Jdnb 20, 1907. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



n 



experimenting with a longer application 

 of the gas, we reduced the strength. Most 

 growers now use the formula, one pint 

 of water, one pint of sulphuric acid, and 

 two and one-half ounces of cyanide potas- 

 sium, to each . 1,500 cubic feet of air, 

 when they leave the gas in the house all 

 night. This has frequently been de- 

 clared safe by writers in the Review, 

 but it has been our experience that it 

 sometimes bums the foliage. Our drug- 

 gist says the potassium cyanide always 

 is all right and we try to use the gas 

 when the house is dry and little wind 

 blowing. Why we do not get uniform re- 

 sults we can not tell. H. O. 



Protection From Hail. 



On June 14 this part of Missouri — in 

 the vicinity of Joplin — was swept by a 



fierce hail storm. H. A. Hall's green- 

 houses were damaged to the extent of 

 $2,500. The place at which I am fore- 

 man, the Poundstone Greenhouse, suf- 

 fered a loss of about $100. Edward 

 Teas and B. F. Crumm got off luckily, 

 with little or no damage. The occur- 

 rence put a novel idea in my head. As 

 hail insurance is expensive, we are go- 

 ing to cover our greenhouses with woven 

 wire, commonly called chicken wire. I 

 think that by dipping the wire in paint 

 before fastening, we can make it last 

 about five years. Of course we have to 

 remove the wire in the fall of the year. 

 What do you think about it? 



I have worked in France, Germany 

 and Italy, but never before found a 

 journal so full of practical wisdom as 

 the Keview. Arthur De Lorme. 



ixTL^iriarxnri^Ttr^zgis.Y ^.v v.v^r i^vi.^:^Lj;:£iy: 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST...... 



J 



RETAILEES' ADVERTISING. 



Reproduced herewith is an advertise- 

 ment which would be a credit to any 

 retail fiorist. There is an impression 

 among some of the leading retailers that 

 the ethics are violated by the kind of 

 newspaper advertising done in other 

 lines of business. Whether or not it 

 detracts from the "tone" of an estab- 

 lishment to cater for business outside 

 the select circles, the business which de- 

 pends only upon the upper class can 

 never grow beyond certain closely de- 

 fined limits. The business which attains 

 its largest development must draw its 

 patronage from the great middle class. 

 These are the ones who read the news- 

 papers and whose support may be gained 

 through dignified advertising. 



Mr. Ludwig, although he conducts, so 

 far as is recorded, the only all night 

 flower store in the United States, does 

 business on a dignified basis, and the 

 dignity of his establishment is well main- 

 tained by the advertisement here cited. 

 Its publication in the newspapers of 

 Pittsburg, Allegheny and surrounding 

 towns has kept his name and facilities 

 before one of the richest flower buying 

 communities in the United States. Of 

 course, he changes the illustration and 

 text of his advertisement from season to 

 season, the June advertisement being es- 

 pecially appropriate to the season of 

 weddings. 



'TIS DEAHNESS ONLY. 



What we obtain too cheap we esteem too 

 lightly; it Is dearness only that glres erery- 

 thing Ita ralue. 



These words, spoken of human liberty, 

 are as true today as they were when, in 

 1776, Thomas Paine employed them in 

 conjunction with that phrase, "These 

 are the times that try men's souls," 

 which has gone into the electrotype of 

 human speech. 



It would be well for every florist to 

 bear constantly in mind that "it is dear- 

 ness only that gives everything its 

 value." Cheapness is not one of the 

 things for which a florist should make 



effort. Comment often has been made 

 that a certain flower lost its salability 

 in stores of the better class as soon as it 

 became so cheap that it could be sold 

 upon the streets. But, while every flo- 

 rist should seek to raise the prices of 

 his stock rather than to lower them, it 





WCflPINO-^ 

 'OeCORATION; 



Por church or home — we are 

 equipped to serve your every 

 jiccd. 



No place where the assorltiicnt 

 is greater — the flowers fresher 

 or tile prices low««r than here — 

 All work (lone by experts — We 

 specialize on VVc<l<liiiK, Dinner, 

 Ivuncheon and PuOcral designs. 

 Send for catalog. 



E. C. LUDWIG, TkcnorMt 



710 KAST DIAMOND ST. 

 riioiics:IkI1876Cc<lar.r.&A. 876 North 



ALLEGHENY. PA. 

 Store op«n all nickt 



Stands— Allegheny Market 



A Retailer's June Advertisement. 



does not follow that he should lose sight 

 of the necessity of doing it by im- 

 proving its quality. In other words, in- 

 trinsic worth must go with increased 

 prices. You cannot educate the people 

 to pay higher prices for poor flowers, but 

 you may easily lead them to an appre- 

 ciation of the fact that good flowers are 

 better value than cheap ones. 



There is no flower store, no matter 

 what the character of its community, but 

 what can do its share toward increasing 

 the public appreciation of value in flow- 

 ers. It always is possible to show a 

 few carnations or roses which are just 

 a little better than the ordinary line of 

 stock handled in a store. Few buyers 

 will fail to see the difference and, as 

 time goes on and their buying powers in- 

 crease, they will not only take, but insist 

 upon having, the better grades. 



THE MISSION OF FLORISTS. 



I intend that the name of my place, 

 "The Model Greenhouse," shall mean 

 just what it says. Eight years ago I 

 started with one house, 20x80 feet, in 

 this town of 4,000 inhabitants, while 

 today I have over 9,000 feet of glass 

 and will build more this fall. I raise 

 nothing but specimen plants, and by so 

 doing I have created such a demand for 

 fine plants that prices are no longer in 

 the way, even with people of limited 

 means. But the undeniable fact remains 

 that many in our trade insist on num- 

 bers, boasting of their ability to grow 

 5,000 plants in a 2,000-plant house, but 

 never say a word of the trash they have 

 left and throw away at the end of each 

 season. Such florists are no credit to 

 our noble profession; they lower or de- 

 stroy the trade in their respective locali- 

 ties. 



In my opinion, the intelligent florist 

 stands as high in the scale of art as 

 does the composer, author, inventor or 

 scientist. The intelligent florist is a 

 person who does more to refine the taste 

 of the. people generally than do those 

 engaged in any other known art or pro- 

 fession. And why! Because the funda- 

 mental principles of floriculture rest 

 upon nature itself; there can be no imi- 

 tation, without immediate detection; it 

 is the oldest and most noble of the arts, 

 and doubtless the one most envied by 

 those who have not been endowed by 

 nature with that fine sense that under- 

 stands the nature of plants, and by a 

 single glance' is able to diagnose their 

 various ailments. To demonstrate the 

 truth of my statement, it is only neces- 

 sary to visit some isolated spot of moun- 

 tainous backwoods; there you see no 

 cultivated flowers, music, books nor any 

 of the civilizing influences inherent in 

 city life. What is the result? Why, 

 when one of these people visits a town, 

 you can point him out among a thousand. 



The savage needs no flowers; no, a 

 pile of leaves to crawl into at night, and 

 a club to defend his worthless life 

 against the denizens of the wilds, is all 

 he needs. He has no desire to better his 

 condition. Now, suppose that a well 

 trained landscape gardener could in the 

 midst of the savages' nomadic habita- 

 tions lay out one of those fine parks we 

 find in our large cities; what do you 

 think would be the result T Simply this, 

 as soon as one of these savages would 

 find that park laid out in order he would 

 be so astonished at the strange sight that 

 he would run and impart the fact to the 

 whole tribe and that park would become 

 the center of civilization — the Eden of 

 savages. They would begin to think, 

 wondering how it all came about. But 

 this would not be the end; the most in- 

 telligent would begin to imitate parts 

 of it and possibly try to preserve the 

 original, and thus would to some extent 

 become civilized without their knowledge. 

 Having found such a pleasant spot, each 



