96 NEBKAi>KA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



in having two in our town. We used the locals mostly. I think they 

 are four to one better than the display ads unless you take half a 

 page or so. Then we get out a catalogue almost every winter which 

 we distribute in March to every house in town. We take them per- 

 sonally or send with a few boys to every house. I think It is con- 

 siderably cheaper than to mail them and we know they get to the 

 houses, too. 



Mr. Green: It is a fact in our business that every flower you put out, 

 whether you sell it on a special sale or give it away, it an advertise- 

 ment. Every one you put out helps sell another one. A plan that we 

 tried successfully was this: We advertised that on a certain afternoon 

 we would give away a dozen roses or carnations. Because we had a 

 large stock on hand we could sell them a dozen at the regular price 

 and then deliver them a dozen free anywhere they wanted them to go, 

 except to their own address — really selling the flowers at half price, but 

 we would not cut the price. 



Chairman: I believe from what I have seen from an advertising 

 standpoint that Mr. Green's way of disposing of surplus flowers is a 

 much better way than to sell them at a sale price, which is really a cut 

 price,, and less than they can really be grown for. There is no carna- 

 tion grower who will admit that he can sell carnations at a profit and 

 sell them at twenty-five cents a dozen. If he sells them for the coming 

 Saturday at twenty-five cents a dozen he will have an awful time the 

 first three days of the next week to get fifty cents a dozen. The public 

 thinks that if they are twenty-five cents a dozen on Saturday they 

 ought not to be any more the following week. He has a hard time 

 explaining why he should have a surplus and be able to sell them 

 .cheap on Saturday and not the rest of the time. I think if we dis- 

 posed of our surplus flowers to hospitals and the Home for the Friend- 

 less, it would be better to do that than sell them at prices under which 

 they can be grown. I think we should leave the sales to the depart- 

 ment stores and sell at the regular prices ourselves, because it hurts 

 business where you sell at a less price on one day than on others. 



Mr. Green: I want to emphasize Chairman Frey's remarks in re- 

 gard to getting our prices. We would rather throw away the flowers 

 than to sell at half price, as far as value is concerned as a business 

 proposition, because it is awful easy to put the price down and an 

 awful hard thing to get it bark to a paying standard. Again, we used 

 to have a rule that if churches or societies wanted flowers we would 

 make them a reduced rate, but now if a church or society comes in 

 and wants flowers we tell them they are just the same to them as 

 anybody else, or that we cannot make a reduced price on lilies for 

 Easter. As the money they are buying them with has probably all been 

 donated and we will donate some too. We will sell a dozen lilies at 

 (he dozen price and we will donate another dozen, but we will not 

 sell them two dozen at the dozen price. 



