SEPTEMBER 8, 189S. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



391 



Wreath of Laurel Leaves. 



keep them separate or use only white 

 In conneotion with them. 



Double Rudbeckia. 



Rudbeckia laciniata fl. pi. is the 

 finest hardy yellow flower for summer 

 decoration. Every grower should have 

 it in his garden. It is more graceful 

 than the dahlia, is not stiff or awk- 

 ward like the sunflower, but is more 

 like a chrysanthemum, and it can be 

 used in many ways. IVERA. 



WREATH OF LAUREL LEAVES. 



The wreath illustrated was sent by 

 the employees of the Rosary Flower 

 Co., New York, to the funeral of the 

 late Lieut. Wm. Tiffany. It is the 

 ideal design for a statesman, soldier or 

 litterateur. The design is full of sig- 

 nificance. Sentiment speaks from 

 «very leaf and shred attached to it. 



It is an excellent illustration of the 

 only proper way to make a laurel 

 wreath. It is a 30-inch wreath, first 

 well mossed, botn sides and made 

 round, no tinfoil used. The leaves are 

 Laurus nobilis (the only laurel that 

 should be used in a funeral wreath). 

 There are over 3,000 leaves used in tnis 

 wreath. They were washed very clean 

 in water, no oil being used, then wired 

 separately on toothpicks. Both sides 

 of the wreath are made the same way, 

 the leaves being arranged with the 

 exactness shown. 



The cycas leaves are 3% feet long, 

 the stems run through the wreath, a 

 few leaves of Cocos Weddeliana cov- 

 ering them. An 18-inch American flag 

 is tied in the center with a piece of 

 crepe for background, attached to the 

 cycas by a piece of narrow white rib- 

 bon. 



When this design was used a sword 



was passed through the wreath from 

 the upper right to lower left hand side 

 passing between the two cycas leaves, 

 making it distinctly a soldier's em- 

 blem. If it be used at the funeral of 

 a litterateur a quill pen may be Ued 

 across the ribbon. If the deceased was 

 a man of national fame the American 

 flag can be used with propriety, other- 

 tvise broad dark purple ribbon may be 

 used in its place. IVERA. 



THE DEPARTMENT STORE. 



A certain party has been after me 

 for some time to open a cut flower de- 

 partment in one of the large dry goods 

 stores, but never having had very 

 much experience in this branch of 

 trade I am almost afraid to start. 

 There is nothing of this kind at this 

 place and no street fakirs in town. 



To start with, would it be better to 

 lease the room or to sell on commis- 

 sion? If so, what is generally asked 

 for room and what is good commis- 

 sion? Have you any idea as to what 

 could be flgured as loss? Should it be 

 necessary to have a large refrigerator 

 in full view all the time? 



M. C. B. 



In answer to the above, we wish to 

 state that the majority of such ex- 

 periments 'have so far been failures, 

 the causes of which are matters of 

 conjecture. Among the vast and gi- 

 gantic department houses of New 

 York city, there are but three which 

 have cut flower stands; one is a but- 

 cher market, the other two are dry 

 goods stores. All of these cut flower 

 departments are failures, considering 

 the enormous amount of energy spent 

 on them. The flower buying public 

 seems to prefer patronizing the dain- 

 tily arranged florist's store. You 

 yourself will admit that beautiful 

 flowers lose a great deal of their in- 

 fluence if placed alongside yards of 

 sausages, or tangled up with the un- 

 mentionables of a dry goods store. 



If you opened a stand in such a 

 store you would require a large ice 

 box, and such other requisites as is 

 necessary for a florist's store. In or- 

 der to make it a success, you would 

 have to adopt the bargain-counter tac- 

 tics, which, if the town was Cohoes, 

 would necessitate your importing your 

 stock, as you would need an attract- 

 ive showing of flowers. Considering 

 your experience, we would advise you 

 to permit the expenses of the experi- 

 ment to be defrayed by the party de- 

 siring your services, and that you be 

 paid a salary commensurate with the 

 amount of trade you are able to obtain 

 or a sum equal to the highest your 

 abilities can command in any line of 

 trade. 



For ourselves we prefer to see our 

 beautiful florist business stand alone 

 on its merits. In a town like Cohoes, 

 where there is only one florist, surely 

 there is room for an artistically ar- 

 ranged window, an inviting little store 

 with its dainty vases of flowers and 



