The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JuNB 24, 1000. 



tention. One might think that with the 

 limited number of colors in greenhouse 

 flowers for each season, there would not 

 be many opportunities for blunders in 

 color combinations. But after a glance 

 at some of the show windows or store 

 displays, and the vases of assorted flow- 

 ers sent out every day, as well as funeral 

 work, the impression grows stronger that 

 one without a native taste in color has 

 made the mistake of his life in choosing 

 this work. 



No set of rules or course of instruc- 

 tion can implant the taste within one. 

 Education may develop an artist from 

 a man with a small endowment, and ob- 

 servation and experience may enlarge 

 his sense of color, but he must have the 

 love of it and a keen, discriminative 

 appreciation of its beauty before he can 

 achieve much. A lack of interest in 

 color or an indifference to color liar- 

 mony is a sufficient reason for choos- 

 ing some other vocation. A gleam of 

 talent will show itself now and then 

 and eventually grow into a passion for 

 the beauties of color, which shall be 

 sensitive to a slight violation of color 

 harmony and quick in appreciation of 

 even the most delicate shadings. 



Gertrude Blair. 



THE STARRY BANNER. 



The flag design is one almost always 

 conspicuous at the funeral of any public 

 man. It is not the easiest of designs to 

 make, because it almost always has a 

 rectangular stiflness that makes it one 

 of the most mechanical of floral reproduc- 

 tions; indeed, it is almost impossible to 

 make anything artistic of such an ar- 



worth the money, while giving a good 

 profit to the florist. 



The accompanying illustration is repro- 

 duced from a photograph of a flag made 

 by Saxe & Floto, Waterbury, Conn., for 

 the funeral of Governor Lilly, whose por- 

 trait was placed at the bottom of the 

 design, between the feet of the easel. 

 Saxe & Floto endeavored to get away 

 from the straight lines by representing 

 the flag as waving. The stripes were 

 made of Eichmond roses and White En- 

 chantress carnations. The blue ground 

 for the stars was of violets, with white 

 carnations for stars. The design was 

 one of the largest at the funeral and 

 gave much satisfaction to those who or- 

 dered it, the Business Men 's Association 

 of the town. 



SEASONABLE ADVICE. 



The Vagaries of the Weather. 



Our weather so far this season, here 

 in the state of New York, seems to be 

 unusually changeable, going to extremes 

 every few days. For a day or so it is 



Flag Made by Saxe & FIoto> Waterbury^ Conn. 



rangement. At the same time, the order 

 for the floral flag is almost always the 

 result of the taking up of a collection; 

 it is a big, showy affair that looks to be 



hot and dry, drying out the ground with 

 great rapidity, owing to the high winds 

 that accompany nearly every change in 

 temperature. By the next day, perhaps, it 



rains, and down drops the temperature, 

 falling many degrees in a few hours. 

 And how it does rain much of the time! 

 Take our last rain, June 17, for instance 

 — over two inches and a half in about 

 twelve hours. This means a hard pack- 

 ing and washing of the soil, and then 

 when the sun gets to work, assisted by 

 the wind, the soil at once forms a hard 

 crust that is detrimental to all plant 

 growth — so detrimental that the culti- 

 vator should be at once started, the crust 

 broken up and the soil gotten into good 

 working order, giving the roots a chance 

 to breathe. 



The passing years only confirm the les- 

 son learned long ago, but one that it is 

 hard to teach many people, and that is, 

 that constant, thorough, careful cultiva- 

 tion is worth nearly, if not quite, as 

 much as water and manure, in the suc- 

 cessful growth of a plant crop, be it 

 violets, carnations or * ' garden sass. ' ' 

 Yes, I am positive I would rather have 

 an undersupply of water and manure, 

 and what you might call an oversupply 

 of cultivation, than the reverse. 



Stirring the Soil. 



If you have dry weather, the constant 

 stirring of the soil, keeping it fine and 

 loose, causes it to catch every particle 

 of dew, conserving it for the plants. 

 The loose surface soil also serves as a 

 mulch for the soil underneath, keeping 

 it cool and moist and in shape to receive 

 the dews or any slight showers that 

 chance to come, and as a result you will 

 often be astonished at the growth the 

 plants will make, when it seems too dry 

 weather for anything to do more than 

 stand still. 



If you are one of those persons that 

 doubt the full value of this, convince 

 yourself by a careful experiment for one 

 season. Divide a patch into sections, 

 giving one part constant, thorough culti- 

 vation and another only your ordinary 

 treatment, having other conditions all 

 alike, and you will be convinced. I 

 will miss my guess if in a short time the 

 contrast is not so great as to attract the 

 attention of even casual observers. And 

 do not let this work slip by from day 

 to day, thinking that as you do not see 

 many weeds in the patch and there is so 

 much else to do, tomorrow will be time 

 enough. Today is the time, and you 

 would better neglect the other thing, 

 whatever it may be, rather than not have 

 your stock for fall planting in first-class 

 condition, as you cannot have it too good 

 for a successful, satisfactory crop. 



Cutting the Runners. 



Again, violets, like strawberries, can 

 never be depended upon to throw run- 

 ners just when you would like to have 

 them do so. If you are having the 

 showers that we are having in this sec- 

 tion, you will probably find the runners 

 starting before you expect, and as it 

 takes the strength of the plant to strike 

 these, you should keep a sharp lookout for 

 them and remove them at once, otherwise 

 you will not get the heavy, strong, stocky 

 crown that you desire for winter forcing. 

 And again, to reiterate what I have said 

 often before, do not leave this to be 

 done by cheap, careless help, for if you 

 do they will probably tear and break 

 them off in a careless manner, detrimen- 

 tal to the health of the plant, and next 

 winter, if not before, you will awaken 

 to the fact that such help is expensive 

 in the long run. Therefore, if you have 

 not absolutely trustworthy help, that you 

 can rely on to do the work just as you 



