Decsmbeb 14, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



35 



in cool storage for winter use, but if 

 the stems of the bunches are kept cov- 

 ered with damp moss and the ferns are 

 laid away in a cool cellar they will 

 keep for a long time. W. H. T. 



DONT'S FOE FLORISTS. 



Don't smoke in the store. 



Don't accept checks if cash change 

 is to be given. 



Don't bill your customers for "lil- 

 lies" or "boquets. " 



Don't get along without printed let- 

 ter-heads; it's unbusinesslike. 



Don't expect to get the best stock 

 when you take the cheapest offer. 



Don't try to undersell your competi- 

 tor; chances are you'll cut your throat 

 if you do his prices. 



Don't write the shipper that he is a 

 liar, a thief and a robber, because stock 

 arrives in poor condition; it hardly 

 adds to his desire to give invariable 

 satisfaction. 



CATCHINQ THE ATTENTION. 



A publication that specializes on mer- 

 chandising and advertising suggests 

 that attention can be fixed on a com- 

 monplace advertisement by introducing 

 it with a joke, citing the following 

 example: flowers. 



"Why are you breaking up housekeeping?" 

 "My wife's florist says she'll have to take the 

 rubber plant to a different climate." — Pittsburgh 

 Po«t. 



Our flowers are strictly fresh, de- 

 liveries prompt and prices right. Tele- 

 phone orders given prompt attention. — 

 Bocklin & Lehman, Sioux City, la. 



NOVELTIES NOW WANTED. 



It once was the complaint that the 

 average retail florist was slow to take 

 up any article outside the staples, and 

 that he did not care to diversify his 

 stock. S. B. Wertheimer says all this 

 has changed. ' ' In our experience, ' ' he 

 says, "florists are more receptive than 

 ever in the matter of novelties in rib- 

 bons and chiffons. The day of a few 

 plain weaves in satin ribbons and taf- 

 feta ribbons and plain chiffons is past. 

 The average florist now demands 

 changes in styles just as pronounced as 

 does his dry goods neighbor. This is 

 attributable, no doubt, to the fact that 

 the florist wishes to have a stock en- 

 tirely different and show styles which 

 will not appear to be the creation of a 

 millinery or dress goods designer." 



PSEPABINO CUT POINSETTIAS. 



What is the best way to keep poin- 

 settias from bleeding or from wilting 

 after cutting them? O. Q. 



Proper treatment always is necessary 

 or poinsettias bleed profusely when cut, 

 and placing them in cold water right 

 away does not help them. As soon as 

 you cut your stems, have a can or tub 

 of water of a temperature of 125 to 

 150 degrees and stand the stems in it 

 for five minutes. Place them in this 

 water at once and do not leave th3m 

 lying around until finishing your cut. 

 The hot water stops the bleeding, and 

 by standing them in cold water later 

 they will hold up well. The leaves on 

 cut poinsettias always fade before the 

 flowers. The bracts are generally good 

 when the foliage has all fallen. The 

 hot water plan materially lengthens the 

 duration of the foliage. 



There are many other ways more or 

 less used. Last season a reader of The 

 Review reported on this point and I 

 clipped the paragraph but have not 



Chtistmat Ceme ery Wreath of Boxwood. 



yet tried his plan, which was as fol- 

 lows: "I have learned so much from 

 the experience of others, as told in The 

 Review, that I should like to add my 

 mite, if I can. So I offer my experi- 

 ence with poinsettias. When I cut them 

 for sale I dipped the stems, as I cut 

 them, in hot water, and let them stand 

 until all were cut. Then I got some 

 paraffine wax and dipped the stems, 

 fresh from the water, in the wax. My 

 customers told me they kept finely for 

 four to five weel^B. " 



WILTING OF CUT POINSETTIAS. 



Can you tell us what might be the 

 trouble with the keeping qualities of 

 our poinsettias? We have them well 

 grown and fully developed, and have 

 been running them on the dry side for 

 nearly three weeks. We cut some for 

 Thanksgiving orders and we found that 

 even in our own cellar they would 

 wither down quickly, and we have had 

 some complaints from customers to 

 whom we delivered them. We had some 

 such trouble at Christmas last year. The 

 stock seems perfectly healthy and free 

 from any disease or insects. We shall 

 appreciate any suggestion you may 

 make toward a remedy. B. F. C. 



It is a good plan to lower the tem- 

 perature of the house gradually 5 to 

 10 degrees before starting to cut the 

 bracts. They keep rather poorly when 

 the bracts are not fully developed, as 

 would probably be the case at Thanks- 

 giving. Immediately after cutting the 

 poinsettias, dip the bottom of the stems 

 in water which is boiling, or as near 

 boiling as possible, to stop the bleed- 

 ing. Searing the bottoms with a hot 

 iron will answer equally well. Stems 

 which are not treated in this way are 



pretty sure to have wilted bracts. After 

 dipping or searing the ends, wrap the 

 bracts each in oil paper or tissue paper 

 and stand them in deep jars of water 

 in a temperature of about 45 degrees. 

 The ordinary ice chest is too cool for 

 them. Treated as described, you should 

 have but little trouble in keeping your 

 bracts fresh. Keep them out of water 

 as short a time as possible after they 

 are cut. 



One prominent grower, whose cut is 

 all used at Christmas, runs his plants 

 at 60 to 65 degrees at night while de- 

 veloping; two nights before cutting he 

 drops the temperature down to 50 de- 

 grees and finds that the sudden, sharp 

 drop makes them keep much better. 

 The warmer the plants are being grown 

 when cut, the poorer will they keep, but 

 scalding or searing will keep them stiff. 

 C. W. 



TO DESTROY MOLES. 



What can I use to get rid of moles 

 in my greenhouses? J. H. 



Trapping is the best way to destroy 

 moles. The Roddick mole trap is an 

 excellent one. Another one in common 

 use has a coil spring, with three teeth 

 on each side. All traps should be set 

 across the moles' runs. In setting the 

 coil spring variety, dig out a little 

 below the catch, so that it can work. 

 As the moles are constantly running 

 backward and forward in their runs, 

 traps properly &et rarely fail to catch 

 them. Some people claim that they 

 can poison the moles by using shelled 

 corn boiled in white arsenic until the 

 corn is soft. Others have had some 

 success in suffocating them with carbon 

 bisulphide, but I have found traps the 

 most effectual. C. W. 



