May 19, 3904. 



The Weekly Florists* Review. 



1375 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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DECORATION DAY TRADE. 



The Show Window. 



Preparation will be tlie text for to- 

 day's sermon. Begin your advertising 

 a week before Memorial day, and begin 

 at home. There are three methods h\ 

 which you can cultivate j-our Decoration 

 day business. The best of all is a good 

 window. Begin a week ahead. As a 

 background for a window decoration, 

 cover the bottom of the window with a 

 liberal amount of flag bunting. As a 

 central point in the window decoration 

 have a stack of guns, with a large loose 

 Wreath hanging from it. Tie the wreath 

 with flag ribbon. Set several baskets of 

 snowballs behind the gun stack. Here 

 and there in the upper parts of the win- 

 dow hang a number of different styles 

 of wreaths. These need not be elaborate 

 or costly, or is it necessary to sacrifice 

 many flowers for them. Make one or 

 two of leucothce sprays, one of each kind 

 of galas, one of laurel, one of ivy and 

 one jasmines, with red and blue ribbon 

 ties. All of these foliage wreaths may 

 be made by braiding the stems as we 

 as children made clover wreaths. If the 

 wreaths are not stiff enough to hold their 

 form, strengthen them with heavy wire, 

 or they may be made upon the same 

 foundation as the Christmas lycopodium 

 wreaths. 



The wreath is pre-eminently a Memor- 

 ial day design. Make it of ferns, smr 

 lax, asparagus of any kind, with or 

 without flowers, or all flowers. A foliage 

 wreath with one bunch of flowers tied 

 with a catchy bow will be a taking ar- 

 ticle. Others may be made with green 

 foundation and a spray of flowers tied 

 on extending a third or half way around 

 the wreath. The spray can be wired on 

 with a No. 36 wire drawn across the 

 wreath frame in two or three places. 



As to Advertising. 



By a few short write-ups in your lo- 

 cal paper encourage school children to 

 carry small wreaths, and have your win- 

 dow decorations suggestive of these styles 

 of wreaths. Learn all you can about 

 the art of drapery. Keep one or two 

 good-sized flags of soft material, silk 

 if you can. Drape one in the window, 

 and at the point where the drapery is 

 caught draw the flag through one of 

 your tastiest wreaths. This will make 

 a pretty end piece for a window or a 

 glass door. 



Present the marshall of the day with 

 one of your wreaths to be used con- 

 spicuously in the parade. See that it 

 reaches him a couple of days before the 

 event. This will suggest the need of 

 more. All the old soldiers and members 

 of the Relief Corps should carry or wear 

 flowers of some kind. You will be called 

 upon to make boutonnieres. One good- 

 sized flower with a spray of green will 

 be found most acceptable. A string of 

 smilax of ordinary size will make three 

 dozen boutonnieres. Cut the smilax into 

 pieces of about two joints each, being 



careful in the cutting to sever the stem 

 at the joints, thus leaving suflieient stem 

 and saving the waste of foliage. If car- 

 nations are used, leave the stems about 

 an inch long and wire them firmly onto 

 the smilax stem with a single strand of 

 Xo. 24 wire held in the left hand as for 

 stemming. No tinfoil or other material 

 is necessary. 



Be Ready for the Rush. 



Now as to handling the business after 

 we have it. A week's work will be 

 crowded into each of the few days pre- 

 ceding Memorial day, and in order to 

 work to the best advantage one must 

 keep ahead of his orders. Stuff design 

 frames two or three days in advance, 

 keep the top of the sphagnum moist by 

 •sprinkling two or three times, and the 

 rest will take care of itself. Smilax 

 and ferns can be put on the frame a day 

 before. Sprinkle these also. 



Write up express books, cards, ship- 

 ping tags, all beforehand. Where one 

 must do many different things and there 

 are not enough people to each have a 

 separate work, the work must be more 

 carefully arranged. A good ready is 

 half the battle. Have all unnecessary 

 articles put out of the w;(y. Clear the 

 work room of everything but what must 



the certain knowledge that a box of flow- 

 ers is likely to be pitched from one end 

 of the car to the other, and then some.^ 

 Carnations may be packed end for end, 

 that is, with heads each way, but roses 

 should be all laid one way, unless there 

 are enough to be packed in a wooden 

 box and cleated across the stems. Turn 

 rose stems end for end in a small box, 

 and they will scratch each other. Keep 

 all lower rose stems from contact with 

 the flowers. In packing roses, to keep 

 the tips of the flower from being crushed 

 if the box is turned on end, place a thick 

 pad of soft paper just inside of the end 

 against which the flowers are placed. 

 Wrap a convenient sized piece of ice in 

 several layers of absorbent paper and 

 pack in among the stems. See that it is 

 secured in place, so that it cannot be 

 tossed about and damage the flowers. If 

 full telescope boxes are not to be had, 

 make extra size of light wood and place 

 either inside of the box or outside under 

 the lid. If a smaller box is required 

 than there is at hand, split up the larger 

 size lengthwise, box and lid, and slip 

 one half, sideways, inside the otlier. and 

 you have a neat strong box for shipping. 



For shipping designs, after finding a 

 box which is a snug fit, run a stout twine 

 up through a hole in the bottom of the 

 box into the bottom of the design frame 

 and down on the opposite side of the 

 frame out through the bottom of the 

 box, and up over the outside. Tie at 

 the top. This will hold the design in 

 place in spite of rough handling. 



We use a little schedule for both ship- 

 ping and city ' delivery for a busy day. 

 We take a big cardboard and rule it up 

 and down into ten good sized spaces and 

 write large enough so that it can be read 

 at a little distance, for when completed 



Dinner Table Centerpiece of Roses and Adiantum. 

 (By E. Asmus & Co.. Chicago.) 



be used for the day. Get up before 

 breakfast. Going into this businef-s 

 means a willingness to keep all kinds 

 of hours, breaking dates for social 

 events, and occasionally sitting up all 

 night, as well as meals at all hours and 

 a placid countenance above the counter 

 withal. 



Shipping Hints. 

 Always advise shipping by express 

 rather "than mail. Have paraffin lined, 

 heavy pastboard boxes, full telescoped if 

 possible. Line the box with soft paper 

 and pack it full. Leave no room for 

 flowers to tumble around. Lead your lo- 

 cal expressman to think that your boxes 

 must be handled tenderly, but pack with 



the card is tacked on the wall in the ship- 

 ping room. The first column we head 

 "Time," and later enter earliest 

 order first. The second column is for 

 the address, the third for the number 

 of the page in the order book. The 

 fourth is headed "Ship, call or de- 

 liver," the next "Railroad," the next 

 "Direction," meaning the part of the 

 citv; then "express or mail," "card?" 

 "Prepaid?" and finally "Eemarks." 



If all the orders are entered on this 

 card there can be no confusion or mis- 

 take, as frequently happens when the or- 

 ders are scattered over several pages of 

 an order book which several people are 

 using at once. Gertrude Bi,.\ir. 



