HORTICULTURE 



Vol. XXIX 



JUNE 14, 1919 



No. 24 



SHORTER HOURS FOR FLORISTS 



Opinions of Men Prominent in the Trade on Sunday Closing 



Apparently there is a well defined movement among 

 florists the country over in the direction of shorter hours. 

 This is in line with the tendency of the times. Not a 

 few florists believe that retail stores should be closed all 

 day Sunday, but others are more conservative. Of 

 course there are differences of opinion, but the following 

 letters will illustrate the general feeling in the trade: 



Early Closing Pays 



Washington, D. C. 



Gentlemen : — Replying to your favor of the 2nd, with 

 reference to a movement for Sunday closing and for 

 shorter hours, I hog to advise that I see no reason why 

 we could not close the same as other people do, as a 

 matter of fact I see the short closing hours coming. 



In Washington there are quite a few stores that 

 keep open until nine o'clock in the evening and all day 

 Sunday up until about nine or ten o'clock, whereas we 

 have been closing for more than a y«ar now at six o'clock 

 in the evening and at one o'clock on Sundays and one 

 o'clock on holidays; and we are doing today more busi- 

 ness than ever before by a large per cent. Showing that 

 what little we lose by early closing is more than made 

 up by satisfied employees and we believe the time is not 

 far distant when flower stores will close at noon on Sat- 

 urday and not open on Sunday at all. In fact there is 

 now a Blue Law bill before Congress to close up every- 

 thing on Sundays including soda water fountains and 

 tobacco stands. Florists should not wait for this com- 

 pulsory closing but should volunteer to have shorter 

 hours. 



Just think a few months ago when we had gasless 

 Sundays and heatless Mondays. I do not think that 

 anybody lost anything; on the contrary I believe it was 

 a distinct benefit to most of the florists. 



WILLIAM F. GUDE. 



Keep the Help Contented 



Lancaster, Pa. 



Gentlemen : — Without being a fanatic I am heartily 

 in favor of Sunday closing, doing only what is abso- 

 lutely necessary, both in the store and the greenhouses. 



A ten hour day has been my policy at the greenhouse 

 for the past ten years with Saturday afternoon off from 

 June 1st to Sept. 30th and a full week's pay. 



I am a firm believer in keeping help contented both 

 with their pay and their hours, and in return demand 

 and get their loyal co-operation in making the business 

 a success, any one who does not appreciate my endeavors 

 along these lines is replaced with some one who will. 



In the store eight hours and a half holiday makes for 

 better business. 



ALBERT M. HERR. 



Co-operation Needed 



Philadelphia, Pa. 

 Gentlemen : — Replying to your favor of June 2nd 



would state that I am heartily in favor of shorter 

 hours, but. as long as the wage scale and over-head re- 

 mains such a big factor and as long as it is impossible 

 to get a hundred percent action on the time of closing 

 it therefore behooves us to remain open as long as the 

 other fellow does. 



As regards the half-holiday and the Sunday closing, 

 while I heartily favor the same, I do not see how this is 

 possible unless you procure a hundred per cent support 

 from the florists of any community. Realize fully the 

 many advantages of the short hours and certainly trust 

 the day is not far distant when we will have thorough 

 working agreement among the retail florists in full 

 operation. 



Wishing you every success in your commendable un- 

 dertaking, believe me to be 



Sincerely yours, 



CHAS. H. GRAKELOW. 



Endorses Sunday Closing 



New York, N. Y. 



Dear Sir: — Regarding your communication of the 

 second in connection with our opinion as to the Sunday 

 closing and shorter hours. 



This firm has always stood for agreeable and reason- 

 able conditions with employer to employees, and I think 

 I may say, Dards Inc., have approved of shorter work- 

 ing hours than the average florist of New York. 



We emphatically endorse Sunday closing and nothing 

 would please this firm better, than to see same become 

 either a law or stringent rule. 



DARDS, INC. 



Per H. G. Perry. 



The Feeling in St. Louis 



St. Louis. 



Gentlemen: — In reply to your letter of June 2nd, 

 wish to say that we have been working along the idea of 

 shorter hours for the past few years, and we find that 

 we are not losing any trade by it. Our store is open 

 from i a. m. to 6 p. m. daily, except, Sunday, on which 

 day. our store is open from 7 a. m. until 12 o'clock noon. 

 We are very much in favor of closing all day on Sunday, 

 and there is a motion being agitated in St. Louis to 

 close up all of the florists on Sunday. We think the 

 sooner all the florists in the country close up on Sunday 

 the better it will be for the trade at large, and will make 

 the florists amount to something in the community, and 

 give the florists as well as the employees a day of rest. 

 As we all know, the florist game is a hard one to be plug- 

 ging at seven days a week without any rest. 



If there is any further information, that you may 

 wish, from this locality, we will be pleased to render 

 same, and we hope that your paper will be the first to 

 start the early weekly and all day Sunday closing. 

 Very respectfully, 



FRED 0. WEBER. 



