SEPTEMBER 20, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



467 



(•^.'♦^'♦=^<«^.|^ 



^J.**^!*^!*^.**^."*??. <*1^.**^.'*=a (•^.*«^.<*^| 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



■■^^m,-^:9)-^ 



i^r»lVr»>'yr»)l 



Violets. 



Violets iiave appeared on tlie New 

 Yorlv market, but they are puny lit- 

 tle representatives and unfit for use. 

 There will be none of these flowers 

 worth considering until about the 

 middle of October, which is time 

 enough. The plants look elegant at 

 present. There are a great many more 

 being grown and prospects are bright. 



There are many men who have been 

 violet growers for years and have yet 

 much to learn about the bunching 

 and shipping. A violet is of little 

 use imless it is sweet. It is the most 

 susceptible flower in cultivation. The 

 indifferent or most likely ignorant 

 grower pays little attention as to how 

 his product reaches the market. He 

 puts them into any old sort of box 

 and off they go. His are the violets 

 peddled on the streets, in many cases 

 his wholesaler returns more than he 

 gets for them just to keep his ven- 

 tilator shut, and in consequence the 

 man imagines his products are good. 



We have visited growers and 

 watched them bunch violets in an at- 

 mosphere permeated with all manner 

 of smells; that accounts tor the large 

 amount of repugnancy surrounding 

 them soon after they reach your store. 

 Retailers should see to it now that 

 proper arrangements are made for the 

 careful handling of such flowers. In- 

 stead of growers rushing their early 

 flowers to market, they should put 

 them into the boxes which have been 

 lying about since last season and get 

 them sweetened. Have them use pur- 

 ple string for tying, and wax paper 

 is best to retain fragrance; change 

 paper as seldom as possible. The best 

 box is unpainted cedar. 



It is very often the case that the 

 great majority of violets seen on the 

 market are almost entirely devoid of 

 sweetness and if you have first class 

 trade you no doubt know what this 

 means, therefore don't you think that 

 it is wise to try to get your goods 

 sent to you in good shape? If the 

 grower won't get decent boxes have 

 them made for him; you can save the 

 price in one good shipment. There is 

 one thing worth consideration, that 

 if any particular flower, such as vio- 

 lets, form an important item in the 

 daily menu of your business, then 

 they are worth planning to get in 

 good condition. 



Little confidences between producer 

 and disposer may often result in great 

 good to both, and no man is so thick 



skinned that gain or loss does not 

 affect him. Impress the grower with 

 the fact that the ordinary life of vio- 

 lets in the store is ten hours, and 

 with the vast majority it is less than 

 five; after that time it is almost an 

 impossibility to dispose of them hon- 

 estly. Therefore to buy many violets 

 is a big risk, and this risk can be 

 lessened considerably by the grower 

 being willing to enjoy less of the vio- 

 lets' fragrance at home. Violets should 

 be in the hands of your customers 

 within 12 hours after being picked. 

 Two shipments should be made, one 

 reaching you between 7 and 8 a. m., 

 the other at 4 p. m.; in this way you 

 have them fresh for morning and 

 luncheon and dinner and theater. Cus- 

 tomers knowing what time they reach 

 you will order accordingly. 



There are many devices adopted in 

 the stores for displaying violets and 

 helping them retain their selling qual- 

 ity. A very cold ice box is a bad 

 place for them, and water extracts 

 the fragrance. We have tried many 

 ways and find that the best one is to 

 have neat plain growers' boxes and 

 leave them in them just as they come 

 from the grower. We have had deal- 

 ings with all the wealthiest people in 

 New York and never yet found one 

 of them who did not enjoy looking 

 into a plain box filled with violets 

 just as they came from the grower; 

 in fact it has been our experience that 

 the best people have more confidence 

 in goods kept in this manner than in 

 those displayed in window or ice- 

 box. 



There are retailers who must have 

 everything fancy, and with a view to 

 catering to this class a new violet 

 basket has been manufactured. It has 

 the appearance of a wicker table 

 painted white, the lids open from the 

 center, the inside is lined with zinc. 

 It is quite a pretty ornament in the 

 store and the few who used it last 

 season speak highly of it. 



There are but few of you who have 

 not somte violet pasteboard boxes left 

 from last season, and before you use 

 them it will be wise for you to take 

 off the lids and put them where the 

 fresh air will clear away the musty 

 or pasty smell they are sure to have. 

 We cannot too strongly emphasize the 

 fact that violets require everything 

 pure and sweet. The tinfoil so many 

 plaster around their stems is perhaps 

 the greatest enemy to them and your 

 trade. It Is best for you to have the 

 courage to inform your customer that 



tinfoil is poisonous and kills the 

 sweetness of violets, or that It is not 

 good taste to use it, which is abso- 

 lutely correct. Or if some insist on 

 using it, then spread it out where the 

 wind will scatter a portion of its 

 leaded fumes. 



The very latest in ladies' dress ma- 

 terial is made of the new silk "Pan." 

 This promises to be very popular and 

 it will be well to use very narrow 

 ribbon of the same material on your 

 violets. Ladies appreciate your being 

 up to date on ribbons. Nothing cheap- 

 ens a flower like the violet as much 

 as a cheap ribbon; either have it good 

 or have none at all; much of the nar- 

 row gauze ribbons used last season 

 looked so much like a mixture of cot- 

 ton and linen that very few wore them 

 and many of the tasseled cords had 

 the appearance of miniature hausers. 

 This year smaller and richer trim- 

 mings will be used. The most im- 

 portant of all of course will be to al- 

 ways have fine sweet flowers. 



The best box out so far is the deep 

 violet color with telescope lid. Vio- 

 let tissue paper will be greatly used, 

 and wax paper when they are to be 

 shipped or kept in the box any length 

 of time. 



Help. 



It is useless to mourn or worry over 

 the condition of trade. If it be poor 

 at this time of the year it will change 

 for the better in due time. Might 

 just as well be pleasant and consider 

 things philosophically. Assure your- 

 self that your preparations are fault- 

 less. Good help is more important 

 than good stock in many ways, and 

 they who do anything like a prosper- 

 ous business should see to it that they 

 have the best assistance available, and 

 when you succeed in getting a good 

 artist or salesman, treat him as he 

 deserves to be treated. We have 

 known many retailers who when a 

 dull day or two comes along, walk 

 up and down the store as if they were 

 fighting against the world or walking 

 on the brink of some terrible abyss. 

 They scowl at everything and every- 

 one, and are not satisfied unless mak- 

 ing all their help victims of their 

 spite and smallness. Such people 

 don't deserve decent burial. 



It is hard to try and convince one's 

 self that there is some kind of clay 

 living who cannot see the difference 

 between a piece of machinery and the 

 human being, but a study of the mat- 

 ter will come pretty near convincing 

 you of its truth. Life is too short to 

 be of that class. A well regulated 

 store with help willing to meet every 

 emergency is the best to aim for; the 

 time often comes when good feeling 

 between employer and employe is 

 mighty valuable, and the jewel Is 

 worth protecting. 



Plants. 



The trade auction sale of plants has 

 become quite popular in the vicinity 



