November 11, 1916 



HORTICULTURE 



645 



T 



When you buy Bayersdorfer & Co. goods you get the best in the world. 



BUY YOUR FALL SUPPLIES NOW 



BASKETS BASKETS BASKETS 



Chrysanthemum Baskets in Japanese novelty tints. 

 RED— RED— RED— specialties for Thanksgiving. 



New Stock is in. Ready tor You. A Rare Shipment of imported Goods Just Received. Hampers and Flower Bowls. 



Stock up now and have the goods to show customers. Send for prices and 



see how much you can do with a little money when you go straight to 



headquarters -THE FLORISTS' SUPPLY HOUSE OF AMERICA. 



H. BAYERSDORFER & CO. 



Manufacturers and 

 Importers 



1129 Arch Street, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



Write for 

 Catalogue 



MAX SCHLING'S PHILOSOPHY. 



An article entitled What My Busi- 

 ness Has Taught Me," by Max Schling, 

 illustrated with photographs, appears 

 in the November numlier of System, 

 published by A. W. Shaw Co. of Chi- 

 cago. The paper is in .Mr. Schling's 

 inimitable and forceful style. System 

 wliich makes good claim to the title 

 "The Magazine of Business," com- 

 mends .Mr. Schling's philosophy and 

 says that "while liis ideas are by no 

 means new, somehow or other he 

 gives them a new twist." Regarding 

 values and profits, Mr. Schling says: 



"Cheap stuff does not mean a poor 

 quality of stock. Cheap stuff means a 

 flower or plant of good stock at a 

 cheap price; and if a florist buys cheap 

 stock of the kind I think of, he will 

 never take advantage to sell it other- 

 wise than in accordance with the stand- 

 ard of honest business men — to sell 

 it at fair profit, regardless of petty ex- 

 penses like packing, care and such." 



Concerning the relationship of a 

 man to his business and his em- 

 ployees. Mr. Schling says; 



"We have to do our work and over- 

 see their work at the same time. We 

 should have untiring ambition when 

 we make up a bouquet or a wreath or 

 a basket. We should not wrong our- 

 selves by asking 'Isn't it pretty?" We 

 must ask them: 'How do you like it'^ 

 We can listen to criticism and ask 

 ourselves if this is warranted. We 

 should try to improve our work from 

 day to day. and when we make some- 

 thing, no matter how pretty we may 

 think it is. we should ask ourselves. 

 "Is it well enough made. Can't we 

 make something better'.'' .\nd this 

 spur to ourselves to do better will 

 improve our knowledge ami will cer- 

 tainly show in our work. 



"Our business — does it belong to us 

 or do we belong to it? 



"A business man who feels himself 

 the proprietor and nothing else, loses 

 his hold on his business sooner or 



later. A business man is only pro- 

 prietor or owner of his business in his 

 own private life. The moment he 

 steps into the business surroundings 

 where his activity is necessary to 

 keep the business in progress, where 

 his mind is really tlie soul of the 

 business, he is not less an employee 

 than any of his other employees. He 

 is there to see that the goods sold, 

 are sold right. He must teach his 

 salesmen, it they do not know it. how- 

 to do it right. He mu3t instruct his 

 buyers. He has to understand book- 

 keeping and do bookkeeping. He has 

 to be a gardener, a florist, a designer 

 It does not harm him if he knows how 

 to sweep his own place and to deliver 

 his own orders. 



"A business man should be able to 

 replace any of his workmen and 



should in the average small business 

 be able to match the knowledge of 

 every one of his employees. What 

 they all know together he has to com- 

 bine in his own self, and his ambition 

 should be to know it better than the 

 others, so that when he gives an or- 

 der he can look straight into the eyes 

 of his employees and not blujh over 

 his incompetency. ■ 



He puts up a forcible argument on 

 Low to make friends and permanent 

 customers through liberality, fairness 

 and broad-gauge ) olicies in serving 

 the public and explains in detail the 

 methods which he has found euccess- 

 ful in the conduct of his own business. 



We should gladly give room to .Mr. 

 Schling's article in full but our space 

 is too limited. It will pay any florist 

 to i;eruse it carefully. 



How Ull Ynl LlKK It?" 



