788 



The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



Apkil 2, 1903. 



ing of the second day; papers and dis- 

 cussions at the various sessions upon 

 the following subjects: "Decorative 

 Planting About Suburban Homes"; "A 

 System of Accounts for Greenhouses and 

 Forms for Determining Cost of Pro- 

 duction"; "Latest Advances in Green- 

 house Construction" ; "The Humorous 

 Side of the Florists' Business"; "Promis- 

 ing Substitutes for Coal and Their 

 Record to Date"; "Cooling Processes 

 and Their Value in Keeping Cut Flow- 

 ers"; "Violet Culture in the West and 

 Modern Methods in Floral Decoration": 

 bowling tournament on Wednesday af- 

 ternoon, shooting contest on Thursday 

 afternoon and a good time with the 

 local brethren on Friday. 



It was voted that another opportunity 

 te ni^en growers and dealers in -\ineri- 

 cau-:;iown forcing bulbs to exhibit their 

 product without charge, as at Asiicvi!le. 

 the b.ilbs to be retained by the cocioty 

 for testing purposes. 



It was decided to continue the Onci- 

 Jng cf silver and bronze medals for new 

 and meritorious plants and fiowcrs 

 through the agencj^ of other societies 

 ho'ding reg>:lar floral exhibitiins. as iu 

 recent years, but hereafter no mi-d.il can 

 be issued more than once for any one 

 thing. Should a duplication in awards 

 occur, as has happened scroiiil times 

 in the past, the secretary sliall issue but 

 one medal, priority of notification from 

 the awarding society securing this, and 



all dujilications being covered by the is- 

 suance of certificates of award. 



The problem of how to keep members 

 interested in the work of the society 

 while in session received special atten- 

 tion and it was finally decided that 

 the president be authorized to appoint 

 a sergeant-at-arms, with two assistants, 

 whose duty it shall be to enforce the 

 rules regarding the management of the 

 trade exhibition to insure as far as pos- 

 sible prompt and full attendance at the 

 sessions and maintain order in and about 

 the convention. ' " 



Appointments were made by the presi- 

 dent and confirmed by the Board, as fol- 

 lows: 



Superintendent of -Trade Exhibition. 

 F. H. Holton. 



Legislative Committee: J. N. May, 

 Robert Craig, J. K. M. L. Farquhar. 



Botanist, Dr. N. L. Britton. 



Entomologist. Prof. L. 0. Howard. 



Pathologist, Prof. A. F. Woods. 



Committee on Sports, P. J. Hauswirth. 

 C. C. Pollworth, F. Schmeling. 



The following final resolutions were 



adopted by a unanimous vote: 



We. the monibers of the Executive Committee 

 of the S. A. F., In annual meeting nssi^mbled. in 

 Milwauliee, March ISth.. lOici. desire to express 

 and hereby put on record our hearty appreciation 

 of the courtesies extended to them by the Flor- 

 ists' Club of Milwaukee, by the management of 

 the Plank-ington and Pflster Ilotels. by the Dally 

 Press of Milwaukee and also to acknowledge the 

 hospitality shown us by our brethren while pass- 

 ing tlirough Chicago and the courtesies extended 

 by tile American Florist Co. 



Wm. J. Stewart, Secretary. 



MISCELLANEOUS 

 SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Handling Easter Orders. 



The week preceding Easter is a busy 

 one and many of us have little time 

 for any thought but for the preparation 

 and handling of our stock which we 

 hope to dispose of at that time. Ko 

 excuse this year on account of dark, 

 cold weather, although we registered 12 

 degrees of frost a few nights ago. The 

 month of March has been a record 

 breaker and it's the earliest spring we 

 can remember. 



I have been talking Easter crops and 

 arrangements for the past two weeks 

 and can't add more, only to remind you 

 to put as much system as possible into 

 next week's business. It is a racking, 

 annoying experience to be called up on 

 the telephone and receive a note from 

 a customer a few days after Easter 

 which tells you that "You sent the aza- 

 lea to Mrs. Jones, when I was very par- 

 ticular that the pan of hyacinths shou'd 

 go to her and the azalea to Mrs. Theo- 

 dore Jackson." And this would per- 

 haps be forgiven and forgotten; much 

 worse frequently happens. We have a 

 great assortment of dispositions in our 

 customers. It's the good natured, easy 

 ones that make tis indolent and careless. 

 It is the fault-finding, crotchety ones 

 that keep us on the alert and on edge 

 for business. One woman will fritter 

 her time and yours away, and take 

 twenty minutes in selecting two SI 

 plants, and repeat seventeen times the 

 name and address where they are to go. 

 and perhaps remark to the outwardly 



patient salesman: "Xow, I would like 

 to see you put the cards on .and the 

 address before I go." 



Another type, and these we bless, wilt 

 spend $20 in ten minutes and just throw 

 down their cards for the half dozen 

 plants, repeat once in a hurry where 

 they wish them sent, and off they go 

 with a good-by and into their carriage. 

 ."Vnd there are intermediate types. Now, 

 all this demands a clear head and a sys- 

 tem to avoid mistakes. Tliore should be 

 an order made out for every individual 

 plant or box of flowers. If there is 

 onh' one article going to one person — 

 the gift of one person — you doubtless 

 have a printed order form, which, when 

 filled up, reads like this; "Date of or- 

 der, April 9. Charge Airs. White (and 

 her address) 1 Rambler rose, $4. To 

 Mrs. Brown, 33 Ashland avenue. Deliver 

 April 11, A. M. Card, Mrs. Nation. 

 Charge or paid." 



Very cheap envelopes, can be bought, 

 and when the order is made out the 

 card should be put in one and the en- 

 velope pinned to the order and put away 

 for that particular day's business. I 

 don't mean, mind, that this cheap en- 

 velope should go out with the plant. You 

 must put the card tliat goes with the 

 plant in a neat little white envelope, 

 unless it's supplied by your customer, 

 which nowadays is often the case. But 

 the cheap little drab envelope keeps the 

 card clean and keeps it with the order 

 to which it belongs. 



It is very essential that some space 



should be given up to the orders that 

 are selected, not only those your cus- 

 tomer selected, hut those you have orders 

 for which have been left to yoiir selec- 

 tion. Tins house, or part of a house, 

 should he the most adjacent to the place 

 of loading up your wagons. I Ijelieve in 

 having Thursday's, Friday's, Saturday's 

 and Sunday's orders each by them- 

 selves; it saves much confusion. 



If the order is given early in the week 

 you can't very well tie on ribbons, or the 

 mat, or put on the cards at once, as 

 they might get soiled, but you can have 

 the plant put in good shape. Perhaps it 

 needs a tie, or the pot washed. And 

 on the plant, as soon as it is put away 

 among the orders, we merely attach a 

 small tag with simply the name of the 

 purchaser. Every day brings its cus- 

 tomers of various kinds, and when you 

 see them standing around waiting, you 

 say. "Holy farmer! Where's Jack? Tell 

 him to come up and wait on some of 

 these people." And so little Wrapping 

 and carding and addressing can be done 

 in the day time, but must be done after 

 .vour doors are closed, and that means 

 that Frida.v's deliveries must be looked 

 after on Tluirsday evening, or perhaps 

 night, Saturday's business on Friday 

 night, and so on. 



A year or two ago the Review gave us 

 the manner in which Mr. Wienhoeher, of 

 Chicago, filled his orders. The boss sat 

 behind his desk with the orders before 

 him. He took up one which read "6 

 American Beauties and 100 violets," gave 

 one of his clerks the order, .and ofT he 

 went and filled it. I don't remember 

 whether he gave the address and card 

 1o the clerk — perhaps not in the case 

 of cut flowers — but that's no matter. In 

 getting off these plants, which is alto- 

 gether harder work than cut flowers, 

 the boss, or whoever is acting boss, 

 should do nothing but hand one of the 

 orders to a helper. "Here. David, 1 lily, 

 G buds. Here is the addi-css and here 

 is the card. It's tagged 'Smithers'". 

 That's all the boss has to do, and imme- 

 diately David is gone to execute that 

 order. The boss files away with "paid" 

 or not the original order and it's no 

 longer on his mind. 



Orders for cut flowers can be managed 

 just the same, onl.y it requires good 

 taste, experience and judgment to know 

 how to arrange a box of flowers, either 

 mixed or of one kind. One man Ijehind 

 the desk can keep a good many Davids 

 or Alphonsos looking out orders. 



The delivery of cut flowers in boxes 

 gives us no anxiety whatever the weath- 

 er may be. but with plants it's very 

 different, and how distressing it is to be 

 told that the lily blooms were all 

 smashed, or that two of the hyacinths 

 in a fine pan were broken. A good, care- 

 ful man that will look well after his 

 load and l)e correct is a jewel. 



Another phase of the delivery is when 

 Bob. the driver, comes home and you 

 have been expecting and waiting for his 

 wagon for an hour. You break out 



with "What in has kept you?" and 



ho replies, "Why. where do you think 

 I had to go with one plant? Away out 

 two miles on the east side." That's the 

 result of careless loading or routing. 

 When you have the plants all readv 

 for delivery they should be set in groups 

 for each section of the citj' — nortli, 

 south, east or west — so that as little 

 driving as possible should be done. De- 

 partment stores and many other lines 

 of business, and perhaps some of the 



