FLORAL DECORATIONS. 



649 



wire should reach nearly to the bottom of the 

 bottle. Or a long-spouted oil-can may be em- 

 ployed with greater facility, inserting the point 

 to where the gum is needed before pressing the 

 button for the drop to escape. 



Gum may be applied either outside or in- 

 side the flower. Flowers with separate petals, 

 like Pelargoniums, only require a single drop 

 in the centre of each flower. Flowers with 

 a tubular corolla, like the Jasmines, must 

 be gummed at the base of the tube outside. 

 With large delicate flowers, such as Azaleas, 

 it is desirable to gum them both outside and 

 inside; or else to gum them inside twice, the 

 second application being made after the first 

 is quite dry. 



Wires. — Professional florists use at least three 

 kinds of iron w T ires. Iron is much the cheapest, 

 but it has the drawback of soiling with rust the 

 insides of glass and other vases; and this rust 

 is not easily removable without using some 

 strong acid. Stubbs of soft-iron wire, gauge 

 21, cut into convenient lengths, usually 6 to 

 15 inches long, are used for artificial stalks to 

 flowers that have short stalks or none at all; 

 or to give support to flowers and leaves that 

 are liable to droop, or otherwise get out of 

 position. Binding wire is fine and hair-like: 

 it is convenient to keep this cut into lengths 

 of 8 and 16 inches; its name explains its most 

 ordinary use. " Camellia wire " is a hardened 

 iron wire, bright like steel, and rather larger 

 than the last, being gauge 25. It is kept in 

 8-inch lengths, and is used only for Camellias 

 and other large flowers. In addition to these, 

 it is desirable to have at hand some still 

 stronger soft-iron wire, gauges 11 and 16, or 

 thereabouts; and also some of the finest thread- 

 like wire on a reel, for binding very small or 

 very delicate flowers. 



Wire should be used only when it is necessary. 

 Flowers whose stalks are too thick to be used 

 must have the latter removed and wire substi- 

 tuted. The wire should be fastened on firmly, 

 even if it be necessary to hook it through the 

 base of the flower. If wire is added to enable 

 the operator to fix the flower in any position, 

 then it should be twisted a few T times round the 

 stalk. The work must be done intelligently 

 and neatly. 



For Camellia flowers only the fine hardened 

 iron wire should be used. These flowers need 

 care in handling, since their petals are easily 

 bruised or cracked, and the slightest injury 

 causes a brown mark, which spoils their beauty. 

 Camellias would be much more easily handled 



if they were cut with a few inches of stem to 

 each; but this is rarely done. The flowers 

 generally come into the hands of the florist 

 without stalks, and a stalk must be provided. 

 This is done by passing two or three wire 

 stubbs through the petals at the base, and then 

 twisting them together; for some purposes it 

 is desirable to attach them to a piece of hazel 

 or other twig. Roses may be treated in the 

 same way. 



Bouvardias, Jasmines, Primulas, and many 

 other small flowers, may be secured by passing 

 down through the centre of each a fine wire, 

 the other end of which has been hooked or 

 curved into a small semicircle; when you feel 

 this hook catching firmly into the flower, out 

 of sight, then twist the other end round, or 

 bind it to the stalk of the flower. A pair of 

 small round-nosed pliers will be found useful, 

 as a ready means of quickly hooking the ends 

 of the wires, when a number are likely to he 

 wanted. 



All flowers should be arranged with their 

 natural pose. It is not unusual to see Orchid 

 flowers arranged upside down by a florist who 

 is not acquainted w T ith their habit of growth. 

 If it be borne in mind that all Orchid flowers 

 have their lips at the base, such a mistake 

 cannot be made. 



Personal Decorations. 



Hand-bouquet. — This is usually considered to 

 be a very simple and easy thing to make: and 

 so it is to those who have been taught how to 

 do it properly; while those who, fancying it a 

 thing that anybody with taste can do, try for 

 the first time to tie up a presentable nosegay, 

 will very likely find that the flowers won't go 

 where they are wanted, or won't stay in their 

 places when put there. 



Anyone can go into a well-furnished garden 

 or conservatory and cut a nosegay, and many 

 are able to arrange the flowers as they cut 

 them, with the colours nicely harmonized or 

 contrasted, and the blossoms relieved and set 

 i off with a proper proportion of foliage. But 

 such a nosegay will present the following short- 

 comings: it will be clumsy and uncomfortable 

 to hold; it will keep fresh but a very short time 

 in the hand; and the blooms are certain to be 

 crowded and squeezed together. On the other- 

 hand, in a properly made bouquet the flowers 

 are not crowded, they keep fresh for many 

 hours without flagging, and they are easily 

 held by a small hand. 



