680 



HORTICDLTUBE 



May li. litlU 



Cat. 1765 



Pot Makara for a 

 Cantury anda Half 



HEWS 



STRONG 



RED 

 POROUS 



POTS 



Inc. 1904 



World'a Largaat 

 Manufacturara 



•tandard, Azalaa, Bulb, Orchid, Farn, Hanging, Cmbossad, Rosa, Carnation, Palm, Cyclatnan, Cut Flowar. 

 Sps:lal Shipii to Order. Chicken Fount*, Pigeon Neats, Bean Pota, Etc. 



Writ* for Cataloga* 

 and Ditcoanli 



il. H. HEWS & CO., Inc., Cambridge, Mass. 



I AMHKi IX. a. iiAaa. 



Haw 1 OHK. N Y. 



THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURE OF 

 THE FLOWER BUSINESS. 



A Paper nond Iieforo tho Now York Flor- 

 I.U' Club by A. J. GuttmUL 



Mr. President and Gontleineii: 



At the outset allow me to assure you 

 that I am aware of the fact that by 

 attcmiiting to review the economic 

 condition of our business I have bitten 

 off a very large chunk. But I believe 

 in not belnB afraid to undertake the 

 solving of a problem and though I may 

 fail It is belter to have undertaken 

 and failed, than never to have under- 

 taken at all. In this spirii I am mak- 

 ing the attempt. I also assure you that 

 my prime motive in addressing you Is 

 not prompted by criticism, but rather 

 by the spirit of upbuilding and de- 

 velopment. I am too old a veteran to 

 hope not to be misunderstood by some, 

 not because what I may say is difflcult 

 to comprehend, but because experi- 

 ence has taught me that all the prob- 

 lems of life are really very simple 

 when we have found the jiroper angle 

 from which to approach each, and, fur- 

 ther, because I find after careful study, 

 that the general economic condition of 

 our beloved country, from whatever 

 cause, is today such as to have devel- 

 oped many men lacking in faith and 

 optimism. Another factor of tremen- 

 dous importance is the very poor qual- 

 ity of mental food doled out to us, due 

 to the low standard of efficiency pre- 

 vailing in the journalistic profession, 

 excepting, of course, the trade press. 

 Surely you have all noticed it. especial- 

 ly during the past 21 months. 



The merchants of a nation occupy a 

 very important position and wield a 

 tremendous influence; so does the press. 

 Merchandising, though simple, is a 

 .science. General trading is a science 

 and an art. The principal aim in life 

 should be to live wholesomely and in 

 order to so live every intelligent be- 

 ing chooses a vocation and his exist- ■ 

 ence both morally and economically is 

 according to his intelligence. We, as 

 horticulturists, know beyond question 

 that to obtain a healthy and prolific 

 plant it is necessary to first sow a 

 healthy seed in good soil. Just so it 

 is impossible to develop a sound and 

 true mental picture of anything with- 

 out having first absorbed good and 

 wholesome food. Whatever condition 

 may exist or the economic condition 

 of our business that exists at present 

 is the reflex of that which has gone 

 before— a reflex of the economic struc- 

 ture of the whole country, a reflex of 

 the condition of the minds of the ma- 

 jority of men engaged in general mer- 

 chandising and trading. 



Unfortunately only a very small per- 

 centage of men are ready and eager 

 to assume responsibilities. Probablv 

 they are afraid of obstacles and have 

 not enough confidence in themselves to 

 overcome these obstructions. If they 

 only knew the great mental and ma- 

 terial benefit to be derived from the 



DREER'S "Riverton Special" Plemt Tubs 



.Mil mil 



llRlltpHt II 



Rf7i*8 llMVO 



nir.-.i I 



nd cboa 



Irop li 



U) 111 III 

 W 14 In. 

 .'<U Vi In. 

 00 10 In. 

 TO Sin. 

 The bent tub ctct Introiluced 



.No. DIaiii. Kii. I>M/.. 100 

 10 20ln. IL-l-'i^liLOHirwOO 

 20 IHIn. I.:t0 11.00 ll.'i.OO 

 1.00 11. 'J.'. irj.OO 

 .Kt 7.00 Wl.OO 

 .45 B.OO 40.00 

 .38 4.00 .12.00 

 .30 3.ij0 28.00 

 The ncatc.t, 



lu'Bt. I'lilntpd green, with electric welded boops. The four lurKe.t 



inilli'H. 



HENRY A. DREER, seeds fw^. my inn supplies. 714 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 



working out of "a difficulty— for that Is 

 the only way to obtain valuable experi- 

 ence, that is the way to learn to dis- 

 tinguish the good from the bad, wis- 

 dom from stupidity, the wholesome 

 from the unwholesome and to best fit 

 oneself to become a wise leader and 

 builder. I dread to think of the great 

 mass who having had but limited ex- 

 perience, in whose minds so much bad 

 seed is being planted .by the distorted 

 and unwise food contained in the ma- 

 jority of daily publications, plus 

 weekly and monthly magazines and 

 also by books written purposely to 

 confuse the minds rather than to en- 

 lighten. The fault must be charged 

 to the so-called leaders of our country 

 who in the great majority of cases are 

 really only politi.cians, rather than 

 constructive statesmen and philoso- 

 phers or masters of economics. Mer- 

 chants, teachers, editors, public offi- 

 cers, the clergy— in fact, all men hold- 

 ing positions of influence and trust 

 ought to be students of economics. 

 Perhaps the fact of our country being 

 comparatively young and unfettered 

 by conventions, with its enormous nat- 

 ural resources and elastic laws, is in a 

 great measure conducive to full play 

 of individualism. That to my mind 

 accounts for the rather loose and in 

 many respects impractical working 

 condition that exists in most businesses 

 as well as ours. 



I emphasize these points for the pur- 

 pose of showing that there is no special 

 cause for criticising the working con- 

 ditions of our business, our industry 

 being yet so young. It is, however, 

 meet and proper that we— a body of 

 merchants knowing the value and Im- 

 portance of sowing good seed, make due 

 endeavor to build healthy and iiractlcal 

 working conditions. Looking back 22 

 years I can see the marvelous progress 

 made in the development and increase 

 of varieties of plants and cut flowers 

 and in the so-called ornamental branch 

 of our business as well as in the general 

 distribution of the stock from grower 

 to the public: also in the working con- 

 ditions for employees as well as em- 

 ployers, due primarily to the early 

 pioneers to whom we must give great 

 credit and honor for their foresight, dil- 

 igence and perserverance and to the 

 various horticulture organizations also. 

 Whatever recommendations I shall 

 make are so made in good faith with 

 malice towards none, feeling and be- 



lieving that there Is great room for 

 improvement in our economic struc- 

 ture and, further, that such improve- 

 ment can only be obtained by Intelli- 

 gent and practicjil co-operation com- 

 bined with the si)irit of Idealism. This 

 principle is so simple and works so 

 automatically that some call it the 

 new thought, the advance thought. It 

 is an axiomatic truth that by building 

 for yourself you automatically build 

 for others. By tearing down others 

 you automatically destroy yourself In 

 time. No matter how scheming and 

 formidable a man may be he cannot 

 harm others without harming himself. 

 It may take a generation or a lifetime 

 but there is no escaping ultimate de- 

 struction and I am not superstitious. 

 A man who is vindictive, over-sus- 

 picious and shortsighted cannot be a 

 builder in the true sense of the word 

 not forgetting, of course, that one must 

 be cautious and reasonably conserva- 

 tive. The man who is successful In 

 life and constantly grappling with new 

 and interesting problems has no time 

 to nurse a grudge. Also men must 

 learn that it Is useless to try to keep 

 down — in other words, to retard the 

 progress of a I'ormidable Individual. It 

 is safer and better to think and act 

 along the lines of the thought and pol- 

 icy of "live and let live." In this 

 country progress is made by leaps and 

 bounds; the small man of today is the 



^STANDARD FLOWER^ 



It your greenbouses are wltbln 900 

 miles of tbe Capitol, write us, we can 

 save jou mooe;. 



W. H. ERNEST 



^ Mth A M 8t»., Waahlnrton, D. C. ^ 



NON-KINK WOVEN HOSE 



In ;ill lengths. 14c per 

 foot. With couplings. Un- 

 equalled at the price. 

 Keinnants shorter than 25 

 fi-<t lOc per foot, coupled. 



METROPOLITAN MATERIAL CO. 



IS93-1414 Metropollttin Ave, Brooklm, If. T. 



TBE FLORISTS' BAIL ASSOCIA HON 



Ii a matual orcanlutlon, losorlDf crMa- 

 hoa«« gla*. agalnit hall. Butta rommarclal 

 ■ad prlTat« Mtabllshmmta ar* acc*pta4. 

 For particnlars, addraaa 



John G. Baler, Ut.. Saddle River, N. J. 



Isamr* N»w. 



