Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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tomers and persuade them that they want what you have to gave them. Packing boxes of flowers gives you a chance to develop beautiful combinations—all the packer has to do is imagine her own delight on opening the package. It would be hard to decide whether it is of more interest to arrange a stunning basket or build a funeral piece which is natural and artistic, and certainly carries with it much comfort. Flowers for social occasions and weddings offer a chance for endless ideas and combinations, and are always fascinating. If there is nothing else to do you can almost always put in some time on the window and case displays. Don't you always just long to make some of those wonderful and simple-appearing window arrangements? You’d be surprised to find how much ingenuity the really good ones require. All of which goes to prove—to my mind—that a woman’s place in a Flower Shop is just the place she makes it. Here, as always, it’s up to the individual. SOMEDAY In the green house, where the sun shines; Where the morning sun shines brightly; Where the sun of noon beats hotly, And at night the sunset glimmers; There the propogating benches, Filled with sand, and bottom-heated Hold their rows of tender cuttings; Slips from daisy plants, and ivy; Pale begonias, and bright pansies; Fragrant heliotrope, and roses: And two little rows of boxwood— Small and green, and bravely trying To reach up and meet the sunshine; To push out wee roots for water. Growing strong, and ever larger. Some day they will be old bushes, Ancient boxwoods, green and fragrant— In a garden on a hilltop. In a garden filled with roses; Filled with mignonette and lillies; Set within a grove of locusts, Tall and lacy, slender locusts—

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WOMAN’S PLACE IN THE FLOWER SHOP By Eunice S. Williams From the first there was no question in my mind as to whether the Flower Shop provided a place for a woman. But I early discovered that in the “profession” there are varying ideas. It has always neen my joy to visit a florist whenever possible. Usually , in chatting, I ask his opinion as to whether a girl would fit in his line ol work. If you are a visitor, and not a job-seeker, he most often agrees that parts of the work would suit a woman excellently, but he seems vaguely doubtful about other parts. When I went to one of the best-known florists in our city and actually asked for a job, he told me frankly that he did not like to employ women in his shop. I le admitted that they are clever with their fingers, and rapid workers. But. he argued, they cannot stand the rush of work that a man can. they cannot work long hours overtime, nor handle big jobs. He preferred to employ men. Me tried to persuade me that I could never run a shop of my own because of the great risks it involves! 1 enjoyed hearing his viewpoint, but within another hour 1 had landed a job with an equally important and well-known florist. To be successful in a Flower Shop you must possess qualities which do not seem particularly either masculine or feminine. You must be always pleasant, courteous and tactful—whether dealing with a customer or a fe.low worker. Your fingers must be quick so that you do not waste time in wiring endless blossoms or making up numberless bows. You must be full of original ideas so that each customer feels he is getting something just a bit different; resourceful enough to be able to substitute just the right thing when plans do not work out as expected. Physical endurance would be the place where some women might fall short. At holidays and sometimes on ordinary days it is necessary to work long hours. Lunch time comes when it can be fitted in—not at twelve sharp every day. If there is a big order which must be delivered at a certain hour—for weddings and funerals are not timed to suit florists—it is sometimes necessary to start work ai live A. M. At holiday seasons work just begins when the shop closes, because everything must be put in order for the next rush and all of tomorrow’s orders prepared for early delivery. Sleep becomes a much-to-be desired stranger. It is necessary to be strictly business-like in everything concerned with the shop: Business-like with the customer, your fellow-worker, or fellow-florists. If you are merely human everyone remembers that after all you are only a woman and not up to the same things as men. 1 speak from the standpoint of one who has worked in this business only with men. Perhaps if the fellow-workers were women, conditions would be different Most men who are not used to working with women are yet to be convinced of what a woman can accomplish. However, you do not often stop to analyze all these points if you are interested in the work. If you love flowers—if it gives you joy to handle them—you do not spend much time in watching the clock or thinking about yourself. It is a pleasure to talk with even fussy cus-

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ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR THE WOULD-BE FLORIST Bv Eleanor F. Fullerton I spent a very interesting morning one clay this fall in the green houses of a successful Long Island florist. I had had some previous acquaintance with the florist, and with his establishment so my interest was more than that of the casual visitor. Moreover, the florist was moved to talk to me as the Wise Men of old talked to the youthful and enthusiastic seekers after knowledge.He considered no question of mine irrelevant, or too trivial for consideration, but he gave me from his store of knowledge and life-long experience, the very bits of information that I, a would-be florist, had been groping for this past year. 1 had found my bearings in the theoretical field. I felt that I knew the fundamental principles of green house culture; and I knew I could carry through to maturity a crop of antirrhinums, or sweet peas, or tomatoes. But. the actual management of a commercial plant, including all the planning, handling of labor, and marketing of crops, was a vast and unplumbed mystery to me. Therefore, I absorbed the words of the florist with an ever-increasing thirst for more. I know there are others situated as 1 am, and I feel that the bits of wisdom that meant so much to me will mean as much to them. I therefore set them down; not as a treatise on the establishment of a green house; or even as the report of an “interview.” They are just odd items of information that may or may not help out; at least they are worthy of consideration. 1 asked how small a house could be made profitable and the florist said that he would not advise one smaller than 100 by 25 feet, unless part of the business was to be carried on by means of cold frames. One woman could handle a house of this size easily, and with well planned cropping, a profit could be made the first year. Nevertheless, he advised me to keep in mind the fact that the plant will not always remain that size. When putting up the first house, plan for your future enlargement. The manufacturing company will help you plan location, furnace pit, and all other assets so the next house can be put up with the least amount of work, extra equipment, and wasted space. If a hillside is available, and other qualifications are equal, the terroce system is good. The first house and heating plant can be erected near the bottom, and later other houses erected higher up on the slope. This utilizes the smallest space, assures no shading of one house by another, and simplifies the heating, as the steam is forced up into the houses, and when condensed runs back by the force of gravity. He recommended running the house east and west or northeast by southwest. I had heard many controversies on this subject, and I asked for his theory. He said that for flowering plants it was more important to have all the sun available than to have it distributed on all sides. The shape of the plant is of no importance, and there is no harm done if it all grows in one direction. Also, there is less shade cast by the sash bars and braces if the house is run this way. The Florist had not done a great deal with frames himself, but he