Januaby 21. 1009. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST...... 



THE VACANT CHAIR. 



The chair of roses and orchids is an 

 elaborate design, requiring much careful 

 work, savoring more of the mechanical 

 than of the artistic. It is, however, a 

 necessary design in that it is often called 

 for, and the illustration gives it in its 

 least hideous form. It is one of the 

 funeral designs by Charles Henry Fox, 

 photographed at the Sign of the Eose, 

 Philaiclplna. Mr. Fox 's expression when 

 shown this photograph said more clear- 

 ly than words: "I sometimes have to 

 <lo this sort of thing, though I wish it 

 were otherwise." Phil. 



STEAM ON SHOW WINDOWS. 



What can be done to keep the steam 

 and frost from forming on a florist's 

 show window? C. B. 



You will find that in any store in which 

 the air is warmer than outdoors, the 

 windows will at times be covered with 

 steam, especially during the winter 

 months. Even in dry-goods and clothing 

 stores, where there is practically no 

 dampness, they experience the same 

 trouble. 



This steaming of the windows is due 

 to 'the condensation of the watery vapors 

 in the atmosphere, this condensation 

 being brought about by the vapors com- 

 ing in contact with the glass, which is 

 colder than the interior of the room. 

 Grocers and butchers have much trouble 

 with steam on the windows, but flo- 

 rists probably get the limit. 



During severe weather this continual 

 moisture on the glass freezes and one 

 layer upon the other is formed, in time 

 producing a heavy coating of ice, usually 

 thickest at the bottom, for the moisture 

 has a tendency to run down on the 

 glass. 



There are various schemes for obviating 

 this trouble by causing a passage of 

 air on the inside of the windows, as, for 

 instance, small ventilators at the top of 

 the windows, or a number of holes 

 drilled through the window- frame at the 

 bottom. Electric fans in motion are also 

 resorted to, but this scheme can hardly 

 be adopted in a florist's window. This 

 current of air prevents steaming, as it 

 produces a continual change in the layer 

 of air coming in contact with the glass. 



Some florists have theii* windows con- 

 structed in such a way that there is an 

 opening between the floor of the window 

 and the sill, and warm air from a steam 

 or hot water pipe underneath the floor 

 of the window coming through this open- 

 'ing prevents the steam from freezing or 

 obscuring the view. 



; Unless your wilidows are so constructed 

 as to prevent steam forming, you will have 

 to resort to other methods. An applica- 

 tion of a solution of two-thirds alcohol 

 and one-third glycerine applied lightly 

 to the glass will keep the moisture from 

 freezing, but this solution is in itself a 

 nuisance, as it gives the glass an unclear 

 appearance. 



I have found the best cure to be cold 

 water applied freely to the glass. Just 

 take an ordinary sprayer and flood some 

 water down the inside of the window. 

 Doing this once or twice a day, usually 

 toward evening, you will find suflicient. 



THE ART OF BUYING. 



I give my ideas on buying not as an 

 expert, but timidly, with the knowledge 

 that it is the bachelor who writes on 

 "How to Bring Up Children." Yet 

 there is encouragement in the thought 

 that it is the married people who read 

 what the bachelor writes, showing clearly 

 that they know the difiiculty of the prob- 

 lem and are eager for suggestions that 

 may aid them in its solution. 



The vast increase in the production 

 and consumption of Cut flowers has (tre- 

 ated a field for the buyer; a position re- 

 quiring as much judgment, tact and, 

 above all, knowledge as any position for 

 which many men devote four years of 



The Vacant Chair. 



Should the window be so constructed 

 that water cannot be applied freely, then 

 the only remedy I can suggest is to 

 wipe off the steam from time to time 

 with a cold sponge or cloth. H. S. 



[If any reader has a better method, 

 the Review would be glad to receive 

 a letter describing it.] 



college training. A past master in the 

 art of buying is as deserving the degree 

 of B. A. as is a college graduate. 



The principal requirements for a suc- 

 cessful buyer are: First, the ability to 

 locate stock of the desired quality and 

 quantity to meet his special needs; sec- 

 ond, the ability to attract and hold the 



