APRIL 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



545 



General View of the Exhibition of the American Rose Society, New York. 



Well, dear, reader, the quality of 

 flowering plants offered this >ear is 

 very good and the prices are reason- 

 able. The prospects are very br.ght, 

 and it merely depends on yourself and 

 the weather as to the size of your siUes. 

 The trouble with our trade is that we 

 cannot control the elements; if Friday 

 and Saturday are wet days it means 

 ruin to many, but inasmuch as we can- 

 not help such things but must endure 

 what comes, it is not wise to fret over 

 it. Make sure that you are going to 

 have as good an assortment and as fine 

 a display as your brother down the 

 street. You will do better if you save 

 on frills. A plant delivered in good 

 condition is a far better advertisement 

 for you than a silly contrivance in 

 paper. 



A most important question with 

 every florist now is how to make suffi- 

 cient room to display his goods: the 

 best you can do is to clear everything 

 not required out of the store, and, if 

 necessary, make step benches by the 

 use of a few boards and supports which 

 can be got at any lumber yard for a 

 trifle; a dollar or two spent in this 

 way will save you much. The trouble 

 is witli many florists they are cent wise 

 and dollar foolish, and instead of 

 spending a few cents preparing for a 

 creditable exhibition, they w-ill put 

 themselves to lots of inconvenience, 

 tilt their plants up on empty flower 

 pots and boxes, and show their lack 

 of taste and foresight in numerous 

 other ways. 



In most cases it is necessary to ar- 



range Easter stock very close together, 

 but you will find that the plant you ele- 

 vate or single out in a way to show 

 all its beauty will generally be the first 

 sold, because the customer can see it to 

 best advantage: thus it is good to fix 

 a few fine specimens so. Don't have 

 your plants too formally arranged. 

 We prefer not to have the plants 

 marked with prices written on 

 wooden labels and stuck in the pot. 

 for the reason that these labels are 

 usually left by mistake in the pot and 

 delivered so. Just imagine some 

 friend sending you a present and the 

 first thing you see is the price tig; 

 even if you know to a cent what the 

 thing is worth you don't want it 

 shown: there's a certain amount of hu- 

 miliation about this that floris's should 

 be careful to avoid; the fact of our be- 

 ing busy doesn't justify mistakes, 

 which can be avoided by our not pre- 

 paring to make them. Where there is 

 intelligent help in the store there is no 

 cause to bother pricing your plants; 

 the good people prefer to have a man 

 wait on them who can tell them at a 

 glance what a plant is worth. The 

 man who has to fumble for a price tag 

 is but a novice and banishes confi- 

 dence; the people like to deal with a 

 man who knows his business — you do 

 too. 



There are numerous little things you 

 can prepare now. Wire a lot of tags 

 and have some with a pad in your 

 pocket, ready to mark a plant as you 

 sell it, putting "Saturday" or "Sunday" 

 on the back of the tag. according to 



when the plant is ordered delivered. 

 There is usually considerable trouble 

 over cards. Have some rubber bands, 

 wrap them in the original order sheet 

 and put them all in a box so that you 

 can prepare them later. It is the 

 proper thing to attach your cards and 

 tags to the plants with a piece of nar- 

 row ribbon. Wire looks bad. but then 

 it's better to be correct in address and 

 the cards than to be fancy in finish. If 

 you hire any extra help of the kind 

 that knows nothing about plants or 

 flowers have them where they will not 

 come in contact with and drive away 

 your customers. 



The matter of delivery of plants is a 

 vexing one, and the value of a cool- 

 headed, quick shipping clerk cannot 

 be overestimated. If you must have 

 messengers or express men. insist on 

 having clean and neatly dressed ones. 

 Although it is most desirable to have 

 plants delivered on Sunday morning, it 

 is often impossible to do so; induce 

 your customers to have them sent on 

 Saturday afternoon and evening, this 

 will give you more chance to attend to 

 cut flower sales on Sunday. 



Although it is good to make a spe- 

 cial window display this week, care 

 should be used not to put your best 

 plants where people cannot get near 

 them. If a plant impedes a person's 

 way they will notice it more than if it 

 were some distance away; by this we 

 don't mean to have you entirely block 

 the path, just spread the plants, and 

 above all give them lots of water. 



Everyone is on the hunt for new 



