File:The American florist - a weekly journal for the trade (1916) (17519244924).jpg

Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw53amer (find matches)
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: American Florists Company
Subjects: Floriculture; Florists
Publisher: Chicago : American Florist Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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igi6. The American Florist. 219 An important matter is that the clerk taking tlie order for refilling should ascertain the variety of ferns de- sired. There are not many sorts, five varieties in fact heing enough to give change of form and color. Well .grown plants of Pteris noliilis. Aspidium tsus- simense, Cyrtomium falcatum, Pteris Mayii and P. alljo-Iineata. in two and one-half inch pots are ideal for the work. Many are grown in three inch pots, but to get them into the shallow tins too much root must be cut away and this is hard on the plants. In fill- ing, much care should be taken to make the work uniform; very often two of a kind are planted together on one side and this makes the dish look lop- sided. Many prefer to have only one kind. Cyrtomium falcatum often being used alone on account of its bright, glossy foliage. Aspidium tsussimense is another favored sort, its feathery fronds being much admired. In filling care should be taken to have the plants so placed that the fronds fall over the edge of the dish so as to hide the soil, as keeping a bit away from the center gives more air and light all through. A small ken- tia, or a cocos, is an addition as a cen- ter plant standing above the other foli- age and will generally outlive several fillings of ferns. The dish when ready for delivery should be spotlessly clean. So often when it is about finished and dipped in the tub to water and wash off the outside of the tin, it is placed on the bench and given a few touches with dirt covered hands which soils the foliage. This is not apparent when wet, but shows very plainly when dried out in the warm dining room, where, when other topics are overdone. the everpresent centerpiece is sure to come in for criticism. Prices should be as uniform as pos- sible, as often in the fall, when ferns are plentiful and generally of good size it does not take as many plants as after the holidays, when second crop plants are not nearly so full and more are required to get the same ef- fect. It is best if possible to get a satisfactory price for the first filling and keep to that if possible for each successive time. Many times the or- der is just a fern to replenish this or that side, but it is best to get the or- der to renew entire if possble as par- tial filling is never satisfactory, the old plants, with their roots disturbed. fading away very fast and the dish soon looks badly. Some customers have two sets of dishes, one at the greenhouse, growing, ■while the others are in use at the house. Another plan is to have small seed pans filled with ferns coming on, which can be transferred bodily into the tin dish or other center, or per- haps fits the receptacle as it is, without having to be transferred. It is well to make a round of the customers once in a while to see how the fernery is being treated. They appreciate the at- tention as well as the directions given for its care. If this department of the business Is well managed, and it is easily worth the trouble it may take to make it sat- isfactory, it has great value in es- tablishing confidence in the firm. Many good accounts have commenced with preliminary work of this kind. Promptness is a great factor in the case, as so often when guests arrive, it is noticed at the last minute, that the
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FLUTED COLUMN PEDESTAL FOR STORE DECORATION. fernery needs refilling and to get and return the dish at once will nearly always be possible and greatly ap- preciated. K. A Treasure ol the Humble. A geranium blossom has been per- fected measuring six inches across. Where? you ask. Where but in Cali- fornia. To see achievement with all that grows, one turns to that state. However, it was not of California, but of the geranium, that we started to sing. We are not eager to see peony geraniums. When one thinks of ger- aniums, he thinks of a bloom modest in size, but brave in scarlet, the color of good cheer. For the geranium is a treasure of the humble. In countless pots it fills the sunny south window of the sunny housewife. The little coun- try school marm can see it as she gazes across the heads of her plodding scholars out of the school window, and ma.v take heart thereby. Then there is the geranium which thrives and blossoms from its battered tin can on the window sill of the slum tene- ment, not only brightening the cell of its owner, but lifting the hearts of dwellers across the air well or alley. What is the spell of this humble plant that makes it so potent to give happi- ness? Not its foliage.. patterned and neat as that is. Perhaps the secret was known to the blind girl who said that, as nearly as she could imagine it. scarlet must be like the note of a bugle.—Collier's Weekly. Re.\ding, Pa.—Anton Schultheis will build two rose houses this spring. H.iiiTrORD, CoxN. — Edward Lagen, who recently opened a. flower shop at Rockville, has opened a new store on Park street, this city. Providence, R. I.—The Rhode Island Horticultural Society and the State Board of Agriculture held:a joint meet- ing, February IG. An iliustrated lec- ture by Professor R. W'. Rees, Am- herst, Mass, entitled, "Cultivation of Dwarf Fruits." was one of the features of the evening.' ""

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