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1970 



The Weekly Florists' Review^ 



May 16, 1907. 



is rapidly increasing. It is usually the 

 duty of the undertaker to provide these, 

 and the leading undertakers in the cities 

 no longer think it possible to do satis- 

 factory work without using a load or 

 more of palms and ferns. Where this 

 fashion has not been started, many 

 ways will suggest themselves for putting 

 it in practice. Tlie florist could well 

 afford to donate the use of some plants 

 to families that have been good custom- 

 ers and in this way get other people to 

 call upon him for similar services. 



The delivery of flowers on telegraph 

 orders is capable of great development. 

 Print a neat card reading something like 

 this : ' * We have correspondents every- 

 where and can deliver flowers in any city 

 at a few hours' notice." Put this in 

 every package you deliver to customers, 

 but of course you cannot put it in those 

 sent to others than the buyers. As time 

 passes the use of these cards will estab- 

 lish a steady and profitable business. 



NEW FERN DISHES. 



There is a growing realization among 

 retail florists that a stock of considerable 

 variety in the way of fern dishes, etc., 

 adds to the volume of trade. The old- 

 fashioned fern dish, which comes back 

 time after time to be refilled, is so well 

 known and has been in use so many years 



rists find it a profitable side line to carry 

 a considerable stock of pottery of many 

 kinds. 



While there is a great variety possible 

 in the selection of a stock of these aids 

 to the sale of plants, two of the best 

 sellers are illustrated in this issue. Th« 

 brass receptacles are usually more ex- 

 pensive than is pottery, but they are 

 having a good run wherever they are 

 shown. They may be filled with almost 

 any material, due care being exercised 

 that the plant is not so large as to be 

 out of proportion to the size of the re- 

 ceptacle. In the accompanying illustra- 

 tions the same receptacle is shown filled 

 in one case with small plants of Aspara- 

 gus plumosus and in the other with pri- 

 mulas. They have recently been filled 

 with violet plants, making an attractive 

 combination. The brazen ware comes in 

 dozens of shapes and sizes, and may be 

 had in large pieces if one has a trade 

 that makes them useful. 



Possibly the best selling single item in 

 the line of small earthenware is the un- 

 glazed green jar shown in the other illus- 

 tration. This is made in many sizes and 

 the color is such that it combines attract- 

 ively with anything in the way of small 

 ferns, etc. Larger sizes are used for 

 planting boxwood or evergreens, but they 

 do not go well with flowering plants. The 

 shape shown is the one which sells most 

 largely, but several manufacturers now 



Dull, Green Poltery, for Ferns or Boxwood. 



(The chick was a special touch for Easter.) 



that many people are quick to buy some- 

 thing different for the same purpose. All 

 the leading florists' supply bouses offer 

 a considerable range of selection in these 

 articles and many of the pottery manu- 

 facturers are now canvassing the florists ' 

 trade, so large has the sale for these ar- 

 ticles become. Indeed, many retail flo- 



are making them in a great variety of 

 styles, including the bowls, vases and 

 even pitchers, etc. Every retail florist 

 who has not tried this class of ware 

 should lay in a small stock. There not 

 only will be a profit in selling it, but it 

 will help the sale of plants to a surpris- 

 ing exteht. 



THE NATIONAL FLOWER SHOW. 



[A paper by S. S. Skldelsky, of Philadelphia 

 read before the New York Florists' Club, Mav 

 13, 1907.] ^ 



It was very kind of your Florists' 

 Club, represented by the chairman of 

 its essay committee, Mr. Wallace, to in- 

 vite me to address you on a subject that, 

 it seems to me, is of absorbing interest, 

 not only to the members of our craft, 

 who have the welfare of horticulture at 

 heart, but to every amateur, to every 

 private gardener, to every man and 

 woman throughout the land, whose love 

 for the beautiful and the ornamental in 

 nature can neither be gainsaid nor 

 ignored. 



The proposed national or international 

 flower show, to be held at Chicago dur- 

 ing the month of November, 1908, will 

 unquestionably prove an epoch-making 

 event in the history of horticulture. 



And right here the thought occurs to 

 me, that, unless we put forth our best 

 efforts and our utmost energies, bearing 

 in mind that upon the success or failure 

 of this first attempt hinges the future 

 of an industry involving millions of dol- 

 lars; unless we stand shoulder to 

 shoulder and work for the common good 

 of all, each according to his means and 

 might; unless we do this, I say, we shall 

 have no right to enter the ranks of pro- 

 gressive business men. 



It was nearly two years ago, at Wash- 

 ington, that E. G. Hill, "the sage" of 

 Bichmond, Ind., first broached the sub- 

 ject of a national flower show. His ob- 

 servations on the European continent, 

 where such shows are held annually un- 

 der the auspices of royal and national 

 horticultural societies — as in England 

 and France, for example — led him to 

 believe that an enterprise of this sort, 

 undertaken by the Society of American 

 Florists and given under the auspices of 

 the American sovereigns — the people — 

 could not help but prove a success. 



And how, I will ask in passing, could 

 it prove otherwise? 



Objections Answered. 



As a matter of course, opinions pro 

 and con were freely expressed on all 

 sides. There were those who predicted 

 inevitable failure, basing their predic- 

 tions upon no other reasons than such 

 as presented themselves to their dis- 

 torted, pessimistic imaginations. "Why, 

 indeed, should a national flower show be 

 thought of at all? Why? Haven't we 

 plenty of local shows of all kinds, ' ' 

 they reasoned, "that never pay?" 



"And who would benefit by this na- 

 tional show, anyway? Men who have 

 something to sell, of course. It is all 

 nonsense, ' ' they concluded, ' ' and * there 

 is nothing to it." 



There were others, however, who took 

 a broader, a much broader view of the 

 situation, whose mental vision was in no 

 wise circumscribed by petty jealousies 

 or selfish motives of one sort or another, 

 who could see at a glance the great pos- 

 sibilities for the advancement of hor- 

 ticulture, who could realize the inesti- 

 mable opportunities and advantages that 

 would accrue to our interests, who, in 

 brief, took a retrospective view of hor- 

 ticulture, comparing the present with the 

 past and drawing their conclusions as to 

 the future. Kindled by an enthusiasm 

 well worthy of the cause, there was soon 

 formed a small circle of men, who were, 

 so to speak, carried away by the idea, 

 and a subscription list for the necessary 

 premium guarantee fund was started. 



