MAY IS, 1S99. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



617 



Driver and Messengers for H. H. Battles, Philadelphia. 



of cattleyas, another of cattleyas, 

 Odontoglossum crispum and Cypripe- 

 dium Lawrenceanum. Wreaths of 

 sweet peas looked very pretty. One 

 was entirely of moss roses. Wreaths 

 were in the majority and every color 

 was there. 



The grave was lined with hemlock 

 and spring flowers, the sand being also 

 covered with greens and the entire plot 

 was surrounded hy a 4%-foot screen of 

 greens and flowers. An avenue of 

 groups of Florida palm leaves extend- 

 ed from the church to the grave. This 

 part was very effective, as it tended to 

 alleviate the sadness of parting at the 

 grave, by covering up soil and enclos- 

 ing the grave with flowers. 



Funeral services over the remains of 

 the late ex-Gov. Flower were held in 

 St. Thomas' church, 53rd street and 

 Fifth avenue. New York, Monday, May 

 15. A great number of flowers were 

 used. Hodgson had charge of the fam- 

 ily order (that always means to take 

 charge of all the flowers). There were 

 no decorations in the church other 

 than that several large vases of lilies 

 were placed on the altar. The casket 

 was partially covered with dark pan- 

 sies. and lily of the valley, with gar- 

 lands of white carnations looped at the 

 sides. This was not so pretty as the 

 cover used on Mrs. Whitney's casket. 

 There were a great many more flowers 



at this funeral than at the one de- 

 scribed above. Some seventy large de- 

 signs surrounded the casket at the 

 church, and there were a great many 

 cut flowers sent to the house which 

 were left behind. 



These designs represented every 

 grade of florist in New York. The Bast 

 side politician, the Wall street banker, 

 the Grand street florist and the Broad- 

 way artist contributed their quota to 

 the galaxy, and yet to average the ef- 

 fect and quality of the work, they were 

 very beautiful; no finer work could be 

 seen anywhere. The immense wreaths 

 of cattleyas were grand! Then there 

 were about twelve great standing 

 wreaths of white lilac and cattleyas 

 with very broad cattleya ribbon at the 

 side. Some were made of all white 

 lilac and Bride roses. One of the bro- 

 ken columns was very handsomely 

 made; the column was solid white car- 

 nations, crimson on top, then half way 

 down the column was a thin wreath of 

 bougainvillea. There were many fine 

 loose bunches of cattleyas, but the rib- 

 bons did not match and spoiled the 

 effect. Lots of cycas leaves had 

 bunches of orchids on them, but some- 

 how they did not come up to the other 

 bunches; cycas are too stiff for or- 

 chids; areca or cocos would be better. 



Of course there were the "crazy" de- 

 signs, too. Wreaths and pillows of 



roses were there made as flat as a 

 pancake, galax crosses and wreaths 

 as skimpy as poverty. One bunch of 

 about seventy-flve American Beauties 

 was tied in a mass, all level at the top 

 and as tight as a bunch of radishes. 

 Another lot of Beauties was tied on a 

 five-toot stick; it was a poor job. One 

 thing should be remembered when 

 making up designs like crosses and 

 columns — their shape should be recog- 

 nizable when made up; a few flowers 

 indiscriminately stuck among greens 

 at a time when all stock is cheap, is 

 not excusable, and then again if you 

 could only see your work at the church 

 or cemetery after it has been handled 

 you are apt to see more moss than 

 anything else; better to make your 

 designs small and beautiful than large 

 and ugly. We noticed that some of the 

 cycas designs had strings of valley tied 

 all the way up the center of the leaves; 

 such a thing takes all the meaning or 

 sentiment out of the design. If flow- 

 ers are attached to palms they should 

 be confined to the bottom, 



One thing is very noticeable at all 

 the great funerals held here lately; 

 there has been an almost total absence 

 of the clumsy designs we were familiar 

 with years ago. Now it is all mostly 

 wreaths, flat or standing, or loose 

 bunches; even pillows are discarded, 

 and lettering is a thing of the past. 

 Crosses are used hesitatingly because 

 many think they are only appropriate 

 for Catholics. This is very funny, 

 when every church upholds it. How- 

 ever, the designs most popular now 

 are the most artistic. We find fault 

 with some of them because they are 

 either too poorly made or have too 

 many colors, and many of the ribbons 

 seen on designs nowadays are enough 

 to wake the dead. IVERA. 



UNIFORMED MESSENGERS. 



The proper delivery of flowers to 

 customers is as important as good 

 flowers, an up-to-date store and a 

 handsome delivery wagon. The peo- 

 ple who are liberal buyers of flowers 

 have sensibilities that are easily hurt 

 by incongruities, and a slovenly de- 

 liveryman or messenger has no place 

 in connection with the stock handled 

 by a fiorist. 



A plain but neat uniform of fine 

 material, such as seen in the illustra- 

 tion, is as near right as one can get. 

 The only distinguishing badge is the 

 name "Battles" in open work silver on 

 the cap. It is the same lettering that 

 appears on the boxes and labels and 

 has the value and familiarity of a 

 trade mark. 



Eschew the gold bedecked uniforms 

 adopted by some of the extremists. 

 They are out of place in connection 

 with flowers (or anything else for that 

 matter), and are certainly not jn good 

 taste. Have your messengers attired 

 neatly and uniformly, but not obtru- 

 sively. And make sure that their de- 

 portment is in harmony with their 

 uniforms. Many a good customer has 

 been lost by an unwise or uneducated 

 messenger. 



