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Febeuary 18, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



A Unique Decoration for an Unusually Large Round Table. 



that which most forcefully appeals to 

 their fancy. An ornate establishment is 

 not all that is needed to insure a good 

 business, but it goes a long way in at- 

 tracting the best buyers. The interior of 

 the store is trimmed in silver lairch, 

 even the ceiling being covered with it. 

 Not everyone will approve the way the 

 baskets, hampers, zinc-lined plant re- 

 ceptacles and other fancy articles are 

 displayed upon wall and ceiling — espe- 

 cially ceiling — for their presence there 

 might produce an unpleasant sense of 

 something impending, and the ladies 

 wearing headgear of 1909 proportions 

 might not care to risk the upward glance, 

 if actual inspection is intended, but the 

 effect is novel. The display case for cut 

 flowers is located at one side of the store 

 and can be entered from three sides. It 

 was specially designed and built for the 

 store by the McCray Refrigerator Co. 

 A conservatory was long ago recognized 

 as an important adjunct of an up-to-date 

 establishment and now the modern stores 

 are being fitted up with hardly less use- 

 ful demonstrating rooms. Tlie stairway 

 at the center leads to such rooms on the 

 second floor of the Zieger building. 



FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 



New York is the city to which one 

 looks for the unique in the decorator's 

 art. In no other city of the United States 

 are there so many calls upon the florists 

 for something out of the ordinary. And 

 nothing so tries the skill of the decorator 

 as the demand for novelty, for the un- 

 tried and the unconventional, especially 

 if the idea is conceived by another and 

 the florist only called upon to execute the 

 details. The more unique a decoration 

 is, the more likely it is to lack in the es- 

 sential elements of artistic perception 

 and in the accompanying illustration, re- 

 producing a photograph showing a deco- 

 ration by Charles Thorley, the part of 

 the work to be commended is not that 



closest to the diners. The feature of the 

 decoration most striking at first, glance 

 was the use of fruits upon the table in 

 place of flowers. This certainly was not 

 the idea of a leading artist in the ar- 

 rangement of flowers, but may have had a 

 special significance, not apparent in the 

 mere statement that the decoration was 

 for a dinner tendered to Lady Paget, by 

 Townsend Mantin, at the Hotel Plaza, 

 New York, January 31. 



The round table is remarkable for its 

 size, seating fifty-five persons, and the 

 floral features of the decoration are ex- 

 cellent. Wild smilax was used to break 

 the whiteness of the ornate walls and 

 the palms and ferns employed in banking 

 the corners were specimen plants, but the 

 cherry tree in the center of the table was 

 the best part of the decoration. The 

 tree was twenty feet in height and had a 

 spread of twenty-five feet. The tree it- 

 self was made by Reed & Keller, leaving 

 the cherries and cherry blossoms to be 

 attached by the decorator. Beneath the 

 table a base five feet in diameter gave a 

 solid footing for the tree, the trunk 

 being made of heavy iron piping wound 

 with cane and covered with electric tape. 

 A special point was the natural way in 

 which the branches of heavy wire were 

 attached to the trunk. The tape used for 

 winding was subsequently colored to rep- 

 resent the natural appearance of the 

 bark of a cherry tree. Ripe cherries and 

 cherry blossoms are not usually found on 

 the same tree, but in this case poetic 

 license permitted the decorator to 

 heighten the effect of his piece de resist- 

 ance by the use of both. 



Taken altogether, this is undoubtedly 

 one of the most unique of the many not- 

 able decorations which have been put on 

 by the leading New York retailers at the 

 Plaza hotel, the gathering place of New 

 York's wealthiest people. 



WHITE FLY. 



In reply to the inquiry by C. T. O., in 

 the Review of January 21, with refer- 

 ence to white fly on his ageratums, I 

 would suggest that he get some Whale 

 Oil Caustic Potash Soap, dissolve it at 

 the rate of two ounces to the gallon of 

 water (to be used before it gets cold), 

 and spray any plants that have eggs on 

 their leaves, also giving the plants in 

 pots or beds enough of the mixture to 

 wet down at least half an inch. I find 

 the best way to do this is to use a sprink- 

 ler on the watering pot. 



I had tomatoes next to the greenhouse 

 last summer and they were just covered 

 with white fly. When the cool weather 

 came they got inside, and I had what I 

 might call a glorious supply of them early 

 this winter. I tried several remedies. I 

 did not want to use hydrocyanic acid 

 gas, and having had complete success 

 with this soap upon trees and shrubs for 

 San Jose scale, I thought I would try it 

 also for the white fly. The result is that 

 today there is not a white fly to be seen. 

 Where I found no eggs on the leaves I 

 (lid not spray, but I watered everything 

 — adiantums, orchids, etc. — and saw no 

 bad eflfect. The mixture will kill the fly 

 grub in the earth and the eggs on the 

 leaves, and if used two or three times, 

 two weeks apart, there will be no more 

 white fly to be seen. 



As near as I can judge, the life of the 

 fly is about six weeks. 



If C. T. O. tries this mixture and has 

 the success that I had, I hope he will 

 report in the Review. I have not seen 

 this Whale Oil Caustic Potash Soap ad- 

 vertised in any of the seed catalogues, 

 but found it in one of the Boston seed 

 houses. Wm. Pittendreigh. 



The Review sends the Florists' Man- 

 ual, by Wra. Scott, postpaid, for $5. 



FiNDLAY, O. — It is reported that the 

 Youngstown Floral Co., with headquar- 

 ters at 505 Madison street, Toledo, may 

 locate a ^anch establishment in this city. 



