AUGt-SX 11, 1904. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



513 



event will probably tend to further stim- 

 ulate his ambitions. 



Another successful young Philadelphia 

 florist is Charles F. Edgar, senior part- 

 ner in the wholesale firm of C. F. Edgar 

 & Co., who is only 21 years of age. They 

 have a very nice business and bright 

 prospects for the future. 



HOLIDAY PLANTS. 



[A paper by William Gainmaj;e, of London. 

 Ont., read before the Canadian Horticultnral 

 association at Ottawa, August 10, 1004.] 



My topic may be divided under two 

 or three headings. First, what are holi- 

 day plants? This may be answered in 

 one Otr more ways and depends largely 

 upon the class of trade that the florist 

 is catering to.' In establishments where 

 the trade demands only the beet and 

 prices are no particular object, the va- 

 rieties of plants will differ very mate- 

 rially from those offered by an establish- 

 nilent catering to the general public. If 

 you are a retailer, growing and selling 

 your own plants, you will require a larger 

 number of varieties than if you are 

 growing for the wholesale market, and 

 it is with this class that we shall deal 

 first. 



Christmas Plants. 



As the Christnoas holidays will be the 

 first it is now time that preparations 

 were well under way with some of the 

 plants that you will require at that time. 

 In flowering plants Begonia Gloire de 

 Lorraine is probably the leader. These 

 should now be well established in 2^^- 

 inch or 3-inch pots. It is not my inten- 

 tion to give cultural instructions for the 

 various plants which will be mentioned 

 but with this one variety there seems to 

 be some lack of knowledge as to how it 

 should be handled. To begin with, cut- 

 tings should be made during May and 

 June, either from the leaf or the shoots 

 which come abundantly from the roots 

 of the stock plants. These, if kept grow- 

 ing alotng in a light, airy house, will 

 make fine plants in 4-inch or 4^4 -inch 

 pots by the first of September. There 

 is one peculiarity about this variety of 

 begonia, that it will stand what may 

 be termed over-potting ; that is, it ap- 

 pears to thrive best in what may be con- 

 sidered a pot one or two sizes too large 

 for any other variety of plant. Of 

 course, great care must be taken in 

 handling it; a careless hand in watering 

 will soon sour the soil and then you may 

 as well dump your plant. Our experi- 

 ence has been that it requires a light 

 shade and for this purpose we have used 

 cheese-cloth on a roller, shading it in 

 bright weather and allowing it the clear 

 glass on cloudy days. The flowers should 

 be kept picked off until about the first 

 week in November, when it should have 

 its last shift into a 5-inch or 6-inch pat. 

 If kept in a temperature of from 58 to 

 60 degrees, at Christmas it will be at its 

 best and will continue to bloom and give 

 the best of satisfaction for the next 

 three or four months. 



Other varieties of plants, which should 

 have immediate attention, are cyclamen, 

 Chinese primrose. Primula obconica, cin- 

 erarias and poinsettias. All of these are 

 sold in large quantities and no florist 

 doing a general business can well be 

 without any of the varieties mentioned. 

 In addition to these you will require 

 some azaleas. Such varieties as Deutsche 

 Perle, Vervseneana, Simon Mardner and 

 Apollo are easily brought into bloom for 

 the Christmas holidays in a temperature 

 of from 65 to 70 degrees. 



C A. Ktiehn, Superintendent Trade Exhibition* 



For the last four or five years Boston 

 ferns have held a prominent place in 

 the list of holiday plants; in fact, their 

 popularity superseded the palm for a 

 time. These are grown in large quanti- 

 ties and if you have not already laid In 

 your stock it is high time that it should 

 be done. Plants that have been grown 

 in the bench during the summer, lifted 

 and potted into 5, 6 or 7-inch pots during 

 September make splendid specimens for 

 the holidays. 



Palms, rubbers and arauearias are al- 

 ways in demand and no florist should be 

 without a stock of these. Let me here 

 say, do not delay putting in a stock of 

 these until your customers are asking for 

 them, or the weather becomes cold. You 

 can buy better plants during September 

 or October with less risk and expense in 

 delivering than at a later date. Aspara- 

 gus plumosus and Sprengeri, in pot& and 

 pans, also mixed ferns in pans, are de- 

 sirable holiday plants. You must not 

 overlook a few Roman hyacinths and 

 Paper "White narcissi. For the general 

 florist the above mentioned plants will 

 about fill the bill for the Christmas holi- 

 days. 



To those catering to the best trade, 

 your time is too valuable to waste on 

 many of the foregoing plants. You can 

 afford only to deal in such varieties as 

 are conveniently handled and will bring 

 prices ranging from $1 up. For these 1 

 would recommend Begonia Gloire de Lor- 

 raine in 8-inch and 10-inch pans, which 

 should sell at from $3 to $5 each; cycla- 

 mens in from 8-inch to 10-inch pans; 

 azaleas from 12-inch to 20-inch crowns; 

 poinsettias in pans and baskets; speci- 

 men plants of Boston and Piersoni ferns 

 in pots and pans, from 8-inch to 12-inch 

 and larger; palms, dracsenas, pandanuses 

 and such other plants as the trade in 

 your particular locality may demand. 



Marketing the .Product. 



Having made your preparations for 

 the holiday trade, by laying in a goodi 

 stock of plants, your next attention wilB 

 be to disposing of them to the best ad- 

 vantage and placing them in your cus- 

 tomers' hands in the best possible condi- 

 tion. Your name is your best advertise- 

 ment; obliging clerks, yojir store window 

 and a liberal use of the daily press will 

 m3ke the combination necessary to dis- 

 pose of your stock at this particular sea- 

 son. 



Nearly all classes of plants are im> 

 proved by pot covers of one descriptdon 

 or another. Let the clerk who has the 

 best conception of color arrangements 

 select these. Too often we see the beauty 

 of a plant detracted from by an injudi- 

 cious trimming, be it a pot cover or a 

 ribbon that does not harmonize with the- 

 shading of the flower. It is very seldom 

 that nature can be improved upon by 

 adding ribbon to either a flowering or an 

 ornamental plant and its use should be 

 discountenanced by all true lovers of art. 



To avoid confusion and mistakes at a 

 busy time, a thorough system must be 

 adopted. As soon as a plant is sold it 

 should be tagged, the cards put in an 

 envelope and carefully attached to the 

 plant and the plant set aside with those 

 of the same date and time to be deliv- 

 ered. Every plant, no matter how small 

 or how large, should be thoroughly 

 wrapped before being sent out for de- 

 livery. The name and the address of 

 the person to whom it is to be delivered 

 should be carefully and legibly written 

 on the tag. These are minor details but 

 it is these small details which save time 

 and annoyance, not to say losses, to our- 

 selves and disappointment to our cus- 

 tomers. 



