222 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Dgcbmbbb 14, 1005. 



two months, comes nearer to their nat- 

 ural habit than propagating later and 

 giving them no rest. 



As soon as your carnations are propa- 

 gated it is time to begin with the tea 

 roses. Millions of these are still propa- 

 gated and grown on their own roots 

 in spite of the newer and perhaps better 

 method of grafting. The two months 

 following New Year's is a most favor- 

 able time for the rose cuttings, the firing 

 that is necessary giving you a cool at- 

 mosphere, with no trouble to keep the 

 sand at 65 degrees. 



Chrysanthemums. 



By the time the roses are out of the 

 sand you will want to begin propagating 

 the fascinating mums. You will remem- 

 ber the pleasure of seeing the first blos- 

 soms open, and perhaps the "busters" 

 you grew, and you will possibly remem- 

 ber the many calls you had for good com- 

 mercial flowers of the useful kind, and 

 could not fill the orders, and you stamped 

 and raged a little to see benches filled 

 with kinds the public did not want. I 

 have been in a position of late to observe 

 so vividly what has sold and what our 

 customers wanted that it has made a 

 marked impression, and I believe many 

 a florist has been taught a practical as 

 well as costly lesson. 



In warning the average florist, whether 

 he grows them for his own counter or to 

 ship to his commission house, I by no 

 means wish to disparage the introduction 



or trial of the monster curiosities or fan- 

 tastic shapes which have come in the 

 evolution of the chrysanthemum, and 

 one who can afford to grow a few of 

 each of the best of the introductions of 

 the past three years must be a poor 

 florist and no lover of flowers if he does 

 not get his money 's worth in pure ad- 

 miration of the wonderful flowers. To 

 see Mrs. D. V. West expand to its full 

 beauty is almost as exciting as asking 

 the nurse if it's a boy or girl and per- 

 haps, after several annual occurrences, 

 more so. We could not hold the annual 

 public exhibitions without the novelties 

 and wonders and that would be a serious 

 loss, not only commercially but to horti- 

 culture at large. So these remarks are 

 strictly with a view to bread and butter. 



The chrysanthemum has sold as well 

 this season as any year within the past 

 ten years, perhaps at a slightly lower 

 average price, but that condition can be 

 easily met and when you begin to propa- 

 gate in March put in hundreds of Robert 

 Halliday, Bonnaffon yellow and white, 

 Josephine, Kalb, Polly Eose, Ivory, Alice 

 Byron, Adelia, Convention Hall, Maud 

 Dean, White Maud Dean and Miss Helen 

 Frick. T forgot Dr. Enguehard, just a 

 little ahead of Maud Dean, for it will 

 produce at least three or four good 

 flowers to a plant. 



There is such a co'nstant demand for 

 bunches or sprays of chrysanthemums 

 for funerals that a large proportion of 

 your flowers can with profit be white. 



Aucuba Japonica in a Gilded Basket 



I have wandered somewhat from the 

 propagating bench, but it is all in the 

 business, and besides the important plants 

 mentioned that occupy your cutting bed 

 there is, if you grow bedding plants, no 

 end of soft-wooded plants that will have 

 to be rapidly increased. So don't waste 

 any time or space now or you will re- 

 gret it later. 



Preparing for the Rush. 



Christmas, with all its joys and hard 

 work for the florist, is right at hand. 

 It falls on Monday, which brings the 

 florists' really busy day on a Sunday, 

 That may be awkward, but we usually 

 survive those little things, like the ob- 

 servant man who said he had noticed 

 that if he was alive on May 1 of any 

 year he always lived through the balance 

 of the year, 



I have on several occasions mentioned 

 the many things a florist should do to 

 put his place in perfect preparedness. 

 The store man should have all material 

 at hand and in a convenient place. There 

 is a prodigious lot of boxes used now- 

 adays, and these should not only be 

 made up but could be lined with silk and 

 tissue paper, for it will save much time 

 when you are rushed with customers and 

 orders. All plants in the store should 

 be trimmed with ribbon and pots cov- 

 ered with tissue paper, not only that they 

 will be ready to deliver, but, more im- 

 portant, that they will be attractive, 

 which undoubtedly helps to sell them. 

 The florist whose salesroom is attached 

 or adjacent to his houses cannot fix up 

 all his plants, but he can a sufficient 

 number to show the public. 



Wash the Pots. 



The green and white tissue which now 

 envelopes the pot of every plant sold, 

 covers a lot of sins and among them 

 often a green, greasy pot. This should 

 never be. There is nothing more offen- 

 sive or unsightly than a dirty pot, espe- 

 cially if it is surmounted by a pretty 

 flowering plant. The greenhouse man 

 knows pretty closely the plants that will 

 go at Christmas and it is little labor to 

 well wash their pots. It won't be labor 

 in vain if some are unsold. 



Keep a Good Window. 



There may be some beginners in the 

 stores who do not fully realize the great 

 value of a handsome display in the win- 

 dow. You seek for a location in a much 

 frequented street and pay a big rent for 

 it. Then follow this up with an attract- 

 ive window, W<e have a store in our 

 town where the window is never two days 

 alike. It must be costly, but it pays 

 even better than advertising in the daUy 

 papers, as results have shown. Another 

 young man who has got along well and 

 built up a splendid business had little 

 to start with and naturally could only 

 carry a moderate stock of flowers. Yet 

 all those flowers went into the show 

 window and the ice box was empty. 

 They were before the eyes of the public, 

 who were sure he had them. If out of 

 sight, the pedestrians on the street could 

 only suppose he had what they wanted. 

 By this time this young man has an at- 

 tractive window, as well as a cellar full 

 of flowers. This is such a day of dis- 

 play that we must put on a good front. 

 In the words of my friend, the success- 

 ful M. D., "Wash all you got and hang 

 out all your wash," 



Holiday Deliveries. 



Since such a large majority of our 



