THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



97 



flowers, and more often, with the ex- 

 ception of orchids, it is only one va- 

 riety. It is a basket of pink and white 

 roses, or all Meteor or Liberty roses, or 

 American Beauties, all lily of the val- 

 ley, or valley and violets. Perhaps 

 all violets and perhaps violets and Ro- 

 man hyacinths. It is almost impos- 

 sible to make an ugly combination of 

 carnations, they blend so finely, yet 

 they are most often chosen in one col- 

 or or at most one or two shades. Tulips 

 and narcissus are scarcely ever used 

 except in one color. 



Orchids are of such a fantastic shape 

 and pleasing colors that a variety is 

 prettier than a mass of one sort. A 

 basket of all Cattleya Trianae would 

 be very rich, almost too heavy, and the 

 addition of cypripediums and onci- 

 diums would be an improvement and 

 entirely in keeping with the nature of 

 the flowers. The orchids are from the 

 tropics where the vegetable kingdom is 

 all jumbled up and thousands of spe- 

 cies to the acre, while the natives of 

 a cooler clime, our roses and carna- 

 tionsi and violets, grow in colonies as 

 do the wild flowers of the northern 

 temperate zone. 



It is difficult to foresee any great im- 

 provement in the arrangement of our 

 flowers for decorations over the pre- 

 vailing taste and customs of the pres- 

 ent day. There need not be less used 

 because the arrangement is simple. 

 Flowers on their own stems is the or- 

 der of the day and the longer the 

 flowers last in their beauty the more 

 there will be wanted, for in many 

 homes now and in the future, in every 

 home, humble as well as palatial, some 

 flower will be considered not a luxury 

 but an essential and comfort. 



A great many florists in this coun- 

 try, especially shop or store keepers, 

 depend very largely on the funeral 

 orders for their living. If the prevail- 

 ing fashion of sending flowers, par- 

 ticularly designs, to the family of the 

 bereaved were suddenly to become un- 

 fashionable with all classes of society 

 there are several thousand flower 

 stores throughout the land that would 

 be to rent for some other class of busi- 

 ness. It is not likely to go so sud- 

 denly out of fashion but it will 

 change; and the change has already 

 come with many people. A large num- 

 ber of citizens recently banded them- 

 selves together in Cleveland and in my 

 city and perhaps others, to protect 

 themselves against "The enormous and 

 extravagant expense of funerals, the 

 outlay and display made at the funeral 

 of the dead often leaving the survivors 

 in hopeless debt." 



Carriages and flowers of course come 

 in for a good part of these worthy peo- 

 ple's condemnation. There is no 

 doubt that the expense of many fune- 

 rals is out of all proportion to the 

 means of the family; it is ridiculous 

 and almost criminal to see such osten- 

 tation, and we often suffer from it. 

 An instance occurred the other day. 

 Forty dollars' worth of flowers were 

 ordered and delivered, and a month or 

 so afterwards the collector was told 



Wreath of Ivy Leaves and Orchids. 



A Plain Crescent Wreath. 



