92 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Decembek n. ]'J02. 



tile former. The three ladies, Mrs. Nel- 

 son, air.s. Higinbotham and Mrs. Palmer, 

 were enough thought of to sacrifice all 

 bloom for cuttings. Perhai>s this should 

 speak for their value when grown by 

 such a good judge as Mr. Itaur. 



We left this establishment with a firm 

 conviction ',nat tlu< Review's Carnatiou 

 Nfites — West, were written by one that 

 knows whereof he speaks. 



We found E. A. Nelson's place, on!,-! 

 Uire-'; blocks away, in tlie tinest condi- 

 tion. Axel was not at home, but the 

 ,young man in charge soon had the wirjs 

 hot enough to bring that gentleman 

 scorching up on a bike in no time. Here, 

 of course, as last .vear, the Mrs. Nelson 

 was tlie attraction, but more attractive 

 now than last year. It's all right, em- 

 ])bati('ally so. awav ahead of wh.it it was 

 when a great many of us saw it last Feb 

 ruar.y, a fair lot of Jdoom beiiiir picked 

 every day and promise of an abumlance 

 later, and the plants in the healthiest 

 possible condition. As you all know, Mr. 

 Nelson for some reason or other had no 

 suciress in rooting this variety last sea- 

 son, but other years met with no ditfi 

 eulty whatever. Krom our experience 



there is no more trouble in rooting this 

 varietv than a number of other:?. Wc 

 predict an enormous demand for Ne.'xon 

 this .sea.son, as very little stock is dis- 

 tributed, - Roses, bulbous stock and pot 

 plants are also grown, all showing the 

 magic touch of the true gardener, who- 

 ever he is, es))ecially so in the ease of 

 Ijonaine Begonia. 



John Hartje, of .Jubilee fame, being 

 nearby, we thought it possible he miglit 

 have some improved jubilee. No sir, 

 not a one, but whites galore, one of tliem 

 a commercial varietv of the highest cali- 

 bre McGowan blood. Another that is 

 also free looks as though it would travel 

 in the best of company. They will both 

 be irrown in larger quantities next year 

 with two or three other varieties in 

 which .John is not overconfident. But 

 tnen. hf was not overconfident with Jubi- 

 lee and remember what a record it made 

 throughout the west. We are looking 

 forward to the time when he will strike 

 a Fee-on-say, when no doubt he will cover 

 that fine place of his with glass and be 

 in possession of the best suburban retail 

 business in the Apolis. 



(To be continued.) 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Preparing for Christmas. 



Tho last ten days before Christmas 

 sees with many of us an entire sus- 

 I)ensi(m of gardening operations, and 

 all liand.s except the fireman and the 

 cook aro iWnding wreadiing of various 

 materials, making wreaths and prepar- 

 ing for the merry-making and decora- 

 tions tliat now so happily pervades the 

 whole land. Time was, and not so far 

 renjote, when the desccn<lan(s of the 

 Puritans in the populous Ea,stern 

 States made a blue face at Christmas 

 .iq\s, but now it is a day of gladness 

 from Nova Scotia to the setting >vin, 

 anfl from Hairy Pap worth to Mani- 

 toba. 



Before I say what little I know 

 about trade in greens, let me prattle a 

 Utile about the necessitv of prepara- 

 tions in the plant line, for plant.-^ will 

 enter again largely into our holiday 

 •sales. It is, as we all know, impossible 

 to crowd the work of a week in oidi- 

 narj' times into twenty-four hours be- 

 fore the dawn of Chriistmas morning, 

 and eveiything that can possibly be 

 done ahead of time shouhl be done. 

 "Order is the first law of heaven," so 

 someone has said who was privileged to 

 have a look in, and system in business 

 is all im]>ortant. Some individuals 

 get along in confusion and muss, but 

 they are those who do all the detail 

 themselves, and if anyone steps in to 

 help they are of little assistance, for 

 they don't know where €o take hold. 



It is seldom in anj' establishment. 

 I>ig or little, that a space can not be 

 given to the plants (hat are purchased, 

 and if it can and the bench is covered 

 with coarse paper, the plants when sold 

 can be placetl there and dividwl into 

 groups that are to be delivered on cer- 

 tain days. In this connection another 

 feature of tho Christmas linsini*.;s and 



nisli is worthy of mention — rouling tlic 

 loads for .vour delivery wagons. There 

 is frequently great delay and waste of 

 time of l)oth men and horses l>ecause 

 you have not your deliveries routed. 

 Certjiin wagons go into certain sections 

 of the city, north. .s<nith, ea.st or west, 

 and to have all these arrangetl in 

 groups for their resiMKtive entries is 

 an immen.se .saving of time, and it is 

 easih' done when .vou have the plants 

 before you and not scattered over half 

 a dozen houses. A veiy large pro|)or- 

 tion of our best sales are made sev- 

 eral days before tkdivery and here is a 

 chance to evade confusion. Plentv of 

 sales are made the la.st day or two to 

 give you all the extra work and ru>ri 

 you want. 



The system I advo<"ate and liave 

 fouiul to work smoothly is this: First, 

 we do not depend on our lusual order 

 files for Christmas Eve or several pre- 

 vious days, but have special files for 

 those special (lii|\B. Mrs. Daphne on 

 the 21st buys or orders an azalea to be 

 sent to ilrs. Lotus and a c.vclanien to 

 Miss Jasmine and says "Here is my card 

 for both of them." A small tag is at- 

 tached to each plant with the name 

 "Dapluie." Tlie order reads "Charge 

 Mrs. Daphne 1 azalea, r>rice $3. De- 

 liver to ilrs. Lotus December 24." 

 The order and card are put into a cheap 

 seed envelope and put on orders for de- 

 livery on the 24th. Now, you can not 

 put a mat around the pot, or ribbon 

 on the jjlant, or the card on, because 

 they would get soiled. 



On the night before the 24th all 

 hands are wrapping planitsi, covcfting 

 pots cr decorating with ribbons and at- 

 taching cards, and the boss can hand 

 out orders and directions for several 

 good men. and so he stands with the 

 orders before him and savs: "Here. I 



John, you will find an azalea and a 

 cyclamen labeled 'Daphne.' Attach 

 this card and this address to the azalea 

 and this card and this address to the 

 C3'clamen." You then file away the 

 order for making the charge as soon as 

 the rush is over, and if it is paid for, 

 reference on your tag which bears the 

 addkees. It is a great help all around 

 to write on it what the ]>lant is. For 

 in.stance. in the alx>ve cjise it would be, 

 "ilrs. Lotus, 33 Periwinkle street, 1 

 azalea,'' and if two plants were going 

 there, write them both on the tag. It 

 helps the delivery man very much. 



If the above seems a good deal of 

 clerical work, remember that if one good 

 plant is lugged over town without find- 

 ing its destination, or the wrong plant 

 is delivered, the loss in its value would 

 pay the day's wages of a smart clerk. 

 The clean fingei-s of a lad or the pretty 

 fingers of a yo\ing woman can have baby 

 ribbons attached to the card or the 

 little envelope that eiiclases it, and 

 that in man.y cases can be done ahead 

 of time, for the day of fastening a 

 card or envelojie to a plant with wire 

 or a. piece of grocer's twine is past. 



I can remember the time when ]>lants 

 were delivered with dirty jxjts. Those 

 were the days contemporary with car- 

 nations with 3-inch stems being sent 

 out in a cigar box, and the salesman 

 wore rubber boots. All pots should lie 

 clean and dn', whether covered with 

 paper or not; but . who no«"adays 

 would dare to send out a pretty plant 

 with a naked red pot? Wiether the 

 customer asks for it or not, he puts 

 green, white or some color harmonizing 

 with tho flower on the jK>t of ever.v 

 plant. A she<'t of green paper, then a 

 sheet of white, and the plant stood in 

 the center and the paper brought u|) 

 aiound the edge of the pot adds won- 

 derfully to the tastefulness and finish 

 of anv plant. And the paper should 

 bo tiedi around the jwt with tinsel cord, 

 not string or wire. Tlie cent or two of 

 expense these fancy touches give to the 

 plant is nothing compared to the pleas- 

 ure they will give, and if you don't kee|) 

 up with the procession others will forge 

 ahead. 



The matter of ribbon on plants is of 

 doubtful taste. I said last week that 

 on baskets of plants they are almost 

 a necessity, but on an individual plant 

 it is quite another thing. A ribbon, not 

 over li or at most 2 inches broad, tied 

 ai'ound the pot with a pretty bow, is 

 not out of place, but then it would 

 have to harmonize with the pot cover 

 and! flower, A small feathen\i bow of 

 led ribbon on an iiraucaria will do 

 very well, and a broad red ribbon on a 

 pan of poinsettias will make the show 

 richer. I can scarcely think of a hand- 

 some azalea of any color, or Begonia 

 Lorraine, or cyclamen being enhanced 

 b_v the addition of ribbon. 



Now, although you can't do this 

 trimming up of plants in the green- 

 house until a few hours, or at most a 

 day, before .vou deliver them, it is es- 

 sential that the plants in your store 

 window or jour shoHTOom at the greeii- 

 hoiLse should be decked out in their 

 best, for their finished and attractive 

 app<'arance is what will sell them, and 

 they will be samples of what you will 

 do to any plant that is bought. There 

 are many accessions to our business 

 that have the past few years added con- 

 siderably to the cost of conducting it. 

 and but few of them can be charged for 

 directlv. But the ribbon business vou 



