THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



the ground by the shed wall, and then 

 asks for another job. The next man 

 that wants a flat in a hurry throws out 

 the plants and runs off on his errand. 

 A pot or two is broken, or the plants 

 are run over, all because the driver did 

 not take a minute's time to dump the 

 useless plant and put the others in the 

 shed where they would be attended to. 



are not quite good enough or not in 

 flower don't leave them standing out 

 alone to dry out; bunch them up with 

 the lot. Your precious time will not 

 be missed, for it will only take a sec- 

 ond and will be better for the plants, 

 better in appearance, and much better 

 for the man who waters. And so with 

 all your plants. 



running a greenhouse, but do let it be 

 clean, neat and orderly, and it will 

 cover many other deficiencies. Never 

 scruple or sigh at having to throw 

 away any plants that you see there is 

 no sale for. If you made a mistake 

 the quickest way to recover is to out 

 with them. The ability to discard use- 

 less stock is only second to the abil- 

 ity to grow good plants. 



Having everything in at the right 

 time it is wanted is one of the great- 

 est accomplishments of a good florist, 

 and next is having your stock well 

 balanced, not propagating or growing 

 twice as much as you can dispose of 

 of any article. You have your past 

 experience to guide you and should 

 know the probable demand for the 

 next. You can't grow everything and 

 what you don't succeed with, buy if 

 you must have it. The man who tries 

 to grow everything he is asked for 

 will never succeed. 



You must never be bothered with the 

 best of meaning people who' bring you 

 seeds or plants for you to grow be- 

 cause they are curiosities, and Gen. 

 Candbeef sent the seeds to her from 

 Cuba, or Lieut. Floater brought them 

 from Manila. The plants of the whole 

 world are pretty well known now and 

 they will be nothing desirable for you. 

 Tell the kind person that you are 

 afraid they would not get attention 

 among your men, who only have a 

 knowledge of common commercial 

 plants, but you are sure Mr. Private 

 Gardener, your neighbor, or the Bot- 



All that may be a trifle, but a lot of 

 such performances creates great con- 

 fusion. You can do your work quick- 

 er, better, and feel more comfortable 

 and happy all around when things are 

 in order. And depend upon it orderly 

 places are the prosperous ones. 



In the greenhouse among the plants 

 is still more need of system and order. 

 The old-fashioned way of years ago of 

 having a bench all mixed up with fifty 

 species of plants like a fourth class 

 botanic garden is played out. We 

 knew greenhouses, some not so long 

 ago, that always looked alike tha year 

 round. A cactus and sanchezia and Be- 

 gonia Rex and Hoya carnosa beautiful- 

 ly (?) arranged. A show house is all 

 right, where a few of the brightest 

 and best of all you have should be 

 shown off, and that should be changed 

 as often as possible. Let your show 

 house undergo a transformation scene 

 very frequently, as your store window 

 does daily. 



In other houses everything should be 

 in blocks. They are better cared for 

 in every way and look better; it is the 

 only way. Stand over your plants fre- 

 quently, small, fast growing plants es- 

 pecially, and it is much easier to throw 

 your leaves and rubbish into a bushel 

 basket than it is to throw them on 

 the path and then have to sweep them 

 up. 



We frequently have hot words in the 

 spring with the men when picking out 

 plants or filling orders. If a hundred 

 geraniums are wanted of one kind take 

 them as they come. If two or three 



Views in Two Stores. 



Stand all rows of plants straight 

 across the bench, and never crowd for 

 want of room, nor spread them out for 

 appearance sake. There is a right dis- 

 tance for the plants and they should 

 have it, neither more nor less. 



anic Gardens would be delighted with 

 them. 



Division of labor is a great thing. 

 The operations in a greenhouse are 

 very diverse. Put men at what they 

 can do well and quickly. And there is 



I cannot mention all the details of no labor, either in potting, watering, 



