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May 18, 1911. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



25 



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Window and Porch Boxes are Increasini; in Popularity Year by Year. 



competition which the florist must en- 

 counter and the way in which he man- 

 ages, systematizes and pushes the work. 

 In both of these respects the cemetery 

 work throughout the country is on a 

 somewhat uncertain basis. The prices 

 are not well established, and in some 

 localities, therefore, one florist has a 

 virtual monopoly of the business and 

 there is nothing to prevent its being 

 reasonably lucrative. In other commu- 

 nities the competition is ruthlessly keen 

 and the prices are reduced till the mar- 

 gin of profit is so narrow as to be in- 

 visible to the naked eye. When one or 

 two florists slash the prices recklessly, 

 the others may be compelled to follow 

 the bad example or retire from the 

 struggle. 



It seems to be becoming a more and 

 more common practice, when the vases 

 are to be filled, to remove them, or at 

 least the detachable tops or bowls, to 

 the greenhouses for that purpose. The 

 late William Scott said: "We used 

 to load up wagons and drive to the 

 cemetery with plants and soil, but find 

 a much better plan is to bring home the 

 top or bowl of the vase, fill it and 

 return it." 



Many floiists, having a large, well 

 systematized trade of this sort, reserve 

 a conspicuous part of their greenhouse 

 grounds, near the store or the front en- 

 trance, as a place in which to collect, 

 fill and arrange the vases. There the 

 vases, when filled, receive the florist's 

 expert attention until the date arrives 

 for their delivery. The majority of 

 them, perhaps, are delivered a few days 

 before Memorial day. 



The illustration shows a corner of 

 the greenhouse grounds of Wm. Oakes 

 & Son, Westfield, Mass., with some rows 



of cemetery vases, well filled and neatly 

 arranged, awaiting the time for de- 

 livery. No data accompanied the photo- 

 graph, but it speaks well for itself and 

 serves well to illustrate the subject. 



FOR PORCH AND PIAZZA. 



Among the encouraging signs of the 

 times, from the florist 's point of view, is 

 the increasing use, from year to year, 

 of window and porch boxes, especially 

 in the residence districts of the cities 

 and larger, towns. There is no good 

 reason why the filling of these boxes 

 should not be a profitable branch uf 

 the business, :f well managed, and if the 

 right preparations are made before the 

 opening of the season. It is well, also, 

 to begin the season early, by encourag- 

 ing the customers to have the planting 

 done as soon i>s the weather is favorable, 

 rather than postpone the work unneces- 

 sarily. As a means of furnishing this 

 encouragement, and at the same time in- 

 creasing the demand as well as hasten- 

 ing it, perhaps the florist can employ 

 no better method than to display one or 

 two tastefully planted boxes in front 

 of his own store. He can thus supply 

 a strong incentive and a valuable object 

 lesson. 



Of course any fairly enterprising flo- 

 rist attends to the matter of providing 

 beforehand a good supply of suitable 

 soil, and it is hardly necessary to re- 

 mind him of the fact that, since the 

 plants are crowded into narrow space 

 and their root run is restricted, the 

 soil must be proportionately rich. The 

 compost generally recommended for the 

 purpose is about as follows: Two-thirds 

 fibrous loam, one-third dry cow manure 

 passed through a coarse screen, and a 



3-inch potful of fine bone to each bushel 

 of soil. 



There seems to be general agreement 

 in the opinion that the box planting 

 should be done at the greenhouses, 

 rather than at the customers' homes.. 

 One of The Eevilw's correspondents 

 says emphatically: "All boxes are best 

 filled at the greenhouses. One experi- 

 ence in carting soil and plants to a 

 distance, and being short of this or that, 

 will convince anyone of this." 



The photograph here reproduced 

 shows a pleasing sample of this sort of 

 porch and piazza decoration — a sample 

 of the work done by W. A. & J. S. Bit- 

 lerjjpf the Highland Park Greenhouses, 

 Kokomo, Ind. The residence that is thus 

 beautified belongs to A. V. Conradt, su- 

 perintendent of the Great Western Pot- 

 tery Works, of Kokomo. The boxes 

 were filled with plain green vinca, varie- 

 gated vinca, Sprengeri, Latania Bor- 

 bonica, geraniums, marguerites, coleus, 

 and" Ageratum Little Blue Star. They 

 were filled May 26, 1910, and were 

 photographed August 26, 1910. 



HANQING BASKETS. 



While hanging baskets are not used 

 to anything like the extent of either 

 window or piazza boxes, there seems to 

 be an increasing number of these called 

 for each year. Wire baskets, of course, 

 are the best. Wooden ones are clumsy 

 and usually square, which is not a suit- 

 able shape. It may be that orders for 

 these baskets of plants are not re- 

 ceived until the time they are wanted 

 post-haste, but if it is known in advance 

 what will have to be filled it is a great 

 advantage to do the work now and give 

 the plants a chance to get established 



