22 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



JANUAUV 11,. 1912. 



EVERYBODY'S FLOWER. 



[A \r.i\iri- liv IIml:.. Srhri'clci'. nf Di'imil. .Midi., 

 rciiil lifCnic til,' .\iii.'riiaii ('MriKition Sdcicly, in 

 cuiiviiil i'lii .It lii-li-i'ii, .l.iiiiiMiy 1(1 ici ]:;, llML'.l 



When tlic Ixidj^wiiy Co. s()U,i;lit ;i naiiu' 

 for its iiiaua/iiic, I ]irt';siiiii(' tlicy ciilled 

 it ' ' l^xcrvlioijy "s ' ' liiMiiusc tliis oiii' 

 word ro\ iTcil its scojie most thoi'ou;;hly. 

 This Avas the ()iu'stioii which eoiit'ronti'il 

 nic AvluMi your secretary bestowed on 

 me the honor of adilressinjr your so- 

 cietw ll(> suj:j:este(l tliat my pai)er 

 deal ^\ ith "tliat di\ iue ih)wer, tlie car- 

 iiatioTi,"' ]iut re(jiu>sted tliat 1 choose 

 my own title. After banishing from 

 my thoughts a ii\unber of more or less 

 suitable titles, it occurred to me that 

 in speaking ot' tlu» carnation the most 

 apjiropriate term Avould be ''I'lvery- 

 body 's Flower. ■■ In fact, of all the 

 numerous liowers ^ve lia\e to deal with, 

 the carnation is the only one which can 

 be righteously calliMl the llower for 

 e\('rvb(Mly. 



b'oses are conspicuous in most of tln^ 

 e\ cuts where llowei's are used, but, e\en 

 in the smallest <lecoration. if a \ ariety 

 of liowers are called for the carnation 

 is sure to jday a most imjiortant jiart. 

 Often, when offering suggestions for 

 dcM'oi'ating the hoiiu' for a small ^vell- 

 diug, the (|uestion ■will arise. ''AVhat 

 liowers lan we use on tlie piano and 

 tlie sidebciaril. or what bright reil ilower 

 is there \vhich wf can \is(> on the table, 

 tlie llower not to be too costly.'"' Jn 

 neai'l\' c\cry instance the cai'iiation is 

 called upon to till the jilace. A cus- 

 tomi'i- may be somewhat disa]i]>oiiited 

 in !i(d being .able to obtain xiolets, 

 Beauties, sweet ]ieas or any other of the 

 flowers in general use. but carnations in 

 a tlower store ai'e as sta]de as nails in 

 a h.ardware stoic. 



Always in Demand. 



La-^t sca-oii. during a ]ieriod when 

 carnations wcic e\tr(^m(d\' scarce, a 



Irwin Bertermann. 



(••|;..~c~ in 111.- Miildl.- \\c>i.--i 



laily came into our store ami wanted 

 two do/en rose], ink' r-ariiations. Sh(> 

 was politely informed tliat carnations 

 were scarce and ^ve had none in the 

 shaih> desired. " Woubl not some other 

 pink llower do?" "Ves." she re]>lied. 

 "1 jiresume some otiier flower will lune 

 to do, but it seems so queer not to be 

 able to obtain carnations." lietail 

 florists advertise roses, chrysanthe- 

 mums, orchids, etc., but only in case of 

 a special sale are carnations adxcrtised, 

 simply because it seems to be under- 



stood that Ave always carry a stock of 

 carnations except during the hot spell 

 of July and August. 



>Jow then, gentlemen, you will all 

 agree Avith me that the carnation is 

 e\-ervbody 's lloAver, l)ut, being manu- 

 facturers and not selling agents, as it 

 were, ])erliaps you have often won- 

 dered Avhy the carnation is in such de- 

 mand. ]s it the ]irice alone that makes 

 for the ])opularity of this flower.' 

 Hardly; this might be the case Avith 

 the middle and poorer classes, but how 

 about those people aaIio do not have to 

 count their pennies? 



Reasons for Its Popularity. 



No other HoAver adapts itself to all 

 uses as does the carnation; no other 

 is so easily arranged into an effcctiA-e 

 spray or bouquet, or in a boAA'l, to serve 

 as a centerpiece. This, I believe, is 

 the i)rincipal reason Avliy, ea(di y(>ar, 

 the carnation sales amount to huiidrcMls 

 of thousands. The number useil in the 

 small, inexpensiA'e funeral sprays evi'ry 

 year is in itself a large amount. Their 

 length and flexibility of stem, their 

 keejiing (|ualities and size make them 

 most admirable for funeral spray Avork. 

 For design Avork the carnation is almost 

 a necessity. Here, again, its size is 

 an important factor. White carnations. 

 Avith the stem broken olf and a tooth- 

 ]uck in its stead, are the best liowers 

 Ave have for outlining a design or as 

 a background for lettering. With the 

 stem left from thriH- to fixe imdies 

 long, they are e.Kcellent for trininiiug 

 a tlesigu, the stem being Just stilf 

 enough to carry the Mower gracefully. 

 It does not refjuire the haml of an ex- 

 ]iert designer to make a loosely ar- 

 ranged Avreath of all carnations: ne\ er- 

 theless, such a design is especially at- 

 tracti\e .'ind lasting. 



For the sick-room the carnation 

 seems to be just the ideal llower. One 

 or two dozen, Avith a lew sjirays of 

 .\sparagus Sprengeri or a few fronds 

 (d' a ]>oston fern, are just enough for 

 a A ase, and that spicy, ever ]ileasiiig 

 oilor is not an o\erpowering one. to 

 wliii h the doctor 'or nurse mii;ht objt^ct. 

 ('arnations are naturally a graceful 

 apjieariiig llowei' ami, Avhen given an 

 especially artistic touch by some real 

 expert, are uiisui'passeii for decoratixe 

 juirjioses. 



The Wealth of Colors. 



1 liaxe enumerated only a few of the 

 many uses for the llower Avhicji has 

 done so much towaril ])Utting our busi- 

 ness on a lirni basis — or jierhaps I 

 should lia\e said, which lias taken 

 lloAvers out of the luxury idass and 

 caused them to be classed Avitli the 

 necessities of life. There are still 

 more substaiiti.'il reasons for its ever- 

 increasing jiojiularity. 



Take the colors, for instance. Not 

 tnany lloAvers jiossess that beautiful 

 shade of pink to be found in an Kn- 

 (diantress or I'iiik Didiglit or in their 

 de(^jier sister, Winsor. In the jioiiiset- 

 tias alone is to be found a red Avhich 

 surpasses the red of an O. V. Hassett 

 carnation. Of course, there are beau- 

 tiful reds in dahlias, sAveet peas and 

 roses, but not that scarlet shade of 

 r{>d usually known as Christmas red 

 and so necessary for decorative pur- 

 jioses. Then, again, where is to be 

 found the jiure white of a carnation and 

 ill such abundance? In no other floAver. 

 And the delicate yelloAV tint of a car- 

 nation like Pingree places this HoAver 



A. F. J. Baur. 



I Scciclai\ Amciiciiii ('ill nation Socici.v.) 



ill a cl.-iss by jts(di' as far as color is coii- 

 ceriieil. 1 am sorry to say, it is a rare 

 case indeed Avheii a yelloAV carnation is 

 axailable in tliis market. Suridy, if 

 more Aven^ grown they Avould in time 

 meet Avith a more regular demand, as 

 y(dlow liowers ar(> always scarce ex- 

 ce|it during the cliiysanthemum season. 

 Another beautiful tyjie of carnation, 

 Avhose color is une.\c(dled, is IlarloAvar- 

 ilen. -V magnolia Avreath trimmed Avith 

 llarlowarden and a few Aalley is a most 

 beaut i ful conc(^])tioii. 



The Variegated Sorts. 



But Avliat of the \ariegatcd A'arieties? 

 These do not seem to meet Avith ])opu- 

 lar favor. We ha\e some really good 

 looking variegated kinds; still, it is 

 not often that colors are mi.xed in 

 Moral Avork and this, no doubt, accounts 

 for the small use for Aariegated 

 lloAvers. 



The prici> at Avhich carnations are 

 oldainalde is usually, of course, also 

 one reason why millions are sold, l^ven 

 the wealthiest ^leojile often rlesire to 

 sj)eiid but a fcAV dtdlars for a funeral 

 spray or for some other occasion, and 

 carnations are ahvays acceptable. 



When I started to Avrite this paper 

 my intention Avas to endeavor to obtain 

 figures gi\iiig the total number of car- 

 nations sold at retail in this country 

 during the last year. After conferring 

 Avith others, I discarded this jilan, as it 

 Avould liaA'e been almost imjiossible to 

 arrive at anvAvhere near the correct 

 amount. There are, nevertheless, mil- 

 lions sold annually at prices ranging 

 from "5 cents per dozen to 25 cents per 

 UoAver. 



Is Its Popularity in Danger? 



1 have referred to the ever-increasing 



