May 6, 1911 



HORTICULTURE 



671 



THE RETAIL FLORIST IN NEW 



ORLEANS. 



A Paper read before the New Orleans Hor- 

 ticultural Society by P. A. Chopin. 



I do not believe there is another c.iiy 

 in the coiuitry where the florist busi- 

 ness has increased and developed at 

 the same rate in the past few years as 

 it has in New Orleans. When we con- 

 sider how far removed we are from our 

 present source of supply, and the fact 

 that there is always something in 

 bloom in our private gardens, the great 

 increase in the volume of business 

 transacted by the local florists is very 

 gratifying. The people of New Or- 

 leans have been very liberal with their 

 patronage of the florist and I find are 

 constantly clamoring for the best, be- 

 ing more content with a smaller quan- 

 tity of select quality than a liberal sup- 

 ply of an inferior grade. 



It is my opinion that for the liberal 

 patronage given our profession, we in 

 turn should make every effort not only 

 to retain that which we have, but to 

 encourage a still greater use of flowers 

 by sparing no pains to execute every 

 order with care. It is well known 

 amongst us that three-fourths of the 

 flowers and floral offerings ordered by 

 our customers are never seen by them, 

 some going direct from the florist to 

 the home of a friend, or some sani- 

 tarium, and others sent to the funeral 

 of a friend where the sender can never 

 Identify his flowers among the many 

 others there. So we can readily see 

 that the trade of the florist greatly de- 

 pends upon the confldence his custom- 

 ers have in him. and he should make 

 special effort to retain this confidence 

 by being prompt in deliveries, sending 

 nothing but the quality of goods or- 

 dered, and see that w'hat is put up at 

 the store with the greatest care and 

 artistic arrangement is not all battered 

 up and out of shape when it arrives at 

 its destination by the carelessness of 

 the delivery boy. Just the same as 

 first-class stock advertises, so will 

 poor stock hurt the one who sends it 

 out. The flower buying people of our 

 city, I believe, are among the most 

 critical in the country, and are mighty 

 well informed, and now no longer or- 

 der the flower they want by color, but 

 call the particular name of their fa- 

 vorite rose, carnation, chrysanthemum, 

 or other flower wanted. 



It is unfortunate that during the 

 course of a season hundreds of thou- 

 sands of doUa.rs should be sent away 

 from here by us for cut flowers. In 

 reference to this matter I wish to men- 

 tion that during the past season I have 

 almost entirely used southern-grown 

 roses, and they have been better both 

 In appearance and lasting qualities 

 than those from my former source of 

 supply, and have given better satisfac- 

 tion thr.n any northern-grown roses 

 handled by us before; but the supply 

 is not equal to the demand, showing 

 that there is an excellent field here for 

 a wholesale establishment that would 

 prove very profitable to the one who 

 undertakes it. An establishment of 

 this kind would be a great boon to o>ir 

 city florists, would reduce the present 

 price the consumer has to pay, and 

 would provide the public with flowers 

 of better lasting qualities than most 

 of those now sold by us. It might be 



A MODEL FLORISTS' OFFICE. 



• This picture shows the business of- 

 fice connected with the new flower 

 store of the Park Floral Co., Denver, 

 Colo., of which we published some 

 other views a few weeks ago. It is 

 not many years since fiorists came to 

 realize the necessity of a separate of- 

 fice for their accounting work and cor- 



respondence, and we are probably safe 

 in saying that the great majority of 

 stores are still deficient in this re- 

 spect. Mr. Valentine has set a good 

 example of what is demanded in the 

 equipment of an up-to-date fiorist to- 

 day, and we commend it to the at- 

 tention of our readers. 



well to mention that if an industry of 

 this kind were promoted we would owe 

 it to ourselves to give it liberal patron- 

 age, and even to give it preference to 

 outside establishments. 



The disappointment and loss sus- 

 tained, especially during the holidays, 

 when our carnations and other flowers 

 arrive in a sleepy condition, withered 

 and unfit for use, could be overcome 

 by inducing our customers to use other 

 varieties of flowers, something that we 

 <-i\n grow in our own section instead of 

 being dependent on flowers grown a 

 thousand miles from us and sometimes 

 kept in storage for three or four days 

 before being shipped to us. The time 

 has come when I am sure the public 

 would gladly co-operate with us and 

 would be willing to purchase flowers 

 grown at home that could be supplied 

 fresh, instead of acceptin.g flowers of 

 doubtful age and lasting qualities that 

 come from our present source of sup- 

 ply. 



It might be well to mention a few 

 words in regard to collections of ac- 

 counts due us — the most important 

 part of our business. From a good 

 customer who pays promptly we can 

 by not being prompt ourselves in ren- 

 dering statements and collecting our 

 accounts as soon as possible after they 

 are due, make a very indifferent cus- 

 tomer who will always in the future 

 expect us to wait a few months before 

 settling up, and who does not care to 

 buy more flowers as long as he is in 

 debt to his florist. 



A SAN FRANCISCO FLOWER STORE. 



See r'over Illustration. 

 Our illustration shows the interior 

 of the new "Flower Palace" of Pell- 

 cano, Rossi & Co., San Francisco, Cal., 

 mention of which was made in our 

 reading notes last week. It is one of 

 the most magnificent and richly ap- 

 pointed flower shops in America and 

 is the climax of 20 years catering to 

 the flower-loving public of the Pacific 

 metropolis. After the great fire of 

 1906 this firm was the first in the 

 florist business to reopen and the con- 

 duct of the establishment has been 

 characterized by enterprise and abilr 

 ity of a high order. 



CATALOGUES RECEIVED. 



J. G. Harrison & Sons, Berlin, Md. — 

 Foldei- of Surplus Trees, Plants and 

 Shrubs. An enormous quantity at low 

 wholesale rates. Also price list of 

 Maryland farms, large and small, for 

 sale by their real estate department. 



.A.l(>x McConnell, Gil Fifth Ave., New 

 York City. — Limited Descriptive List 

 of Selected Ornamental Trees. Shrubs 

 rnd Herbaceous Perennials for the Im- 

 provement of Country Homes. An ex- 

 cellent list well adapted to its purpose.. 



Fulton, III.— Mr. Hills, of Hills & 

 Kirman, has retired from business, 

 his share being purchased by John 

 E. Kirman. 



INCORPORATED. 



Denver, Colo. — The Denver Nursery 

 Co., capital stock $50,000. Incorpora- 

 tors, W. A. Deuel, C. C. Anthony, C. 

 A. Parker. 



Louisville, Ky.— The Jefferson Coun- 

 ty Greenhouse Co., capital stock 

 $12,000. Incorporators, George Kop- 

 meler, Charles Schultz, Jr., and A. J. 

 Driesback. 



