NOTEMBES 28, 1918. 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



CHABQING FOB BOXES. 



Will The Eeview or some retail florist 

 give us a little help? What do they do 

 in the matter of charging for the boxes 

 in which they deliver flowers and de- 

 signs f When we receive cut flowers 

 from the wholesaler the boxes always 

 are charged for, usually at from 60 cents 

 to 85 cents each, but does any retailer 

 make a charge when he in turn makes 

 shipments? One day last week we 

 shipped to one customer at one time 

 thirteen boxes and we made no charge 

 for the boxes. They contained sprays 

 and designs. We shall appreciate any 

 ideas expressed on this subject. 



J. U. M. — Miss. 



It is trade custom for wholesalers 

 to charge the cost of P. & D. on ship- 

 ments of cut flowers and, since the cost 

 of doing business began to rise under 

 the influence of the war, plantsmen have 

 adopted the custom, which always has 

 been in vogue in Europe. The buyer 

 may be perfectly certain that if there 

 is no charge for P. & D. the seller 's price 

 is high enough to absorb the item — the 

 buyer pays just the same. So far as 

 records go, retailers never have charged 

 for the boxes used on sales to the pub- 

 lic; the retail price is high enough to 

 cover the cost. The reference to sending 

 thirteen boxes to one customer leads to 

 the thought that this may have been a 

 sale to an undertaker or other agent. 

 Unless the cost of packing is covered 

 by the selling price there is only one 

 reason why P. & D. should not be passed 

 along to the agent. The one reason is 

 that the agent might transfer his patron- 

 age to some other florist. It might be 

 in order to get the florists of your 

 locality together for a little discussion 

 of trade customs and perhaps they all 

 will make a small charge to agents for 

 P. & D., or they might reduce the under- 

 taker's commission, which would amount 

 to the same thing. Of course the florist 

 uses the same boxes that he receives 

 from the wholesaler and a legitimate 

 charge would not exceed the actual cost 

 of the boxes as represented by the whole- 

 saler 'a bill. 



DOUBLE CYCLAMEN. 



I am enclosing with this inquiry two 

 photographs of a cyclamen seedling in 

 a 6-inch pot. It shows the flowers to 

 be quite double and as a matter of fact 

 each bloom has from ten to sixteen well 

 formed petals. I do not remember ever 

 to have seen or heard of cyclamens grow- 

 ing double in this way. Do you think it 

 possible that this plant would mature 

 seed? Would the variety be of any com- 

 mercial value if it could be propagated? 

 Is there any method of propagating 

 cyclamens by dividing the tubers in the 

 event of seed not being formed? The 

 plant photographed was grown from seed 

 taken from an ordinary plant with single 

 flowers. The color is light pink with 

 dark crimson eye. N. R.— Sask. 



I. BOSNOSKY. 



|l ID you ever notice that the men who become well known in the trade invariably 

 •'--' fetch as well as carry ? I. Eosnosky numbers among his friends florists from coast 

 to coast. They are his friends because he knows his friends' business as well as his 

 own. ' ' Bos ' ' not only takes an order, but he leaves many a hint, suggestion or bit of 

 information that is valuable to the florist who has time for a talk. "Life experience" 

 is a phrase frequently seen in the ads of those who oflfer their services. Rosnosky might 

 well use it if occasion arose, for he spent twelve years with the Brecht corporation in 

 Boston and ten years with Henry F. Michell Co., Philadelphia, before taking 

 Horace Greeley's advice and going west. He became a factor in the affairs of 

 the W. W. Barnard Co., Chicago, November 25. 



grown the second year from bulbs, but 

 they cannot be divided. Neither is it 

 desirable to grow plants from 2-year-old 

 bulbs. No cultural method has been found 

 so satisfactory as sowing fresh seed in 

 the month of August to produce large, 

 well-flowered plants for the second suc- 

 ceeding season. J. A. P. 



During the years in which we have 

 made something of a specialty of cycla- 

 mens we have had a good number of 

 plants which produced more or 

 less double flowers. We have found that 

 the semi-double flowers will produce 

 seed, but they do not come true. The 

 double flowers, however, seldom produce 

 seed, or only a few seeds. The varieties 

 appear to have little commercial value 

 on that account. Cyclamens may be 



ASPLENIUM NIDUS-AVIS. 



We have a lot of Asplenium Nidus- 

 avis that was shipped to us a month 

 ago. The leaves, particularly the outer 

 ones, have taken on a brown appear- 

 ance, beginning at the base of the plant 

 and continuing to the top. In many of 

 them this discoloration occurs on only 

 one side of the midrib of the leaf. Is 

 this caused by shipping, by too much 

 or too little water, or by something in 

 the soil? The plants have been given 

 the same treatment that we have been 

 giving our ferns; that is, warm, humid 



atmosphere and partial shade. Any in- 

 formation will be appreciated. 



B. N.— Ala. 



From the description this appears to 

 be a disease which wc consider incur- 

 able. It is possible it may result from 

 overwateriug the plants. Some years 

 ago we were troubled with the same 

 disease on a lot of imported plants. We 

 gave these plants every possible care, 

 but without good results, so finally we 

 had to throw them on the dump. Since 

 that time we have been growing our 

 own plants from spores and for several 

 years have not seen any signs of black 

 leaves on our ferns, although we grow 

 this variety in considerable quantity. 



J. A. Peterson. 



KiNDLT discontinue our ad under 

 Gladioli. Have had a fine season and 

 The Review did its part. — ^Austin-Cole- 

 man Co., Wayland, O. 



