756 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MAY IT, 1900. 



wreaths or garlands composed of all 

 one shade. In the matter of green- 

 ery, we should remember that the 

 laurel and palm are mo.st appropri- 

 ate emblems, still fine effects can be 

 obtained by the use of almost any 



Casket Lyre. 



kind of foliage; we regret, though, 

 that there are many florists to-day 

 whose ideas of appropriateness is lim- 

 ited to galax leaves; they advocate 

 them for everything because they are 

 cheap, and their ability is limited. 



For a long time it has been custom- 

 ary for school children and other or- 

 ganizations to decorate monuments 

 with quantities of small potted plants. 

 The Intention is sublime, but the re- 

 sult disappointing. In most cases it 

 is possible to plant them, thus insur- 

 ing several months of pleasure, in- 

 stead of permitting them to dry out 

 in pots and become a nuisance. A 

 special effort should be made tc in- 

 duce organizations to observe the 

 beautiful custom of decorating the 

 graves, and the right kind of material 

 provided at reasonable price. Where 

 there are public parades in honor of 

 the day no man should be without 

 his sprig of green or boutonniere of 

 red, white and blue flowers, and they 

 should not be artificial or dried. 



The American flag is a grand em- 

 blem — a garland of roses does not de- 

 stroy its beauty. Whatever we do 

 this Decoration Day, let us be careful 

 to give satisfaction. To make this 

 earth more beautiful, to assist nature 

 In providing humanity with all that is 

 purest, sweetest and brightest, is the 

 special mission of the florist. Let us 

 not be content with being mere pro- 

 viders. I^et us demonstrate an equal- 

 ity in all that is good, all that is Am- 

 erican, on May 30th. IVERA. 



WIRE DESIGNS. 



[Continued from Ihsi week, J 



The casket lyre makes an exquisite 

 design — that is, if it is properly done: 

 all casket designs are, of course, flat. 

 This particular one is long and taper- 

 ing, an idealic rather than an exact 

 reproduction of the ancient Egyptian 

 musical instrument. It must also be 

 made compact and the strings must be 

 of tinseled braid or silk. Classic em- 

 blems should always be of rich ma- 

 terial; they look abominable if of 

 oheap or clumsy arrangement. This 

 makes up specially fine solid with vio- 

 lets, silvered wires, a spray of white 

 or lavender orchids at the place where 

 the strings are fastened to the cross- 

 beam. The design is usually raised on 

 feet a little on the slant from top to 

 bottom. By "feet" we don't mean 

 stands or wires, which spoil the beau- 

 ty of the design, only short supports 

 which don't show, yet help to lend 

 character to the work. 



The casket heart is very long, in 

 the hands of some it is easy to make 

 it appear abnormally so, but an artist 

 can make it appear more expressive 

 than the round, flabby, chunky look- 

 ing thing most wireworkers send 

 out to represent the incubator of all 

 that's good. This should also be 

 made solid of one kind of flower, ex- 

 cept a cluster of pink or red either in 

 the center or half way down the loft 

 side. The usual size made is 36x16 

 inches. 



Another casket design is the Em- 

 pire wreath, copied from the principal 

 decorative idea employed in the days 

 of Napoleon I. We read of how Na- 

 poleon entered the cathedral at his 

 coronation ceremony wearing a 

 wreath of golden laurel. This partic- 



ular design dates back into ancient 

 Greek history. It was somewhat mod- 

 ernized in the days known in French 

 history as the First Empire. We think 

 the loops are often made too long. The 

 wreath was originally an open cres- 

 cent wreath tied at the bottom with 

 a bow of ribbon. The wire loop in 



the Empire wreath is a mere presump- 

 tion on the part of the wire-worker, 

 for in the hands of a careless florist 

 it is apt to be made to look like two 

 horseshoes. 



The styles in funeral designs, like 

 everything else, vary and change 

 with the whims and dictates of cir- 

 cumstance. The basement of any 

 old-time florist store is liable to be 

 full of skeletons of the dead past. 

 Many of you may remember the 

 trowel-like flat bouquet design of 20 

 or 30 years ago. The vacant chairs, 

 the gates ajar, and all that kind of 

 structural design work is either en- 

 tirely out of use or is unpopular to- 



Casket Heart. 



day; even the pillows, anchors, stars, 

 hearts, and the designs of the past 

 15 years are no longer asked for un- 

 less in poorer sections, where size, or 

 perverted taste, or limited intelli- 

 gence rules. Of course, size counts 

 for much to-day, especially whore 

 subscriptions are raised to pay for 

 designs, but funeral designs of to-day 

 as a rule are made more with a view 

 to quality and good sense than they 

 have ever been before. The stand- 

 ing wreath may make more show, but 

 as an expressive design it is a failure; 

 the stand makes it a circle on a 

 stick, nothing more. IVERA. 



TIN FOILED DESIGNS. 

 Ivera says that tin foil on designs 

 to hold the moss in place is now all 

 done away with, but fails to say what 

 he uses in its place. Now, that is just 

 what we want to know. Will he toll 

 us? J. W. M. 



In answer to the above we would 

 say that tin foil is no longer seen on 

 the best work, therefore it is quite 

 unnecessary to use it. Green moss is 

 far more preferable, or you can line 

 the frame with any kind of green and 

 use grey moss. The only excuse for 

 using tin foil was to prevent the moss 



