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SPRING FLOWERS '^ 



AMID THE SNOWS 



The man who makes the most money out of flozvers is the man who leads 

 the seasons. The quantity sales come later, hut they come as surely to the 

 florist who set the pace as to the one who ivaitcd for the bargain offer of an 

 overstocked wholesaler. 



S the days begin to length- 

 en and the cold begins to 

 strengthen, when his polar 

 breath old Boreas blows 

 and Earth is mantled with 

 January's snows — then the 

 progressive florist makes 

 a feature of the flowers of 

 spring, for they hold a pe- 

 culiar appeal while the 



contrast with the outdoors is so strong. 



Not only do the flower buyers welcome 



the first flowers of spring, but, buying 



them with avidity, they pay twice the 



price we shall consider profitable when 



the vernal season draws near. 



The flowers of spring are, first of all, 



those that are produced from bulbs, the 



jonquil, the dafl'odil, the tulip and the 



hyacinth, but there are many others. 



Although it has become an almost all- 



the-year-around flower, the sweet pea 



deserves to be classed as one of the 



leading flowers of 



spring. Certain it is 



there is nothing more 



profitably salable in a 



first-class flower store. 



There is a record of 



long-stemmed Spencer 



sweet peas at $4 per 



hundred, wholesale, at 



Christmas! 



Some of Tbem. 



Then there are pan- 

 sies, Paper Whites, 

 French Romans, valley, 

 daisies, mignonette, 

 bouvardia, violets, 

 calendula, snapdragon, 

 lilac and many other 

 forced flowers suffi- 

 ciently springlike to af- 

 ford relief from the 

 lack of variety which 

 has prevailed since the 

 mums passed out — the 

 roses and carnations 

 are fine, but the regular 

 buyers will welcome a 

 change. 



And don't forget tlie 

 pussy-willow; as a 

 "flower" it might bo 

 considered as almost 

 emblematic of spring. 

 It goes in every basket 

 of flowers, in every 

 decorated plant. 



There is no method 

 more effective, amid 

 January's snows, than 

 boosting business by a 

 display of spring flow- 



ers. Put them in the window; show 

 them in the store. 



How to Show Spring Flowers. 



One of the most successful of Chicago 

 retail stores has two display refrigera- 

 tors, one on each side of the room. The 

 box at the right is used for Beauties, 

 roses and a few carnations; the one at 

 the left has shelves for the smaller flow- 

 ers, today the flowers of spring. Watch- 

 ing the trend of trade, the manager 

 noted that with the passing of the holi- 

 days customers in steadily increasing 

 number turned from the display of roses 

 to the one of sweet peas, .ionquils and 

 the blooms associated with the awaken- 

 ing of Nature after winter. 



Right there he conceived an idea, 

 small in itself but which has produced 

 many hundreds of dollars of profits. Ho 

 banished the storage vases to the stock 

 box downstairs and in the display case 



THE FLOWERS THAT BLOOM IN THE 

 HAVE MUCH TO DO WITH THIS 



SPRING 

 CASE 



installed a variety of baskets of spring 

 flowers arranged in his best style, with 

 two or three corsage bouquets. It in- 

 creased the sales wonderfully. 



It may be that a florist, with his fifty 

 jonquils set as deeply as they will go 

 in an inartistic storage vase, sees in- 

 stead the flowers as they will look when 

 gracefully arranged with others in a 

 beautiful basket. But the customer does 

 not possess equal powers of vision — he 

 sees only what is before him, not the 

 possibilities that lie in it. 



Therein lies the reason for the increase 

 of sales as soon as the florist stored his 

 stock out of sight and used his refriger- 

 ator for the display of baskets and bou- 

 quets ready for use. 



Not that he figured on the sale of the 

 actual articles on display. Frequently a 

 customer would insist on having the 

 basket or bouquet out of the case, not 

 wishing to wait for a fresh one to be 

 ' made up, but the idea 

 was to show the article 

 as it would be deliv- 

 ered instead of merely 

 showing the materials 

 with winch the florist 

 works, as most of us do. 



Accessories. 



With the flowers of 

 spring use' the acces- 

 s r i e s of springlike 

 form and coloring. 

 There is an infinite va- 

 riety of baskets appro- 

 priate to the season. 

 Choose those of light 

 and graceful shape and 

 harmonious coloring. 

 Ribbons or ties add 

 greatly to the finish of 

 the arrangement and 

 tlie addition of natural 

 or silken l^utterflies, 

 h u m m i n g-birds and 

 other novelties im- 

 proves the work more 

 than they increase the 

 cost. 



The arrangement 

 shown on this page as 

 a typical basket of 

 spring flowers is one ex- 

 hibited last season at 

 the flower show at the 

 University of Illinois 

 and represents the work 

 of a student in Prof. 

 Dorner 's department. 



There is three months 

 of fine business ahead 

 of the man who starts 



