DECBMBEE 16, 1909. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



25 



Christmas Hamper of Poinsettias and Adiantum Farleyense. 



but flower buyers simply will not do with- 

 out it. Some of the leading retailers still 

 will not do better by Lorraine than to 

 say it will last at least as long as cut 

 flowers, but others find they have few 

 complaints and give the plant hearty ap- 

 proval. And all the while the demand in- 

 creases for this most- beautiful of Christ- 

 mas flowering plants. 



The illustration on page 27 shows two 

 plants of Lorraine, with some ferns, in 

 a French fish basket. The basket was 

 the genuine article, stained a dark green, 

 and was lined with moss to retain the 

 soil and moisture. It proved a first-class 

 seller last Christmas and there are in- 

 numerable ways in which Lorraine can 

 DO worked into Christmas plant arrange- 

 nii'iits. There never is anything higher 

 class than the baskets and hampers in 

 \vliich this plant is used. 



DISPLAY PIECES. 



ft always pays to have in the Christmas 

 stock one or two arrangements of just a 

 kittle better character than the trade 

 or^iinarily calls for. While the bulk of 



'"' business is on low-priced or medium- 

 Pt- "od arrangements, it always is possible 



!' 'ad the trade upward if one makes a 

 '";it> effort. 



' '1 this page there is an illustration of 



''■ge Christmas hamper, in which poin- 



'' ''as and Farleyense fern were the prin- 



cipal plants. These two make a delight- 

 ful combination, in either a red or green 

 basket, and a display piece of this char- 

 acter, in window or store, will lead to a 

 better average class of sales than would 

 be made without it. Did you ever take 

 note of the fact that the average cus- 

 tomer buys neither the most expensive 

 nor the cheapest article you show? Apply 

 a little psychology to your selling plans. 



CARE OF CUT POINSETTIAS. 



Will you kindly tell me how to tak« 

 care of cut poinsettias? I have some 

 nice plants growing in the bench for «ut" ' 

 blooms, but as soon as I cut them afnd 

 put them in water they wilt. I have 

 cut them with stems from two to six feet 

 long, but they will not draw up the 

 water, even if they are put in water 

 eighteen inches deep when they have a 

 5-foot stem. S. N. M. 



Poinsettias grown in pots or pans have 

 harder stems than those planted out and 

 appear to hold up better when cut. It 

 is necessary, however, to stop the bleed- 

 ing as speedily as possible after the 

 stems are cut. Several plans have been 

 successfully tried to effect this: Soar- 

 ing the cuts with a hot iron, dipping 

 for a few seconds in boiling water, or 

 standing in water heated to a tempera- 

 ture of 12.1 to 150 degrees for a few 



minutes. The last-mentioned plan, tried 

 this season, works splendidly. Place them 

 in cold water in a cool room afterward 

 and there will be no signs of wilting. 



OPPOSING THE FAKER. 



The florists of western Pennsylvania 

 ar& up in arms in opposition to the in- 

 vasion of their territory by the so-called 

 fakers. In the last year or two the 

 cheap salesmen from the big cities have 

 foiftid an opportunity to branch out in 

 the smaller towns. In many cases they 

 maintain buying representatives in the 

 big markets, who pick up any stock 

 which can be had at low figures and ship 

 it to the out-of-town sellers, some of 

 whom operate street stands, while others 

 maintain quite pretentious stores. Con- 

 ditiblls in many wholesale markets have 

 favored the operations of these people, 

 until they have become a large factor 

 in the trade. 



The local florists of Beading, Pa., 

 which city recently has been invaded by 

 the cheap salesmen, have formed an asso- 

 ciation for the purpose of dealing with 

 the situation. They are seeking to enlist 

 the support of the leading florists in all 

 other small cities in the state, for the 

 purpose of withdrawing patronage from 

 those who have been supplying the cheap 

 sellers. -< 



