32 



The Florists^ Rodew 



lUT 20. 191Q. 



OiCN UETTCR^y^ READEn6 



WEDDINQ FLOWERS AT FUNERAI.. 



Eeferring to the article in last 

 week's issue of The Review, "Bride's 

 Bouquet on Casket," we wish to say 

 that about two years ago we furnished 

 a bride's bouquet of white roses and 

 valley, with shower, two bridesmaids' 

 bouquets of pink roses and also a large 

 plateau basket of pinic roses such as 

 would have been used for the table 

 center for a wedding breakfast. This 

 was for the funeral of a girl who was 

 soon to have been married. The pros- 

 pective husband insisted on using the 

 same flowers as would have been used 

 at the wedding, only four or five days 

 distant. The bride's bouquet was 

 placed at the head of the casket a*nd 

 the maids' bouquets at the foot, while 

 the basket was placed in the center.' 



H, E. Wilson. 



PUSH THE ROSE. 



We have just read the article in The 

 Review for May 13, "Quality Counts 

 Before Price," written by George Rye, 

 of Port Smith, and we might add al- 

 most the same story to his in the past. 

 We, however, placed our orders in such 

 a way that we escaped to a great ex- 

 tent this year the same experience he 

 has evidently had. We realize that 

 there are not enough carnations to fill 

 the Mothers' day demand and so push 

 other flowers, roses especially, and find 

 that the results are more than satisfac- 

 tory. We get better roses than carna- 

 tions and the people will "eat them 

 up" here at $1.50 per dozen. If more 

 florists would do the same thing there 

 would be less complaint about the qual- 

 ity of the carnation stock being poor, 

 and there is just cause for the com- 

 plaint. We had one shipment of 400 

 flowers bought at top price that upon 

 arrival were not worth the box they 

 were packed in. Fortunately, we di- 

 vided our orders up in 400 lots and 

 scattered them over a number of sources 

 of supply, figuring that in that way the 

 shipments would not all be bad. The 

 result was that while last year we had 

 lots of Mr. Rye's trouble, this year out 

 of 3,200 flowers only the one shipment 

 we speak of was poor. All the rest 

 came in good, salable shape. 



And, speaking of Mothers' day, let us 

 tell you of our trade. We advertised 

 heavily, using large display in our lead- 

 ing locfil paper, and in only one issue 

 did we mention any particular flower, 

 and then we went strong on the rose. 

 Results: We cleaned up every rose, daisy 

 and sweet pea we had, besides the car- 

 nations. The people will take other 

 flowers if Mr. Rye and others will edu- 

 cate them to it; it takes a little push- 

 ing at first, but what does nott 



As for next Mothers' day, we make 

 this statement now and know that re- 

 sults will back us up: We will use as 

 many roses as carnations and our trade 

 will take them as quickly as the carna- 

 tions. Get away from the carnation, 

 Mr. Rye, and you will not force the 

 wholesaler (and I use the word force 



because we really do force him) to send 

 out stock that will not stand a long 

 journey. We would howlif he did not 

 send us anything, and w^\'howl if he 

 sends us the best he probably can get, 

 which we believe he does. 



Forest Park Floral Co. 



TREATMENT OF ASPARAGUS. 



Should Asparagus plumosus or Spren- 

 geri be pulled out or cut! How many 

 years are the roots good enough to payt 



L. F. C— Mich. 



Asparagus plumosus or Sprengeri 

 should always be cut, not pulled; pull- 

 ing out the growths is likely to injure 

 the crowns. If planted in good soil 

 and well manured, asparagus should 

 produce satisfactorily for three years. 

 W. H. T. 



JOURNEY OF THE JASMINE. 



It is a far cry from southern Texas, 

 whence soon will be coming the cape 

 jasmines for Memorial day, to southern 

 China, from which this flower came 

 originally, but the journey taken by 

 the flower from its land of origin to 

 its present place of productiveness was 



a much farther one. From the land of 

 China, where its origia is a* matter of 

 legend, it was taken ^ to the Oape of 

 Good Hope, probably by early Dutch 

 traders, to whom the cape route was 

 the only way to the orient, 



The first facts in its history thftt are 

 known occurred in the middle of the 

 eighteenth century. The sailing vessel 

 Godolphin Indiaman, commanded by 

 Captain Hutchinson, bore a plant of the 

 cape jasmine, which had taken the cap- 

 tain's fancy, home to England. Here, 

 according to an old botanist's book, 

 "Mr. Gordon, the nurseryman, having 

 obtained layers from the tree, propa- 

 gated it so successfully that he is said 

 to have gained more than 500 pounds 

 sterling." Some of these plants found 

 their way to South Carolina. It may 

 be more than a coincidence that the 

 city of Charleston, S. C, that was in 

 the early days noted as the home in 

 this country of the cape jasmine, was 

 the native place of Dr. Alexander Gar- 

 den, for whom the species to which the 

 flower belongs— rit is botanically known 

 as- Gardenia florida — was named by 

 Linnaeus. From South Carolina, the 

 cape jasmine spread throughout the 

 south and found its way into many 

 greenhouses in the north. When its 

 popularity as a Memorial day flower 

 grew so great that the greenhouse crops 

 of it, which are natur^ly small at the 

 time, could not meet the demand, the 

 cape jasmine was grown outdoors for 

 this purpose in the south. Alvin, Tex., 

 is the center of this industry, and in 

 the vicinity are acres devoted to the 

 culture of the flower for this one holi- 

 day. 



Boston, Mass.— Fine the Florist has 

 incorporated for $5,000. The incorpora- 

 tors are Max Fine, Sylvia E. Fine and 

 Jack Katz. 



Westerly, R. L — Louis Rankin, for- 

 merly of this town but lately of Phila- 

 delphia, has purchased the greenhouse 

 of William B. Foster, on the Watch 

 Hill-Westerly road. He will take up 

 his residence here again. 



Wobum, Mass. — A forest fire between 

 Woburn and Lexington April 27, which 

 burned over 100 acres of woodland, 

 threatened the greenhouses and build- 

 ings of J. W. Howard, on Russell street. 

 They were nearly surrounded by flames, 

 but were saved by the Woburn firemen. 



Nenr Oaatle, N. H.— C. W. Eaton, 

 now at Cambridge, Mass., has leased 

 his greenhouses here to William Lefe- 

 ber, of Schilder & Lefeber, Swarth- 

 more. Pa. Mr. Lefeber will occupy the 

 property June 1, and leases with the 

 privilege of purphase at the expiration 

 of the lease. 



Smith's Ferry, Mass. — At the May 

 meeting of the Holyoke and Northamp- 

 ton Florists' and Gardeners' Club, at 

 the greenhouses of Gallivan Bros., the 

 club presented to Mr. and Mrs. Daniel 

 J. Gallivan a large cut glass dish. 

 The June meeting will be held with O. 

 D. Allyn, of Holyoke. 



Nevburyport, Mass. — Joseph J. Com- 

 ley, who has gained much repute as 

 a horseman, is the possessor of twin 

 foals, both apparently in good health. 



New Bedford, Mass. — Mrs. Mary No- 

 sek is suing Benjamin Sutcliffe in the 

 Superior court for $l,00Tr damages caused 

 by a large tree on his property falling 

 on her greenhouse, 2^23 feet, with 

 which she was preparing to enter the 

 florists' business. The accident occurred 

 during the cold weather and nearly all 

 the plants were killed. 



Waltham, Mass. — The question 

 whether greenhouse crops are real es- 

 tate or personal property is the point 

 at issue in the suit brought by the city 

 of Waltham against Peirce Bros, to 

 recover personal taxes of $153.97 for 

 1913 and $160.20 for 1914. The items 

 in question are for * * stock in trade, ' ' 

 the plants growing in the Waverley 

 Oaks road greenhouses of the firm. It 

 is declared that Waltham is the only 

 city in the state which assesses crops 

 in greenhouses as personal property, 

 and E. Allan Peirce and H. W. Peirce 

 contend that this means a double as- 

 sessment. The case may be carried to 

 the Supreme court, andTif Peirce Bros, 

 win their case they may ask for a re- 

 fund of the taxes of this kind which 

 were paid in previous years under 

 protest. 



