March 4, 1900. 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



draw the line between what he would like 

 to give his customer and what the cus- 

 tomer really wants and should have. 

 Very often the addition of a few dollars 

 to the expense would act as the straw 

 that broke the camel's back, and while 

 the customer would pay it and really get 

 his money's worth, he would still feel 

 that he was being compelled to undergo 

 an expense that under the circumstances 

 was uncalled for. The more you educate 

 the general public in the idea that it is 

 the thing to provide flowers for any and 

 all occasions, the better it will be for 

 your business, and the only way to do i* 

 is to have them feel that they are get- 

 ting their money's worth. 



While flowers vary in price at different 

 season^ of the year, they always have a 

 priee'and that price should be the same 

 ,^.-Tor everybody. It is too often the habit ' 

 of the florist to ask a customer a certain 

 price for flowers that his customer will,, 

 consider is more than he wants to pay, 

 and instead of offering something more 

 in keeping with what is wanted in price 

 will reduce the cost of what he does 

 offer. Practically in no other line of 

 business is this done, and nothing you 

 can do or say will convince your cus- 

 tomer that you were not attempting to 

 take advantage of him. By this I do not 

 mean that a large buyer should not re- 

 ceive concessions. It is legitimate in any 

 business to sell to a buyer at a less price 

 per hundred than could be accepted for 

 any single article. There can, however, 

 be no absolute rule in regard to this con- 

 cession. The different conditions in each 

 case leave it to the judgment and sense 

 of fairness in the dealer. 



Do not ever allow one customer to say 

 to another that that one could buy the 

 same thing cheaper than the other could. 

 And when you give a purchaser a price 

 and he tells you he can get it elsewhere 

 for less money, take no notice of it; the 

 elsewhere must have his profit the same 

 as you must, or he could not do business. 

 He certainly should not be able to grow 

 or buy at a lower price than you can, but 

 if he can do it, it is your fault and you 

 should ^ake the necessary steps to be on 

 an equal footing with him. 



THE PRESENTATION BASKET. 



One of the important features of the 

 business, especially in New York, is the 

 steamer trade. These bon voyage tokens 

 nearly always take the form of baskets 

 of cut flowers, although occasionally a 

 zinc-lined hamper of plants is preferred. 

 The presentation basket shown in the 

 accompanying illustration was made by 

 M. A. Bowe, New York, to go to a newly 

 married couple sailing on the Cedric. The 

 flowers used were Bride roses, white lilac 

 and lilies, with a liberal use of adian- 

 tum, and the doves carried sprays of lily 

 of the valley in their bills. 



THE CASCADE WREATH. 



The cascade wreath shown in the ac- 

 companying illustration was made at the 

 store of J. E. Freeman, Washington, 

 D. C. The wreath may be made of almost 

 any material, but the forward portion 

 must be light, airy and graceful, to rep- 

 resent a shower. This design was first 

 used for the funeral of Grover Cleveland 

 and was at that time illustrated in the 

 Review. Some who make this piece put 

 the flowers in the base too far back, so 

 that there is no connection between the 

 two sections of the design, as there 

 should be. In the piece illustrated the 

 supporting rod was draped with a string 



Steamer Flowers. 



of asparagus, which hardly suflSces for 

 the purpose of concealment. 



AVERAGE CROP OF SPRENGERI. 



Will you please state what a bench, 

 4x300 feet, of Asparagus Sprengeri will 

 yield in a season — that is, for the trade? 

 Also state what is the best method of 

 culture. Would it be better to grow in 

 pots or in the bench for cutting? L. K. 



If the. sprays of Sprengeri are wanted 

 for the market, plant in a 14-inch or 16- 

 inch wire basket, and hang them just 

 over the walks in your gieenhouse, high 

 enough so that you will have plenty of 

 headroom. They make much nicer sprays 

 in that way than in a bench and, be- 

 sides, do not take up any valuable room. 

 A bench 4x300 feet should produce about 

 35,000 sprays in a year, which in the 

 Chicago market average about 1% cents 

 per spray. Sprengeri is ^a^ross feeder 

 and, to produce the above insults, must 

 have plenty of fertilizer, solid as well as 

 liquid. Albert _F. Amling. 



HYDRANGEAS. 



When and how should I start hydran- 

 geas for Easter blooming, also what va- 

 rieties and what size plants should I pur- 

 chase? E. A. 



It is now much too late to start any 

 hydrangeas for Easter flowering. If you 

 can put in a good batch of cuttings now 

 and grow them along so that they will 

 be in 6-inch pots before fall, they will 

 make you excellent plants for another 

 year. Failing this, you had better buy 

 plants in the fall. If from the open 

 ground, pot them up and keep in a cool, 



dry pit over winter. The time to start 

 hydrangeas depends on the date Easter 

 falls on. This year it was necessary to 

 place them in heat early in January. 

 Hydrangea Otaksa is the popular Easter 

 hydrangea, although H, hortensis is be- 

 coming a favorite with many. C. W. 



TOBACCO TRUST INFLUENCES. 



It long has been known that the Conley 

 Foil Co., New York., from which many 

 supply houses buy tinfoil, was owned by 

 the American Tobacco Co., but it was 

 only last week that a report of the U. S. 

 Commissioner of Corporations disclosed 

 the fact that the tobacco trust also con- 

 trols the Johnson Tinfoil & Metal Co., St. 

 Louis, which also does a large business 

 with florists. The trust owns $445,000 

 of the $575,000 capital of the Conley Co., 

 and $300,000 of the $400,000 capital of 

 the Johnson Co. The trade has been told 

 that the lead trust was responsible for 

 the advance in price of tinfoil in recent 

 years, which may be true, but the reason 

 for lack of competition is now more ap- 

 parent than it was. , 



Among the eighty-four other com- 

 panies controlled by the tobacco trust is 

 the Kentucky Tobacco Product Co., in 

 which it owns $560,000 of the $1,000,000 

 capital stock. But instead of advancing 

 the price of nicotine products, this com- 

 pany keeps prices down with a claim for 

 greatest manufacturing efficiency. It 

 has, however, never been as aggressive as 

 the strength of its backing would lead 

 one to expect. 



Newton Center, Mass. — John J. 

 Leahy has bought the Cowen greenhouses, 

 on White avenue. 



