622 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



NOVEMBER 16, 1S99. 



prints the prices of shipping grades 

 only, and where thousands of roses 

 (or other flowers, for that matter) are 

 received, probably not over a fourth 

 of them are fit to ship. Then comes 

 this unpleasant situation. You write 

 a grower to-day, when trade is good, 

 prices firm and all looks well, and you 

 tell him so. But the next day all has 

 changed, market busted, stock comes 

 in bad or more than is wanted, or 

 weather conditions are such that ev- 

 erything hangs, and the shipper is 

 then just reading your letter. What 

 you wrote the day before was the 

 Gospel truth but it is a lie at the time 

 of its receipt. 



Another thing. A few growers may 

 be neighbors and all grow the same 

 kinds of flowers and they compare 

 notes as to returns, etc. It never oc- 

 curs to any grower that he don't put 

 up his stock as nicely as his fellow 

 grower, or that the quality is not as 

 fine. There may be but a trifling dif- 

 ference, but remember we wholesale 

 men sell to the trade and the retail 

 man is the judge of quality when the 

 stock is offered in the market; not the 

 producer. 



The gardeners compare notes, and 

 one says, "I did so and so and got so 

 and so much." Admitting that the 

 statement of better returns is correct. 

 you will find that there was not only 

 a shade but a great deal of difference 



in the quality of the stock, so much 

 so that demand would have to exceed 

 the supply in order to make the re- 

 turns anywhere near equal. 



Then in this business, as in all 

 others, brokers have their friends (or 

 pluggers, as I call them) who not by 

 request but out of friendship, or often 

 on account of past successes, some- 

 times stretch a point for their friend, 

 and in comes a letter of complaint, 

 when if this very "plugger" would 

 show his check and tell how many 

 flowers he sent in order to get this 

 check, you would find that his remarks 

 were made largely on account of his 

 friendship for his wholesale man. 



Gardeners are not like buyers. To 

 them a rose is a rose, and a bunch of 

 violets is a bunch also. But the buyer 

 often expresses his opinion in this 

 way: "Tell that fellow to keep that 

 punk stuff at home." Or, "How does 

 that fellow expect to live if he don't 

 put his stuff up better." And a great 

 many more remarks in this order. 



And still the trade paper prints the 

 market rate, and the grower takes 

 his one-fourth as above mentioned 

 wholesale man expresses it. The rea- 

 son is simply because he has not raised 

 No. 1 flowers. And more than all, he 

 does not put them, on the market in 

 shape to command the shipping rate. 

 CHARLEY'S AUNT. 



Thanksgiving Day. 



Thanksgiving Day will soon be with 

 us, and if we but stop to consider, we 

 in the flower business have much to 

 be thankful for. The word business 

 is all-powerful in meaning, it requires 

 the exercise of vast amounts of tact, 

 ability and more especially of patience 

 to build up a profitable business. And. 

 my friends, bad and disappointing as 

 the florists' trade may appear to many 

 who are in it, it is nevertheless a good 

 and grand business to be engaged in. 

 'Tis one that calls for the employment 

 of all that is noble in human nature — 

 all that is sublime in art. The mad 

 desire to quickly accumulate fortune 

 is responsible for mountains of discon- 



tent, and many of the failures to even 

 provide for a decent living may be 

 traced to incompetency, neglect or 

 wrong locations, and our business is 

 blamed for it all. If we but studied 

 the requirements of a great many oth- 

 er lines of trade, we would find that 

 there is more attention exacted and 

 the profits are infinitesimally smaller. 

 Yes, the florists' business is a good 

 one, and you can safely say that there 

 is something the matter with the man 

 or the place where 'tis a failure. 

 Thanksgiving Day should mean more 

 to the florist than what It does, for 

 he or she should not only adopt the 

 full meaning of the event, but there 

 are many ways in which the public 

 could be induced to crown it with 



more flowers. There will be many 

 celebrations where great quantities of 

 fruit, cereals and vegetables will be 

 used for decorations; flowers supply 

 but a small part in these forms 

 through ignorance or a defective idea 

 of beauty. 



Bright colored flowers are the most 

 appropriate to use in Thanksgiving 

 decorations. Plenty of this material 

 can be found in carnations, roses and 

 chrysanthemums. Red roses will lead. 

 There should be no formal arrange- 

 ments in these decorations. Vases 

 should be used on the table or in room 

 embellishment, and the impression to 

 be created is that of "Abundance." 

 Violets are poor and scarce this sea- 

 son so far, they will be the principal 

 flower for personal adornment with 

 red 1 roses or valleys as substitutes. 



A special window display doesn't 

 cost very much just now, and it's good 

 policy to show your store off to the 

 best advantage, more especially if 

 there is or has been an exhibition in 

 your town. 



The very mild autumn we are hav- 

 ing has not been good for trade, the 

 wealthy people prefer their country 

 homes till bad weather drives them 

 away, but there are many pleasures 

 we enjoy -in these Indian summers 

 which offset our other troubles. 



It will be a good season, get ready 

 for it and be prepared to handle every- 

 thing that comes your way. Don't 

 get to be arrogant or independent 

 when you've lots to do. You never 

 know whom you will yet need for a 

 friend, or an order, and it is much 

 easier to keep the trade you may have 

 than to go out and try to win it back 

 should you lose it. 



Next week we will review the retail 

 and artistic side of several shows we 

 attended. 



For what you had. what you have, 

 and what you hope to get celebrate 

 Thanksgiving Day. IVERA. 



PARK AND OUT-DOOR ART ASS'N. 



A meeting of the council and others 

 interested in the Park and Outdoor 

 Art Association was held in the green 

 room of the Auditorium Annex, Chi- 

 cago, November 4th. 



The following persons were in at- 

 tendance: President Chas. M. Lor- 

 ing, Vice-President R. H. Warder. 

 John C. Olmsted, E. J. Parker. Thos. 

 H. Macbride, Treas. O. C. Simonds, and 

 Secretary Warren H. Manning, to- 

 gether with the following citizens of 

 Chicago: Mr. French, director of the 

 Art Institute: Mr. Emil Lorch, of the 

 Ait Institute; Prof. Geo. W. Kriehn. 

 of the University of Chicago: Mr. 

 Bryan Lathrop, and Dr. Woodworth. 

 President of the Lincoln Park Board. 



Dr. Woodworth was elected chair- 

 man of the meeting. 



The Secretary gave a general review 

 of the work of the association, par- 

 ticularly that which had been dele- 

 gated to the committees, gave a brief 

 outline of what hAd been accomplish- 

 ed by these committees, and stated 



