22 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



May 18, 1911. 



tie Memorial day ofl'erings. "Tlioy out- 

 last cut Jiowers iiiany times over jind 

 are inexjx'iisi ve, " may lie your argvi 

 ment to the customer. 



Home nice orders are usually laiuU'd 

 for deeorati\c jiieces for monuiueiits. 

 The wreatii, as usual, holds the ])lacc 

 of favor, aud second iu preference 

 comes the lie.avy j^arland. How does ;i 

 luonuineut wreath differ from any other 

 wreath.' It should show from liotli 

 sides. How shall 1 make one wlii(di 

 shall be easily handled .'ind placed ? 

 After ascertaining the size of the shaft, 

 make two wreaths of the same size and 

 fasten them together, hack to back. 

 Secure to the .-haft ne.-ir tlie center, and 

 if there is nothing about the shape of 

 the sliaft which holds the double wreatli 

 in place, fasten it with a wire loop 

 around the monument and fasten each 

 end to the inside wire of the wreath 

 fraiue. Tf the height of the nidnument 

 is too much for you, make a loose 

 wreath and secure the ends after en 

 circling the shaft. 



Garland for a Monument. 



A hea\y garland, made on a substan- 

 tial rojte of gri'ea and decointed with 

 tlowers, makes a handsome and dignified 

 decoration for a uu)nument. Make a 

 loop at the top. of the proper size to 

 catch on a top corner of the shaft. It 

 may be necessary to slrcngtlien its hold 

 liy wiring also. Then pro<-e(Ml to drajie 

 it aroinwl the bod\- of the monnmeut till 

 a convenient place is fdund on the 

 pe<lestal for a slop, .\1tach to a formal 

 emblem, which may be placeij ou the 

 ground or .against the \ase. To (dab 

 orate this, liank all around the base ot 

 the monnmeut with blooming ])lants, 

 terns or tall sjiikes of cut flowers, sink- 

 ing the vases or pots in the ground or 

 covering them with moss oi' cut green. 

 Let the whole decoi.ation be in keeping 

 with c(dor restiictions. 



If it is ilesircd to decoiate the gr;n'e 

 or the lot further, cover it with ji.anels, 

 in sections of convenient size, of low- 

 growing jdants or cut flowers, after the 

 manner of .a casket panel. The garland 

 for draping should l)e about one half 

 as long again .as the height «f the 

 monument. 



As incidental to this subject, the mat 

 tcr of insi-riiitions comes in for consid 

 oration. Tiie artistic value of an in- 

 scrijition (ui .a j)iece is small. It is one 

 of the things whicji a designer of re- 

 fined taste seldom suggests, and most 

 jueces are the lietter for its absence. A 

 ])i]low, a scroll, the arms of a cross — 

 these are examples of a few jilaces 

 wdiere an inscription may be happily 

 ])laced. In .addition to these, we find 

 ourselves compelled to admit it on lodge 

 and , society emblems, but only such 

 lettering as lielongs to the badge and 

 never for the j)urpose of suggesting the 

 donors. Call attention to the fact that 

 the significance of the emblem and the 

 message of the flowers themselves 

 should be sufficient, without the literal 

 inscription. Gertrude Blair. 



Cambridge, Mass. — Tlie ground cov 

 (>red by l"re(l ('. P>e(d<er's eleven green- 

 houses, on Cambridge street, is reg.arded 

 as some of the most valuable land in 

 the city. The business was foundeil in 

 ISfiO In- the Late Frank Becker, wlio was 

 succeeded in ISO.") by his son, the i)res- 

 ent jirojirietor. Karl V. Becker, son of 

 the ]>resent owner, has also been assist 

 iiig for some years in the management 

 of the business. 



CEMETERY WREATHS. 



Loose Flowers Often Unsatisfactory. 



.\ good many florists, probably a 

 great majority of them, still are soiling 

 oil cent bunciies as the big item for 

 Memorial day. 



But a good many retaileis ha\'e fouml 

 that the flower buying public always is 

 ready to take up with any suggestion 

 of better things — and this applies at 

 Memorial day just as thoroughly as it 

 does at Christnnis or any other tinu'. 



Of all the unsatisfac'torv things flo 

 rists can sell at Memorial day, loose 

 cut flowers are the worst. The person 

 wdio goes to the cemetery with loose cut 

 flowers and no jirovision for using them 

 there, invariably meets with disai) 

 l)ointment. If there is no vase on the 

 ]>lot, all that can be ilone with loose 

 flowers is to "strew" them on the 

 grave — that amounts to throwing them 

 on the ground, and it utterly destroys 

 the sentiment on which the observance 



„.unntm>mmn>Rm(ttmnimmmt)i w^aamcmntanmnnnutmHWiiiiwni 



SPECaAL 



For Oecoratjon Day. 



Those beatitifu'j .'ilerinorlal Wreaths, art!9= 

 ticajly arrangecS, are oUsrei special by Black- 

 isto.'c at ine oxcCstionally lew prkeof 32. Car. 

 "c S'.!!:Tiicc to any point 



Xorlhwcst Corner 

 I4ih &.H Sts. N.W. 



rii'_*i.t. Mam 3707. 



wUtttitituuutunt 1 



Boosting Memorial Day Wreaths. 



"f the day is based. A person who jiays 

 a dollar for ;i dozen good carnations 

 to take to a cemetery May ,30, lays 

 them reverently on a gra\e and con- 

 temjjlates tin' effect, is pretty sure to 

 conclude it wasn't worth doing. Such 

 a customer doesn't come b.ack. If peo- 

 ]de ask for loose cut flowers, inquire if 

 there is a vase at the cemetery. If 

 not, ofl'er to supjily one at such small 

 cost that the sale will be certain. That 

 way saves the customers for oth(M' 

 years. 



Low Priced Wreaths Best. 



The .Ifl cent bouquet is an imju'ove- 

 juent over the loose cut flowers — if 

 there is no vase it Avill ai, least stay 

 together when it is laid down — but 

 there is a still better wav at ^lemorial 

 • lay. 



The ret.'iilers who are looliing ui), not 



down, are selling wreaths and sprays to 

 go to the cemeteries. Memorial day is 

 not a time for high j. rices. The w^reaths 

 and sj)rays must be inexpensive, but 

 they can be sold in enormous quantity. 

 The experience of dozens of enterprising 

 retailers ]iroves it. 



Blackistone, at Washington, does an 

 enormous business in 2-dollar wreaths 

 for May 'M. The accomi)anying illus- 

 tration shows Blackistone 's newspaper 

 advertisenuMit. It is reduced to one- 

 fourth the size it occu])ies in the Wash- 

 ington papers. At the same time, Black- 

 istone backs up the uews])aper adver- 

 tising l)v filling his window with these 

 Memorial wreaths. The sale is so great 

 that the wreaths nuist be manufactured 

 liy hundreds iu advance. 



The prepared magnolia leaves that 

 are now sold by all the sujiply houses, 

 and which })ractically every retail flo- 

 rist carries in stock, nuike it possible 

 to have stock wreaths on hand at all 

 times; all they need is trimtning with 

 flowers. Also, wreaths for Memorial 

 day can be made of galax leaves, box- 

 wood, ivy or other nuiterials. These 

 can be nuule up in advance and stored 

 where they will keep in i^erfect condi- 

 tion until the morning of May 30. Then 

 they can l)e trimmed with whatever 

 flowers have been ordered and made 

 ready in quick time for delivery. When 

 you come to think of it, a pretty nice 

 wreath, not too large, can be made for 

 $2. It takes only a few flowers to make 

 (|uitc a showing. 



S]irays seem just a trifle less iio|uiIar 

 than wreaths for ^Memorial day. Hut 

 you can make a mighty fine spray with 

 a dozen peonies and double your money 

 when you sell it at from $2 to $2.56. 

 [•'or a little more money sprays of roses^ 

 carnations or other flowers can be sup- 

 plied. 



The peo]de who buy these wreatlis or 

 sprays .at one Memorial day are iilmost 

 certain to be customers as regularly as 

 May 'M rolls around for years to come. 

 When they take such flowers to the 

 cemetery, they get .an effect that looks 

 to be worth the niom\v. Work away 

 from loose flowers or (du'ap bunches. 

 Sell wreaths. 



TAGGING WITH FLOWERS. 



A new use for flowers has been dis- 

 covered by A. L. Eandall, the Chicago 

 wholesaler. He says that the latest 

 wrinkle in tag days is to do the tag- 

 ging with a flower instead of a piece 

 of jiasteboard on a string. It recently 

 has been tried in cities in the south 

 and worked to ])erfection. People 

 "loosened uji'' much more freely for 

 a flower than they ever did for a tag. 

 The charity profited, the local florist 

 who supplied the flowers made a com- 

 fortable sum, and a big lot of stock 

 was called out of a heavily loaded 

 market. 



The idea is ca])able of wide use; 

 there is no copyright on it. Any florist 

 can organize a tag day in his town; 

 there always are charities that are will- 

 ing to ]msh along any new idea that 

 pronuses a profit. Kvery florist who is 

 in touch with the situation knows that 

 tlierc are times when he can buy large 

 lots of cut flowers .at a price that will 

 give him a (hance to get a good return 

 for the effort necessary to work up the 

 order; it don't take much talk to im- 

 press people with the fact that a tag 

 ilay with flowers will make a hit. 



