January 16, 1908. 



ThcWecfcly Florists' Review. 



.vi.Yii^ri-Yi.Yi^'Tiiriiiri;^!. 



THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



tif^>H^^t<^ 



McKINLEY DAY. 



January 29 is McKinley day, or Car- 

 nation day, as the trade would like to 

 have it known. 



Every retail florist should do his part 

 to help in the work of establishing the 

 custom of honoring McKinley 's memory 

 by wearing a carnation January 29. Ee- 

 tailers who are following the commend- 

 able practice of doing some regular news- 

 paper advertising should see to it that 

 their copy is changed to call attention 

 to Carnation day, and where no news- 

 paper advertising is done, a sign in the 

 window at least may be used. There 

 ought to be a picture of McKinley in 

 the window of every flower store Janu- 

 ary 29, and the flowers in the windows 

 should be carnations. 



Carnation day this year is specially 

 worthy of working up because the sup- 

 ply of the flower is much heavier than 

 it usually is at this date and carnations 

 can be sold cheaper. A florist can well 

 afford to start the practice on the morn- 

 ing of January 29 by decorating his 

 friends and the passers-by in the early 

 hours. An example goes far. Last year 

 one enterprising man put a carnation in 

 the button-hole of every street-car em-' 

 jiloyee when the car left the barns in 

 the morning, and in another town the 

 florist fitted out each policeman with a 

 l)outonniere. 



Do your part, but don't raise prices. 



ODORS IN FLOWER STORE. 



What effect has the odor of steam 

 from a laundry on cut flowers and 

 plants? The reason I ask this question 

 is that the store next to me is vacant 

 .and the partition between the stores is 

 only of lath and plaster. If there 19 

 any odor in the adjoining store it comes 

 through to my store, and I understand 

 the landlord has rented the vacant room 

 to a Chinese laundry. If this is true I 

 believe I shall have to vacate. C. M. 



It seems to me the question is not so 

 much as to the effect of the odor of a 

 Chinese laundry on cut flowers and 

 plants as it is the effect on the proprie- 

 tor and on the customers. Whatever else 

 a flower store may be, it should smell 

 sweetly. If the Chinamen start opera- 

 tions under the conditions you describe, 

 you doubtless will see a falling off in 

 your trade, which will justify you in re- 

 moval. And this is to say nothing of the 

 fact that a lover of flowers, such as a 

 flower store proprietor must necessarily 

 be, would not care to spend his days in 

 the atmosphere of a Chinese laundry. 



H.O. 



THE BROKEN COLUMN. 



With the average rural florist the pil- 

 low is made more often than any other 

 design. With city florists the spray or 

 flat bunch is made oftener than any other 

 arrangement of funeral flowers, but in 

 small towns the wire frame still is the 

 beginning of the execution of almost 



every order. Next to the pillow, and 

 when something a little more elaborate, 

 or expensive, is wanted, the broken col- 

 umn often is called for. 



The accompanying illustration is from 

 a photograph of a column made by Claud 

 Wisely, of Murphysboro, 111. It shows 

 the simplest form of this design, which 

 may be elaborated in a large number of 

 ways, by the addition of loosely arranged, 



column, but this column is not broken. 

 The significance is that life is broken off, 

 and it should be indicated by a somewhat 

 irregularly slanting top, filled in with a 

 slightly deeper shade of flowers than is 

 used for the solid body of the column. 

 If white roses are used for the column, 

 the broken top should be of Uncle John, 

 or something to convey the same idea of 

 a break. 



GALAX LEAVES. 



I will be grateful to you if you will 

 advise as to the care of galax leaves. 

 Can they be too cold and what is the 

 best way to freshen or soak them? 



Ambitious Greenhorn. 



Jobbers carry galax leaves in cold 

 storage or, if small quantities are to be 

 carried for only a short time, the bunches 

 are set in shallow vessels of water, so 



Broken G>Iumn, by Claude Wisely, Murphysboro, lU. 



long-stemmed flowers .and foliage at the 

 base, or by the addition of a circling 

 garland of flowers and foliage. 



There is one point in which the piece 

 illustrated misses the fundamental idea 

 of the design. It is called a broken 



that only the stems will be immersed, 

 and the dishes set in any cool place. 

 If galax leaves have turned black, the 

 dump is the place for them. When Am- 

 bitious Greenhorn can buy 1,000 galax 

 leaves for $1, he need not bother about 



