The Weekly Florists' Review. 



539 



'jm^i%.c^<<^'*^'*^.'*^.'<^.i<^'*^'*^.'*^'*^ '#^.<<^.'»^'<^<*^<*^, 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST. 



'yf»)'fe»>^r»>-^r»)'fe»l-fe»)'fe»>-«r»>-fe»l'fe^ ^r»>-fe»>"'yr»)'yf» 'yr»>-fer»>'fe»)'fe»l'fe»l 



Funeral Designs. 



The illustrations appearing; in the VxE- 

 viEW and its contemporaries of Amer- 

 ican floral art of the designs sent to the 

 funeral of the late president are very 

 pretty. Some of the largest designs re- 

 quired six men to handle them, and we 

 are sorry it seemed impossible to have 

 them photographed; however, the ones 

 shown are most creditable and some of 

 them could not be reproduced in any 

 other country, because they have not got 

 the material. As it is, these designs 

 were made outside New York city, and 

 at a time when flowers were scarce; were 

 it otherwise, even far better results 

 would have been realized. New York 

 florists feel proud of the work done by 

 their brothers of other cities. The de- 

 signs sent to the funeral of the late 

 Queen Victoria cannot compare jn any 

 way to these, and they go far to show- 

 that though New York city is accred- 

 ited with being the center of art, other 

 American cities are equal to whatever 

 emergencies arise to uphold American 

 supremacy, even in the case of floral 

 work for funerals. 



The Plant Market. 



This season promises to be an excep- 

 tionally good one for decorative plants, 

 and as people are fast coming back to 

 their city homes you cannot commence 

 too early to make a display. A few 

 plants outside your store on Avarm days 

 will attract many a new' customer, and 

 let the old ones see you are still alive. 

 Yes, the florists' stores at this time of 

 the year should be bright and clean, and 

 specially attractive, by having nicely 

 arranged windows and a general appear- 

 ance of aliveism. To be sure, you may 

 not be doing much business at present, 

 but if you don't show you are able to do 

 it. you are liable to get left. This is the 

 expensive time of the year for store- 

 keepers, but it is the time when sacri- 

 fices must be made to try to at least re- 

 tain the confidence of last year's custom- 

 ers and catch new ones. The florist 

 business is at best only a speculation. 

 The greatest danger lies not in the 

 amount you invest but the material you 

 invest in ; eyes and ears are wonderful 

 helps to those who strive to be success- 

 ful, and they must be continually em- 

 ployed. 



Now we are going to give advice to 

 the retailers, and that may hurt some 

 growers, but, Mr. Editor, it is necessary. 

 We delight in knowing that every one 

 gets a good big price for their stock, 

 but the prices asked at present for any 

 large-sized palm or decorative plant are 

 exorbitant, nay, prohibitive; the people, 

 except the few, cannot and will not pay 

 one-half more than they paid last year 

 for the same kind of plants, for they 

 cannot see why. and it is a very danger- 

 ous thing for you to ask them to do it. 

 It is a very easy matter for the grower 

 to raise the price on the retailer, but it 

 is quite another thing when the retailer 



tries it on his customer, so go slow 

 on high-priced stock. Of course, you 

 must have fairly good-sized plants and 

 be able to equal your rivals, but there 

 are many opportunities where you can 

 recommend and use cheaper material 

 with almost the same effect. 



We are speaking for the good of the 

 general plant trade when we say that 

 every effort should be made to keep the 

 public in good humor at the opening of 

 the season; don't confront them with 

 any big rise in plants because a few men 

 have in a way cornered the market on 

 tall kentias. You may have to over- 

 work your vpits on how to arrange Mrs. 

 So and So's conservatory with smaller 



There is no doubt about it that some 

 growers will get whatever they ask for 

 their large Ijentias, but the great trouble 

 lies in the fact that a general rise is at- 

 tempted on all manner of decorative 

 stock. If the death of the president had 

 resulted in a national trade panic, an- 

 other story might be told, and there is 

 no sense now in trying to kill the goose 

 that furnishes the golden eggs. You 

 must either handle large stock and be 

 satisfied with smaller profits or recom- 

 mend smaller stock and devise more in- 

 genious methods of arrangement. 



A great many of the plants offered 

 for sale now have been grown warm in 

 order to push their growth; they will 

 suffer severely and suddenly if removed 

 to cold dwelling houses or stores where 

 dust and draughts are substituted for 

 light and warm moisture, and then 

 again, know ye that there is a great de- 

 velopment of the old art of clipping 

 plants. A great many of the high-priced 

 plants offered in greenhouses have been 

 most artistically trimmed by the shears, 

 and when such plants are used in a 

 house they must needs be clipped every 

 two weeks, so you can figure how long 

 such plants will last. Be willing to pay 



Standing Cross and Crown by A. Gude & Bro., Washington, for the President's Funeral. 



stock, but you have often had to over- 

 come greater diflieulties, and in many 

 cases the stands will have to be used to 

 elevate plants and save your trade. The 

 glower is not to blame altogether for 

 the condition of aflTairs today. A few 

 years ago kentias were a glut; they 

 were despised because other plants were 

 popular, and every one, even the street 

 fakir, had kentias for sale; this state of 

 affairs in a lessening degree lasted until 

 last year. Now, owing to the fact that 

 growers have not had sufficient capital 

 to allow part of their stock to go in re- 

 serve, and the markets of Europe have 

 been heavily drained for large stock, 

 prices have gone up and they will go 

 much higher next year. 



a good price for cool-gi-own, perfect 

 plants, but look out for doctored plants 

 at any price; they are apt to do away 

 with your bank account and ruin your 

 trade. 



The plant trade must of necessity be 

 divided into several sections. The flor- 

 ist with a gieenhouse can always find 

 room for a bargain, and there are gener- 

 ally plenty of them going early in the 

 season. 'The florist with only his store 

 must needs be more circumspect and re- 

 plenish his stock only when necessary. 

 There is an enormous amount of small 

 plants at present on the market; there 

 arc probably over five million small ken- 

 tias and arecas among the growers in 

 this country that could be used in one 



