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THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



ribbon and the address very lightly 

 fastened on with wire. It is not safe 

 to fasten that address card on securely 

 till you see the weather, as it may have 

 to be pinned on to the wrapping paper 

 that protects the plant from chilly 

 blasts. When Thursday night comes all 

 of Thursday s deliveries should be gone, 

 the space devoted to Thursday should 

 be clear, and so with the other days. 

 Friday s orders should be looked out 



should be delivered, however cheap, or 

 warm the weather, without some wrap 

 ping paper around the pot. 



The lily certainly occupies the most 

 important place among Easter plants. 

 The Japan grown longiflorum is the 

 favorite; a single plant in a 5-inch or 

 6-inch pot or three plants in an 8- 

 inch. It is seldom that the longiflo- 

 rums are too early, and should they be 

 a week or ten days ahead of time they 



An Easter Automobile. 



keep finely in a cool, shaded house,, 

 but should not be put there till at least 

 one flower is open or the whole plant 

 and buds will get stunted. 



Azaleas are next in importance and 

 perhaps in value of plants sold equal 

 the lilies. There is no excuse for hav 

 ing the azaleas out of date, because 

 they can be kept almost to the freez 

 ing point during winter and open 

 quickly when put into a heat of 60 de 

 grees at night. There is always a good 

 demand for azaleas from Christmas on, 

 but don t have many left after Easter, 

 for people have seen so many then that 

 they are tired of them. 



Ehododendrons are seldom too early 

 and you do not want many of them. 

 A warm house with abundance of 

 syringing will bring their fine flowers 

 out. 



The Ghent or hardy deciduous aza 

 leas want five or six weeks in a mod 

 erately warm house. They are very at 

 tractive and do not drop their flowers 

 at Easter, as they do later in w r armer 

 weather, and the colors are such beau 

 tiful shades of yellow, orange, red and 

 pink that when decorated with suitable 

 crepe paper they sold well last year. 



Lilacs need about five weeks in the 

 greenhouse and always sell well and are 

 good for cutting if not sold. 



Metrosideros (bottle brush) is very 

 odd and finds favor with a few, but 

 the sale is limited. It should be al 

 ways grown one year with us before 

 being sold. 



Several varieties of erica are great 

 favorites at Easter and are very largely 

 used in the baskets of plants. All the 

 ericas are known to the public as- 



and got ready on Thursday and what 

 is sold on Friday to be delivered that 

 day should be put on the table to go 

 out with the next load. As long as 

 plants are on that Friday bench your 

 wagons have not done for the day. 



The deliveryman is a very important 

 personage these days. He should know 

 the city well and also know a great 

 many of the residents. Never send a 

 load of twenty or thirty different de 

 liveries with one man. It is waste of 

 time. The driver knows the route to 

 save time, and the house in most cases, 

 and tells his helper that, &quot;Here is Mrs. 

 Brown s, who gets that lily and that 

 deutzia,&quot; and while the less valuable 

 man is waiting for Mary Ann or Kate 

 to receive the plants the driver is study 

 ing out his next call. Drivers or de- 

 liverymen are just like those of any 

 other calling; there are good and bad, 

 but a good one is a jewel. Only smile 

 at calamities that can t be helped, such 

 as hail storms or cyclones, but swear to 

 your heart s content at the lubber who 

 comes home with damaged plants and 

 says, &quot;The lilies blowed over and I let 

 that big azalea fall.&quot; 



There are always a great number of 

 plants that you are reasonably sure 

 you will sell, and these should all have 

 their pots washed a clay or two ahead. 

 Nothing can be more disgusting than 

 a greasy, dirty pot, and no plant 



Hyacinths and Asparagus in Twig Basket. 



