12 



The Florists' Review 



NOVEMBBB 28, 1012. 



remember that you can carry art into 

 this work and help a great deal in re- 

 moving its objectionable features. 



The Odd Fellows' Design. 



The Odd Fellows' design shown in 

 the first of the three illustrations con- 

 tains many redeeming features. In the 

 first place, the intricate reproductions 

 of emblems and badges are shown to 

 much better advantage and with 

 greater profit by outlining them on 

 some such arrangement as a panel. We 

 should like you to note the ribbon with 

 its lettering, which seems about the 

 most pleasing way of supplying the too 

 prevailing demand for lettering on 

 designs. 



Just a few words about ribbons: Rib- 

 bons are of a wonderful value in our 

 business, but it seems to the writer that 

 if a few of us could realize that ours 

 is a business of flowers and not for the 

 advancement of millinery accessories, 

 it would be to our decided advantage. 



I should like to warn you as to the 

 use of letters on designs. Personally, 



ture that had been selected and allow 

 the use of a single line. The quotation 

 chosen was, "Lord, she was thine," 

 which was duly put on the ribbon by 

 the use of the usual stick-on letters. 

 In the delivery the moisture got in its 

 work, and the piece arrived at its des- 

 tination minus the "e" in "thine." 

 The explanations that followed were 

 never quite satisfactory. 



Fred C. W. Brown. 



GOING THE LIMIT. 



Of course it is a neat plan of the 

 retail florist to please the customer by 

 delivering with an auto — within a rea- 

 sonable distance — but when the cus- 

 tomer appreciates such service to the 

 extent of asking over a 100-mile drive, 

 that 's when it comes pretty near to 

 being the limit. The other day our 

 firm, in order to please a good cus- 

 tomer, had to send the delivery auto 

 from Toledo to Bryan, O., a distance 

 of fifty-six miles along the railroad 

 line, each way, making a record drive 

 of 112 miles, to deliver flowers to a 



Compare this Wreath With the One on 'he Opposite Page. 



the writer thinks letters in bad taste, 

 but competition compels us to do many 

 things we would prefer not to do. 



A Story of a Lost Letter. 



I should also like to warn you against 

 the use of letters on ribbons, or you 

 might find yourself in the plight of the 

 Pennsylvania florist who had a call 

 from a deputation of ladies who de- 

 aired to order a wreath for one of their 

 number who had passed away. After 

 considerable argument, they were per- 

 suaded to cut down the verse of Scrip- 



funeral. The absurdity of the distance 

 was oflFset only by some parcels which 

 could be dropped off en route, at the 

 towns of Swanton, Archbold and El- 

 mira. If this keeps up, let us go back 

 to the use of the horse and wagon for 

 delivery. Walter Imoberstag. 



BEAUTIES ON THE TABLE. 



Every now and then a customer in- 

 sists on having American Beauty roses 

 and nothing else on the table. The 

 accompanying illustration shows how it 



may be done on a comparatively small 

 table with good effect. It is the work 

 of John Mangel, Chicago. He placed 

 his flowers in a sufficiently tall vase to 

 carry the mass of the decoration above 

 the eyes of those seated at the table. 

 This necessitated a decoration on the 

 cloth, and to prevent overdecorating 

 this was confined to one long-stemmed 

 Beauty extending from the center, with 

 the flower facing each plate. 



THE AMERICAN SHOWS. 



It was with keen interest that an 

 exhibitor at many English shows for 

 the first time visited an American 

 show, the horticultural exhibition at 

 Toronto, and perhaps it may interest 

 some of your readers for me to say how 

 it impressed me, and where I thought 

 it weak compared with some of the 

 good shows in the Old Country. The 

 entrance, artistic in design, and the 

 beautiful buildings enclosed in well 

 composed and laid out grounds, all go 

 to make an excellent place for such a 

 purpose. On entering the exhibition 

 building itself the same feeling occurs, 

 and those who are interested ought to 

 feel happy to find such a place as a 

 setting for their exhibits. 



In the floral exhibits I felt the most 

 disappointed. There was not the com- 

 petition I had expected to find, and, 

 speaking in general of all the exhibits, 

 they seemed to be so carelessly staged 

 that they were not made to look nearly 

 so attractive as they might have been. 

 I refer to the competitive classes 

 mostly. Again, by separating a class 

 by putting a vase on one bench and a 

 vase in the same class on another 

 bench, it made it impossible to follow 

 the awards, losing much interest. Some 

 of the exhibits certainly possessed 

 much merit; the floral designs appeared 

 to me strikingly attractive. These were 

 not given the space or position, to my 

 thinking, to do them the justice they 

 deserved. Boses might have been made 

 much more attractive if they had been 

 staged lower, so that there would not 

 be the risk of injuring the neck in try- 

 ing to see the flowers instead of looking 

 at the long, prickly stems and ugly 

 vases. The same applies in some ways 

 to the mums, for on the day of my 

 visit the lower petals were not the 

 most pleasing part of them. I cer- 

 tainly prefer mums in vases to boxes, 

 but if they are to please those who pay 

 to go and see them, they should be 

 made to look as attractive as possible. 

 In the Old Country, arrangement is the 

 deciding factor. 



Carnations I never saw look less 

 pleasing, perhaps owing to the vases 

 being unsuitable, but a good lot could 

 have been done in better arrangement 

 and staging. 



Seeing this was a fruit and flower 

 exhibition, decorated tables might have 

 had fruit introduced with great advan- 

 tage. 



It struck me as rather curious having 

 different sized tables, some with cloths, 

 some without. I wondered if exhibitors 

 had to find their own tables and if the 

 prize was enticing enough. The flower 

 trade does not seem to have that keen- 

 ness for putting up a creditable exhibit 

 that the shows in the old land do; they 

 are helped and made attractive by firms 

 that consider it one of the best ways 

 to make and gain business. Fruit ap- 

 peared to me to be the most progres- 

 sive. Perhaps the plate fruit was tiio 

 most pleasing to the eye. If prizes 



