526 



HORTICULTURE 



April 5, 1913 



BOOKKEEPING. 



Abstract of a Paper read before the Ken- 

 tucky Society of Florists by J. Able. 



A good accountant is a joy to the 

 business man. Bool£ and record show- 

 ings are the guide-posts to success.— 

 Gopd A dvtrtisifig. 



In this paper, I dwell chiefly upon 

 the value of perfection in bookkeeping 

 and its relation to the florists' trade. 

 It is naturally understood that each of 

 us has his own system of bookkeeping. 

 That alone prevents me from dwelling 

 upon details and confines me to those 

 phases of the work, which apply to all 

 systems. My experience in bookkeep- 

 ing in the florist business has been en- 

 tirely with the retailing end but in all 

 branches of the business the same 

 fundamental rules will apply. 



Bookkeeping, as we all know, is the 

 operation of keeping accounts in such 

 a manner as to give a true record of 

 the transactions of your business. It 

 does not matter how small it may be, 

 or whether you are a grower, whole- 

 Baler or retailer, you will find that the 

 successful management of your busi- 

 ness can only be attained by keeping 

 an accurate record of every transac- 

 tion. The records enable us to look 

 ahead and see where improvements 

 can be made in decreasing losses and 

 increasing profits of the future. They 

 help us to economize in many ways 

 which we could never think of, were 

 it not for the knowledge we gain by 

 looking back over our past records and 

 locating little loopholes for losses 

 which had escaped our attention at 

 the time of transaction. It will also 

 have a tendency to make us hustle, 

 especially when we find that sales are 

 not coming up to our standard, or pos- 

 sibly when the running expenses are 

 too large in proportion to the profits. 

 It shows us what we have on hand, 

 what we have received, what we have 

 paid out, what we owe, what is owing 

 to us, what losses we have incurred, 

 what profits we have made, and much 

 other information of vital importance 

 to the business man. 



Bookkeeping, consisting mainly of 

 daily routine, dealing with figures day 

 after day, is one of the most monoton- 

 ous parts of the business. I would like 

 to suggest several ways of simplifying 

 the work. First of all, the clerks 

 should realize the importance of the 

 sale-ticket, especially when it is a 

 charge. It should be explicit in every 

 detail, giving particular attention to 

 the name and address of the party to 

 ■whom the charge is to be made. You 

 will often find it necessary to refer to 

 these tickets at some future time, and, 

 by having them filed away properly, 

 you are always ready to straighten out 

 any misunderstanding which might 

 arise. Another great assistance, which 

 the bookkeeper now receives from the 

 majority of the growers, is the ticket 

 rendered with each delivery. It does 

 not matter whether the goods are to 

 be charged or paid for at the time of 

 delivery, this itemized invoice is a 

 great help, especially when you are 

 buying from a number of growers, en- 

 abling you to determine the amount 

 of stock you receive each day and the 



cost of same. The grower should keep 

 duplicates of these tickets, by all 

 means. This alone will assist in cor- 

 recting any mistake which may have 

 been made by either party. 



Another suggestion would be the use 

 of the loose-leaf ledger. Owing to the 

 fact that quite a number of the per- 

 sonal accounts have so many items, 

 and, consequently, rapidly fill the 

 pages, using this system enables you 

 to transfer these filled pages into an- 

 other book or binder, and thus having 

 only the active accounts to handle, 

 considerable time and labor: are saved. 



In conclusion, I would like to im- 

 press upon you the importance of cor- 

 rect books no matter whether your 

 business is large or small. Leading 

 business men will undoubtedly tell 

 you that their success is not only due 

 to their efforts put forth in building up 

 their trade, but largely to the fact that 

 they have kept a watchful eye over 

 their business through their bookkeep- 

 ing. 



PLANT TALK. 



"Well, I thank you, but that is not 

 just what I am looking for." This is 

 a remark heard daily in the flower 

 shops after a prospective buyer has 

 looked over your dirty and dusty 

 stock of palms, and sometimes you 

 wonder why they are not selling faster. 

 Would you go into a haberdashery and 

 buy a shirt or a half dozen collars that 

 were soiled or shopworn, even though 

 you knew they could be laundered? 

 No, you would not; neither would 

 the prospective buyer purchase any 

 plants, that show they lacked attention 

 at flrst sight. 



If the palms, dracaenas or ficus had 

 been cleaned up and the pot mold re- 

 moved you possibly would have sold 

 one or more, as a well-kept, clean plant 

 needs no recommendation; it speaks 

 for itself. 



There are many large stores employ- 

 ing plant-men and no doubt they keep 

 their stock as it should be kept, but 

 the trouble lies with the store not 

 having a plant-man; in this case let 

 the porter spend an hour or two with a 

 sponge and a pall of water; in this 

 space of time he can accomplish a 

 great deal each day under the super- 

 vision of one of the salesmen who will 

 be glad to show him how to do it. 



Remember, a person may enter your 

 shop to purchase a birthday or wedding 

 anniversary gift and may want a plant 

 and jardiniere so don't let your shop 

 be condemned by having a dirty plant 

 placed in a dusty jardiniere that had 

 been on a shelf for a few months. 



When a person leaves your shop 

 without being satisfied, your compet- 

 itor has the chance of taking this 

 customer from you, and if he can sat- 

 isfy the party it is pretty safe to say 

 you will not see them again. Don't 

 get caught by such negligence as Indi- 

 cated by dirty plants and jardinieres 

 while you have help. Give this part of 

 the store work, the same attention as 

 the arrangement of cut flowers for the 

 ice chest, or the window and If you 

 are called upon suddenly to loan out 



one dozen or more palms for some 

 decoration, you will not be obliged to 

 stop the general routine of work and 

 get all hands busy washing them. 



See that your plants are well 

 watered and trimmed when brought 

 back from a decoration, and the soil re- 

 placed, as handling them is ofttimes 

 the means of loosening plants from 

 the pots or tubs and the soil falls out. 

 These things may be overlooked when 

 busy and only noticed when the plants 

 show signs of going back. 



Mb. Stoeeman. 



DURING RECESS. 



Forty-three made up a very congen- 

 ial party in the special car chartered 

 to carry the Chicago bowlers and their 

 lady friends to Milwaukee, Sunday, 

 March 30th. They were met at the 

 station by their Milwaukee friends and 

 the ladies were taken in automobiles 

 to the bowling place, where the ladies 

 of the two cities had a game of their 

 own. Several Chicago bowlers, who 

 had come over earlier, joined the party 

 and three teams were formed, playing 

 three games each with scores as given 

 below. These annual affairs are looked 

 forward to and enjoyed by all partici- 

 pating. The return game will be 

 played in Chicago, April 13th. 



Chicago-Milwaukee Bowling Score 

 Played at Milwaukee, March 30, 1913. 



FLOWER MARKET SHOW. 

 On April 12th, 1913, the Boston Co- 

 operative Flower Market will hold an 

 exhibition of all kinds of commercial 

 flowers, plants and floral designs. We 

 expect this exhibition to exceed all 

 previous shows which we have held 

 and the premiums, amounting to over 

 eight hundred dollars, should induce 

 strong competition. All flowers, plants 

 and designs should be staged and 

 ready for the judges to pass on not 

 later than 11 A. M., positively. The 

 exhibition will close at 8 P. M. 



W. W. Tailbt, Sec'y. 



