388 



HORTICULTURE 



March 12, 1910 



SEASONABLE NOVELTIES IN 

 FLORISTS' SUPPLIES. 



All florists are interested in the lat- 

 est in spring and Easter novelties in 

 the way of baskets and other florists' 

 supplies. 



To get a grasp on these your cor- 

 respondent had to get expert advice, 

 hence a visit to the warehouses of M. 

 Rice & Co., which amply repaid for 

 the time taken. 



Under the courteous escort of Mr. 

 Efechner, of the firm, we saw and were 

 amazed at the many beautiful things 

 they were offering this spring and the 

 development this business has under- 



— so that they are really cheaper in 

 the end and, being non-inflammable, 

 escape the ban of the fire insurance 

 people. 



The next big item was the stacks 

 and stacks of Porto Rico matting for 

 pot covers. The old crude idea of this 

 wood fibre matting has been vastl.v 



Hattau Adjustable Pot Cover. 



gone in twenty-five years. A ten by 

 twelve shop has become a seven- 

 story warehouse covering acres of 

 floor-space — and the end is not yet. it 

 we may .iudge from the building oper- 

 ations and additions going on around 

 this establishment. 



An immense pile of purple beech 

 branches Mr. Eschner explained were 

 ordered for a big decoration in a west- 

 ern city. On the suggestion that 

 beech branches were a fall item, it 

 was explained that this specialty is 

 non-combustible and has been indorsed 

 by the underwriters' association, so 

 it's the thiftg for spring also. Wild 

 smilax is under taboo because it gets 

 dry and brittle and dangerous. The 

 first cost of the beech spray is greater 

 but they can be used again and again 



M. Rice 



improved upon. It looks now as if it 

 were made out of the much more cost- 

 ly raffia instead of wood fibre. This 

 effect is obtained by crushing the 

 strands on the cross grain and leaving 

 them plain on the other, i)roducing a 

 softer, more pliable and altogether 

 better mat. Also piled up for ship- 

 ment, a most noticeable thing was 

 the new self-adjustable pot cover. This 

 is a tar different and better proposi- 



tion than the old type of pot cover 

 made of crepe. The Adjustable is 

 woven with rubber and will fit any pot 

 of its depth so one has only to order 

 accordingly making a substantial sav- 

 ing in the amount of stock to be car- 

 ried. And we are shown something 

 even better — this being made of rattan 

 with two steel springs woven on the 

 inside. This also is made to fit any 

 width of pot and is open down the 

 side. All one has to figure on is the 

 depth of pot. 



One of the best selling novelties of 

 the season is what is known as the 



Etnisoan Ba.sket. 



Dutcli r.asUet. 



natural brown twig baskets. The 

 sombre color harmonizes with any 

 color of flower and the artistic and 

 novel shapes give a finish to even in- 

 expensive floral work otherwise unob- 

 tainable. One of the most popular 

 styles is what is called the coracle — 

 a sort of round boat-shaped effect. 



A new idea is the tumbler basket. 

 This is built to hold an ordinary tum- 

 bler and is filled with flowers — the big 

 handle and the natural brown twigs 

 give the most graceful and charming 

 effect. These come besides in green, 

 gold, and other shades; and also in 

 white birch. What we might call a 

 cradle basket in natural willow with a 

 sweeping bow handle, sashed on top, 

 with a bunch of twigs is an excellent 

 new form and especially suitable for 

 two or more plants, each side showing 

 with ribbon overhanging. A rich re- 

 sult at small cost can be obtained by 

 judicious use of this style of basket. 



Next comes what Mr. Eschner 

 seems to think a gem — the Dutch bas- 

 ket! A magnificent seller. Well, ev- 

 er.vbody to his taste. The Dutch bas- 

 ket has a box-like body with high side 

 handles. It is of white birch bark in 

 the bod.v with natural twig handles at 

 the sides-standing straight up. As to 

 its charms your correspondent passes 

 and confesses lack of up-to-date artis- 

 tic taste. 



The American Beauty basket is a 

 long high concern (with no diameter 

 to speak of) and a sweeping bow 

 handle. This is made to drop a fibre 

 or other vase in. Very effective. 

 There are a lot of high-jiriced con- 

 traptions for American Beauty with 

 long stems. But this seems to us the 

 most sensible of all. It fills the bill 

 artistically and costs far less than the 

 best we have seen in the last twenty 

 years. 



We now come to the ribbon depart- 

 ment with its bewildering array of 

 rolls and colors to meet the needs of 

 every imaginable flower tint and 

 shade. To describe same is beyond 

 us. All we can say is that any florist 

 who cannot be satisfied here — whether 

 in variety, quality or price, must be 

 the Admirable Crichton of florists, for 

 sure. One ribbon item we will ven- 



