JOO 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



the pot plunged in some material where 

 the bottom heat is 80 degrees, will 

 usually meet with success. Keep the 

 cuttings after the first watering oliiy 

 moderately moist. As the leaves are 

 much in the way a small stick is in 

 serted in the pot to which the leaves 

 are drawn up. . If this were not done 

 they would take up a great deal of 

 room and be inconvenient to water. 

 They should be well rooted in the small 

 pots before being shifted. Late spring 

 is a good time to propagate by cuttings. 

 By the mossing system failure is al 

 most impossible. March, April and May 

 are favorable months for the operation 

 because the wood is about right then, 

 but it can be done at any time. The 

 tops of young plants can be taken, al 

 though large branching trees are usually 

 kept where they are propagated in any 



a hen s egg you have enough on. Keep 

 the moss syringed daily. 



In five or six weeks you will see roots 

 protruding through the moss. Let them 

 get well rooted and then sever from the 

 plant just below the moss, and pot. The 

 young plants should be kept from sun 

 and draught till they take hold of the 

 new soil. 



Ficus pandurata is a comparatively 

 new species, of strong growth and mas 

 sive foliage, as is well shown in the ac 

 companying illustration, which also gives 

 some idea of the decorative value. As 

 indicated by the specific name, the leaves 

 of this plant have some resemblance in 

 outline to the body of a fiddle, and one 

 of the strong features of the plant is 

 found in the tough texture of its foliage, 

 from which it has proved to be an ex 

 cellent house plant, enduring dust and 



Ficus Pandurata. 



quantity. Nine or ten inches from the 

 tip of the shoot, where the wood is not 

 too green nor too hard, a cut is made 

 in the wood upwards about an inch and 

 a half long from the bark to about half 

 way through the shoot. Sphagnum moss 

 is inserted to keep the cut open and more 

 moss wrapped round to entirely envelop 

 the stem where the cut has been made. 

 If the moss when tied on is as large as 



draughts with almost as much impunity 

 as an aspidistra. 



W. H. Taplin says the tops of this 

 ficus may be mossed and rooted just as 

 readily as those of the common Ficus 

 elastica, and when rooted will flourish 

 under the same conditions as its better 

 known relative, but the cut back plants 

 do not break away quite so freely, and 

 consequently the propagation of Ficus 



pandurata is somewhat slower than that 

 of the ordinary rubber. 



This is a plant that occupies a good 

 deal of space, and consequently must 

 bring a good price to the grower. 



FITTONIA. 



&quot; Very pretty little trailing plants that 

 require a good heat at all times. They 

 are easily propagated in the spring in 

 warm sand. A few plants in a 6-inch or 

 8-inch pan will soon cover it and make 

 very ornamental pans for the table. For 

 large ferneries they are very useful. 

 They like shade and plenty of water 

 during summer when growing. 



F. gigantea is somewhat erect, with 

 pale red flowers and finely veined leaves. 

 F. Verschaffeltii and its varieties, 

 argyroneura and Pearcei, are the kinds 

 useful to the florist, being dwarf, spread 

 ing and compact, entirely covering the 

 pot or pan with their very ornamental 

 foliage. The leaves of the former are 

 bright green, with a tracing of pure 

 white. The latter is also green, with 

 veins of bright carmine. 



FLORAL ARRANGEMENTS. 



Within twenty years there has been 

 a great change in our floral arrange 

 ments and designs. This has been partly 

 brougnt about by the innovations of the 

 more enlightened florists and partly by 

 the more refined taste of our customers 

 who have rebelled against the same old 

 conventional arrangements. Time was 

 when the center-piece of the table was 

 an elaborate lofty affair, very compli 

 cated in design and three or four feet 

 high, and if the host at the head of the 

 table wished to see those at the other 

 end he or she had to lean over at a tilt 

 ing angle. Eeason has abolished all 

 this and whatever flowers are used now 

 are in low baskets or trays or vases with 

 flowers on their natural stems. This 

 wiping out of these very artificial ar 

 rangements may be a loss to some classes 

 of florists, but who can regret the more 

 natural and beautiful use of flowers 

 which prevails today. 



Baskets or trays are still used for 

 holding the roses, carnations, violets or 

 orchids, but we expect to see these go 

 soon and all flowers used in vases of 

 some kind for all decorations. They last 

 better, they look better, it is better taste 

 and more comfort to the guest to look 

 upon a vase of roses whose petals and 

 leaves are plump and fresh than upon 

 those whose heads begin to droop, for 

 you will be of a strange build yourself 

 if you do not feel a wilting come over 

 your spirits in a more or less degree 

 when you look upon a wilted arrange 

 ment of flowers. The wilted dude rolled 

 in the gutter over night is not a more 

 pitiable sight than a basket of roses 

 that have collapsed. And the less our 

 customers see of these wilted flowers the 

 better. 



At smaller dinner parties maidenhair 

 fern or Farleyense or asparagus sprays 

 are strewn on the table and here and 

 there some flowers of the choicest kinds, 

 rose buds, orchids or lily of the valley. 

 This is a beautiful arrangement and 



