104 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JUNE 3J. 190«. 



Microscopic Snags. 



C. H. G. writes; "Why will a good 

 reputable wholesale house sometimes 

 send out stock that is practically 

 worthless? For instance: Some time 

 ago we ordered a set of new gera- 

 niums at a fancy price. We received 

 a bunch of microscopic, liver diseased 

 snags, almost without roots or leaves. 

 We sent them back in disgust and re- 

 ceived a calm and superior letter stat- 

 ing that they were sorry we were not 

 satisfied, but it was always customary 

 to send out new varieties in 2i/4-inch 

 stock. Good healthy rooted cuttings 

 would have suited us very well. At 

 another time we ordered stock of a 

 new passiflora. The catalogue said 

 ■■good strong 2%-inch." Each '■good 

 strong plant" consisted of a one-inch 

 section of large root with a sprout 

 forming a T. No roots, no soil or sign 

 of ever having been potted. Does the 

 fact that the same house usually sends 

 good average stock justify a deal of 

 this kind? They seem to think so. If 

 so, why?" 



Why good firms permit such stock 

 to be sent out is a mystery to us, as it 

 unquestionably loses them much fut- 

 ure trade. It is a "penny wise and 

 pound foolish" policy that has killed 

 off more good customers and deterred 

 more people from investing in novel- 

 ties than any other one thing. Of 

 course, they sometimes have nothing 

 better to send out, and in such cases 

 they would do much better to advise 

 the buyer that all their good stock had 

 been disposed of. 



We remember the case of a certain 

 new rose that was sent out some years 

 ago. The stock sent out was posi- 

 tively disgraceful and the writer made 

 some lifelong enemies by sharply criti- 

 cizing it in print, thereby no doubt 

 saving some in the trade from making 

 an unfortunate investment. 



We learned afterward that the stock 

 of this rose, which was imported from 

 Europe, was largely frozen in transit 

 or while passing through the custom 

 house. Pending its arrival a good deal 

 of heavy advertising had been done in 

 the American trade papers, and in- 

 stead of deferring the date of intro- 

 duction, the concern went ahead prop- 

 agating as heavily as possible from 

 the few plants saved, whereas they ex- 

 pected to have had many more to get 

 cuttings from. Every weak little shoot 

 had to be utilized to get up the re- 

 quired number, and the result was 

 that the young plants averaged very 

 poor, indeed, and there were some 

 ugly complaints from those who re- 

 ceived them. And, worst of all, the 

 stock had been so weakened that the 



rose never amounted to much of any- 

 thing here, though it was no doubt a 

 good thing originally. 



Of course, it was unfortunate that 

 the importer was placed in a position 

 where he had to send out poor stock 

 OP pocket a serious loss, but he would 

 have been wiser to have borne the loss 

 rather than do his business reputation 

 such an injury. 



No doubt other introducers of novel- 

 lies have been placed in similar unfor- 

 tunate positions. We know of a grow- 

 er who had a fine new carnation, and 

 he is a good, conscientious man, too, 

 and a month or so before the date for 

 introduction the bulk of his stock was 

 sadly damaged by an overflow due to 

 a freshet. He had a host of orders al- 

 ready booked and the loss of stock 

 was a serious matter. He tried to pull 

 himself out of the difficulty by propa- 

 gating more heavily, and no doubt 

 used materfal thSt he wouldn't have 

 used under ordinary circumstances. 

 The result was that the stock was con- 

 siderably below his usual grade. 



But we are free to admit that there 

 are concerns who will send out most 

 any old thing in the way of young 

 stock, and how to cut them off is the 

 important point. The Review has no 

 favorites to protect and its policy is to 

 watch closely the interests of its read- 

 ers. It would probably be too large 

 a task to treat every complaint that 

 our readers might send and we sug- 

 gest that a better way would be to 

 say a good word for those who do 

 send out only first-class -stock. The 

 surest way to make a man good is to 

 make it profitable for him to be good. 

 And you can make this clear to him 

 most effectively by expressing a warm 

 apprecation of virtue when you see it. 



When you receive a lot of stock that 

 is good, tell us about it and we will 

 tell our readers. We are ready to give 

 the best kind of free advertising to 

 any firm who makes it a point to al- 

 ways send out first-class stock. Let 

 good business methods receive their 

 due reward and the other kind will 

 suffer. 



Be careful to sign your communica- 

 tions in full and don't allow your sig- 

 nature to be used by a schemer. It 

 must be an honest, genuine report or 

 it will not pass muster here. 



Can any reader suggest a better plan 

 than the one we have outlined? 



Program Advertising. 



P. A. B. writes: "Some years ago 

 we found we had spent about $200 dur- 

 ing the previous year for ad vs. in pro- 

 grams, on baseball fences, magic lan- 

 tern views, etc. We decided to drop 



it and not spend a dollar in anything 

 except the daily papers, from which 

 we get good results. As a rule, we use 

 the two and three line locals, with 

 now and then a display or "crazy" 

 adv. Attached find copy of one of 

 the "crazy" advs. that was a great 

 puller. It attracted much attention, 

 provoked discussion, and pulled well 

 among the class that see a little tun in 

 life as they go along. 



■■program advs. as a rule are a fake 

 and if you once get your name in it is 

 hard to get out, and the only way is 

 to ■kick' out at once and stay out. It 

 any customer tells you he will not 

 trade with you imless you go in his 

 program, let him go; he will come 

 back some day; don't coax him; just 

 treat him with business courtesy and 

 he will see where he has made a mis- 

 take." 



The adv. referred to appears below: 



Richmoiul. Iml.. may 3rd. 1900. 

 Deer Beluved Frienz. 



^Ye tal?e our tiprlter in hand two rit« 

 two let U no that wee ar reddy to fll 

 lire flour beds With tliee purtest p^ant.s 

 II ever seed, an they ar .aufull cheap in 

 Price two, we .?ot A hull lot off em, 1: 

 V sea we don't ship no plants Skercly. 

 and wee dont hav too .sel tT al o£ the* 

 kulls We got left: but u alus gets the 

 bestest plants two be bed tur koin. Wee 

 hop tl wil kiim and by al of lire flours 

 friim Us this Spring, Fur we have got 

 to have sum munny to pay our de'is und 

 we want to sel a hul lot of plants 2 get 

 the Munny. 



We kan fil lire vace so purty that ur« 

 nabors dog wont bark a singel bark 

 after Sun doun, Hee wil be so fasanated 

 with that vace that he will set and wach 

 it al nite, he wont even notice the kats 

 that hav prair metins on the eve spoutes. 



we Wants uans two kiim and sea our 

 fine stock uf the splendedest Geraniums 

 and other things U ever laid ure eies 

 on. If U once lay ure eies on them ul« 

 have two bl them two git ure eies back, 

 see? 



U shud hav one off them nice porch 

 boxes two set on ur verandy, they wil 

 mak T're home shine like 1 off them no 

 Easter bunnots the wimmin ar .all warin, 

 and they wont cost haf as much munny 

 as therri bunnots do, and they dont ge 

 out off style evry time U turn a korner 

 of the streat. 



Now bee sur and kum and sea usens, 

 and dont furget two bring along a fu 

 pikters of my "best girl" hammerd out 

 on silver plates an Then U can git sum 

 of them gren ■■tradin stamps" sea? sum 

 foks say we ar gren to giv them stamp.';, 

 but we "dont kar iff we ar gren, wc haf to 

 be in ower biznes. 



Now be sur and kum and se Us and 

 dont ax usens two rit any mor leters. 

 and sea if we ant a beter suckses at 

 growin nlc plants than we ar at ritin 

 leters on a pesky old ritin mashin. 

 TOURS FOR FLOWERS, 

 BEACH AND CHESSMAN. 



W'e ask every reader to give us his 

 experience in advertising to reach re- 

 tail trade. 



Salaries. 



From "All Around" comes the fol- 

 lowing: "I am troubled, and since you 

 invite trouble, I will trouble you with 

 my trouble. The trouble that is troub- 

 ling me is this: Why good, all aroimd 

 florists, capable of any work pertain- 

 ing to the business, from washing pots 

 to decorating a lady's drawing room, 

 don't get as liberal pay as many so- 



