38 



The Florists^ Review 



Januabt 26. 1922 



ish iron lamps, and troughs of lights 

 behind tlie walls to reflect through Ifhe 

 trees, adds greatly to the garden effect. 



"Careful thought was shown in the 

 selection of colors throughout. The 

 oolumns and staffwork above the grill 

 doors are brightly polychromed, while 

 the walls are in neutral tones of brown, 

 gray and dull terracotta, making a per- 

 fect background to display flowers. 



"The shop reports an exceptionally 

 good business since the opening, showing 

 a steady increase in volume each day. 

 It is the policy of this' establishment to 

 execute the same finished, artistic type 

 of work that has earned for Mr. Bate- 

 man his splendid reputation as a flo- 

 rist." 



HEBE'S SERVICE. 



At Christmas time, the Fleischman 

 Floral Co., Chicago, delivered in two 

 days, December 24 and 25, more than 

 1,500 orders, including both cut flowers 

 aad blooming plants, to all parts of 

 Chicago and in the suburbs. It is stated 

 by Manager Mallinson that every pack- 

 age was delivered on time and not one 

 went to the wrong address; in fact, not 

 tfne complaint has been received up to 

 this time as to the flowers not being 

 satisfactory. Preparations for the holi- 

 day made beforehand by Mr. Mallinson 

 were more thoroughgoing than usual, 

 and he regards the outcome as testi- 

 mony of what such an organization can 

 do. He regarded it as so good a testi- 

 mony for the company's service that he 

 used a 3-column advertisement in the 

 Chicago Tribune, January 19, to tell the 

 Chicago flower buyers about it. 



TWO WILLING MEN. 



"There are two of the most willing 

 men I ever saw," said a business man to 

 his companion as they emerged from a 

 flower store where the former had pur- 

 chased a box of roses to be sent home 

 for his wife's birthday. 



' ' What do you mean? ' ' said the other. 



"Why, the proprietor is willing to do 

 all the work, and the clerk is willing to 

 iGt him." 



"Let mo explain the reason," said 

 his companion. "Proprietors of flower 

 stores, and of other retail stores, for 

 that matter, are usually men who were 

 once clerks themselves. They were am- 

 bitious young fellows, hard workers 

 and good clerks. They acquired the 

 great art of selling by close observa- 

 tion, much reading and hard study. 

 Wlien they went into business themselves 

 they started small, many of them with 

 no help whatever. Their business grew, 

 as the business of ambitious people 

 generally does, and in the course of 

 time they took on one, two or more 

 clerks. But they didn't train those 

 clerks. They were first-class clerks 

 themselves, and they naturally, and per- 

 haps wisely, were always the first to 

 wait on a customer, leaving the clerk to 

 do nothing unless there were several 

 customers in the store at a time. 



"They didn't train their clerks in 

 the intricate and difficult art of sales- 

 manship. In fact, the idea of training 

 their clerks never occurred to them. 

 They had just picked up their salesman- 

 ship knowledge and expected their 

 clerks to do the same. In fact, if they 

 tried, they would hardly know how to 

 go about training clerks, and therefore 

 they do nothing in the matter. 



"The store we just entered is one of 

 the kind I am speaking of. And it 



makes two willing people, as you have 

 remarked — the proprietor, who is willing 

 to do all the work, and the clerk, who is 

 willing to permit him. But I'm 

 blaming the proprietor, and not the 

 clerk — for the clerk is following the 

 wishes of the proprietor in this matter. 

 "It is the duty of a proprietor, which 

 he owes to himself, to train his clerks 

 into becoming as efficient salespeople as 

 possible. His first step in doing this 

 should be to imbue them with interest, 

 enthusiasm and ambition to help de- 

 velop the business in every way pos- 



sible. This can be aided by words of 

 appreciation and some method of sub- 

 stantially rewarding the clerk for his 

 eflSciency. He can impress on the clerks 

 the tremendous importance of trifles, 

 because the proper performance of a 

 thousand trifles turns a poor clerk into 

 a good one. He can say that business 

 knowledge is priceless and insist on th) 

 clerks reading trade journals and busi 

 ness books, and reading with an inter- 

 ested mind. He will be amply repaid 

 for this interest by the improvement iu 

 his business." 



SPOTTED FERN FROND. 



I am sending a fern leaf which is 

 affected by a sort of white spot. Will 

 you advise as to what the trouble is and 

 suggest a remedy? The spots are on the 

 older leaves only. W. A. S. — Mo. 



' The fern frond is badly affected with 

 fern scale, Hemichionaspis aspidistrse, 

 the female insects forming a small, flat 

 brown scale and the males being in the 

 form of the small white spots referred 

 to. The best remedy is found in cutting 

 off and burning the fronds that are most 

 affected and afterward giving a regular 

 course of dipping or spraying with a so- 

 lution consisting of a half-ounce of whale 

 oil soap and one teaspoonful of a nico- 

 tine extract to one gallon of water. This 

 insect is not easy to dispose of, and the 

 spraying may need to be continued for 

 some time. W. H. T. 



FERN FRONDS TURN COLOR. 



I am sending a fern leaf that shows 

 how our fern leaves turn brown. These 

 ferns are watered with extremely hard 

 water from a well 139 feet deep. The 

 water is so hard that it cannot be used 

 for washing. Could this hard water 

 cause the leaves to turn brown? The 

 younger fern leaves have a pale green- 

 ish color. G. A. K.— 111. 



The fern frond in question gives one 

 the impression that the plant from 

 which it was taken had been over- 

 watered before it had become estab- 

 lished in the soil. If this is not the 

 case, then it would seem as though the 

 water was the cause of the trouble and 

 the pale color of the young fronds may 

 be due to the excess of lime in the 

 water. It would probably pay to have 

 the water analyzed and to get an opin- 

 ion on the result from your state experi- 

 ment station. W. H. T. 



FERN FRONDS STUBBY. 



I have sent under separate cover some 

 fern fronds, which, as can be easily 

 seen, are stubby. The ferns are on a 

 shelf in the center of a greenhouse and 

 are about eight feet above the ground 

 and three feet from the glass. They get 

 the sun from about noon on. The room 



is steam heated to a temperature of 60 

 to 70 degrees. At times the room has 

 been drafty, because of changes made. 

 About two months ago the ferns were 

 repotted with well rotted manure, leaf- 

 mold, sand and some garden soil. Will 

 you tell me what the trouble is? 



S. A. P.— Minn. 



There are two probable causes for 

 this condition of the fern fronds, one 

 being insuflicient watering and the 

 other, and more likely cause, being too 

 much manure in the soil. If the trouble 

 comes from dryness at the root, it may 

 be accompanied by the yellowing and 

 dropping of some of the inner fronds, 

 and the condition of the roots may be 

 readily verified by turning out the 

 plants from the pots for examination. 

 If too- much manure is in the soil the 

 excess will be gradually leached out by 

 watering and the later growth may come 

 out perfectly. W. H. T. 



FERN SCALE TROUBLE. 



We are sending you a specimen of :i 

 Boston fern badly infested with a nuni 

 ber of small, white bugs. Will you 

 kindly tell us what this bug is and sug 

 gest the most effectual remedy? Is 

 warm kerosene emulsion harmful tn 

 ferns? J. II.— O. 



The fern fronds in question are in 

 fested witli the fern scale, Hcmichion 

 aspis aspidistra?, an insect that is, un 

 fortunately, common in greenhouses 

 Tlie safest and most satisfactory treat- 

 ment is to cut off and burn the worst 

 fronds from these plants, and then ti 

 dip the plants in a solution consistinf^ 

 of one ounce of a nicotine solution and 

 one-half ounce of any good soap to on( 

 pail of water, the plants to be protected 

 from sunshine for twenty-four hour- 

 after dipping. Then spray weekly witli 

 the same solution, preferably doing th< 

 spraying on a cloudy day. Kerosem 

 emulsion is a dangerous insecticide t( 

 use on ferns, being likely to injure them. 



W. H. T. 



Globe, Ariz. — William E. Hagel is 

 starting in a small way to experiment 

 as to what flowers do best commercially 

 in this climate. 



