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Mat 4, 1905. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



143^ 



Show House of Ernst Wieohoeber G>., Chicago, Photographed Just Before Easter. 



that of spaciousness. Things are on 

 the grand scale. One has the feeling of 

 breathing a larger, ampler air. This 

 factor of mere size alone, it seems to 

 me, has reacted on the Canadian's mind. 

 His mental faculties seem to take a 

 wider sweep than the usual island-bound 

 Britisher. This applies not only to his 

 outlook on life but to his business. ITc 

 thinks in continent?, and is at home in 

 the wholepale trades. How much he 

 owes to a bracing climate, to a freedom 

 of opportunity, or a growing conscious- 

 ness of prosperity and consequent inde- 

 pendence are questions which might well 

 set the ball rolling in debate. 



While I admire your Canadians in 

 many respects, I do not think the aver- 

 age man in our business is as well in- 

 formed in all-round horticulture as arc 

 those at home. He is a good specialist 

 but his general knowledge has been 

 largely limited by his opportunities. 

 Then, again, note his impatience. 

 * ' "Wanted, a hustler, " is a common ad- 

 vertisement. Now your hustler often is 

 a mere bustler or a bungler, and some- 

 times a mixture of both. Your hustler 

 is set over against the man with quiet 

 but clear intelligence, and often in a 

 superficial view the latter suffers in the 

 comparison. Now I put it to you, that 

 there is no business where an exact, well 

 balanced judgment is as often required, 

 where a little carelessness and inatten- 

 tion to detail count for so much as in 



ours, where a seemingly trivial error 

 will leave most ruinous marks on the 

 year's account. 



There is a specially strong temptation 

 to overstatement in our business, but no 

 where, perhaps, has it been so exalted as 

 one of the virtues of the trade as on this 

 continent. 



After the men, we come to the stores. 

 One is immediately struck with the really 

 magnificent carnations and roses. For 

 length of stems, richness of coloring, 

 largeness of blooms and general aristo- 

 cratic appearance they quite outclass 

 those usually seen in florists' shops in 

 the Old Country. Cyclamen, too, with 

 long flower stalks well up above the 

 foliage were very good. Only from 

 Kerrs, of Liverpool, have I seen finer. 

 Poinsettias and chrysanthemums were 

 fine but not extraordinary. Foliage 

 plants are only of medium quality. The 

 Christmas dressings of the stores and 

 windows were in good taste and the 

 business done a revelation. But speak- 

 ing generally the condition of the win- 

 dows leaves much to be desired. With 

 one or two conspicuous exceptions they 

 present a slovenly and often bedraggled 

 appearance. In this respect you are be- 

 hind the florist in the Old Country who 

 always looks well to his windows. The 

 introduction of a little pleasing novelty 

 and a more pleasing blending of the 

 material to hand would be fully appre- 

 ciated by the flower-loving public. 



As to floral and decorative work I can 

 hardly speak, but from what little I have 

 seen there appears to be greater origin- 

 ality of design here than in the Old 

 Country, although in this respect there 

 has been a' great awakening during re- 

 cent years across the water. The ten- 

 dency in both cases is toward a more 

 open and natural arrangement and sim- 

 plicity in designs. The Boston laure) 

 and southern smilax as decorative sub- 

 jects were both new to me. 



We turn now to the plant houses. 

 These are spacious, admirably fitted for 

 flower growing by the bench method, en- 

 suring the maximum of light and air, 

 but for plant growing I prefer smaller 

 houses, as in the Old Country. The ques- 

 tion of steam versus hot water for all 

 subjects is a debatable one. While I 

 quite see the necessity of a brisk heat 

 for flowering and forced stuff in a win- 

 ter like this, my opinion is that for an 

 ideal plant atmosphere there is nothing 

 like hot water, ensuring greater equili- 

 brium of temperature for growing sub- 

 jects and not drawing too much on the 

 reserve forces of so many subjects need- 

 ing a partial rest during winter. Then 

 there is the question of the hose pipe, 

 ^ly own feeling is that there is a temp- 

 tation to overdo it. In the winter es- 

 pecially does this apply to pot plants. 

 Whether it is harmful to use the told 

 water direct from the mains or whether 

 aired water would not give better results 



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