CHRISTMAS BULB STOCK 171 



and an endless assortment of small as weU as large baskets can be 

 made up with them used in connection with a few other plants. 

 What more pleasing combination could you imagine than a pan or 

 low basket filled with Cincinnati or Chatelaine Begonias, small 

 Adiantums and Roman Hyacinths? 



Not all of your patrons will want Paperwhite Narcissi in their 

 baskets; many object to them because of their strong odor, but you 

 can sell a lot of them in plant arrangements just the same. Fill 

 even 6- and 8-in. bulb pans, and put a border of Adiantum or Aspar- 

 agus around them. Do the same with the yellow Narcissi — Grand 

 Soleil d'Or — or the double Romans. If you have them, you can 

 sell them and make them pay; but obviously you cannot do so if 

 you don't carry them in the first place. 



Cut Flowers at Christmas 



Cut flowers are the most perishable of all your Christmas 

 stock and the out-of-town florist in particular has to be careful 

 both in taking orders for them and in handling them. There is al- 

 ways more or less trouble and disappointment in shipping flowers 

 a long distance, especially Carnations, and if stock is on the road for 

 several days, it doesn't have to be "pickled" to start with in order 

 to "go to sleep" by the time you deliver it. 



I don't believe that you should discourage a demand for cut 

 flowers, but it is better to disappoint a patron wishing to place an 

 order, for say, red Carnations that you cannot supply than to take 

 the order, and later on, disappoint him. It is easy to take an 

 order for cut flowers for Christmas and quite another thing to fill 

 that order properly. Never take an order for cut flowers unless you 

 are reasonably sure that you can fill it; know beforehand where and 

 how to get the flowers. 



The man located near the large city where he can in a couple 

 of hours obtain almost anything he wants, or whatever there is on 

 the market, has the advantage over the out-of-town man. On the 

 other hand, Christmas is a time when flowering plants and made-up 

 baskets are more used in preference to cut flowers for gifts than for 

 any other special occasion. 



The high price of cut flowers around the hoUdays, their perish- 

 able nature and the difficulty in obtaining what is wanted, should 

 make every country florist careful in taking and fflling orders for 

 them and in doing what he can to get his patrons to make use of 

 plants if possible. You cannot fiU an order calling for a Violet, 

 Sweet Pea or Vafley corsage with a Poinsettia plant, but there are 

 times when a buyer is undecided whether to send as a gift red Roses, 

 Carnations or a nice plant. That is the time for you to talk plants. 



