76 



THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



because the sphagnum soon rots and 

 the compost gets down among the 

 crocks. You will sometimes see the 

 healthiest and strongest roots of a 

 plant down among the crocks. I be- 

 lieve it is because they find there the 

 conditions to suit them best perfect 

 drainage. 



How particular we are that the 

 benches of our carnations and roses 

 are drained by simply keeping the 

 boards ^2 or % inch apart, so that 

 if watered heavily it can pass quickly 

 away. And so long as our flower pots 

 are made with that one small hole we 

 will have to make provisions to let 

 water escape freely. The author who 

 30 years ago laughed at the "old fogy" 

 notion of draining a flower pot lived 

 to alter his opinion and freely ack- 

 nowledged it. 



just in perfection, so much as at 

 Easter. Nine-tenths of all the plants 

 are delivered on the Friday and Sat- 

 urday, and must be at their best on 

 Easter morning. If a batch of flower- 

 ing plants are at their best one week 

 ahead of time, they will be very un- 

 satisfactory to your customers, and if 

 a few days too late it is often nearly a 

 total loss. Many of us can remember 

 having some hundreds of lilies that 

 would have sold for one dollar each 

 on Easter morning, or rather the day 

 before, had they each two or three 

 flowers open, but were sold the fol- 

 lowing week at 10 cents a stalk, and 

 the same with other plants. The quan- 

 tity grown for Easter, if attractive, 

 would 'bring a good price, but if late 

 the supply is ten times in excess of 

 the demand, the day is over, and they 



many more will be added to the calen- 

 dar. 



Life is a continuous holiday to some 

 and endless and hopeless drudgery to 

 others. This is all wrong and was 

 never ordained so. We have only re- 

 cently (for five centuries is but a 

 speck in the history of man) emerged 

 from the feudal system, and but yes- 

 terday emancipated millions of slaves. 

 Hopeless starvation wages is also 

 slavery with a tincture of uncertainty 

 added to its bitterness. The "white 

 man's burden" is not so much the 

 care of millions of a race or races 

 who never yet have evolved to a high 

 state of civilization and are still happy 

 in their primitive life. The great bur- 

 den of all of us is to bring about a 

 better and happier condition of the 

 fellow being whom we meet and see 



Lilies, in celluloid basket trimmed with white ribbon. 



Hydrangea, trimmed with crepe paper. 



1 EASTER PLANTS. 



Easter day is undoubtedly the great- 

 est floral festival of the entire year. 

 For many years it has been the cus- 

 tom to trim and decorate our churches 

 of all denominations with plants and 

 flowers, but, apart from that, it is the 

 custom now to give and receive from 

 friends a pretty plant or box of flow- 

 ers. The Easter card is gone and a 

 plant has taken its place. It is the 

 day on which thousands visit the 

 cemeteries, perhaps the first visit of 

 the spring to the resting place of the 

 departed, that for months has been 

 covered with snow. So several causes 

 tend to make this a busy time with 

 the florist, but the most commendable 

 fashion of remembering friends near 

 and even distant with a pretty flower- 

 ing plant and Easter greeting sur- 

 passes all othor demands for flowers 

 and plants, and I see no reason why 

 this virtuous practice should ever 

 drop from public favor. 



There is no other occasion when 

 plants and flowers must be just right, 



are given away. Another feature of 

 the Easter trade is the fact that it is a 

 movable festival and occurs any time 

 during the month of April, and we 

 have seen Easter Sunday a day of ice 

 and snow, and again on the 25th of 

 April I remember having nights of 70 

 degrees and fanning ourselves on the 

 veranda. 



To digress a moment. Why can't 

 Easter Sunday be fixed for a certain 

 date, say the second Sunday in April? 

 In these days of common sense this 

 ought to be straightened out. Easter 

 Sunday and the days preceding it are 

 supposed to commemorate events of 

 solemn moment to sincere Christians, 

 but as the moon, or the tide, or some- 

 thing else, dodges these anniversaries 

 all over the month of April, how can 

 they have -any significance? We be- 

 lieve that ages after the events that 

 gave rise to Easter and Good Friday 

 are lost in oblivion, there will still 

 be holidays kept, and let us hope that 

 in the coming century the date will 

 be fixed for that holiday and that 



every day. Although in a wretchedly 

 imperfect state as yet, a better time 

 on earth for every man, woman and 

 child must surely come. And then 

 there will be more holidays for all. 

 "Man's inhumanity to man makes 

 countless thousands mourn," but ev- 

 ery age brings more humanity, and 

 justice and right will follow and 

 equality for all must come. 



I consider the ability to get in crops 

 just when the market is ready lor 

 them quite equal to that which pro- 

 duces the plants and flowers, and at 

 Easter time is when you want to 

 exercise that particular line of ability 

 to the greatest extent. It will tax 

 your knowledge and experience, how- 

 ever great they are. Not only is the 

 day of the month variable by two or 

 three weeks, but the weather also iss 

 never two seasons alike. It is a ques- 

 tion 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 backward, so that they 

 will improve from the day they are 

 delivered. Of course, the ideal is to 



