General Aspects of Commercial Gardening 9 



arranged. Formerly bouquets were made in a round, flat, and dumpy 

 style, having row after row of flowers arranged in circles round the 

 centrepiece. The whole arrangement was flat and formal, and was 

 finished up with a collar of fancy paper. This heavy style of bouquet 

 has long since disappeared, and a lighter and more graceful arrange- 

 ment has taken its place. This has been brought about by the introduc- 

 tion of different kinds of flowers and trailing plants, and the different 

 methods of sending them to market. Twenty and thirty years ago 

 nearly all flowers were cut with very short stalks, so that the florist, 

 to produce any effect at all, was obliged to mount many of them on 

 wires to raise them above their neighbours. In these days, however, 

 florists insist on having flowers with the natural stems as long as possible, 

 so that a variety of designs is more easily obtained. The grower who 

 would now send short-stemmed Roses or Carnations to market would find 

 his wares on his hands when the market closed. With some classes of 

 flowers, such as Camellias, Tuberoses, and Eucharis, it is impossible to 

 supply long stems to the individual flowers, and what they lack in this 

 respect must be made up by the florist in other ways. 



Amongst the most important of the florist's accessories are wires of 

 various kinds, and moss for the foundations of wreaths, crosses, anchors, 

 and other emblems. The stiffish wires used for mounting flowers are 

 known as stubs, and are of varying length and thickness, according to the 

 purposes for which they are required. Special wires are also used for the 

 mounting of Roses, Camellias, Tuberoses, &c., and it takes some considerable 

 time for the beginner to find out, not only the proper stubs and wires to 

 be used for certain purposes, but to acquire that manual dexterity which 

 distinguishes the expert from the tyro. 



The foundations of various sizes and shapes are made of strong galvan- 

 ized wire by the horticultural sundriesman, so that they will not bend or 

 twist when in use. These foundations are covered with soft moss tied on 

 with string or wire, and into the moss the flowers, mounted on wires or 

 stubs, are stuck. Years ago, before the use of stubs became common, 

 flowers were tied down to the moss foundations, and the general effect 

 was flat and unrelieved. Nowadays, however, flowers can be arranged 

 in various styles some flat, some slightly raised, some bunched boldly in 

 certain places and forming the piece de resistance of the whole work all 

 of which variations depend upon the artistic perceptions of the operator. 

 Owing to the more frequent interchange between British and Continental 

 florists now than formerly, constant changes are taking place, and one 

 notices how largely the ideas of the Continental florists are being assimi- 

 lated by their British brethren, and vice versa. 



Popular Florists Flowers. Perhaps the florist attaches more impor- 

 tance to the colour than to the form of the flowers he uses in his business. 

 As a rule, flowers with clear and distinct shades of colour are most appre- 

 ciated; while those with confused tones or lacking in brilliancy are prac- 

 tically useless. A colour that will not show up well at nighttime under 



