206 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



JULY 19, mio. 



Credits. 



In regard to the giving of credit by 

 the retailer. S. M. says: "If a stranger 

 wishes to give us an order and does 

 not voluntarily offer either a deposit 

 or references, we take the order, giv- 

 ing the customer as much attention 

 as though his or her credit was as- 

 sured, but before delivering or incur- 

 ring any expense in any way we take 

 steps to ascertain whether we are rea- 

 sonably sure of our pay. If the order 

 is given with a very free hand and 

 not much regard paid to prices, we 

 are more cautious than if prices are 

 carefully considered. 



"If delivery is to be made to a hotel 

 we call upon the clerk and see if he 

 knows anything about the party. If 

 he has no definite information, you 

 had better make sure of your money 

 by getting it in advance. If the par- 

 ties are keeping house we visit the 

 grocery stores in the neighborhood, 

 and unless the groceryman is able to 

 give a thoroughly good report we ask 

 for cash in advance, or at least a lib- 

 eral deposit. Because parties are 

 stopping at an expensive hotel or liv- 

 ing in a fine house on a swell avenue 

 it is no sign they are worthy of 

 credit. In fact, the most of the flor- 

 ist's bad bills are made in such locali- 

 ties. 



"We use the telephone directory as 

 something of a guide. If the order 

 comes from a lady whose husband's 

 name appears in the directory as an 

 official of some concern of good stand- 

 ing, it gives us confidence. A man 

 with a good position has something to 

 lose and is apt to be on deck when the 

 bill is due. And any business man 

 who does not now have a telephone is 

 apt to be very small fry. 



"Of course, we are influenced a good 

 deal by the general appearance of cus- 

 tomers. And it is comparatively rare 

 that a perfect stranger will endeavor 

 to place an order without voluntarily 

 offering references. It is part of the re- 

 tail florist's business to know a good 

 deal about all people who are apt to 

 become his patrons, and he should 

 keep up to date in this department. 

 He should get to know all prominent 

 people by sight, and to address them 

 by name in case they visit his store. 

 It pleases them to know that they 

 need no introduction and at once In- 

 duces better relations." 



Exhibition Judges. 



M. C. says there is trouble every 

 year over the awards at the annual 

 exhibition in his city, especially as re- 

 gards the floral designs, and wishes 



to know how this "trouble" can be 

 avoided. 



While no judge or set of judges can 

 ever make awards satisfactory to all 

 competitors unless the latter happen 

 to be a remarkably fair minded lot of 

 men, we believe the nearest approach 

 to an unimpeachable award in the case 

 of floral arrangements can be made by 

 a committee composed of large users 

 of flowers and floral decorations. Of 

 course there are people who are lib- 

 eral patrons of the florist who are de- 

 ficient in taste, but the great majority 

 are in a better position to judge 

 fairly than one in the trade, and per- 

 sonal pi-eferences for certain flowers 

 and effects, etc., can be minimized by 

 having a large committee. 



This plan has been in force in Chi- 

 cago for ten years or more, and while 

 some of the awards have not exactly 

 met the views of the writer, the aver- 

 age has been good, and there has cer- 

 tainly been less criticism of the 

 awards than before the plan was fol- 

 lowed. 



The first committee was selected in 

 this way: Each intending competitor 

 submitted a list of 12 names of cus- 

 tomers whom he considered most ca- 

 pable to act as judges. These were 

 combined together, and those who ap- 

 peared most frequently in the several 

 lists were selected. One lady's name 

 appeared in seven of the eight lists 

 submitted, and the others selected ap- 

 peared in at least two of the lists. 

 But a drawback to this method de- 

 veloped later. It seems that there are 

 people who are equally good judges 

 of flowers but who do not work well 

 together because they belong to dif- 

 ferent social cliques. So later on the 

 lady who was so unanimously chosen 

 was asked to select her associates, and 

 this she has done year after year, in- 

 cluding representatives of each of the 

 society divisions in different years, 

 she happening to be one of those for- 

 tunate people who are universally 

 popular with all. 



Club Meetings. 



J. J. B. asks: "How can we increase 

 the attendance at the meetings of our 

 Florists' Club? This is an important 

 question, as no doubt every florists' 

 club has the same trouble." 



The only way to increase the at- 

 tendance is to make the meetings more 

 interesting. But how to make them 

 more interesting is of course the main 

 question. It lies with the members 

 themselves. There is not one that 

 could not contribute something really 

 useful and interesting. 



Why not take the membership list 

 and ask for something toward the pro- 

 gram from every member, several for 

 each meeting, until the list is ex- 

 liausted? 



And never defer a program because 

 the attendance is light. This is the 

 greatest mistake that can be made. 

 Even if there is less than a quorum, 

 go ahead with your program. Be 

 sure those present have had an inter- 

 esting evening and next time more 

 will come. It is fatal to let the meet- 

 ing be a failure, for those you have 

 present will go away doubtful about 

 coming again, and they will be apt to 

 discourage others from coming. 



Packing Gladiolus Flowers. 



F. A. R.'s "trouble" is probably due 

 to imperfect packing. While the flow- 

 ers go through in very fair condition 

 if the spikes are cut when only the 

 lower flowers are developed and then 

 laid flat in cases in a layer only a few 

 inches deep, a better way is to tie 

 them in bunches with some damp 

 sphagnum around the end of each, and 

 the bunches placed upright in a case 

 of sufficient height, each row being 

 cleated in position and slats tacked 

 over the top. The fact that the con- 

 tents are visible to the expressman 

 will insure more careful handling, an 

 important point. 



If placed flat in a closed case, make 

 very sure that the flower spikes can- 

 not move in the box when it is thrown 

 about, as it is sure to be while in 

 transit, as otherwise damage is sure 

 to result. 



Shipping Troubles. 



For obvious reasons it is of no 

 value to make complaints to us re- 

 garding the business methods of firms 

 who are not advertisers in the Re- 

 view. We can take care of our own 

 house but not that of another. But 

 you can say a good word for any one, 

 whether an advertiser in the Review 

 or not. The several correspondents 

 who sent complaints are reminded 

 that our invitation was to report the 

 names of those they had found could 

 be depended upon for good stock. 



A Good Report. 



Connecticut writes: "The several 

 shipments of young plants I have re- 

 ceived from J. L. Dillon. Bloomsburg, 

 Pa., have been very satisfactory and 

 a lot of verbenas he sent me was the 

 finest lot I have ever seen." 



The Tomato Fly. 



J. H. W. notes Mr. Totty's reply In 

 regard to tomatoes in a former issue 

 and wishes us to ask him if he knows 

 of any remedy for the white butterfly, 

 or any suggestions to make. 



Mr. Totty answers as follows: "The 

 white butterfly has never troubled our 

 tomatoes. But it is a pest in the 

 chrysanthemum houses, and the only 

 way to get rid of it, so far as I know, 

 is to kill all you find in the houses 



