OCTOBKK 17, 1007. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST. 



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FUNERAL WORK. 



Trimming a Casket With Loose Flowers. 



JJeforc yoinjj into dotails in i^^jrard 

 to tlie makiiiff of casket covers, J will 

 suggest and describe a way of trimming 

 a casket that will appeal to tiie smaller 

 pocketbook. The plan I would suggest 

 is trimming the casket loosely with 

 flowers at the funeral house. Select 

 about six or eight dozen roses, carna- 

 tions or almost any flower of medium 

 size, and a suitable green, then take 

 some green silkaline and some strong 

 pins and proceed to the funeral house. 



First form a garland arouml tlie glass 

 plate with the flowers and green, fasten- 

 ing these firmly in place with the pins, 

 which you can stick under the cloth cov- 

 ering of the casket. Then cover the 

 lower end of tiie casket in tiie same 

 manner, arranging the flowers as loosely 

 as possible. To hold them more securely 

 in place, di'aw a })ie('e of silkaline across 

 them about every eight or ten inches, 

 fastening the silkaline on (>acli side with 

 a pin. Stick the pin through tiie clolii. 

 allowing both the point and head to 

 show about a quarter of an incii, and 

 wind the string aroiuul this. 



Jn this manner you can trim a cas- 

 ket nicely for a small sum as foin[iared 

 with the cost of tlio regular cover. Of 

 course, when a customer wants a cover, 

 do not suggest this substitut<' unless tlie 

 customer is unwilling or unable to pay 

 for the more expensive work. 



Casket Covers. 



for a few words about casket 

 or blankets, as they arc often 

 These are made in mmli the 

 same way as panels, I.mt of course on a 

 more elaborate scale. Tlwy an- made 

 in various styles and almost any (lower 

 can be used. 



Let lis first consider the t'ranie or 

 the body of the cover. For this purpose 

 wire frames are used by most of the 



florists, but a better .-UhI lis>^ exiie|i'<i\e 



way is to use cloth or wire netting. 



When you desire to make a eoxer of 

 a small flower, such as the violet or sweet 

 pea, you will find that a piece of dark 

 green cloth — denim or oxerall goods, 

 as it is eonunonlv < ailed will work 

 well. 



I'.efore going any farther, it will be 

 necessarv to make, out of some jiieces of 

 \\oo(| cut from strips 1x1' indies in tliiek- 

 iiess, a frame upon \\liiih to stretrli the 

 eloth. Leave the hitter a little larger 

 he desired size of the ro\er and 

 it to the frame with a few- 

 Then pl:i(-e one end of the frame 

 work bench and the other end on 

 a high desk-stool or st;ind, so yon can 

 get underneath with yoin- han<ls. Have 

 'Uie of your iissist !iiit s jiut the \iolets 

 up into little biinclii's of about ten eaidi, 

 tying a few violet le.aves in with them, 

 ^ew these sm.'ill biiiiehes to the cloth 

 ^vith some green string, jilaeing the 

 little liumdies just close enough together 

 so that thev will co\er well. I'.egin 



Now 

 covers, 

 called. 



than 

 fasten 

 lacks, 

 on the 



at the outside and work toward the cen- 

 ter. No extra green or ferns will be 

 necessary. 



A very fine cover of ;ill sniilax can 

 be made by fastening the sniilax to 

 some denil. In this style of cover 

 the cloth should hang w<dl over the 

 sides of the casket. Sew or pin — with 

 safcty-jiins — the smilax to the cloth in 

 the full length of the strings. Wire 

 netting is used in the same way, but 

 usually for larger flowers, such as roses, 

 earnations, asters, etc. You will find 

 it handier to fasten the IIowims to tiie 

 netting with wire instead of sewing, 

 as in the (doth. For this jiurpose T 

 usually bend some 6-inch lengths of Xo. 

 124 wire into square-shaped fasteners, 

 similar to hairpins, but about two inches 

 wide at the toji .and square at the cor- 

 ners. These will eiialile you to fasten 

 several flowers at the same time. Always 

 insert the wire from underneath and tie 

 at the top. so as not to leave a lot of 

 <'nds to ciitcli ill everything. 



It will be well |i l;iy a few fiMli 

 leaves lietwceli ti'e ll-iwels :!inl the iiet- 



;U)x4(i iiu-hes ymi will find will be just 

 about right for covering the lower end 

 of a casket. 



Of course, if you are ]ilanniiig on 

 iii.aking a coNcr with galax leaves as 

 a background, you will have to use a 

 wire frame, for, as in the jianel, you 

 will need moss to hidd the fern-pins 

 or toothpicks. .\s 1 lie wire frames used 

 for the covers an^ usually made to ex- 

 tend over the edges of the casket, they 

 are somewhat diflicult to moss. The best 

 way is to moss the sides first and then 

 the top. 



l"''or large flowers, such as lilies, large 

 chrysanthemums, etc., it is advisable, in 

 my estimation, to use a wire frame, as 

 you niay experience trouble in fasten- 

 ing the flowers tightly on the netting. 



It is always advisable to make a 

 cover in two separate pieces- that is, 

 when a whole casket is to be co\ered—- 

 as it is nuu'h easier to handle. Wiien 

 it is desired to cover a casket down 

 to the very e<lge or ]>art-way down the 

 sides, in using cloth or netting all you 

 have to do is to get the piec(> large 

 enough. Of course, in a stiff wire fi-aiiie 

 it is desirable to have the siile ami 

 end pieces separate. 



As you go along making up panels 

 and covers, it is a good |daii to keep 

 exact count of the number of flowers 

 re(|uired for the different sizes of pieces. 

 In this \\;\y you <-au soon manage to 

 have ;i sort of refereiK-e list to turn 

 to when asked the jirice of these de- 

 signs. ( )f course, the quantity of 

 tlowers i-e(|uire(| di'pends to a large ex- 

 ♦'-"' otioii the size and closeness of the 



The Ca&k<t Cover. 



ting. Theie are several i-e;isoiis Avliy the 

 cloth or the wirt^ netting is preferable 

 to the stitV wire cover. ( )iie of these 

 reasons is tlie conqiarative chcai>ness 

 of the cloth or netting, and anotiier rea- 

 son is the flexibility of these materials, 

 which allows them to ronfoini naturally 

 \vitli the to|) of till' casket. 



Ill some c;ises customers lia\e e\eii 

 asked to liiive the cover laid crosswise, 

 tlnis giving iiioie tl t1Vct of a rug 



of tlovveis. 



A |ile(-e lit' cloth or netting llliollt 



work: nevertheless, it i> writ in have 

 records to refer to. IIL(.0 S( llKtiKlKi;. 



A SIGN OF THE TIMES. 



It must be gratifying to thn-e en- 

 gaged ill the coinnierce ot' lloliillltllli' 1(1 



notice how rapidly lloweis ;iie taking 

 the place not long ago occii|iie(| by imita- 

 tion monstrosities of paper .•tiid i-otton 

 fabrics. The bet ter <-l;iss hotels, of 

 i-ouise. are ot'teii beautifully decorated 

 with plants ;ni.| lloweis, but diuiiig the 



