SEPTBMKEK 27, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



495 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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Saratoga's Floral Fete. 



Saratoga's annual Floral Fete, which 

 was held the first week of September, 

 was, we are pleased to state, a huge 

 success and as such insures its being 

 held for many years to come. We 

 were there to learn what we could in 

 the interest of the retailer and saw 

 much that was commendable. The 

 florists of Saratoga deserve great cred- 

 it for the vast amount of work done 

 and for much of the good taste shown. 

 The total spent on the entire decora- 

 tions was close on twenty-five thous- 

 and dollars. The attendance was es- 

 timated at between 75,000 and 100,- 

 000. 



Every business firm and most of the 

 prominent dwelling houses displayed 

 some form of special decoration in 

 honor of the event. The whole popu- 

 lace seemed to be saturated with en- 

 thusiasm and in a great many cases 

 the rivalries to exceed resulted in nu- 

 merous successes. Laurel roping was 

 the principal greenery used in the ex- 

 terior decorations though there was an 

 abundance of several other varieties of 

 greens, and a very pleasing feature 

 was the vast quantity of cut flowers 

 used in these outdoor decorations. 



The festival lasted several days. 

 There was a "Floral Ball," with its 

 "Queen of Flowers," but the most im- 

 posing part of the fete was the "Floral 

 Parade." We have unfortunately 

 never seen the Los Angeles or New 

 Orleans festivals, though we have wit- 

 nessed the "Battle of Flowers" in 

 Paris and other large cities. Sara- 

 toga is yet but a village, dependent al- 

 most entirely on summer visitors, and 

 from what we saw there we would ven- 

 ture the assertion that for the extent 

 and quality of workmanship displayed, 

 these decorations could scarcely be ex- 

 ceeded. 



It is not our province to give a de- 

 tailed account of the affair; there is 

 always a certain amount of sameness 

 at such events, which become even 

 more monotonous at describing them, 

 and they who should naturally be ex- 

 pected to do the most can often be 

 found in the rear. This was particular- 

 ly the case with the Delaware ami 

 Hudson Company, which benefitted 

 most by the festival. Their design 

 was a float representing "Civilization 

 vs. Barbarism," and was supposed to 

 reflect the condition of affairs at pres- 

 ent existing between China and the 

 United States. Well, the float was 

 made entirely of paper flowers, and 



We were informed that the company's 

 florist made it. Words are entirely in- 

 adequate, but we would like to have 

 that florist (?) know that the only per- 

 son capable of committing such a 

 crime is the uneducated resident of 

 the United States, the poor China- 

 man would not attempt it in his own 

 country. A florist to suggest and make 

 a float of paper flowers for a rich 

 company at a time when natural flow- 

 ers are so cheap is a satire on civil- 

 ization, his brain is too large for even 

 the land of Columbia. 



A very pleasing and noteworthy fea- 

 ture about the floral parade was the 

 harmony of color. In the largest and 

 most intricate designs of course there 

 was more or less disturbance amongst 

 the colors, but in the matter of car- 

 riages and bicycles one or two colors 

 only were used. Bicycles were deco- 

 rated with all purple, pink or white 

 asters, and ribbons to match. One 

 rig of scarlet gladiolus and ribbon was 

 very striking. There were a great 

 many bicycles, most of them adorned 

 with natural flowers. Sedan chairs 

 carried by colored men dressed in 

 fancy Continental costumes were a 

 pretty feature. The chairs were pan- 

 elled with greens, and flowers such as 

 asters, marigolds and hydrangea. The 

 carriages were very pretty, many of 

 them were completely covered with 

 flowers. The principal combinations 

 were Hydrangea paniculata grandi- 

 flora and white or pink asters; pink 

 asters, ribbon to match; pink gladio- 

 lus and pink ribbon; golden rod and 

 helianthus. 



The Business Men's Association float 

 was the largest. It was 35 ft. long 

 and represented the globe on a boat. 

 The globe was 14 ft. in diameter and 

 was made of Hydrangea paniculata, 

 with purple asters marking the hemi- 

 spheres. This float was drawn by 12 

 horses. The boat was made of large 

 double marigolds, golden rod and hy- 

 drangea. The whole reflected great 

 credit on Mr. Totten and his assist- 

 ants, who informed us it cost $700.00. 

 By the way, Mr. Totten informed us 

 he alone used 15,000 yards of laurel 

 roping, 30,000 gladiolus, 15,000 hydran- 

 geas and carloads of other stock. In 

 the boat of the above float he used 

 13,000 marigolds, which he considered 

 one of the best flowers for that kind 

 of work. 



Competition. 



Competition can scarcely be consid- 

 ered the life of trade in Saratoga. 



Several of the florists there related 

 some stories to us which are not at all 

 creditable. A decoration consisting of 

 about 1,000 yards of laurel roping and 

 other greens and flowers arranged in 

 front of one of the largest hotels 

 was, they said, put up by an outside 

 florist ft)r $35.00. To be sure his card 

 was on the work, but the roping alone 

 must have cost him more than $35.00. 

 We might all agree on the point that 

 it doesn't pay to work for nothing, 

 nay, it ruins the business. God knows 

 it's bad enough without making it 

 worse. There wasn't much profit in 

 some of the work done, but when it 

 was all put together it represented 

 considerable, and the local florists are 

 well satisfied. 



It is wiser to encourage a more ex- 

 tensive use of flowers by being mod- 

 erate in price than to kill desire" by 

 being high, but it is suicidal to do 

 work for nothing in order to prevent 

 another from making a dollar. Such 

 only shows a meanness ill becoming 

 the most despicable. Florists all over 

 the country should interest themselves 

 in the organizing of floral fetes in th'2 

 large cities, and especially the sum- 

 mer resorts. We might make our an- 

 nual flower shows rnore popular by in- 

 troducing floral tableaus or dances "it 

 them. Most assuredly something is 

 w-anted besides the elements which ap- 

 pear mediocre even to the average 

 florist. 



Floral Festivals. 



In considering the matter of flower 

 shows in America it is not wise to 

 look at them through European eyes 

 as it were. The polyglot population 

 here can never be squeezed into the 

 circle defined and popularized by any 

 one race. European emanations may, 

 from time to time, become a craze 

 here, but only in a fleeting way. Amer- 

 ica is new and demands new ideas. 

 Florists to succeed in either individ- 

 ual or a combined sense must recog- 

 nize this. You may attend your clubs 

 and societies and discuss learnedly on 

 the ingredients and elements best 

 suited to plants, my friends, but some- 

 thing else more important is badly 

 wanted. The man who gets up at an 

 average Florists' club meeting and 

 suggests that that club consider meth- 

 ods of interesting the general public 

 in some kind of a floral festival is 

 apt to be ridiculed. Every mission- 

 ary or man with advanced ideas must 

 first learn to ignore the sneers of the 

 self-satisfied. 



There are many cases where some 

 simple, perhaps half foolish little plan 

 or scheme -would result in great suc- 

 cesses to the florist business. One or 

 two good determined florists in each 

 town may often accomplish more than 

 the most powerful club. A retailer's 

 customers will listen to him sooner 

 than to any outside element in mat- 

 ters pertaining to flowers, and we 

 would impress all with the importance 

 of interesting them in such matters. 

 The man who would suggest a flor.al 



