THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



else that particular line of ability to 

 the greatest extent. It will tax your 

 knowledge and experience, however great 

 they are. Not only is the day of the 

 month variable by two or three weeks, 

 but the weather also is never two sea 

 sons alike. It is a question whether 

 it is better to be what is called on the 

 safe side that is, have your plants a 

 little early, or have them rather back 

 ward, so that they will improve from 

 the day they are delivered. Of course, 

 the ideal is to have them in their best 

 appearance on Easter Sunday. If people 

 wanted these plants for their own con 

 servatory or house, then a lily with one 

 flower open and four or five buds would 

 suit tne great majority. They ask for 

 a lily or azalea &quot;not so much blowed 

 out. But ninety per cent of all the 

 plants bought are sent as presents, and 

 a good showy appearance is demanded, 

 and for church decorations it is entirely 

 appearance and effect that is wanted; 

 however well grown a plant may be, it 

 is not wanted unless well in flower. 1 

 may add here that flowering plants 

 greatly predominate at Easter. Occa 

 sionally Mr. Goodman buys a ten-dollar 

 palm for his dear, plump little ducky, 

 but that stops in the family, and the 

 vast majority of plants sent as pres 

 ents must be flowering. It is a cheer 

 ful morning with all Christendom and 

 flowers are the thing to add to its joys. 



We find that novelties go well to a 

 limited extent, but they must have some 

 good merit to take well, and you had 

 better try them in moderate quantity 

 the first year. Wealthy communities in 

 our very large cities will purchase a 

 basket or collection of plants put up in 

 a fancy basket and decorated with rib 

 bon. In this arrangement there would 

 be no end to the varied combinations to 

 tempt the corpulent purse. These 

 baskets of plants are sold for $10, $15 

 or even $25, and are works of art, but 

 they have not yet reached the general 

 trade. We find a few customers willing 

 to spend $10 or $15 on a single plant, 

 a great many willing to purchase a five- 

 dollar azalea, but a far greater number 

 whose limit is $2. Then there is the 

 school child, or the poor person, who 

 wants to make his window bright and 

 who can hardly afford 25 cents for a 

 hyacinth. Our trade is made up of all 

 these classes, and if you do a general 

 retail trade, you must cater to all of 

 them, and be just as pleasant and at 

 tentive to the delegation&quot; of little girls 

 who have clubbed together to buy their 

 school-teacher a 50-cent plant as to the 

 millionaire who orders a dozen Beauties 

 at $20 a dozen. A little different man 

 ner, you know, but just as attentive. 



The delivery of plants at Easter, 

 should the weather be cold, as it too 

 often is, makes it the most trying day 

 of the whole year. At Christmas we 

 are prepared for cold weather and ex 

 pect it. and most of the trade then is 

 cut flowers, which are easily and safe 

 ly delivered in boxes, and the plants 

 are carefully and securely wrapped; 

 but we never know till dawn breaks 

 what kind of a day it is going to be 

 on the Friday or Saturday before 



The Conventional Form of Azalea. 



Easter. A cold Saturday is a great 

 loss to our trade, not only in the great 

 expense of wrappfng and delivery, and 

 breakage of our plants, but we miss 

 hundreds of sales that never come again. 

 A man &quot; may put off buying a hat or 

 gloves this Saturday, but he will get 

 them sure soon, because he needs them; 

 but if his coat is turned up and fingers 

 cold, he is thinking more about a cock 

 tail and forgets that his wife told him 

 to buy a plant and send to her friend, 

 Mrs. Expectant. In many ways a cold 

 time at Easter is a calamity to us. 



Great rush as it is, much can be 

 done by organizing your force. Men 

 or women who make sales should not 

 be expected to wrap up the plants. If 

 the address and card are handed to the 

 delivery department, that s all that 

 should be expected of the salesman, 

 and the cash or charge handed to the 

 gentleman who presides at the desk. 

 The man who makes change and slaps 

 the charges on file is not so busy but 

 -,vhat he can keep an eye on what is 

 going on ; like a man who looks on at 

 a game of cards, he can see the right 

 card to play better than the participant, 

 and he can notice whether a clerk by 

 aiistake (?) drops $1.75 into his own 

 pocket instead of the till, or whether 

 that azalea that Mrs. Smith so kindly 

 said she would carry out to her carriage 

 herself was paid for or charged. If 



we had an Easter Saturday every week, 

 we should be able to keep trained help 

 to manage it, but we have not, and it 

 is a trying time, and a time above all 

 to keep cool. It is a busy time, and 

 your customers see, and all sensible ones 

 will make allowance for a short but civil 

 answer, and it is all they can get. Woe 

 betide the fool of a man or woman 

 clerk who wants to chin and chat and 

 be funny and extra affable to the cus 

 tomers on these crowded, busy days; 

 turn the hose on them if practicable. 

 We have found that in the green 

 house, where many of us do our big 

 gest Easter trade, much confusion can 

 be saved by devoting a good big bench 

 in a house adjacent to the door where 

 the wagons are loaded to the plants 

 that are bought ahead of time, as many 

 are. We make room on the bench and 

 cover it with strong, thick papej so 

 that the pots when washed won t get 

 mussed up again with sand or ashes. 

 Thursday begins the delivering. Cus 

 tomers often say when buying a plant : 

 &quot;You can send it home Thursday or 

 Friday,&quot; or another will say: &quot;Satur 

 day or Sunday morning, whichever you 

 choose.&quot; Always choose the earliest 

 moment they allow. You are sure to 

 have plenty for the last. So on that 

 part of the bench nearest the door are 

 all of Thursday s deliveries, the card 

 of the donor fastened on with babv 



