September 22, 1010. 



The Weekly Rorists^ Review* 



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i THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



i 



THE CASKET DESIGN. 



The casket cover may be considered 

 iis the king of floral designs. It is 

 among funeral flowers what the bride's 

 shower bouquet is among flowers for 

 j)ersonal adornment. Not only does it 

 represent an outlay of money greater 

 than can with the best of taste be put 

 into any other form of design, but it 

 makes a call upon the skill of the de- 

 signer beyond that made by any ordi- 

 nary funeral piece. Customarily the 

 (basket cover is just what its name im- 

 plies; it is just a blanket of flowers, 

 ;ind nothing more. But in the accom- 

 panying illustration a casket cover of 

 unusual character is shown; it com- 

 bines with the blanket feature all the 

 characteristics of a made-up design, 

 and a society emblem at that. This 

 casket cover was made by Charles P. 

 Mueller, of Wichita, Kan., for the fu- 

 neral of Thomas Wentworth Harrison, 

 a thirty-third degree Mason, who at 

 the time of his death was sovereign 

 grand inspector general for the state 

 of Kansas. While the design serves in 

 overy way the purposes of a casket 

 cover, it also embodies the Masonic in- 

 signia in most pleasing fashion. 



AUTOMOBILE DELIVERY. 



John V. Laver, who operates the 

 Lakeside Greenhouses, on East Sixth 

 street at Erie, Pa., with a retail store 

 downtown, finds the cost of delivery by 

 automobile to be about equal to the 

 cost of horse delivery, but the auto 

 has the advantage of greater speed and 

 also an advertising value. 



The illustration on page 8 shows 

 the three vehicles, two horse-drawn and 

 one auto, Mr. Laver employs in his bus- 

 iness, and also his pleasure car. Both 

 the automobiles are Buicks. The deliv- 

 ery car is the regular commercial ve- 

 hicle turned out by the Buick concern. 

 The regular machine has a paneled box, 

 as shown in the picture, and no top; 

 the top was built on the box specially 

 for Mr. Laver 's order. It is a twenty- 

 two horse-power machine, capable of 

 carrying 1,200 to 1,500 pounds. The 

 engine is under the seat and out of the 

 way, giving a good, roomy box. The 

 distance from the back of the seat to 

 the tail gate is seventy-four inches and 

 the box is forty-five inches wide, with a 

 height of fifty-six inches. The cost of 

 the car was $1,400 and Mr. Laver, who 

 has used it since last spring, considers 

 it a good investment. 



COST OF AUTO DELIVERY. 



One of the principal items of cost 

 in the operation of automobiles is the 

 charge for depreciation; you buy a 

 motor for, say, $2,000 and in three years 

 it is not worth over $500 if you try to 

 turn it into real money. Florists who 

 are thinking of buying motor cars for 

 delivery purposes should take into con- 



sideration that the depreciation in value 

 is likely to be exceedingly rapid in the 

 next few years because the trend of the 

 motor business is such that falling 

 prices are looked for. Automobile man- 

 ufacturers and sellers are predicting de- 

 creases in production for 1911. The 

 reasons stated include the fact that 



indicated production would compare as 

 follows with production during the last 

 fifteen years: 



Cars built. Value. 



1011 177.000 1232,000,000 



1910 185,000 242,000,000 



i009 82,000 98,400,000 



1908 55,400 83,100,000 



1904 20,1()0 40,200,000 



1899 600 1,200,000 



1805 70 157,500 



Of these totals the majority are pleas- 

 ure cars, but the number used for com- 

 mercial purposes is constantly growing, 

 and it is here that the future of the 

 automobile industry seems to lie. Most 

 manufacturers apparently realize this 

 and are endeavoring to turn out a serv- 

 iceable and economical truck at a rea- 

 sonable price, and say that as far as 

 operating expenses are concerned the 

 auto truck is far cheaper than the horse- 

 drawn dray. 



A Casket Cover Out of the Ordinaryr. 



many of the manufacturing companies 

 overstocked for 1910. It is stated that 

 one of the less expensive cars which has 

 been popular is now being sold at $200 

 below the list price as a "used car" 

 after being run around a block or two, 

 to all effect as new as if just made. 



From present indications the com- 

 ing season will show a curtailment of 

 around 8,000 cars, at an aggregate 

 value of $10,000,000. Taking the aver- 

 age estimate of production for 1910. 



A year or two ago if a florist wanted 

 to get a motor for delivery purposes, 

 he had to pay a premium to get some 

 one to build a top on a stock chassis; 

 the manufacturers all were too bUsy 

 building pleasure vehicles to pay any 

 attention to anything but keeping up 

 with the demand. It isn't so now, and 

 prices are pretty sure to come down all 

 along the line, adding to the deprecia- 

 tion charge against every auto in use. 



Although most makers refuse to ad- 



