April 26, 1913 



HORTICULTUBE 



633 



THE FAULTS OF THE GROWER 



An Address by Samuel S. Pennock Before the Lancaster County Florists' Club, April 17, 1913. 



When your president wrote and 

 asked me to read a paper before your 

 club, I felt considerable hesitancy In 

 accepting the invitation as It Is rather 

 a delicate thing to do — to point out 

 the faults of the other man's way of 

 conducting his business. It Is human 

 nature to criticize; in fact it is a very 

 easy habit to fall into and if one 

 is not careful, it soon becomes chronic. 

 But you have asked me to tell you of 

 your faults as we see them, of the 

 things that help to make or mar the 

 sales of your stock, and I am going to 

 pay you the compliment of believing 

 that you want what you have asked 

 for, so I will try to give you my hon- 

 est criticisms and hope you will ac- 

 cept them as well-meant advice and 

 not as though they were given in a 

 spirit of finding fault with your own 

 individual Ideas and methods. 



The Value of Encouragement. 

 To begin with, I do not think that 

 we try to help one another enough 

 with a word of encouragement here 

 and there as we go along the path of 

 life, which is of Infinitely more bene- 

 fit than a word of condemnation, not 

 only to the one who may justly de- 

 serve It but to the one giving It as 

 well. We are all glad to be praised 

 when we do something which we 

 think is good. How often do we hear 

 from a grower when we are able to 

 make him good returns? but when his 

 returns are not satisfactory, we hear 

 from him very quickly and there is 

 not very much time wasted in telling 

 us about it. It Is an easy matter to 

 kick, sometimes too easy; In fact we 

 get far more kicks than we should 

 and not enough praise when lots of 

 times we really deserve it. By this I 

 don't mean to say that the growers 

 are the only ones who don't give 

 praise when praise is due. The re- 

 tailers and the wholesalers are just as 

 negligent in this respect as any one; 

 probably they don't really consider the 

 other fellow as much even as the 

 grower does. 



On a dull market, often times the 

 returns are so low that we are dis- 

 gusted with them and hate to send 

 them out but we have no alternative. 

 We have no wish to send out low re- 

 turns any more than our growers care 

 to receive them and it is through no 

 wish of ours that the stock brings low 

 prices as it is certainly to our advant- 

 age to get all we possibly can out of it 

 and get as high prices as possible for 

 every flower that comes in to us. It 

 is certainly as hard on us as on the 



growers to have to sell at low prices, 

 especially as we are selling on a com- 

 mission basis. And we assure you 

 that when the letters of commendation 

 or praise do come to us, they are cer- 

 tainly appreciated and they stimulate 

 us to even greater efforts on behalf of 

 our growers, and we know that they 



ADVERTISING TALKS 



BY 



Ralph M. Ward 



No. 6 



An educated business man will 

 never dispute the fact that adver- 

 tising pays. He may dispute the 

 methods used, but the fundamental 

 fact is the same. In a broad sense 

 every man is an advertiser. His 

 demeanor is a walking advertise- 

 ment; his reputation, honesty, po- 

 liteness, correspondence, methods, 

 neatness or carelessness, etc., are 

 all advertisements. The writer 

 knows a Hollander who grunts like 

 a pig, and everyone who ever met 

 him knows him by his grunt. If 

 he didn't grunt he wouldn't be re- 

 membered. It is advertising — 

 whether it pays or not I don't know, 

 But such advertising is confined to 

 one's friends and acquaintances — 

 so it is too limited for big results. 

 There are many ways for the florist 

 to advertise. The local telephone 

 book represents a good list for cir- 

 cular solicitation — people who have 

 'phones can afford flowers. Street- 

 car advertisements are sometimes 

 used with good results. Billboards 

 properly located are excellent, and 

 pay handsome dividends. But above 

 all. the best is the local newspaper 

 with a good circulation. In news- 

 paper advertising never use more 

 than four words for a headline — the 

 less the better. Illustrations with 

 the advertisement are excellent as 

 they catch the eye quickly. State 

 facts in as few plain words as pos- 

 sible. Change the wording fre- 

 quently — make things interesting. 

 If you can't afford sufficient space 

 daily, run the advertisement three 

 or four times weekly; but don't 

 stop it — keep pegging away and it 

 will be sure to pay you, provided 

 you are honest with the public. 



make for a better feeling and under- 

 standing between us. 



The mutual good feeling among the 

 florists, particularly among the grow- 

 ers, is improving each year— hardly a 

 grower but who is willing to live and 

 learn, to profit by his neighbor's suc- 

 cesses and mistakes, and meetings 

 such as these where you get in closer 

 touch with each other are of splendid 

 value and benefit, for there is always 

 something to learn. 



Flower Shows Useful. 



Then there are our shows. What 

 schools of learning they are — particu- 

 larly such shows as the National 

 Flower Show which has just taken 

 place in New York! I know that 

 every florist who attended this show 

 went home feeling that it was time 

 and money well spent, and I was very 

 much pleased to see Lancaster so well 

 represented. It shows progresslveness. 

 Not only was it of advantage to see 

 the exhibits, how stock could be 

 grown, the newer flowers and plants 

 (many of them novelties never before 

 seen), but the greatest advantage of 

 all was the opportunity the little man 

 had to get in touch with the big men 

 of the trade on an equal footing, con- 

 versing with them, getting their ideas 

 and helpful suggestions and going 

 back home with the knowledge of 

 how to do bigger and better things, 

 knowledge that he could not acquire 

 in years of hard grinding. 



Not only are these shows valuable 

 to the growers, retailers and whole- 

 salers in the way of being a source of 

 knowledge and information, but they 

 are among the greatest advertising 

 mediums we have for the flower busi- 

 ness. The Publicity Committees that 

 are working in the different cities are 

 doing all they can. and mighty good 

 work, too, to bring the flower business 

 before the public. But the flower 

 shows are infinitely more lasting and 

 far reaching in their effects than or- 

 dinary advertising. By this I do not 

 wish to convey the idea that I do not 

 think advertising pays, as I am a very 

 firm believer in advertising. But for 

 that reason, if for no other, these . 

 shows should have your firm and " 

 hearty support and your individual at- 

 tendance whenever it is at all pos- 

 sible. 



Essentials to Success. 



This may be digressing from the 

 subject somewhat, but 1 hardly think 

 so, as these are points every florist, 

 whether he is a grower, retailer or 

 middleman should consider. Don't be 

 afraid to leave home now and then to 

 see what the other fellow is doing. 

 Many a grower finds at the end of his 

 year that he has come out with little 

 or no profit, owing sometimes to his 

 staying at home entirely too much 

 and not understanding how to prop- 

 erly market his stock or to get it Into 

 the best possible shape for marketing. 



Then, too, often a grower does not 

 know just where he is making or 

 losing money, owing to the fact of his 

 not keeping accurate records as to 

 production per plant or per square 

 foot. Then sometimes a greenhouse 

 is run in connection with another en- 

 terprise and not kept separate, except 

 in a superficial way, a way that is 

 more harmful than helpful. Accurate 

 accounting, even if it does take a lit- 

 tle more time and expense, is bound 

 to pay in the end. 



Care in Handling, Grading and 

 Shipping. 



Every year the competition in the 

 flower business becomes keener and 



