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24 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



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December 16, 1909. 



cloth or covering should be thrown over 

 it to keep the exposed outsides from los- 

 ing the fresh green color. To dip the 

 bunches in water for a minute or two 

 will make the sprays pliable and easier to 

 work, but if overwet it will all the 

 quicker turn brown or black after being 

 made up. 



The wreathing that is made up by tens 

 of thousands of yards and sold to the 

 florists for them to retail is apt to bo 

 thin, because competition has brought the 

 price down too low for the manufac- 

 turers to turn out a really good article; 

 you can't get something for nothing-' at 

 Christmas any more than at any other 

 time. Consequently many florists prefer 

 to make their own wreathing and then 

 store it away in a frame or cool shed, 

 but always covered, so that the light and 

 air will be excluded as much as possible. 



Magnolia and Smilax. 



The above three materials are the prin- 

 cipal things for our holiday decorations. 

 There are other things used in a small 

 way. The beautiful leaves of the Mag- 

 nolia grandiflora are ornamental on 

 small branches, but not often seen. 



There is nothing to say about that 

 most decorative of all hardy climbers, 

 the southern smilax. It is in season from 

 October until April and you buy it by 

 the ease when you want it. The merest 

 novice can tack this up and it can not 

 be otherwise than graceful. It is some- 

 thing like Asparagus plumosus in this 

 respect, only the smilax is invaluable in 

 the large hall, while the plumosus is at 

 home in the drawing-room. 



Bouquet green is scarce and high this 

 year, and much wild smilax will be used 

 instead for decorations. 



Mistletoe. 



Don't forget a few dollars' worth of 

 imported mistletoe. Some people say 



there are no "privileges" allowed with 

 the native species and will have nothing 

 but the imported article, but the major- 

 ity do not know the difference. It is not 

 of record that the mistletoe, which has 

 such charming associations, lends extra 

 bliss to the exercise under the bough 

 when well berried, but certain it is that 

 it often reaches the florist quite berry- 

 less. The berries are in the bottom of 

 the case. If you buy ten dollars' worth 

 of mistletoe you will, perhaps, only get 

 your money back, but you won't do that 

 if you leave it in the case and let every 

 boy you have maul it over when wanting 

 to select a 50-cent or dollar spray. Un- 

 pack and sort it and put a price on each 

 group, so that you can readily pick up 

 what your customer wants. 



Christmas Trees. 



The Christmas tree, in large cities, at 

 least, is no worry to the florist. Car- 

 loads come in and are handled by the 

 market people, but those florists who 

 make the effort can sell trees with their 

 other greens. The florist ought to make 

 an effort to have a little better grade of 

 greens than can be bought of the pro- 

 vision stores or street salesmen with 

 whom he comes in competition, and the 

 same way with trees. A lot of people 

 know a good, shapely tree when they see 

 it. You can sell a lot of these by tele- 

 phone or by letter, if you have the stock 

 and facilities. 



Table trees are new in many localities. 

 These are little fellows, not over two feet 

 high, and should be offered with some 

 sort of base to hold them upright. A 

 piece of tree four to six inches in diame- 

 ter, sawed into disks an inch or two thick, 

 makes a good support; bore a hole in 

 the center of the disk, sharpen the end 

 of the little Christmas tree, drive it in 

 the hole, and there you are, all ready for 

 the table and trimming. 



THE POPULAR POINSETTIA. 



Among the Christmas specialties noth 

 ing sells better than the basket of poiii 

 settias. Illustrated on this page are twd 

 such arrangements. These were rafiia 

 baskets, one round and one square, but 

 almost any kind of basket does well with 

 the poinsettia and the red ribbon bow. 

 For making up in this way one should 

 choose poinsettias of a height to corre 

 spend with the height of his basket; ;i 

 low handle calls for low plants, a higher 

 handle permits the use of taller stock. A 

 few ferns mixed with the poinsettias 

 serve to fill in the bare spots. One touch 

 that costs little, but is generally omitted, 

 is to cover the soil with green sphagnum 

 moss. 



THE SIMPLE LIFE. 



The fussy kind of plant arrangement 

 does not appeal to all tastes; some plant 

 buyers, whether or not they lead the sim- 

 ple life themselves, prefer the simple ob- 

 ject — nature unadorned. For such as 

 these there is nothing more attractive 

 than the cyclamen as shown in the illus- 

 tration on page 28. This was in one of 

 the pure white china pots now handled by 

 all the supply houses, perfectly plain, ex- 

 cept for the beading just beneath the rim 

 and the garland of raised flowers which 

 shows at one side. Any good cyclamen 

 plant will sell in such a pot and such a 

 sale will almost invariably make a friend 

 for the florist. 



THE LOVELY LORRAINE. 



Nowadays no retail store that caters 

 to discriminating trade can get along 

 without the Lorraine begonia at Christ 

 mas. The Lorraine is not the most en- 

 during of plants; neither is it the easiest 

 plant to handle when making a large 

 number of rush deliveries in bad weather, 



Christmas Baskets of Poinsettias and Ferns. 



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