10 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



XOVEMBEH 24, 1910. 



keep strictly within bounds. Unless it 

 is a narrow table, it is best to allow 

 twenty-four inches for service all around 

 the edge of the table. 



But, suppose the customer is the 

 "loud" kind, and must have what, in 

 your opinion, amounts to a vulgar 

 show? Then get in your show in bril- 

 liant coloring, but alwaj's with correct 

 combinations. 



Was Not "Stunning" Enough. 



Once I had an order for a decoration 

 on a long luncheon table and arranged 

 a series of three narrow plaques of 

 medium sized poinsettias, with scarlet 

 and green garlands, two ribbons con- 

 necting them. The effect, when com- 

 plete, however, was not sufficiently 

 "stunning" to suit the hostess and I 

 was ordered back to double the quan- 

 tity, although the added amount really 

 made too heavy a decoration, both for 

 that occasion and for my reputation, 

 decoratively speaking. Although this 

 does not often happen, yet I would 

 rather be ordered to put on more than 

 be requested to take off some. 



The error of using too much material 

 is so often committed that it has be- 

 come almost an axiom of good policy to 

 pile on as much as the customer will 

 stand for and charge accordingly. But, 

 if a good price can be obtained, why 

 not allow a fair proportion for "know- 

 ing how" and for accessories? It is 

 just as valuable to know where to stop 

 as to know where to begin. This is 

 applicable not only to table decorations, 

 but to any kind of designing. In 

 funeral work, many a time, just as good 

 a price can be had for a piece which 

 attains reasonable size through free 

 and loose arrangement, rather than a 

 great amount of stock fairly piled to- 

 gether. 



Formal, but Qraceful. 



Another complaint heard from cus- 

 tomers is that formal arrangements are 

 too formal, too stiff. People outside of 

 the counter, who have any artistic sense 

 .it all, know that a design, even if it 

 is formal, need not be ungraceful. 

 There are few designs that are more 



formal in their make-up than a gates 

 ajar, and yet what possibilities of 

 graceful decoration it presents! The 

 more forihal and mechanical the outline 

 is made, the better; the more solidity 

 and weight it has, the better; but that 

 much is only the piece fairly started. 

 Believe the formal parts by groups of 

 growing effects and trailing garlands, 

 and nobody will ever say it is stiff. 



The trouble is that our work has be- 

 come too conventional, one style pre- 

 vailing for all pieces. The discerning 

 public is tiring of it now. Even boxes 

 of assorted flowers are often sent out 

 like factory-packed candy or lead pen- 

 cils. Touch the long, regular lines of 

 the rose or carnation stems with a 

 dainty bunch of small flowers, or a cross 

 line or two of contrasting color or style 

 of foliage. 



The Favorable Criticisms. 



But what about the favorable criti- 

 cisms received over the counter? We 

 have all been gratified by the generous 

 expressions of appreciation given us 

 over the wire or across the counter. 

 How can we turn them to advantage? 

 If the person who gives our work fa- 

 vorable comment expresses a preference 

 for any one flower or variety, why not 

 make a mental note of it and afterward 

 a pencil note of it, and when at some fu- 

 ture time a box of flowers is to be sent 

 to her, include the favorite flower or 

 color if possible? Use some well ex- 

 pressed thought, given you in this way, 

 in your advertising or write-up — imper- 

 sonally, of course. And the comfort 

 and encouragement — let them spur us 

 on to better achievements each day. 



Gertrude Blair. 



OPEN HOURS UMITED BY LAW. 



As is well known, in English cities a 

 large number of shops handle the two 

 lines, fruits and flowers. About 100 

 gentlemen, representing some of the 

 largest retail fruiterers and florists of 

 London, met recently and effected an 

 organization of their trades. The new 

 organization will be known as the Lon- 

 don Eetail Fruiterers' and Florists' 

 Association. Resolutions were carried 



A Design for the Dolliver Funeral. 



Design by North Floral G). 



declaring that the Shop Hours bill as 

 at present drafted was entirely un- 

 workable and unacceptable to the Lon- 

 don traders in fruits and flowers; that 

 any amelioration of the workipg hours 

 of shop assistants could be better made 

 by restricting the number of ordinary 

 working hours per week, than by en- 

 forced closing of shops; and that florists 

 should be placed, with fruiterers, in the 

 lisc of exempted trades. 



DOLLIVER DESIGNS. 



The accompanying illustrations show 

 the work of E. E. Nordwall, of the 

 North Floral Co., Fort Dodge, la., called 

 for by the funeral of the late Senator 

 Dolliver. The display of floral tributes 

 at the Dolliver funeral was the largest 

 ever seen at Fort Dodge and the char- 

 acter of the work as a whole spoke well 

 for the progress of the floral art. 



PICTURES SPEAK LOUDEST. 



The Jackson & Perkins Co., of New- 

 ark, N. Y., has hit upon a new and 

 excellent scheme for improving the 

 selling qualities of the replies made to 

 inquiries. A set of letter-heads has 

 been prepared showing the articles 

 about which the greatest numbers of 

 inquiries are received, so that when a 

 prospective buyer writes to know about 

 hydrangeas the answer comes to him 

 on a letter-head that shows a block of 

 the stock, the one who asks about 

 roses gets a picture of roses with his 

 answer, and so on. In speaking of the 

 innovation Secretary John Watson 

 said: 



"We believe in pictures. Pictures 

 speak louder than words. They give a 

 more immediate, more definite idea of 

 the stock than any number of adjec- 

 tives, and pictures are bound to be 

 fairly truthful, too. Nothing is so ef- 

 fective in selling goods as first-class 

 illustrations. Now, it occurred to us 

 that if the illustrations used are made 

 to represent the identical stock offered 

 — the particular plants that one wants 

 to sell — then the pictures become 

 doubly effective. 



"We are using a number of different 

 styles of letter heads. When a cus- 





