Februaby 8, 1912. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



11 



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I THE RETAIL 



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FLORIST.., 



MAKING A CASKET COVER. 



Can you tell us how to make the 

 foundation for a casket cover prop- 

 erly? We made one in aster time and 

 it was a great success, but we think 

 there must be less laborious ways than 

 the one we employed. V. A. A. 



There are numerous ways of making 

 a cover of flowers or green for a 

 casket. Flowers of any variety or 

 a number of varieties can be used, but 

 upon the type of flower depends the 

 frame or body of the cover. 



The stiff wire frames, as made by 

 the wire workers, are perhaps used 

 as a framework more extensively than 

 any other method. For large flowers, 

 such as lilies, large chrysanthemums or 

 Beauties, this wire frame is best. After 

 lightly covering the frame with leu- 

 cothoe sprays or other green, fasten 

 the flowers with pieces of No. 20 to 24 

 wire, bent into long hairpins. It is 

 always advisable to bring the wires up 

 from underneath, so as not to leave 

 a lot of ends which would mar the 

 casket. 



Wire netting — mosquito wire — adapts 

 itself nicely for use in making covers 

 out of roses, carnations, narcissi or 

 other flowers of medium size and not 

 too stiff a stem. A cover made in 

 this way conforms readily to the shape 

 of the casket. Fasten the flowers in 

 the same way as to the wire frame; a 

 number can, of course, be fastened 

 at one time if the stems are long. 



When making such small flowers as 

 violets, sweet peas, Boman hyacinths, 

 etc., into a casket cover, then I would 

 advise sewing or pinning the flowers 

 to a piece of moss-green denim, or 

 overall cloth, as it is commonly called. 

 This makes by far the most graceful 

 cover. The flowers should be made up 

 into small bunches of about one-half 

 dozen flowers, with the stems cut short, 

 and these small bunches should be 

 fastened to the cloth. Only a little 

 extra green is required; of course, the 

 bunches must be fastened close to- 

 gether. In order to facilitate matters, 

 you will find it a good^plan to lay the 

 cloth or wire netting over one of the 

 regular stiff wire frames while work- 

 ing on the cover. 



Some florists moss the wire casket 

 cover frames as in other design work, 

 but this I deem useless. Only when 

 using galax leaves as the background, 

 is moss required. 



Until you know from experience 

 about how many flowers are required 

 for a cover, it is a good plan to keep a 

 record of those you have made. Note 

 the size and kind of flowers and the 

 number used. The size and quality 

 will, of course, change your figures 

 somewhat, as will also the spacing of 

 the flowers; still, you will find a record 

 a great convenience when you are 

 asked for the cost of a cover of a 

 given size. Hugo Schroeter. 



WHAT IS aOOD DESIGN WORK? 



Some of the Minor Points. 



This subject has been discussed in 

 a general way in these columns before, 

 but this time I propose to discuss it 

 somewhat more particularly. 



Before approaching the vital points 

 let us get rid of a few related ones 

 which come in for more or less respect 

 in judging design wojk, but which do 

 not belong strictly within the subject. 

 These are the quality and quantity of 

 stock used, taste in selection of the de- 

 sign and the mechanical details. While 

 the lack of any one of these elements 

 may mar an otherwise good piece, they 

 are not likely to be overlooked by a 

 designer who has in mind and in prac- 

 tice the two necessary principles pt 

 fine fioral work. 



There are a few designs the selection 

 of which was never dictated by good 



J. E. Jay's Cross for Criticism. 



taste or common sense, yet there is 

 more in the way they are made than in 

 the design itself. Everybody will ad- 

 mit that neatness, strict outlining and 

 symmetrical development are all classed 

 among the things he "ought to have 

 done." Quantity of stock is of the 

 least importance in judging good de- 

 sign work. What can be done with two 

 dozen roses in skillful hands often has 

 artistic value a thousand per cent 

 greater than four dozen of the same 

 roses indifferently arranged. 



Tha Grouping of Flowers. 



Hence, when it comes to real charac- 

 ter and excellence, be it in a bride 's 



bouquet, a Christmas wreath or a pil- 

 low, the following two elements out- 

 class all the rest : The first is the group- 

 ing of the flowers, plants or foliage. By 

 grouping is meant the manner in which 

 the flowers are put together, the rela- 

 tionship they bear to each other. It 

 is one of those well-nigh indefinable 

 qualities which do the same for a 

 design as the phrasing for a musical 

 composition, or the rhetorical pauses 

 for a public speaker. It is not regu- 

 larity, nor yet exactly irregularity in 

 placing the fiowers, although it may in- 

 clude both. The individual flowers 

 which compose the group may be drawn 

 toward some of the others and repelled 

 from some. Some fall out of line; some 

 show a full face view, others a profile, 

 and still others a back view, as you 

 often see them, happy-go-lucky, lying 

 as they might fall. There is no telling 

 how to do it. The doing must be an in- 

 spiration. It can not be copied from 

 the work of another, for the other can 

 not reproduce an exact duplicate. The 

 instinct which produces the inspiration 

 supplies the infinite variety which is 

 more insisted upon each year by the 

 discriminating public. A well ordered 

 group of flowers if on a set design 

 frame will conform to the outline of 

 the frame or keep within its bounds. 

 A well ordered group also makes use 

 of its stems, long and short. 



Two Designs Compared. 



In order to better illustrate these 

 points I have chosen two designs pre- 

 viously published by The Eeview. Both 

 are from the work of other people. 

 Illustration number one is that offered 

 by J. E. Jay for criticism in the issue 

 of May 11, 1911, and the other is a 

 design by T. A. Ivey, published in the 

 issue of February 14, 1907. In the 

 conventional style of design of which 

 the first illustration is a type there is a 

 lack of relationship between the flow- 

 ers. The flowers and foliage are set in 

 to fill the space. There is no evidence 

 of plan, or the "how," as always ap- 

 pears in good grouping. I would ad- 

 vise Mr. Jay to break away from the 

 conventional type and give his own 

 individuality a chance. He has the 

 courage, or he wouldn't have been 

 plucky enough to make the offer that 

 he did last May. I feel sure that the 

 benefits to the trade have overbalanced 

 his sacrifice of his feelings. 



If he had grouped his cycas leaves 

 at the base he would have had a more 

 symmetrical, clearly outlined piece, 

 with a more artistic touch. Attention 

 is attracted to this class of design on 

 account of the size and quality of flow- 

 ers; in other words, one does not allow 

 the art instinct a chance. It is largely 

 mechanical. 



On the other hand, turn to the second 

 illustration, that of the shield by Mr. 

 Ivey. The outline of the piece has 

 been carefully followed. You can tell 

 at a glance what it is. This much ac- 

 complished, the designer is free to cre- 

 ate the two groups which so charming- 

 ly ornament the piece. These two 

 groups illustrate better than words can 

 describe the principle of good group- 

 ing. In the spray of roses, valley and 

 adiantum, note the closeness of a few 

 here and there, the rest spaces, the in- 

 dependent reach of the roses which 

 form the tip of the spray, and the one 

 below which hangs just below the edge. 

 Not only is the grouping of the rosea 



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