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10 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



NOVEMBEK 22, 1906. 



Garden and ntlier markets. If any in- 

 tending American exporter doubts my 

 statement let him make a visit to Co- 

 vent Garden, say at six o 'clock on any 

 market morning, and he will come to the 

 conclusion that he need not send any cut 

 blooms from America. During the last 

 season the supply has been probably 

 one-third above the demand and excep- 

 tionally low prices have obtained in con- 

 sequence. Roses, in particular, have on 

 some market mornings been almost given 

 away and loads have been thrown away 

 at the end of the day. Even the Amer- 

 ican varieties of carnations are getting 

 so cheap and plentiful that there is now 

 no more than a living profit in them. It 

 is a well-known fact that in the foreign 

 flower-market the end of the day sees 



big quantities of cut blooms pitched into 

 the waste-cart. 



An unprecedented slump is being ex- 

 perienced in the English-grown grape 

 trade. Never before has the quantity 

 been so large, the quality so good and 

 the price so low. Magnificent Black 

 Hamburgh and Alicante can be had as 

 low as 14 cents per pound, grown at 

 Worthing, and even Muscats are down 

 as low as a shilling (24 cents). Ordi- 

 nary black grapes can now be grown at 

 a profit for 1 shilling per pound, but at 

 14 cents they of course lose money. 

 There was a time when nothing under 

 about 3 shillings per pound left a profit, 

 but the larger grow&iHs^met the bad 

 markets by cheapening proSrrctitJn. 



B. J. 



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THE RETAIL 



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FLO RIST...... 



^X^ A'T A^ I' 



PRESENTATION PIECES. 



It is quite the regular thing in certain 

 flower stores to have calls for designs 

 for presentation as testimonials of es- 

 teem or evidences of good will. The 

 alderman-elect is presented with a 

 "piece" by the members of the ward 

 club, each of whom is living in hopes 

 of sharing in the candidate's success; 

 the wholesale cigar house sends flowers 

 to the opening of the new corner saloon. 

 It is a line of work which affords a 

 good margin of profit and is capable of 

 development, but is often productive of 

 unusual requirements, for frequently the 

 order goes elsewhere if the buyer's 

 ideas, however grotesque, are opposed. 

 Not long since a Chicago ward elected a 

 saloonkeeper to the city council, and 

 nothing would do for his friends but a 

 huge round plaque representing the end 

 of a beer keg, with a great faucet pro- 

 jecting from it.. The florist made it, all 

 right, the keg of Koosevelt carnations, 

 the brass faucet of daffodils and the 

 ward number lettered on in violets. 



The accompanying illustration shows 

 how well B. Abrahamson, a retailer on 

 West Taylor street, Chicago, arose to the 

 occasion when the Lion Store was opened 

 in his neighborhood and he was called 

 upon to make a piece symbolical of the 

 name. He made it on a flat frame, to 

 s]tand on a pedestal and be viewed only 

 from one side. The body was made of 

 pink carnations, with Bridesmaid roses 

 for the parts of the lion which in nature 

 are lighter colored. The mane was pink 

 and white dahlias and the design wa^i 

 easily the hit of a quite lavish floral 

 display. 



DECORATORS' AIDS. 



At the recent Chicago show the re- 

 tailers were attracted by the tasteful 

 staging of the Eaton Flower Store's fine 

 display of violets, for the receptacle was 

 distinctly new. It is an invention of 

 M. \f. Garnsey, of La Grange, 111., who 

 about a year ago put the now well- 

 known Japana flower holder on the 

 market. The Japana is a cylindrical 

 piece of brilliant lead glass, fire polished. 

 It is perforated with holes in which the 



stems of flowers are placed. The holder 

 may be placed in any sort of receptacle 

 and water poured over it, where it not 

 only adds to the loose and tasteful ar- 

 rangement of the flowers, permitting 

 each to show its individuality, but it 

 serves to keep them fresh, for the base 

 of the holder is notched so that a circu- 

 lation of water is provided. The holder 

 is practically invisible when covered with 

 water, but is of sufficient weight so that 

 quite heavy, long-stemmed flowers may 

 be used in it. It is particularly adapted 

 to use with open bowls for bulbous 

 stock. So well has this article pleased 

 the public that Mr. Garnsey a few days 

 ago shipped as a single order fifty bar- 

 rels to a supply dealer in Germany. 



The Anglais table decoration, as used 

 by the Eatons at the Chicago show, is 

 made of two units each containing a 

 Japana holder, one unit crescent in form 

 and one rectangular. Each piece is five 

 and a half inches long and two and a 

 half inches deep, and being made up 

 of sections, many combinations of form 

 can be arranged and adapted to any 

 style of decoration. Each section con- 

 taining a Japana holder, it affords a 



practical and simple method of arrang- 

 ing flowers in an artistic manner, and 

 being only two and a half inches high, 

 it permits of low treatment, the flowers 

 not interfering with the view across the 

 table. 



A BRIDAL BOUQUET. 



It is not often that we see a photo- 

 graph of "a man carrying a bridal bou- 

 quet; usually it is a woman. But in 

 this case the maker of the bunch was 

 so well pleased with his work that he 

 repaired to the picture place and the 

 photographer got them both on his nega- 

 tive. The gentleman is F. W. Kum- 

 mer, manager of the Carolina Floral Co., 

 Charleston, S. C, and the bunch is made 

 of cattleyas, dendrobiums, lilies of the 

 valley and Farleyense ferns, tied with 

 chiffon. The bunch had a much lighter 

 appearance than is indicated in the pho- 

 tograph, where the shadows produce a 

 somewhat heavy effect. 



Mr. Kummer was for five years the 

 designer and maker-up for the J. M. 

 Connelly Co., in Charleston, and is not 

 only up-to-date in store work, but also 

 in plant growing and in landscape work. 

 He has been nineteen years in the busi- 

 ness, having learned his trade in Swit- 

 zerland, his native land. Charleston re- 

 cently had a gala week and Mr. Kum- 

 mer was awarded the prize for the best 

 decorated store front, all the merchants 

 on the principal streets having'competed. 



THE ART OF SALESMANSHIP. 



Results the Test of Ability. 



In opening this discussion it may serve 

 the purpose better to first define an ideal 

 salesman. The modern acceptance of the 

 term is that of the salesman who sells 

 the most, or makes the most money, as 

 compared with others of his class, for 

 the establishment in which he is em- 

 ployed. The sense in which this paper 

 will deal with this topic is that the ideal 

 salesman is the most successful sales- 

 man so far as financial returns are con- 

 cerned. 



Must Know Human Nature* 



Considering the fact that the salesman 

 comes in contact with all kinds of peo- 

 ple, it is of prime importance that he be 

 a good judge of human nature. He must 

 know how to act, and act quickly, when 

 a sale is at stake. He should be able 

 to gain a fair knowledge of the disposi- 



Presentation Piece by B. Abrahamson, Chicago. 



