JUNE 7. 1900. 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review^ 



41 



A Flat Bench Tile. 



tomer, but can't afford to take the 

 tickets. As to the entertainment, he 

 says he wouldn't go on a free ticket, 

 likewise his family. One man says 

 he cannot afford to buy and he cannot 

 afford to refuse. What would you ad- 

 vise him? 



Twenty Years Ago. 



Twenty years ago they had their 

 troubles, too. The business had its 

 drawbacks then as well as now. We 

 hear of a New York florist who twenty 

 years ago had an order from one of 

 the new rich men of the day to stock 

 his conservatory. The man didn't 

 know a thing about plants and wanted 

 a conservatory only because he 

 thought it essential for a man of his 

 wealth to have one. The honest tlorist 

 stocked it with $1,500 worth of palms 

 and other plants and sent a bill for 

 $3,000, and it was promptly paid. A 

 few weeks later he had a "hurry call." 

 The coachman had unwittingly cut the 

 heat off from the conservatory one 

 evening, and the bitter cold night that 

 followed finished the plants. The 

 only thing to do was to re-stock the 

 conservatory, which the florist did at 

 the same figure, thus clearing up 

 $3,000 profit from one customer within 

 a month. And. by the way, this florist 

 died rich and respected. No wonder 

 they speak of the "good old times. " 



But there is another side to this 

 story. Such windfalls were rare, and 

 it is doubtful if there ever was an ex- 

 actly parallel case. But the o'd-timer.s 

 will tell you of hundreds of times 



when they had to drive miles through 

 a blizzard to deliver a few 25-cent 

 packages of flowers. There were then 

 no heated electric cars or elevated 

 roads. Coal, glass and construction 

 material were high in price, and in 

 most cases customers were few and 

 far apart. 



On the whole, we think the troubles 

 of the present hardly measure up to 

 those of the past, though they are cer- 

 tainly sufficient. 



What do you know now by experi- 

 ence which you wish you had known 

 when you first started business? Please 

 give us one or two pointers on a 

 postal. 



A C infession. 



It is easier to preach than to prac- 

 tice, but practicing pays best. We 

 close the department for this week for 

 fear of being in the position of an 

 essayist we once listened to. A cer- 

 tain distingu'shed gentleman was to 

 read a paper and a large audience 

 had gathered to hear him. He was 

 preceded on the program by several 

 small fry. What the audience wanted 

 was for the small fry to g;t through 

 and give them an opportunity to hear 

 the real speaker of the evening. But 

 one of the small fry had written 

 against time and his paper was in- 

 terminable. He had divided his sub- 

 ject, and when he read the caption, 

 "To conclude," a ripple of applause 

 broke out and rapidly developed into 

 a roar as the remainder of the au-li- 

 ence realized its suggestiveness. The 



essayist was a very bald man, and the 

 I)ink color rose even unto his bald 

 spot. 



He brought trouble upon himself by 

 his vcluminousness and we shall profit 

 l)y his experience. 



Next 'Week. 

 Next week we hope to have a goodly 

 number of fresh troubles to deal with. 

 fx^t us hear your troubles. .A.mong 

 our thousands of readers we can 

 surely find one who has had experi- 

 tiico in dealing with a similar difil- 

 I'ulty. So please ask questions of our 

 large audience. 



BENCH TILE. 



In the January 11th issue of The 

 Florists' Review there was an illus- 

 tration of a tile bench in use by Bas- 

 sftt Ac Washburn, of Chicago. 111., 

 tuade of round tile, and undoubtedly 

 a very good thing, but the one 1 am 

 about to describe, and is herewith 

 illustrated, I think is in some respects 

 better. Being fiat, it is much easier 

 to empty the bench when you wish to 

 replace the soil, and the tile does not 

 rest so close on the stringer, therefore 

 will not rot it out so soon. 



The idea of the bench is not original 

 with me. I got it from Mr. George, 

 the foreman at Storrs & Harrison's 

 greenhouses at Painesville, Ohio. 

 Finding it to be very simple, practical, 

 as cheap, and more durable than 

 boards. I thought I would give my 

 brother florists the benefit of our ex- 

 perience, if they wished to profit by it. 



We first placed bricks on the ground 

 4 feet apart for a foundation, on which 

 to place the legs, then we used 2 by 4 

 oak scantling for the stringers (No. 4 

 of the illustration), and to this we 

 spiked the legs (No. 3); then we braced 

 these legs crosswise with pieces of 

 boards or other strips; then on the 

 stringer we placed the tile bearers 

 (No. 2), also of 2 by 4 oak, placing 

 them on edge far enough apart so that 

 the tiles (No. 1) rest on them from 

 center to center. On this bench we 

 used tile 8 inches wide and 16 inches 

 long. Then along both sides of the 

 bench we nailed the side boards fast 

 to the ends of the 2 by 4 tile bearers. 



Benches thus constructed will, I 

 think, last 10 to 12 years without any 

 repairs, which is far better than all 

 wood benches. L. ULLRICH. 



Tiffin, Ohio. 



PARK AND OUTDOOR ART ASS'N. 

 The Park and Outdoor Art Associa- 

 tion opened its annual convention in 

 FuUerton Hall, Art Institute, Chicago, 

 last Tuesday morning, with President 

 Loring in the chair, and many distin- 

 guished delegates in attendance. The 

 morning session was mainly given 

 over to the reports of officers and 

 committees. In the afternoon the vis- 

 itors were the guests of the South 

 Park officials and were given a ride 

 around the park system, which was 

 much enjoyed. 



