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JUNB 23, 1904. 



ThcWeckly Florists' Review. 



201 



sion. Therefore, it Is a good plan to 

 have a box with indexed envelopes con- 

 taining a little bunch of customers' en- 

 graved cards. Watch the supply, and 

 when it is exhausted, let your customer 

 know in time so that you will be able 

 to fill her orders on a moment's notice, 

 card and all. Be careful about placing 

 a card written in ink in a box where it 

 can be spattered with water from the 

 flowers, and blotted beyond legibility. 



The writing of the card and the style 

 of delivery is indicative of the character 

 of the firm. Flowers of very ordinary 

 quality well packed count for more than 

 fine quality delivered in a slovenly fash- 

 ion. Don't sprinkle all boxes of flowers. 

 I lately saw a bride 's hand bouquet liber- 

 ally sprinkled and delivered immediately. 

 It would take an hour to dry before it 

 could be used. Speaking of brides' bou- 

 quets, it is a courtesy to see that all the 

 thorns are removed. 



Be on time to the minute. Don't 

 promise delivery at too early hours, but 

 make your time at all hazards. If you 

 once establish confidence in this way, 

 you can ever afterwards dictate your 

 own time. 



Don't Attach the Cards. 



As to tying on cards. This is prac- 

 ticed too often, especially at funerals. 

 It is nobody's business but the family's 

 who sends these particular offerings. 

 Even if the cards are tied on, they 

 should be removed immediately upon de- 

 livery. Someone at the house should take 

 off the card and write upon the back a 

 short description of the offering which 

 this card accompanied, written acknowl- 

 edgment of which should follow within a 

 few days. Tie on cards only when it is 

 necessary to prevent their being lost. 



At every large funeral there should 

 be a florist in charge of the flowers; his 

 presence there is necessary for the best 

 care and arrangement of the flowers. Re- 

 cently here we had an instance of how 

 two or three society ladies made havoc 

 of a fine display of flowers on just such 

 an occasion. Thousands of flowers were 

 destroyed by unskillful handling. It was 

 an outdoor funeral, and before the flow- 

 ers could be packed and transported, 

 many of the finest clusters were crushed 

 beneath passing trains, not of Pullman 

 cars, but of silk and lace. 



In Decorative "Work. 



In residence decorative work there are 

 many little courtesies which the fiorist 

 will do well to observe. In the first place 

 do as much of the work beforehand as 

 possible. Have pots and tools clean, so 

 as not to soil the floors and carpets. 

 Don't scatter things about, and help to 

 clean up after you are done. Finish one 

 room first before leaving. Have a largo 

 sheet to protect the fioor from being 

 scratched and littered. Coming in as 

 we do at the last moment, we necessarily 

 make considerable disturbance, but we 

 can reduce the annoyance to the minimum 

 by having the work well planned and 

 proceeding immediately to its execution. 

 Little extras will often be asked of you 

 at the last minute. Comply, if possible, 

 even at your own inconvenience. 



On the other side of the question, in- 

 sist on your own rights; hold your own 

 with the caterer; resist indirectly at- 

 tempts on the part of the caterer to take 

 contracts for the whole thing, deeoratin? 

 and all; give him to understand that your 

 business is an art, and he has no more 

 right to interfere with vou than vou have 



Cattleya Mossiae Flowered by Julius Roehrs. 



to usurp his business ; let him know in time 

 when you want the tables ready, and pro- 

 ceed to take possession. Measure off the 

 space that you require on the table, and 

 some more, but we'll consider this at 

 some future time. Gektrude Blaik. 



CATTLEYA MOSSIAE. 



The blooming of Cattleya Mossia) is 

 always awaited with impatience, for it is 

 the orchid upon which dependence is 

 placed for cut blooms at the season of 

 spring weddings; besides, none of the 

 family excel it in richness of coloring, in 

 form or in profusion of bloom. The plant 

 illustrated was one of this season's im- 

 portations by Julius Roehrs, Rutherford, 

 N. J., and photographed April 30. 



APHIDES OR PLANT LICE. 



"Nearly all plants, in garden and 

 field, and under glass, suffer from the 

 ravages of aphides, known by a great 

 variety of names, such as green and 

 black fly, smotherers, and dolphins, while 

 the disease they produce is sometimes 

 termed 'blight.' 



"They belong to a group of insects 

 called hemipteraj which are provided 

 with a mouth used for sucking and ca- 

 pable of piercing the structures of plants, 

 upon the sap of which they feed. Thoy 

 undergo what is termed an incomplete 

 metamorphosis, that is, there is no quies- 

 cent chrysalis (pupal) stage, and they 

 feed throughout their whole existence. 



"They damage plants in a two-fold 

 manner, first by sucking out the sap, and 

 so weakening the vitality of the plant, 

 and secondly by stopping the respira- 

 tion of the plant by blocking up tho 

 stomata (or breathing pores) of the 

 leaves with their excreta. This excreta 

 is not only of the ordinary kind, but 

 also consists of a sweet gummy sub- 

 stance called 'honey-dew.' A few aphides, 

 such as the woolly aphis produce no 



houey-dew.» The skin of the plant-lice is 

 provided with numerous glands which 

 secrete either a waxy substance that cov- 

 ers the skin (rose aphis, bean aphis, etc.) 

 or dense woolly masses (beech aphis, 

 woolly aphis, etc.). In both cases the 

 excreted substances have the power of 

 throwing off water and so of keeping 

 the insects dry. 



"The reproduction in aphides is very 

 rapid. They not only breed in the or- 

 dinary way, but they can also breed with- 

 out any males being present. The effect 

 of weather on aphides is very great. Dry 

 hot and sultry weather is favorable to 

 them; the same conditions check the 

 growth of the plant, and so the plant- 

 lice soon overcome it. An excessive quan- 

 tity of manure, especially nitrogenous 

 manure, also predisposes the plant to 

 aphis attack. 



"Aphides can easily be destroyed by 

 spraying the affected plants with a soft 

 soap wash. This is made by dissolving 

 from six to ten pounds of soft soap in 

 100 gallons of soft water. The soft soap 

 blocks up the breathing pores of the 

 plant-lice, and so kills them. Quassia is 

 sometimes added ; this acts as an astring- 

 ent to the leafage, and cleans it of the 

 honey-dew and excreta formed by tho 

 aphides. For black-fly on cherry, and 

 for all those that produce a copious fiow 

 of honey-dew, it is a most useful ingredi- 

 ent. The quassia chips are boiled and the 

 extract added to the soft soap wash; six 

 to eight pounds of chips are required t^ 

 every 100 gallons of wash. Paraffin 

 emulsion is necessary for some kinds, as 

 woolly aphis, which may also be at- 

 taeketl in winter by caustic alkali wash. 

 For those which attack the root it is best 

 to use bisulphide of carbon injected into 

 the soil, a quarter of an ounce to everv 

 four square yards. Care must be taken 

 with this substance, which is both poison 

 ous and inflammable. The vapor of bisul- 

 phide of carbon liquid, used in the bee- 



