716 



HOHT M r I.I |- 



May 29, 1916 



CLUBS AND SOCIETIES 



J 



LANCASTER COUNTY FLORISTS' 

 CLUB. 



Tho regular nieiiiiiK o( the Club 

 was transforniod Intu Ladies' Night 

 for April, and wliothi-r it wus this ciit- 

 tiiiK out a iiiei-tiiiK and Htarting a bad 

 liablt, or due to the fact that every 

 one Is busy and too tirod to come to 

 a meeting, the results were the same, 

 a rather small meeting. Mr. Nolan 

 after a long absence was again a wel- 

 come visitor. In his remarks on ger- 

 aniums he said that in his journeys 

 he often runs across some one who 

 asks him about Lancaster and says 

 ■■.■Mbert Hcrr. yes I know him; 1 

 bought geraniums from him forty-flvc 

 years ago, he must be a pretty old 

 man," I want to say there are no old 

 men in this Club. A tew have years 

 piled on our shoulders, but the shoul- 

 ders carrj- the years all right. Come 

 around and look us over some time. 



The Aquarium Society asked that 

 they be allowed to hold a fish show 

 in conjunction with the flower show 

 this fall, but as we had already de- 

 cided that it was not advisable to 

 hold a show annually this was deferred 

 for one year. This would not make a 

 bad combination and misht be worked 

 out in cities of this size to good ad- 

 vantage. 



Lancaster is quite a center for am- 

 ateur dahlia growers and the club has 

 decided to hold a small dahlia show 

 in conjunction with tlip Lancaster 

 County Fair Association — Albert M, 

 Herr, M. S. Hostetler, George Gold- 

 bach and H. K. Rohrer beinK appointed 

 a committee to work the matter out. 

 Albert M. Herr, having charge of a 

 discussion on bedding plants first said: 

 Being a neutral I hear considerable 

 from all sides as to prices and un- 

 fair competition. All competition in 

 this free country of ours is fair. Some 

 of it may be mighty embarassing for 

 the time being, but will eventually 

 straighten itself out. The man who is 

 running his business on business prin- 

 ciples is the one who is going to win 

 out. The man who compotes with a cut 

 in prices is injuring the whole trade, 

 but himself more than any one else, 

 and it is only a matter of time until 

 he sees his mistake and either gets 

 out of the business or starts all over 

 again. 



If I were a store man I would sell 

 and handle only high-grade stock, I 

 would have the quality so evident that 

 the buyer could not help but notice it, 

 and I would make the price according- 

 ly, with instructions to my clerks that 

 if any objection was raised to the 

 price, the reply would be "We want 

 every plant we sell to bring the buyer 

 hack to us when in need of another 

 and on this account cannot afford to 

 handle any but the best. If you want 

 cheaper stock, we have some at the 

 greenhouses or you can get it on the 

 markets." This I would bring out 

 strong in my advertisements and thnn 



live up to It. Slm|il> .ihiMnincinK that 

 you have itlanls and tldwcrx Is not ad- 

 vi'rliHJng. I'm some ginger in your 

 ad>i. Uut the best advertising of all 

 Is the wagging tongue of a satisfied 

 customer. 



If I were selling plants on the mar- 

 ket or tho street, 1 would got the costs 

 down to the lowest possible point ami 

 then make my selling price high 

 enough to allow a reasonable profit. I 

 would e.vplaln to my customers that I 

 could afford to sell a bit lower than 

 the stcrc man and that my plants with 

 proper care and attention will give sat- 

 isfactory results. If 1 had any second- 

 class stock which came from the con- 

 tinual handling of plants sold by this 

 melliod, they would be sold as such 

 and my customers given a bit of ad- 

 vice as to how to handle them. If 

 this were followed up carefully and 

 conscientiously your customers would 

 soon become suspicious of the com- 

 petitior who is cutting prices. 



Stop kicking, start studying and do 

 not. value your own time too low. 

 Give you customers stock that will 

 give tliem satisfaction. It is the only 

 way to build up a permanent and prof- 

 itable business, and unless you are in 

 the business merely for the pleasure 

 of growing flowers and plants, you 

 cannot give your customers satisfac- 

 tion unless you in return make a rea- 

 sonable profit for yourself. 



In the discussion which followed and 

 which centered on geraniums J. P. Sei- 

 bold spoke very strongly in favor of 

 American Beauty. H. K. Rohrer said 

 that they found Ricard their best sell- 

 er, with some half a dozen other var- 

 ieties called for to a smaller extent. 

 John R. Shreiner found a good market 

 for a general assortment; tho.se who 

 do bedding on a large scale found 

 Nutt, Ricard, Poitevine and some good 

 white in most demand, R. Nagle 

 thought Scarlet Bedder would be a 

 winner when better known. Prices were 

 discussed and given up as a conun- 

 drum. 



M. J. Brinton of Christiana read a 

 paper on leaks of the trade, using big 

 business as a comparison, and brought 

 very forcibly the fact that thousands 

 of dollars worth of stock is reduced in 

 price by the handling It gets with the 

 express companies, and other thou- 

 sands by the fact that when stock gets 

 plenty it is improperly handled by the 

 grower and sent in to the markets re- 

 gardless with the usual glut condi- 

 tions at once brought about. He cited 

 examples for the month of April when 

 the unseasonable weather conditions 

 brought everything to full crop and 

 that he had been on the wholesale mar- 

 ket when sweet peas were coming in 

 by the ten thousands and yet it was 

 almost impossible to fill an order for 

 one thousand with strictly first-class 

 stock, due largely to the rush by the 

 grower to get everything into the mar- 

 ket somehow and any way. 



In the discussion on the handling of 

 flowers and plants by the express com- 

 panies it was brought out that a large 

 proportion of the loss is due to lack 

 of knov.-ledge and being a small body 

 ourselves it was moved and carried 

 that we appeal to the S. A. F, to ap- 

 point a committee to work out a set 



of Instruct . iiipl'iyeM 



for tho haiiiniiiK m mir jiriMiin In and If 

 practical to give assistance to the In- 

 dividual in getting a claim where 

 flagrant carelessness was shown by the 

 express company. 



For the next meeting June 17, Ira 

 Landis of Paradise is to give us a 

 paper on the summer culture of carna- 

 tions for results next winter. 



Al.llKltl .M. Hekk. 



TEXAS STATE FLORISTS' ASSO 

 CIATION. 

 The Texas .State Florists' AsHocla- 

 tioTi has sent the following invitation 

 to the different southern florists' or- 

 gan i/.ations: 



To llii- I'rcMldciii of the Society: 



Dciir Sir: You Unvc proljiilily Lenrd of 

 our coming Sljtc Convoutlon to 1«> bold In 

 Ft. Worth, July mid 7tli. Tlic tlorlHls of 



Toxiis cspccliilly urge tliat which I 



uiidiTstaiid 1h cnmiioKcd of all the fliirUta 

 of the sliitp mid clly. to iittpnd thin Con- 

 vpiilloii. II Ik not nur Intentions to make 

 this Just ;i .Stiitt* nlTjitr. hh we are tnvltlDff 

 • liorlsts of the entire South t 



llie 

 us 



to tic with 



Will you be so kind as to see that every 

 iiii'Milier of the organizntlon gets a copy of 

 I Ills invilatiun. If It will not lie too much 

 I rouble, please send nie a complete list of 

 (111- uiemliers of the .Society, and I will try 

 to set In direct touch with them also. Take 

 ndv.intagc of this opportunity and see the 

 pood that Is lieing derived from our Texas 

 or»;anlzatlon. 



Trusting that I will hear from you favor- 

 ably, stating that you have canvassed your 

 members. I am. Yours trulv, 



R. C. KERK, i'res., 

 Texas State Klurlsts' Ass'n. 



The following changes and additions 

 have been made in the program for 

 the meeting of the Texas State Flor- 

 ists' Association on July 6 and 7, 

 which appeared in our issue of May 16: 



Round Table Discussion, "Carnations as 

 a rrofltable Crop in Texas." I.*d by Bird 

 IVirrest. Waxahachle, Tex. Assisted by 

 n. Kaden, Gaiuesville, Tex., and E. O. 

 Wessingcr, Beaumont, Tex. 



"How We Treat Our Competitors." Led 

 by H. O. Hannah. Sherman, Tex. Assisted 

 by .1. E. McAdams, Ft. Worth, Tex., and 

 II. Knhlmann, Jr.. Houston, Tex. 



"The Retail Flower Store and Its Man- 

 aseinent — Some Methods of Saving Time 

 .ind .Material." Led by H. Oreve, Dallas, 

 Tex. Assisted by F. C. Suchy, San An- 

 tonio, Tex., and Chas. AllT, .Jr., Austin, 

 Tex. 



"Why Woman Is Indispensable In the 

 Florist Business." Led by .Mrs. Annie 

 Urifance Wolfe, Waio, Tex. Joined by all 

 ladies present. 



"Florists as Advertisers and Bookkeep- 

 ers." Led by R. C. Kerr, Flouston, Tex. 

 Assisted by A. F. Koehle, Sherman, Tex. 



ST. LOUIS MEETINGS IN JUNE. 



Tlie County (Jrowcrs' ,.\ssociation 

 will meet on Wednesday. June 2, at 

 Huso Gross' Place in Kirkwood, mem- 

 bers of the Florist Club are invited to 

 attend. 



The Lady Florists' Home Circle will 

 meet on Wednesday, June 9, at the 

 home of Mrs. Andy Meyer, 3214 S. Jef- 

 ferson Ave. 



The St. Louis Florist Club will cele- 

 brate its 29th anniversary in Odd Fel- 

 lows Hall on Thursday afternoon, 

 June 10, at 2 o'clock. An attractive 

 program is being prepared by the trus- 

 tees. 



The Retail Florists' Association will 

 meet at Washington Hotel on Monday 

 night, June, 21, at 8 o'clock P. M. The 

 association is getting up a credit sys- 

 tem book, which will be of great as- 

 sistance to all city retailers. 



