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MABCn 16, 1011. 



The Weekly Florists' Review^' 



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THE RETAIL 



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FLORIST, 



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THE BOSE BOUQUET. 



The roses in the bouquet illustrated 

 herewith were wired in order to hold 

 them .to position. With the long- 

 stemmed roses now so freely produced, 

 rigidity is secured without the wires; 

 that is one of the reasons why retail 

 florists who seek to turn out the best 

 of work are willing to pay the extra 

 price for the long stems, even though 

 ttey cut off a good part of the stem 

 ' in making up their work. A few years 

 ago such roses as are now abundant in 

 all the leading markets were undreamed 

 of and the retail florists had to make 

 use of many practices not now neces- 

 sary, except where shorter and weaker- 

 stemmed stock is employed. 



COLOB SENSE. 



Natural and Acquired Skill. 



There are two ways of acquiring 

 knack in coloring — one by the exercise 

 of the natural sense of color, and the 

 other by the practice of what is learned 

 by rote training. While both are de- 

 sirable, the endowment to be coveted is 

 the eye that can analyze the coloring 

 of a flower or plant at a glance. Ar- 

 bitrary training will teach one to avoid 

 glaring mistakes, but it will never lead 

 to fine color work. It may cry 

 "Shame!" at a vase of Killarneys 

 against one of Beacon carnations, but 

 without a color eye one can never learn 

 which white to combine with which 

 pink, or to compose a symphony in lilac, 

 violet and magenta. Ignorance of so 

 simple a matter as the order of the 

 spectrum colors need not hold one back 

 if he has strong color instincts, for they 

 do not often err. 



On the other hand, all one can learn 

 from the mass of material that is to be 

 read on color — which, however, must be 

 classified and adapted to this branch of 

 art — will greatly develop and encourage 

 his natural instincts. 



Somebody once said, "How can I 

 make up for the lack of the color sense? 

 I don't understand what colors to com- 

 bine." I do not know. What would 

 be said of a man who proposed to go 

 into the machinists' trade without me- 

 chanical ability? How would a person 

 progress in music who had not ear 

 enough to tune a violin? Do not per- 

 sist in work foreign to your talents. 



Well, how am I to know whether I 

 have talent for entering, or continuing 

 in, this branch of the business? 



Tests of Ability. 



There are several simple tests which 

 may be helpful in this line. First, as a 

 phrenologist will tell you, there are un- 

 mistakable evidences of color and form 

 talent, or the lack of it, as plain as the 

 nose on your face. Color and form abil- 

 ity are indicated by large eyes, arched 

 eyebrows, long eyebrows, or prominent 

 bone development about the eyes. 



Second, if you know yellow, red, 

 green, violet, orange and blue apart, can 

 you trace these colors as two or more 

 of them are found in some one familiar 

 flower or leaf, termed pink, lavender, 

 heliotrope, russet, gray, etc? For ex- 

 ample, can you see any yellow in a 

 Bridesmaid rose, or can you find any red 

 in a Clematis Jackmani? What colors 

 can you trace in the skin of a russet 

 apple? Or, in other words, can you 

 analyze the color mixture which you find 

 in any ordinary flower? For there are 

 no flowers of one pure color. If not. 



Viit tints which appeal warmly to you, 

 or others which are cold and repelling? 

 Fifth, is the subject of color one of 

 al:sorbing interest to you? Are you will- _ 

 ing to sacrifice pleasure and rest oc- 

 casionally in order to pursue its study? 



' Encouraging, but Not Conclusive. 



There are some arguments which also 

 may seem to indicate, but only super- 

 ficially, talent in this line. For instance, 

 one's fondness for flowers is regarded 

 as a more or less encouraging sign. This, 

 however, does not necessarily indicate 

 talent for artistic floral work. Because 

 T have an extreme fondness for violin 

 music is not sufficient argument that I 

 should adopt it as a profession. 



Again, you may say, ' ' But people ad. 

 mire my work." There is no disputing' 

 that fact. I have seen scores of people 

 gush over the poorest kind of work as 

 quickly as over a gem in floral arrange- 

 ment. If the thing is sifted down, you 

 will find that it is the beauty of the 

 flowers themselves, and not the arrange- 

 ment, which attracts them. To illus- 



White Roses, VaUey and Plumosus. 



can you pick out any one of the colors 

 of which it is composed? 



Third, do your untaught color at- 

 tempts please your eye? Are you tempt- 

 ed to linger over the harmony produced ? 

 Is there a pleasant reaction upon your 

 eye? |^ 



Fourth, what sensations do certain 

 colors excite in .you? Can you point 



tra,te: A customer whom I had coached 

 for years in good designing and color- 

 ing, who was a lady of fine taste 

 in other lines, gave me a heart stab by 

 admiring and/ asking me to admire a 

 slovenly lp<*King, characterless excuse 

 for a funeral design. If people admire 

 your work, and meanwhile give you any 

 convincing proof that they appreciate 



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