8 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



Deckmbek 2, 1909. 



and don't do at it. If you are pretend- 

 ing to make an anchor, make a true one; 

 if you start out to make a triangle, do 

 not be too delicate about sharp points. 

 Either make your formal pieces distinct 

 and legible or do not make them at all. 

 Do not lose your design in confusion be- 

 fore it is completed. Let these formal 

 pieces be positive and clear-cut. The 

 loose style is never going to develop char- 

 acter or individuality in designing. Do 

 not be afraid of something that looks 

 like a point or a bold outline. 



Because pieces are loose, it is not nec- 

 essarily true that they are artistic. There 

 is such a thing as looseness which 

 amounts to slovenliness, and neatness 

 may be a twin of artistic worth. 



The only place where the loose arrange- 

 ment shines is in large pieces, and there 

 its fault is that it is not loose enough. 

 Loosen it out some more; give the roses 

 and mums and carnations more stem. 

 Give them a uniform outline if it is an 

 intricate piece, and then give the loose 

 style full play, letting the looseness 

 break out and fall over in showers and 

 sprays and all kinds of wild forms. 



The Happy Middle Grouad. 



But what is the happy medium between 

 the too solid and the too loose effects? 

 In avoiding the fault of indistinctness, is 

 there not danger that there will be too 

 much formality and no suggestion left to 

 imagination? "Well, take that first de- 

 sign mentioned — the wreath. Do enough 

 strict outlining to distinguish the form 

 of the wreath and then continue to finish 

 the piece in some definite form of design, 

 as a spray of roses tapering to a point 

 as it follows around the wreath, or two 

 sprays crossed and tied on one side, with 

 the two points coming close together, or 

 a series of clusters with spaces of the 

 background showing between. 



With the anchor use a more strict out- 

 line throughout. Make the standard a 

 straight line, fairly heavy. Make the 

 ring at the top very wide and the flukes 

 decidedly sharp at the points and heavy 

 again where they join the standard. 

 Preferably this piece should be made 

 solid and relieved by a" chain of small 

 flowers on a cord, wrapped around the 

 standard. The arms in a true anchor are 

 at right angles with the standard, instead 

 of being flat, and this will necessitate 

 mounting the piece low on a base and 

 filling the base with foliage only, as its 

 best setting. An anchor thus completed 

 ought to be a popular piece. 



Monotonous Similjurjty. 



One pertinent objection to the loose 

 style of arrangement is that all the 

 pieces sent from one shop to a certain fu- 

 neral are so much like those of another 

 shop sent to the same funeral. Then 

 each of us is just like his rival. Why 

 shall our store not have its individuality 

 and our work be easily recognized? Is 

 not that an inducement for customers? 

 Style counts for a great deal in other 

 lines. And then, taking utility into con- 

 sideration, a piece more compactly ar- 

 ranged lasts better; or, rather, it does 

 not show the wear and tear so plainly as 

 one which, if a flower here and there 

 drop out of place, begins to look ragged. 



But somebody will suggest that flowers 

 should not be crowded as they are in a 

 solid piece. Who has not seen thick 

 ranks, clumps and patches of trees and 

 plants growing wild? Then mass every 

 now and then, but be careful to relieve 

 that mass by something free and easy 

 over against it, like an open space in the 

 forest which the vines have bridged over 

 and the daisies have bordered. 



Now we will listen while somebody else 

 talks a while. Yes? Gertrude Blair. 



AUTOMOBILE DELIVERY. 



A. B. Cartledge, senior member of the 

 firm of Pennock Bros., Philadelphia, 

 when asked to give an opinion on the 

 value of the automobile for the delivery 

 of plants and flowers, said : ' ' The auto- 

 mobile delivery wagon that we have been 

 using for a year is not heavy enough 

 for the purpose. Last season the manu- 

 facturers were so rushed with orders 

 for touring cars that we were unable to 

 get any one of them to originate a de- 

 livery car suitable for our purpose. We 

 got a wagon builder to make it. He 

 used the best material, but, as he had 

 no experience, it proved too light when 

 loadea with decorative plants. We are 

 still using the machine, and believe that, 

 when perfected, the automobile delivery 

 wagon will become invaluable for the 

 florists. We find that our car can make 

 three trips to Chestnut Hill, eleven miles, 

 and back without difficulty, while one 

 trip is quite as much as our team can 

 manage in a day." Phil. 



WORKING HOURS IN ENGLAND. 



If retail florists in the United States, 

 who are unrestricted except for some 

 communities which compel Sunday clos- 

 ing, were obliged to obey such regula- 

 tions as are in vogue in England, the 

 "holler" would resound through the 

 length and breadth of the land. In 

 England the so-called Factory and Work- 

 shop Act is applied to flower stores the 

 same as to boil«r shops, and it prescribes 

 conditions of service much more mi- 

 nutely than would seem tolerable in this 

 land of the free. 



In this country, outside the organized 

 trades, the hours and all other detaili 

 of employment are a matter for indi- 

 vidual agreement, but in England the 



Floral Desiens at a Recent Pittsburg: Funeral. 



