1.5 to 24 inches 

 high and form a bud. Of these I pinch 

 off some as soon as they show color; 

 others I leave on longer and then cut 

 the bud with two or three leaves. By 

 the time the last operation is performed 

 the first disbudded shoots will have start- 

 ed to grow and from this time on I 

 never allow all the shoots on a plant to 

 form a flower at nearly the same time. 

 The first disbudded shoots will form buds 

 while the last and somewhat cut back 

 on'es will still be in full growth. 



If any stem is not long enough I take 

 the bud off — not cut it back — and let 



it make another growth. This second 

 growth is generally from 18 to 30 inches, 

 which is added to the original stem. 

 Started in this way I have a pretty 

 even cut of Beauties. They will also not 

 grow too long in the stem and bloom 

 as surely as any other rose. 



If an extra supply of Beauties is 

 wanted at any special date you can help 

 a great deal by taking off some buds 

 about six weeks before you want flowers 

 on those shoots. But make it a point to 

 keep the plants in a growing condition 

 at all times and never cut the whole 

 plant down during a period of but a 

 week or two. 



Black spot is caused by too much mois- 

 ture or a cool damp atmosphere. Proper 

 ventilating and firing in time are the 

 best preventives. Always keep some sul- 

 phur on the pipes. I often use carbolic 

 acid, one teaspoonful to three gallons of 

 water, to keep it from spreading. Three 

 ounces of carbonate of copper and one 

 quart of ammonia to 50 gallons of water 

 is also highly recommended, but th'e best 

 way is to pick off the affected leaves, 

 burn them, and keep the air of the house 

 dry. M. Stauch. 



[To be Continu'ed.] 



'♦^'♦^'♦^*9J.<*^.(*^.'*^.(«^.<«^(*=S..<*^.(»^«*^. ^•^.'*^i*^.<*^<«^<«^, 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Prices. 



The past week was a very trying one 

 to most retailers in the large cities. Per- 

 haps all throughout the country good 

 flowers were scarce and the consequences 

 Were attended by much anxiety and gen- 

 eral unpleasantness. In New York roses 

 particularly were very few compared to 

 the demand, and higher prices were 

 asked for them than on Christmas day. 

 Some few delight in seeing extremely 

 high prices realized for stock, but the 

 fact remains that great harm is done 

 by putting an almost prohibitive price 

 on flowers at any time of the year. 



It would be much better in every way 

 for th'e retail business if the growers 

 would agree among themselves to charge 

 a set and steady price for their stock 

 changing the price at stated intervals ; as 

 it is today many a retailer dare not 

 charge his customiers what he himself 

 has to pay for the stock, and he is wise 

 in not doing so. The general public can- 

 not and -will not understand how or 

 why they should be charged twice as 

 much today as yesterday for the same 

 grade of flowers. Th'e logic of supply 

 and demand is very dim betimes to im- 

 patient, perhaps unreasonable humanity. 

 To have to pay $15.00 per 100 wholesale 

 for weak stemmed roses of the Bride and 

 Bridesmaid class in the third week in 

 .January, whereas on Christmas eve the 

 same grade could be had for $4 or $6, 

 is a hard nut to crack; a particularly 

 hard one if you had the misfortun'e to 

 win a decoration by giving a hair-split- 

 ting estimate, and where you promised 

 so many roses. 



The actual wholesale prices for flowers 

 in New York last week were: Beauties, 



6 to 75 cents each ; Brides, Bridesmaids, 

 Golden Gates and roses of that class, 

 4 up to 25 ; Meteors ran medium between 

 the above because they are usually like 

 round buttons; lily of the valley took 

 a drop, but you had to pay from 2J to 

 4 for it when wanted; yellow trumpets 

 brought 6, tulips 4 to 6, paper whites 

 3, Romans 2 to 3, freesia 20 to 25 a 

 bunch, same for sweet peas— both of 

 them just enough for a buttonhole; car- 

 nations from 2* up to 10; violets 50 to 

 $1.00, cattleyas 50 cents. There might 

 have been chances where a wholesaler 

 didn't exactly know how much he could 

 charge, or perhaps his charitable mood 

 was on, where one could pick up a bar- 

 gain, but the above were the prevailing 

 prices last week, and it was very hard 

 to realize much profit on the stock over 

 the counter. 



The cut flowter public were in a mood 

 to buy, too, and the better class of stores 

 were busy, still there were hundreds of 

 cases where either people refused to buy 

 or grumbling took cheaper substitutes, 

 and then again you all know a stock of 

 fresh flowers must be kept in the store 

 whether there be business or not. 



Decorations. 



I The difliculties confronting one by a 

 I scarcity of cut flowers can very often 

 I be overcome by a little serious thinking 

 [ and a judicious use of plants, green or 

 flowering. Flowering plant decorations 

 j have been the rule of late in New York, 

 and the principal material used has been 

 Begonia Lorraine and Simon Mardner 

 azal'ea. The ball given by W. C. Whit- 

 ney early in January was one of the 

 most important events of recent times; 

 1 his great house is a home for the pur- 



chaseable treasures of Europe. We wish 

 'every retailer could have seen it deco- 

 rated. The decorations were not elabo- 

 rate, they were simple and very rich. 

 Vases containing 100 or 200 long 

 stemmed American Beauties can make a 

 better effect artistically than all your 

 hangings and draperies; of such was" the 

 greater part of this decoration. Another 

 pretty item was the arranging of 75 

 hanging baskets of Begonia Lorraine un- 

 der a lighted glass roof; the effect was 

 very charming, and then again peeping 

 over a white Venetian marble balustrade 

 was a hedge-like row of Mardner azaleas. 

 It was all good and J. H. Troy deserves 

 credit for the work. 



Door Wreaths. 



A reader in Burlington, la., asks for 

 information as to the making of door 

 wreaths. By this we presume is meant 

 funeral wreaths to hang on the bell 

 knob. This is a very ancient custom and 

 was used by the early Greeks to mark 

 the houses where festivals were being 

 given as well as sorrows were keen; the 

 difference was known by materials used ; 

 foliage or flower meant much more in 

 the language of sentiment then than they 

 do today. 



We once in a while see these wreaths 

 in the larger cities, but a garland is 

 more frequently used. They are made by 

 tying a few white flowers, roses, hya- 

 cinths or such, on a string of smilax or 

 asparagus and hanging it on the bell 

 or door knob (in ancient times it was 

 hung on the knocker ) . A piece of white 

 or purple ribbon is often tied on the 

 garland or wreath, but the whole is sup- 

 posed to be very simple. 



Of course there is a wide opportunity 

 for improvement and the exercise of in- 

 dividual ideas in these designs, some of 

 which we will be pleas'ed to give you 

 later. 



Funeral Designs. 



In regard to the quer}- as to moss or 

 tinfoil on wreaths, by all means desist 

 from using tinfoil on funeral designs. 

 The brazen glitter of it makes a wretched 

 contrast to what is used at such a sad 

 'event. In New York we have a green 

 sheet moss; in the absence of that we 

 use ferns or any kind of greens. First 

 line the frame with this material, fac- 

 ing it outwards, then fill in with gray 

 moss. A wire design of any kind should 

 be completely covered with green back 

 and front before a flower is put in it. 

 No paper or tinfoil is used in choice 

 funeral work today; they who use it 

 when green moss or any kind of green, 

 be it ferns, hemlock, or spruce, are obtain- 

 able, are behind the times. 



We must apologize to our friends for 

 the manner in which we have conducted 

 this department but we promise them 

 more tlian their dollars' worth in the 

 days to come. Ivera. 



A STORE DISPLAY. 



We present herewith an engraving from 

 a photograph of the display in the store 

 of Mr. W. L. Rock, Kansas City, Mo., 

 during his chrysanthemum show last No- 

 vember. During the three days of the 

 show the number of visitors is estimated 

 at over 5,000 and that it was appreciated 

 by the visitors was evidenced by the com- 

 mendation bestowed. 



Most attractive features of the display 

 were two dinner tables, both decorated 

 with orchids, a round one with cattleyas 

 and a long one with odontoglossums and 

 Farleyensefern. 



