File:The American florist - a weekly journal for the trade (1903) (18111231646).jpg

Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw27amer (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

View Book Page: Book Viewer
About This Book: Catalog Entry
View All Images: All Images From Book
Click here to view book online to see this illustration in context in a browseable online version of this book.

Text Appearing Before Image:
354 The American Florist. Oct. varieties. The people are always want- ing something new. When things get common they lose their interest in them. Time was when everybody was crazy over chrysanthemums. But they do not buy the plants now to any extent. Is there not a fine chance for any number of intelligent and enterprising florists to exercise their brains and skill in originat- ing new varieties in all kinds of plants that the people can grow? The lesson then to be learned from this first show of the New Bedford Horticult- ural Society is to cultivate dahlias and also cultivate flower cranks. N. B. H. The Return of the Dahlia, This Is the subject of an editorial in the N. y. Mail and Express. It says : We are not greatly surprised to hear that the Newport cottage people are swarming to the Horticultural Society's autumnal ex- hibition to see the dahlias. They seem to think that they need an excuse for a "dahlia fad," and the excuse is that this show, having for local reasons been given much earlier than usual, could not be a chrysanthemum exhibitlou. .\s it came exactly at the height of the season of dahlias, why not make it a dahlia show? Why not. indeed? The dahlia is laughed at because it Is so absurdly like an artiflcial flower; and yet it may well enough be said of it that it is exactly the excellent thing that Nature has brought forth in an effort to prove that she can make a much more beautiful artificial flower than man can. The perfect frank- ness of the dahlia's formal, almost mechan- ical, arrangement of its ray-florets really makes one forgive the artificiality of its appearance. And the gladness, the cheri- ness. the superb responsiveness of the flower make it a real delight to simple- hearted people. It produces colors that are a wonder of wealth and brilliancy. Born on the radiant mountains of Mex- ico, the dahlia plant retains, either ex- pressed or latent in its spontaneous and productive body, so much of the wealth and splendor of the tropics that it has added an exotic delight to tens of thousands of northern gardens. Uncritical children, who perhaps after all have the best title to say whether a flower is beautiful or not, think it the finest flower in the world. They watch its unfolding with pure and expect- ant delight, and are deliriously rejoiced by the gift of a rich and perfect dahlia. As the child triumphantly survives in
Text Appearing After Image:
the person of every normal adult, and as the rich can do no better than to return at times to the esthetic delights of the poor, it is rather pleasant than otherwise to see the Newport society people take up the "dahlia fad." Exhibitions. PART II. DAHLIA 80TH CENTURY, PHOTOGRAPHED IN AUGUST. IThis article, while written originjilly for the private gardener, contains so much of' general good sense that we b**lieve the tr;ido mav protlt by it. Kd.J If the schedule calls for a certain quantity let that and no morebeinyourcoliection. We have seen many an otherwise excellent cellection disqualified on that ground. If the schedule calls for size only the selection is very simple, but if it is the best for table use then much dis- crimination is needed, freshness, form, uniformity and size must all be consid- ered. The appearance and make-up of the collection has also much to do in ren- dering a decision. If the different sub- jects be not uniform much is detracted from the appearance of the whole. For instance, two or three large parsnips, or carrots and several smaller ones does much to detract from the appearance of a collection, and moreover it looks as if the exhibitor had only a limited quantity to pick from. The rating of different vegetables also influences many a close decision. A dish of nice green peas at the present time would outrival a large pumpkin or squash, and so on. Healthy green foliage adds much to the fresh appearance when staged; for instance, carrots, parsnips, beets or turnips should not be denuded of their leaves right down to the crown. Such an appearance gives them a cold storage look. The-up-to- date vegetable peddler recognizes this, and the housewife in quest of something fresh will invariably choose the bunch with a quantity of leaves on it in prefer- ence to the one with the cold storage look, even though the one may be supe- rior to the other. In staging a collection one is sometimes tempted to use a cer- tain thing which may have a flaw in it, being careful of course to hide this by placing it in a position where the flaw will not be readily seen, just because it may possess other desirable attributes. This is very often a stumbling block. If a close decision has to be rendered every point counts, and each subject is exam- ined individually. Blemishes must be avoided and all scratching or scraping. Use a knife as little as possible, but have everything washed clean and looking as natural as possible. In most cases now- adays horticultural and other societies provide all dishes and receptacles for staging purposes, but where this is not so, and each exhibitor has to provide his own, let them be of uniform size and color. Nothing looks worse than a mis- cellaneous lot of wooden, earthenware and semi-color dishes. Nothing looks better than white earthenware, and it need not be expensive. The use of white plates is universal for the smaller sub- jects, but when a collection is staged they may be dispensed with. Sheets of clean white paper make an effective set- ting and on the whole looks more natural. Parsley is often used as a ground work, and where the collection is not limited there may be no objection, but if the schedule calls for twelve or more varie- ties its use is sometimes misconstrued. When it is to be used as one of the num- ber it is safer to lift two or three plants, roots and all and stage them as you would the others. In staging commence at the back of the table with the larger

Note About Images