The Washington critic., 1888-01-28


centre, IL spreads to the other parts OF
the hot-house, and 80 travels and
ilourisbes long after it has spent its
force in the place where il first APP
peared. IL will probably exhaust
itself soon and then vioiets will
become cheaper. II attacks leaves,
buds, blossoms and stems that appear
otherwise healthy. Many of these
diseased violets, which do not find
sale by reputable florists, are vended
on the street, and may be recognized
by the yellow-stained and apparently
worms eaten petals. The disease is
contagious and affects other flowers
as well as violets."
SOME QUEER CUSTOMERS.
"a florist has as odd an assortment
Of customers as any tradesman on the
Avenue" said ono Of theguild. "That
old gentleman" he continued, as a
shabby-genteel man, limping With age
and laden with huge bouquet Of
cheap flowers, retired from the booth.
THAT old gentleman is a good exam
pie Of my eccentric patrons. We
have had standing order TO furnish
him with Just such q bunch OF flowers
as that on this day Of the week for the
last three years. The flowers are all
of very common varieties and we sell
them to him for almost nothing. He
never fails, rain or shine, TO make us
q call on his regular day and pays
cash for his purchase. The money
means considerable to him, for he
gains q livelihood by peddling pencils
from door to door. Gaudy ilowers
particularly please him, and, till
short time ago, | regarded him
as harmless imbecile, with kind of
floral monomania. One day l was
out at the cemetery, experimenting q
job of landscape gardening, and,
having few minutes leisure,
walked about among the tombstones.
In an obscure quarter of the cemetery
was surprised to find grave deco
rated with bunch Of biight.colored
flowers, which the old gentleman had
bought the day before. AT the head
of the mound was q plain slab in
scribcd, TO Ny Wife, pve given
HIM more and better flowers for his
money ever since that day"
CoLoRED FLOWERS FOR FUNERALS.
AREN'T colored flowers now con-
sidered proper in funereal work?'
Eyes, and it's q strange custom,
too; but it has now become almost the
rule instead of an exception, as was
formerly the case. Bunches and
wreathes OF IJacqueminot and Ameri-
can Beauty roses are frequently Or
dered for funerals, and it is said that
ON recent OCCASION of this kind fully
| two-thirds of the flowers were eolored.
Why shouldn't they be? The deli
cately tinted flowers are much more
| beautiful, as rule, than the pure
| white ones, and hence are filter Of
| fering to the memory of the dead.
| It's remarkable what q strange influ-
ence association Of ideas has onimost
| people. Do YOU know that the sale of
| tuberoses has been spoiled because
| their odor, which is really not cloy-
ing, is suggestive of funerals? Among
| the designs recently made for use at
of the valley, of La France roses, and
of violets. Other designs were a
crown Of crimson roses, a standing
cross of Crimson King carnations,
with a cluster Of yellow reses training
/ O,o. " 3 star of violets, with points
of lilies of the valley and eucharis in
the centre; Tyre Of pink carnations,
and roses of the same color, ON o base
of croton leaves and yellow roses"
''The eolored flowers used are sup
posed to be the favorites of the de-
ceased during life, are they not?"
| Eyes; but this is unfortunate, for il
often interferes with tile use of the
! fine Judgment and taste which must
always be necessary in the artistic'ar-
rangement of flowers. The use OF q
| few colored flowers does notmuch re-
lieve the dead white of the conven-
tional lfunereald design, especially when
they are badly selected, but still the
beauty Of a wreath or bunch of Grim
son roses, among Il mass of white
flowers is not to be questioned
''Do you not find that these colored
flowers strewn on graves ofiermore
temptation to flower pilfercrs than
the White bouquets whose appearance
would tell the tale of where they came
from"
"Well, / never thought of that
matter. It's certain. however, that
such flowers are occasionally stolen,
butno persons have been caught in
the act hereabouts. In some cities
persons have been detected who take
designs from graves, sell them to
fences who remodel them, re-
placing the damaged flowers with
fresh ones and sell them again at a
good profit"