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8 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



July 11, 19«7. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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SUMMER DECORATIONS. 



Table decorations for summer lunch- 

 eons, wedding breakfasts, etc., are most 

 attractive when they are most simple. 

 The principal point is to create an im- 

 pression of fresh outdoor blossoms and 

 also to produce a decorative effect with- 

 out lapsing into the elaborate arrange- 

 ments suitable for the more important 

 social affairs of the winter. Of course 

 supreme simplicity taay be obtained by 

 the unvaried employment of bowls or bas- 

 kets of flowers for the centerpiece, or of 

 short-stemmed roses scattered over the 

 table. But although simplicity is desired, 

 variety is equally admirable, and no 

 matter how attractive a table decoration 

 may be it becomes monotonous in time, 

 so that the really enthusiastic hostess 

 feels the need of new styles if she is to 

 produce a satisfactory setting for her 

 hospitality. Study the use of other flow- 

 ers than the winter staples and it will 

 add to your reputation as a decorator. 



THE BRIDES BOUQUET. *^ 



Tl^e accompanying illustration shows a 

 simple treatment of lily of the val- 

 ley in which several single strings of 

 light smilax are used to brighten up the 

 shower. The spikes of valley arp at- 

 tached to the smilax with invisible wire 

 and give the effect of lightness. It will 

 be noticed that the scarf is embroidered 

 in sprays of valley, and point lace is 

 used to protect the hand from contact 

 with the flowers. This bouquet was car- 

 ried by Miss Billups, of Mobile, Ala., 

 who was recently married to Col. E. L. 

 Bussell, who is one of the best known 

 and most popular men in the south, and 

 who is especially a friend of the flo- 

 rists. 



KUEOKTS VEEATH. 



While our Japanese friend. General 

 Kuroki, was visiting the United States, 

 he had a force of sharp-eyed Japanese 

 on the lookout for all the monuments 

 to America's great men. Whenever one 

 of these was discovered in any city vis- 

 ited, General Kuroki took occasion to 

 show the friendship of Japan for this 

 country, and his own respect for Ameri- 

 ca's soldiers and statesmen, by placing 

 wreaths of flowers upon tombs or 

 statues. 



In Lincoln park, Chicago, there is a 

 statute of Lincoln said to be one of the 

 best works of art in any public place 

 in the United States, and here on Memo- 

 rial day. May 30, Kuroki placed the 

 wreath shown in the accompanying il- 

 lustration. The wreath was the handi- 

 work of P. J. Hauswirth and consisted 

 of cape jasmines with a knot of cattleyas 

 at the point where the orchid ribbon 

 was attached. Cape jasmines were used 

 on stems of good length, so that the 

 wreath had a loose and graceful appear- 

 ance. Not much green was necessary 

 other than the foliage of the jasmines 

 and for Memorial day purposes nothing 



better could be suggested. The wreath 

 is illustrated here for the purpose of 

 affording p, suggestion as to how a small 

 part of next year's crop of J9,smines 

 may be consumed at a good profit to re- 

 tail florists. 



Incidentally, it is worthy of mention 

 that the custom of honoring our distin- 

 guished dead by placing wreaths of 

 flowers on their tombs or statues seems 



Bride's Bouquet. 



to be left entirely to visiting foreigners. 

 It has created comment that in all the 

 years Lincoln has stood in the park 

 named for him in Chicago, only twice is 

 there public record of flowers being 

 placed at his feet. The first time was 

 when Prince Henry, of Germany, toured 

 the United States. 



Spanish Forks, Ut. — Late in the eve- 

 ning of July 3 the store of "Jex, the 

 Florist," was destroyed by fire. The 

 stock, valued at $500, was also completely 

 ruined. 



CREDITS AND COLLECTIONS. 



[A paper by T. P. Langbans, read before tbe 

 Pittsburg Florists' Club, May 7, 1907.] 



Before the notices of this meeting were 

 mailed it was decided to add some other 

 interesting subject to the program, and 

 the question of credit alone would be 

 very uninteresting to some of us. Per- 

 haps it was well to do it for this meet- 

 ing, but I believe it would be a good 

 idea if this club would sometime set 

 aside an evening for just such business 

 as this question involves. I am sure a 

 very profitable evening could be spent 

 on this and other business questions per- 

 taining to clerical work in the trade. 



There is no part of our business that 

 is being so much neglected as credit and 

 collections. It is of great importance, 

 and we must soon learn to understand the 

 conditions and the fatal results of a 

 loose system on this question. 



In many cases this is brought about 

 by that awful condition of jealousy 

 which appears to exist among those in 

 our trade. Instead of maintaining the 

 mutual relations that exist between al- 

 most all business men in other trades, 

 we are divided. Instead of helping one 

 another to stop the deadbeat from re- 

 ceiving further credit, we allow him to 

 carry on his practices until he has stuck 

 every one of us. Individually, our losses 

 are perhaps only small, but jointly they 

 amount to considerable. 



Credit AiBodatlont. 



Business men in almost every line co- 

 operate against this class of individuals 

 by exchanging items of information that 

 permit them to keep their losses down 

 to a minimum. 



A body of Pittsburg retail merchants, 

 numbering about twenty, have an asso- 

 ciation of this kind which has been in 

 existence for about three years. They 

 are now so powerful and have such a 

 smooth system that they have been en- 

 abled to reduce their bad debts sixty-five 

 per cent. 



The building trade, the trade which at 

 one time was noted for its poor pay, has 

 formed a credit association, which is also 

 working successfully, and the expense of 

 membership is but $40 per year. Do not 

 forget that the firmg connected with 

 these associations are keen competitors 

 and are after business. This proves that 

 men can be competitors and still act 

 mutually in a matter of this kind. 



In making collections one must exer- 

 cise tact and study the peculiarities of 

 different customers. Some must be 

 treated very delicately. It is said, 

 ' * What can be said can often not be 

 written"; so a personal interview is, of 

 course, preferable. 



There is no reason why you cannot 

 demand the same promptness in pay- 

 ments from your customer as the latter 

 demands from you in filling orders. This 

 especially applies between the wholesaler 

 and the retailer. 



. By collecting promptly you may lose 

 an occasional customer, but in the end 

 it will make a showing of results which 

 will appear in your ledger on the proper 

 side of the balance. 



Prompt Collections. 



A large percentage of florists are very 

 poor business men; not only are both re- 

 tail and wholesale buyers carried longer 

 than they should be, but credit is given 

 in many cases where it is wholly unwar- 

 ranted. Again, there is a certain class 

 in the craft whose intoption it is to pa^ 



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