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H It T I C U L T U It P: 



November 22, 1919 



HORTICULTURE 



Established by William J. Stewart In 1904 



VOL. XXX 



NOVEMBER 22, 1919 



NO. 21 



PUItl.ISIIKD WKEKLY BY 



HORTICULTURE PUBLISHING COMPANY 

 78 Devonshire Street, Boston, Mass. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 

 Telephone Fort Hill 3H94 



ADVERTISING RATES: 



Per Inch, 30 inches to page $1.25 



Discount on Contracts for consecutive insertions, as follows: 



One month (4 times), 5 per cent.; three months (13 times), 10 

 per cent.; six months (26 times), 20 per cent.; one year (52 times), 

 30 per cent. 



Page and half page space, not consecutive, rates on application. 



Entered ns second-class matter December 8, 1904, at the Post Office 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 18D7. 



Judging by their public activities the 



Enterprising florists of no city of the country are 

 Buffalo more alert and enterprising than those 



of Buffalo, unless it be possibly those 

 of Washington. By their systematic advertising and 

 their success in getting the newspapers to carry on a 

 campaign for the wider use of flowers, they have done 

 much to push the business. In many ways Buffalo 

 seems to be especially alive. This is shown by the free 

 municipal flower shows which have just been resumed. 

 The show this year was held in Elmwood Music Hall 

 and attracted great numbers of people. It was carried 

 out under the direction of Commissioner Malone of the 

 Department of Parks and Public Buildings, and the 

 flowers shown were largely those from the city's own 

 greenhouses. Of course chrysanthemums were most 

 in evidence, but as there are few flowers which make so 

 strong an appeal to the public in general this was a 

 winning feature. 



Sunday afternoon there was an excellent organ 

 recital to help make the show a success. There was 

 also organ music on other days, with orchestra music 

 by way of variation. 



The arrangement of the flowers was not the set dis- 

 play so common at flower shows. The hall, on the 

 contrary, was blocked oil into mammoth flower gardens 

 with more than twenty-five beds filled with blooms. In 

 the center there was a large parterre which was 

 changed daily. At each end there was a fountain 

 banked with palms and statuary. An alley of box 

 trees led from the main entrance direct to the parterre, 

 which made an entrancing picture. The balcony was 

 transformed into a large pergola, having window boles 

 and vine covered lattice work. 



Now here certainly was an example of municipal 

 helpfulness which must have been of the greatest value 

 to florists. We have no doubt that the trade in Buffalo 

 gave every assistance to the city authorities in making 

 the affair the great success that it was. Certainly they 

 could well afford to do so, for this exhibition must have 

 given a tremendous impetus to the sale of flowers and 

 the development of the florists' business. Why shouldn't 

 the florists of other cities go to work quietly to arouse a 

 demand for a similar exhibition? If it can be done in 

 Buffalo, it can be done elsewhere. 



What a difference there are in cities! 



Flower week Some of them have responded promptly 

 and enthusiastically to the suggestion 

 of a "Say It with Flowers'" week. Others have made 

 a half-hearted attempt to carry out the idea. Others 

 have turned the proposition down cold. New York, 

 curiously enough, seems to have been among the last 

 named. A few of the most enterprising florists tried to 

 start the ball rolling, but only to have it fall to pieces 

 against a blank wall. The florists of Brooklyn did a 

 little better. Perhaps there was good reason for all 

 this. New York has had a good many special occasions 

 of late and perhaps was not able to respond to another 

 stimulus. Still there is Washington, which has had no 

 lack of celebrations, too. And the florists of Washing- 

 ton made a tremendous success of "Say It with Flowers" 

 week. So well did the affair go over there that there 

 is talk now of repeating it annually. Certainly it was 

 an inspiration to distribute flowers all over the city by 

 means of aeroplanes and the idea of sending flowers for 

 display on the pulpit of every church on Sunday was 

 also a good one. Perhaps, by the way, it will be an ex- 

 cellent plan for somebody to pool the best ideas origi- 

 nating in all the different cities so that they will be 

 available for similar occasions next season. 



The florists of Albany prepared a special float which 

 traveled about the city all the week and made so much 

 of a hit that it is likely to be borrowed for use in other 

 cities. Boston did not develop as elaborate a program 

 as it had been hoped, but used display advertising in all 

 the newspapers, and aroused considerable interest by a 

 parade on Armistice Day after which flowers were dis- 

 tributed to all the hospitals. By submitting photo- 

 graphs and reports to the newspapers a great deal of 

 extra publicity was obtained. Most of the papers had 

 special Sunday articles, and it is to be recommended 

 (hat the florists of all cities make a point of keeping 

 newspapers informed about matters which would be of 

 public interest. Oftentimes it would pay local florists' 

 associations to have a regular press agent. 



The fact that the newspapers are willing to co-operate 

 with the florists is seen by a recent happening in St. 

 Louis. There the florists combined to insert a lame 

 advertisement, and one of the leading Sunday papers 

 contributed a full page story dealing particularly with 

 the chrysanthemum. Publicity of tin's kind is of the 

 greatest value, and when it can be obtained gratuitously 

 certainly should not be overlooked. 



We do not know who is responsible for 



Good the advertising copy which is being put 



advertising ov ,t by the S. A. P. this month, but we 



do know— -o) at least we are convinced 

 that we do — that no bottei advertising of flowers and 

 the florists' telegraph delivery has ever been done. We 

 have just been reading the advertisement as it appears 

 in the American Magazine. The display itself is excel- 

 lent, the eye being instantly caught by the illustrations. 

 The text is well constructed, concise and convincing. 

 It has a suggestion of sentiment, but mushiness has been 

 avoided. It is advertising which makes a direct appeal 

 and which should sell flowers. We congratulate the 

 man who prepared the copy and the S. A. F. on the 

 opportunity to use it. We also suggest that the value 

 of this advertising to the whole trade should not be 

 overlooked. Every florist will profit, even those in the 

 smallest town. Surely it is not very commendable for 

 any member of the trade to sit back and reap the reward 

 of nil the work which is being done to promote the sale 

 of Howers without dointr his part in paving the bills. 



