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HORTICULTUBB 



October 31, 1914 



DIAGRAMS SHOWING FLOWER MARKET FLUCTUATIONS FOR TWO YEARS. 



1912— Violets per 100 — Singles. 1913 — Violets per 100 — Singles. 



Growers of roses, carnations and vi- 

 olets will be interested in the dia- 

 grams herewitli presented, showing in 

 tabulated form the mean wholesale 

 market prices for these specialties as 

 quoted from week to week in the four 

 trade journals for the years 1912 and 



1913, in Boston, New York and Chi- 

 cago. The fluctuations as shown in 

 these three markets, while exceeding- 

 ly erratic at times, seem to maintain 

 a fairly regular relationship to each 

 other as a whole. We think there are 

 in this concise, comparative summary 

 of two years' trade many points which 



will be quickly discerned by the stu- 

 dious grower, from which valuable de- 

 ductions may be drawn. Should it 

 thus impress our readers and prove as 

 useful as Horticultube hopes, we 

 shall make of it an annual feature, 

 perhaps including other markets and 

 other important crops. 



BOSTON FLOWER EXCHANGE. 



The Boston Flower Exchange Corpo- 

 ration had its annual meeting and din- 

 ner at Young's Hotel on Saturday even- 

 ing, October 24. About 125 stockhold- 

 ers, salesmen and invited guests were 

 present and enjoyed to the fullest ex- 

 tent an elegantly served banquet, over 

 which President Stickel presided with 

 an easy grace, part inborn and part 

 acquired by oft repeated experience. 

 Business followed the banquet. The 

 treasurer's report duly audited showed 

 a very auspicious financial condition, 

 total receipts 120,827.17, running ex- 

 penses $19,313.88 for the year. The 

 statement of condition shows a net 

 gain of $9,729.19 for the period 1910-14 

 The regular slate for board of direc 

 tors, nine names, was added to by a 

 number of direct nominations, but 

 when the ballots had been counted the 

 regulars were all found to be elected 

 by overwhelming majorities. During 

 the long counting of the ballots there 

 was some speaking, singing and plenty 

 of music by the orchestra. Wm. J. 

 Stewart was first called upon as the 

 "dean of the horticultural press." He 

 urged loyalty to the horticultural 

 prestige of Boston and New England 

 and complimented the members on the 

 hopeful spirit which seemed to per- 

 meate this occasion, although coming 

 at a time when more or less talk of 

 bad times is rife. W. N. Craig being 

 next called upon, said that the out- 

 look was not exactly encouraging; 

 that increased production and dimin- 

 ished purchasing present a disquieting 

 problem and bring to the front the 

 necessity of finding a way to increase 

 public distribution. 'Wallace R. Pierson 

 made optimistic remarks and told some 

 stories from the New Brunswick hunt- 

 ing country from whence he had Just 

 returned. W. H. Elliott predicted more 

 and more flowers in the Boston mar- 

 ket and at lower prices. He depre- 

 cated the reluctance of the retailers 

 generally to encourage a more elastic 



outlet. Charles Robinson declared 

 business to be as good as it was at 

 the same period last year. The cred- 

 it system as prevailing in the whole- 

 sale flower markets was vigorously 

 scored by Mr. Cummings. He con- 

 tended that it should be abolished en- 

 tirely and the cash system followed as 

 in the wholesale vegetable market. 

 Then followed an animated discus- 

 sion participated in by Messrs. Elli- 

 ott, Pierson, Cummings, Donohoe and 

 others in which the unwise conditions 

 were acknowledged but the adoption 

 of cash settlements was pronounced 

 impracticable by all except Mr. Cum- 

 mings. Natham Lenard sang two 

 songs very acceptably. A rising vote 

 of thanks was extended to Messrs. 

 Alex. Montgomery and Wm. Nicholson, 

 for their long service as directors, 

 from which they had now voluntarily 

 retired. Auld Lang Syne in chorus 

 closed this very enjoyable reunion. 



WINDOW ADVERTISING. 



The majority of retail florists do 

 not begin to make enough use of their 

 windows. Some of them might just 

 as well be doing business in one of 

 the upper stories of their buildings. 



Suppose you pay $4,000 rent for the 

 store on the street floor. You could 

 probably hire the whole second story 

 for $1,000. That means that you are 

 paying $3,000 for your show windows. 

 Do you make them earn that much? 



The man who never changes the 

 text of his advertisements merely 

 pays for a sign, just such a sign as 

 he uses above his windows to let peo- 

 ple know that he is in the business of 

 selling flowers. Advertisements in or- 

 der to pull trade and results, must 

 tell a story and tell it convincingly 

 and differently with every insertion. 

 Otherwise the ad. is just a sign of ex- 

 istence. 



So it is with a window display. Get 

 people into the habit of looking for 



your decorations. The florist who 

 changes his windows twice or three 

 times a week stimulates and renews 

 public interest in his establishment 

 that many times each week. 



We have in mind one florist who has 

 had the same character of window 

 display for the last two years. It was 

 effective once, but now people who 

 pass by the store no longer look into 

 the window for some thing new or in- 

 teresting. They now know that the 

 same stock in the same old way will 

 be shown and consequently — no stimu- 

 lation of interest and desire to buy. 

 The public does not like to be told 

 the same monotonous tale in the same 

 old way. Give them something new 

 or at the very least tell about or show 

 the same thing in a new way. 



The opportunities in window adver- 

 tising are manifold. Think of your 

 window as a personal affair. Make It 

 alive. Make it tell things to the pass- 

 erby. Make it a subject of comment. 

 Good advertising is a good investment, 

 and the best advertisement in all the 

 world is the wagging tongue of the sat- 

 isfied customer or interested observer. 



A new defender of the pheasant, 

 which is being slaughtered throughout 

 the state of Massachusetts, has come 

 to the front in the person of Joseph 

 H. Mosher, superintendent of the 

 state hatcheries at Wilbraham. Mr. 

 Mosher says: 



"Beetles, grub worms, all crop-de- 

 stroying insects fall victim to the 

 pheasant. It is, indeed, too bad that 

 someone cannot stop their slaughter, 

 as the majority of people do not know 

 even one-half of their benefit to hu- 

 manity. When I lived in Winchester, 

 at a time when the gypsy moth was 

 destroying trees and working havoc 

 in the town, I let loose a flock of 

 pheasants in the pest-ridden area. 

 .Within a few months every gypsy 

 moth had disappeared. The pheasants 

 had eaten them all." 



— Boston Traveler. 



