182 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



JULY 12, 1900. 



Shipping Troubles. 



"Under this head I wish." says C. M. 

 H.. "to state one concerning the lack 

 of proper attention in these matters by 

 a prominent evergi-een specialist in Il- 

 linois. All nurserymen appreciate the 

 value and necessity of great care In 

 the removal and shipment of all trees, 

 especially evergreens that have 

 reached the age of two or three years. 

 All, too, realize the irreparable damage 

 done by entirely cutting away the feed- 

 ing roots and packing in moss only, 

 without a pound of soil. The utmost 

 care should be used in saving all of 

 these tender roots, which are the only 

 source of nourishment to the tree. 

 From one who claims to be a specialist 

 we would not expect to receive choice 

 specimens in such a mutilated condi- 

 tion, and the careless attention given 

 must be considered an insult to the 

 firm ordering. 



"Of what avail are testimonials, etc., 

 when rendered meaningless? Few 

 firms have the discourtesy to ignore 

 completely the complaints of patrons 

 and make no recompense for damaged 

 trees that under the most favorable 

 conditions and best of care cannot sur- 

 vive, but who have the audacity to 

 make a charge for boxing, which other 

 firms do gratis. It seems that under 

 the above conditions some means of 

 protection to purchasers should be in- 

 stituted. One does not care to expend I 

 cash and labor and have an entire loss 

 of half the order, all of which were 

 undersized, and the remainder in a 

 stunted, crippled condition, not able 

 to make in three or four years the 

 growth that should have been made in 

 one. No firm, no matter how well 

 established, can afford to ignore com- 

 plaints or show inattention in the mat- 

 ters in every shipment made by them, 

 be it great or small." 



There seems no opportunity for ar- 

 gument on the points raised by "C. M. 

 H." And the only means of protection 

 we can devise is that suggested in a 

 previous issue and taken advantage of 

 last week by "Clorus." Let us put a 

 premium upon the production of good 

 stock, its careful packing and ship- 

 ping, and the careless grower and 

 reckless packer and shipper will be 

 forced to improve his methods or lose 

 his business. 



While we hear a great deal about 

 unsatisfactory shipments, they are 

 really a small percentage of the total. 

 There are plenty of good growers and 

 careful business men to buy from. It 

 will not be a great task to eliminate 



those who are unworthy of business 

 relations, and the Review stands ready 

 to do anything in its power to force 

 out the black sheep. 



If all our readers would help, the job 

 would be a short one. 



Business Correspondence. 



H. E. M. asks: "Do any of your 

 readers find my 'trouble,' I wonder, in 

 ordering? Desiring to plant a new 

 strawberry bed, I answered an adv. in 

 the Review from an eastern firm offer- 

 ing 35 different varieties at exception- 

 ally reasonable rates. My order, ac- 

 companied by cash, having been sent, 

 I prepared ground, and not hearing 

 from same, sent a card asking cause of 

 delay. After waiting three weeks the 

 answer came, saying 'it was too late to 

 disturb plants.' Thus much valuable 

 time was lost. The great majority of 

 firms are prompt and courteous, but 

 frecjuently we meet with such as the 

 above, whose lack of attention in these 

 matters causes a waste of time and 

 money in preparation for plants or- 

 dered and the loss of a season's 

 growth." 



It certainly is unfortunately tnie 

 that rnany in the trade are very lax in 

 their correspondence. They seem not 

 to appreciate the fact that they are 

 doing their business interests serious 

 harm by their failure to write their 

 customers promptly and fully when 

 occasion demands. Every order should 

 have a prompt acknowledgment so 

 the sender may know it has reached 

 its destination and is having attention. 

 And if any items cannot be supplied 

 the customer should be notified by first 

 mail so he may look elsewhere. Don't 

 attempt to do a shipping business un- 

 less you are prepared to do all the let- 

 ter writing that is necessary. The de- 

 partment of correspondence is one of 

 the most important divisions of such a 

 business. 



We know a number of good men 

 who would rather work a whole day in 

 the greenhouses than to write a few 

 letters. Such would do well to employ 

 someone to keep up their correspon- 

 dence for them. It would be money 

 well invested. 



Express Rates on Plants, 



W. G. says: "I have never yet been 

 able to see where that 20 per cent 

 special rate on plants comes in. It's 

 mighty hard telling what the regular 

 rate is when goods pass through the 

 hands of several companies." 



The classification adopted by the 



Adams, American. United States, 

 Wells, Fargo & Co.. National. Pa- 

 cific, Southern, and Northern Pacific 

 companies reads as follows: 



PLANTS, completely boxed and packed 

 .■io they may be handled without extra 

 care, general special rate. Between 

 points where no general special is in 

 force, plants packed as above may be 

 taken at 20 per cent less than merchan- 

 dise rate, pound rates, minimum charge 

 35 cents for each company carrying: pre- 

 paid or guaranteed. Plants not so boxed 

 and packed, double merchandise rate. 



The "General Special Rate" re- 

 ferred to is the rate made on fruit, 

 vegetables, eggs, etc., and applies only 

 to exclusive points and certain agreed 

 common points, and as it varies but 

 slightly from 20 per cent less than 

 regular merchandise rates, it is 

 hardly worth considering. The 20 per 

 cent less than merchandise rates ap- 

 plies to all points on the lines of all 

 the companies named. 



We know one shipper of plants (and 

 probably there are others) who has 

 his tags printed, "Live plants. To be 

 billed at 20 per cent less than mer- 

 chandise rate." This is a fair notice 

 to the express agent that the special 

 rate is demanded. There are still 

 many agents who are unaware of the 

 fact that a special rate has been 

 made, and others that ignore it when- 

 ever they think they are safe in do- 

 ing so. Every plant shipper should 

 have his tags printed as above noted 

 and take pains to see that the agent 

 bills out at the special rate, thus pro- 

 tecting his customers from excessive 

 charges. 



And it would be a good idea for 

 shippers to have the rate made by the 

 agent and then notify the customer 

 on his bill or otherwise what the ex- 

 press charges should be. The con- 

 signee can verify this by inquiring of 

 his agent the rate from his city back 

 to the starting point. But it is im- 

 possible for your agent to tell the rate 

 between two points of which your 

 city is not one. He has a rate book 

 to all points from his city, but that 

 is all. Only at the gsneral ofiice of 

 the company is an attempt made to 

 keep a record of rates between all 

 points, and this record is a truly 

 monumental affair. 



Dock'ng for Lost Time. 



R. H. presents a peculiar case. Says 

 he is working for $15 a week, that 

 when he was engaged he understood 

 that he would have some Sunday work 

 to do, but that the first Sunday he was 

 off in six months his employer "dock- 

 ed" him $2.50. As $2.50 a day is at the 

 rate of $15 for six days, he can't un- 

 derstand how his employer figured it. 

 When he asked about it he was told 

 that he was engaged for seven days in 

 the week, though he says he under- 

 stood he was doing the Sunday work 

 as a favor. But if he was receiving 

 pay at $15 for seven days, he can't see 

 why he should be "docked" more than 



