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34 



The Florists' Review 



March 18, 1915. 



as at Christmas, probably for the rea- 

 son that there is no readily recogniz- 

 able color that compares with the 

 Yuletide red. But all the larger 

 plants and combinations must wear 

 ribbon in the Easter parade, else 

 there will be an unfinished eflEect in 

 the display. For two seasons now 

 ribbon has been out of vogue in 

 millinery circles, but in flower stores 

 it is more generally used than ever. 

 Time was when only the so-called high- 

 class florists used ribbon, but nowadays 

 one would almost as soon think of do- 

 ing business without The Eeview as 

 without a well-stocked ribbon case in 

 the store — one must use ribbon for ty- 

 ing the pot covers if for no other pur- 

 pose. 



A foliage green ribbon is about as 

 handy an article as one can have in 

 the store, but for use on the Easter 

 plants pale blue, almost white, is the 

 proper thing — it is the Easter color. 

 One will, of course, use yellow with 

 the genista, and pink where pot cover 

 and flowers both are pink. 



A Variety and on Time. 



The wise retailer has learned that it 

 is better to show a variety of arrange- 

 ments than to run on one style. A 

 striking window can be made of one 

 kind of basket filled in a variety of 

 ways, but in the store it will be found 

 that the greater the assortment on dis- 

 play the more easily sales will be made. 

 If one does not mix a little of the 

 well-known gray matter with the other 

 materials used in making up the Easter 

 display, the arrangements are likely to 

 be all more or less alike, but if thought 

 is given it will be found quite easy to 

 lend that variety which is found to be 

 the spice of life. 



And be ready in time. There is 

 nothing in this whole wide world, not 

 even carelessness, that makes so much 

 trouble as that most prevalent of hu- 

 man traits, procrastination. "Never 

 do today what can be put off till to- 

 morrow" seems to be the motto of 

 half the world. It certainly is the rule 

 of the shoppers, but at that we all have 



seen the army of holiday flower buyers, 

 descending at the last moment, still 

 find the florist not ready — with little 

 or nothing dressed for display. To 

 make selling easy have your sample 

 plants, if not your entire Easter stock, 

 togged up in time. 



PAPWORTH WINS APPEAL. 



Orleans-Kenner interurban trains are 

 not yet to go' through the property of 

 the Metairie Ridge Nursery Co., at New 

 Orleans, so the Louisiana Supreme 

 court decided March 8 in granting a 

 writ of mandamus against Judge Ed- 

 rington of the Jefferson parish court. 



Judge Edrington had granted the Or- 

 leans-Kenner Electric Railway Co. the 

 power to expropriate the property 

 necessary for the tracks, and refused 

 to grant a suspensive appeal against 

 his ruling. 



Harry Papworth, of the Metairie 

 Ridge Nursery Co., however, applied to 

 the Supreme court for a writ of man- 

 damus to compel the judge to grant the 

 appeal requested, which was done. 



WHJ. BUY AT HOME. 



One by one the growers are awaken- 

 ing to an appreciation of the fact that 

 the price of a plant in Europe is no 

 measure of its cost in the greenhouse. 

 The result is buyers are turning back 

 to home dealers or are making the for- 

 eign sellers deliver the goods — selling 

 f. 0. b. the European nursery is by no 

 means so easy as it was. 



The New York and New Jersey As- 

 sociation of Plant Growers has taken a 

 stand on the matter, as indicated by 

 the following announcement, dated 

 March 8, by Secretary W. H. Siebrecht, 

 Jr.: 



"At the last meeting of the New 

 York and New Jersey Association of 

 Plant Growers the matter of the im- 

 portation of Belgian and Holland stock 

 was brought up and it was pointed out 

 that, owing to the roundabout manner 

 in which the shipments were forwarded 

 and the length of time during which 

 they were in transit, the importers 



realized little, if any, profit out of their 

 purchases. 



"It was also pointed out that thi; 

 exporters are in closer touch with the 

 shipping facilities from their respect- 

 ive countries and had charge of thi^ 

 routing of the shipments and the pack- 

 ing thereof, and that it would be no 

 injustice to require them to share some 

 part of the risk connected therewith. 



"It was, therefore, resolved that the 

 members of this association shall here 

 after purchase Belgian and Holland 

 shipments f. o. b. New York and refuse 

 to place orders upon any other basis." 



PROPAGATION OF OANNAS. 



Please tell me how I can grow cannas 

 from seeds. Should, they be scalded or 

 cut? C. H. B.— Pa. 



Yes, canna seeds are so hard that it 

 is advisable to prepare them as sug- 

 gested in the query; that is, by soak- 

 ing them in hot water and by cutting 

 off a small portion of the hard covering. 

 A good way to proceed is to soak the 

 seeds in a bag suspended in the water. 

 If the water, as it cools, is replaced 

 with hot water, this treatment alone 

 may suffice, but usually it is well, also, 

 to cut or clip the seeds. They may be 

 sown in pans, in three inches of soil, 

 and covered to a depth of half an inch 

 or more, or they may be sown in drills 

 in a progagation bench that has a good 

 bottom heat. The pans may be placed 

 over hot water pipes, so as to hurry 

 the germination. The seeds will sprout 

 irregularly, some much later than others, 

 but the seedlings may be potted as fast 

 as they attain a height of about three 

 inches and the others may be left in 

 the pan or bed, where the stragglers 

 may continue to appear for months. The 

 potted seedlings should be placed in a 

 warm, light house. Canna seeds should 

 be sown soon after being gathered, as 

 they lose their vitality quickly. 



It is now too late, however, to grow 

 this season's plants from seeds, as the 

 seeds must be sown not later than Feb- 

 ruary in order to have good plants in 



Aq Easter Window Display by H. N. Lowe, of Long Beach, Cal. 



