414 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



SEPTEMBER 21, 1809. 



The present style of rich, permanent 

 interior decorations is very detriment- 

 al to the florist's business. To know 

 the full meaning of this fact one must 

 be acquainted with the modern homes 

 of the rich. The American man of 

 money is no longer satisfied with what 

 pleased his ancestry, for he gathers to- 

 gether (no matter at what cost) the 

 gems of the earth to make his heme a 

 treasury of art. No, not always of 

 art; 'tis often a museum of curiosities, 

 a ghastly crypt of mummies and idio- 

 syncrasies, anything and everything to 

 be distinct. 



And yet above all the conglomerate 

 peculiarities of our people America i= 

 destined to be the treasure land, the 

 art center of the world! The strug- 

 gling artist, the alien or the cynic of 

 today, may sneer at such assertions as 

 these; many of them only know 

 ( though they will not admit) the sus- 

 taining qualities of our agricultural 

 products. Nevertheless 'tis true whilst 

 we can readily admit that New York 

 or Chicago are neither on the site of 

 the Acropolis nor Pompeii, they are 

 fast becoming greater because they are 

 not only accumulating the relics of 

 those places, but they are rearing re- 

 productions and improvements on all 

 that is best in art, from one thousand 

 years before Christ to the present day. 

 And is there anything in the Old 

 World today safe from American de- 

 sire backed by money? 



Many will say it is not the province 

 of a florist's paper to dwell upon such 

 subjects. Neither is it only where it 

 affects the florist. The man who grows 

 a lot of stock is only concerned about 

 how to sell it at the best price. The 

 small storekeeper cares only for the 

 whims of his usually easily pleased 

 customers, but the floral artist is sup- 

 posed to 1 e acquainted with everything 

 pertaining to and w'hat influences his 

 business. 



When in our opening line we said 

 the permanent interior decorations of 

 today were detrimental to our busi- 

 ness, we meant more that it called for 

 less of the grosser materials we grow 

 today, than a diminishing demand for 

 finer stock and refined modes of appl- 

 cation. To illustrate this come with 

 us into the city palaces of the Vander- 



bilts or any of the multi-millionaires. 

 What a tremendous contrast these 

 places are to the modest houses these 

 very same people occupied less than 

 twenty years ago! Ah, at that time 

 any old thing you grew with a leaf or 

 a flower could be used, and there was 

 no temerity about spoiling anything. 

 Those were the times, Mr. Grower, 

 when you got big prices for rubbish, 

 and you wonder why it isn't always so. 

 Come with us, and we'll show you. 



But before we start let us point out 

 that your old ramshackle wooden 

 greenhouses have been replaced by 

 modern iron structures, in which in- 

 genious appliances have rendered cul- 

 tivation problems less mysterious, and 

 experiments have obliterated the di- 

 viding lines of seasons. The retail 

 store has been changed from the shab- 

 by, ill-kept, rubbish filled, cheap rent- 

 ed place you sold your first flowers in, 

 to the marble countered, crystal-ice- 

 boxed, finely appointed, high rented 

 shop of today. And this was rendered 

 necessary by the element we are dis- 

 cussing. 



Mrs. So and So is going to give a 

 ball, wants her palace decorated for 

 the event. She comes to you because 

 she either knows you or the way in 

 which you keep your store appeals to 

 her. Never fear but what under all 

 circumstances she keenly sizes up 

 everything; the dress of your men, 

 the condition of your place and the 

 quality of your stock — nothing is lost 

 to her; and often she thinks to herself, 

 are these men capable of treating my 

 house in accordance with its furnish- 

 ings, or can I rely on them not to 

 damage my treasures? She makes an 

 appointment for you to call at her 

 house, and 'tis often the case that the 

 average florist is overawed by the 

 beauty and superiority of all he sees 

 there. This is the time your knowl- 

 edge of art in all its branches gives, 

 not alone you but your customer, con- 

 fidence, and you meet her on equal 

 grounds. 



The first thing she will say is, "Now, 

 Mr. So and So, you know my house is 

 so beautiful that it doesn't really want 

 much done to it. I don't want any- 

 thing that will look overcrowded, or 

 too elaborate; what can you suggest?" 



Now unless you have a thorough 

 knowledge of everything artistic, this 

 is where you mumble out something 

 and tell her you will let her know. 

 This creates pity or contempt for you, 

 and often loses you the work. If you 

 go around with her and suggest deli- 

 cate forms of decorations here and 

 there, to harmonize with the surround- 

 ings, she is assured you know your 

 business and tells you how much she 

 wants to spend, and lets you go ahead. 



It is well to call on the grower to 

 help you at such decorations, in order 

 to let him see what is useful and what 

 is bad. 



Well, having got all our green mate- 

 rials neatly into the basement of the 

 house where it is safe and out of the 

 way, we prepare to start upstairs. (We 

 will deal with the value of a friendly 

 servant in another paper.) We com- 

 mence with the ballroom first, because 

 that is most important; not alone that 

 our best work must be done there, but 

 that the floor must be waxed after we 

 get out. We have no use here tor^ 

 your thousands of smilax or garlands 

 of roping we were wont to use years 

 ago. No, no, this ballroom has been 

 either wholly brought over from some 

 emperor's palace in the Old World, or 

 it is a copy of all that was best in 

 each, perhaps like the rest of the house 

 a renaissance of all that goes to con- 

 stitute beauty. 



Very few palms are wanted in this 

 room and these few must be tall, pil- 

 lar-like Areca lutescens; if they are 

 tall enough to put on the floor a mat 

 should be put under them; if a stand 

 is used it should be substantial and 

 unobtrusive in every sense. A good 

 specimen palm in each corner of the 

 room, and one at each end of the mu- 

 sicians' screen is all that is necessary; 

 this musicians' screen is too often a 

 palpable screen and nothing more, 

 whereas it should be a work of art, a 

 bank of growing Adiantum Farleyense 

 or A. cuneatum, with a cluster of on- 

 cidiums or some other showy orchid in 

 the center. 



You will have very little use for 

 hammer and nails, for the sound of a 

 hammer carries consternation with it. 

 We must use stout rubber bands or 

 fine wire on the plastic cornice or pil- 

 lar, safety pins or parchment hooks 

 where we would like to use tacks. As- 

 paragus is about the only vine one 

 can use, and even that is too dull col- 

 ored or coarse to put against some 

 gem. You cannot twist garlands 

 around that pillar; no, just put a deli- 

 cate, irregular drapery around it, close, 

 to the top; these should reach down 

 from two to three feet. 



The walls may be covered with ta- 

 pestry or paintings worth their area in 

 solid gold. No garlands on them, nor 

 gaudy flowers near them. If they por- 

 tray a battle scene or some pathetic in- 

 cident a few sprats of fine autumn 

 leaves somewhere close to will give 

 deeper expression to the subject. If 

 on the other hand they illustrate light, 

 romantic or festive features, a variety 

 of flower should be used which will 

 harmonize with the dominant color 



