214 



HOKTICULTURE 



March 13. 1924 



CO-OPERATION. 



Mr. Samuel Robinson Shows How It 

 Can Be Adapted to Present 

 Conditions. 

 I have been asked to express my 

 view concerning the advancement and 

 progress of the Florist Business, espe- 

 cially right here in the East. I know 

 of nothing that will advance the prog- 

 ress of our business so much as Co- 

 operation. There is, pernaps, no other 

 business which lacks this element so 

 much as the florist business. Why? 

 Because the men connected with the 

 business are more ignorant of busi- 

 ness affairs than in other lines? No, 

 not at all — much to the contrary. 



I can scarcely keep from expressing 

 my feeling that I am proud to be num- 

 bered among many of the men who 

 are so intimately connected with this 

 line of trade; men who know, and 

 know well how to measure other men; 

 men who know that the true measure 

 of a man's ability lies principally in 

 the power to help others, and so add 

 to their progress; men who know that 

 the amount of money each man makes 

 is no precise measure of service which 

 he has rendered to his fellowmen, or 

 the progress which such a man has 

 made possible. 



Wherein then, lies the great trouble? 

 I answer in the lack of activity, lead- 

 ership and Co-operation. Just ask 

 yourself what has been done toward 

 the advancement of the flower busi- 

 ness in the last thirty years? Very 

 little, aside from Mr. Henry Penn, who 

 has led the florist business to a higher 

 plane of success. What real Co-opera- 

 tion exists among the growers, whole- 

 salers, retailers and the public at 

 large? None. In my opinion there is 

 only one method which will remedy 

 the existing dreamlike conditions. 

 This remedy is Co-operation — Co- 

 operation of the right kind — Co-opera- 

 tion simply for the promotion of the 

 flower business. 



Telling a grower that he is exacting 

 too high a price for his product, and 

 asking him to lower his price is not 

 Co-operation. It is childishness. The 

 indestructible economic law of supply 

 and demand inevitably determines the 

 price of an article. To feel that our 

 affairs will develop without effort, that 

 the public at large will continue to 

 buy flowers, mire and more, as the 

 years go on, without some adequate 

 way of pointin.g out the grandeur of 

 flowers is simple folly, not Co-opera- 

 tion. 



There is no exact and concise defini- 

 tion of the term. When a motor is 

 constructed in such a manner as to 

 obtain the highest efficiency, we say 

 that the parts co-operate highly. But 

 It must be borne in mind, as the re- 



sult of a scientific principle, that the 

 motor will never give us tlie Maximum 

 Electrical Energy without Co-opera- 

 tion of the parts. Without Co-opera- 

 tion of the parts in relation to the 

 whole, there must result a waste of 

 energy. As another example, take the 

 human body, a very complex machine. 

 We cannot deny that the hands co- 

 operate with the feet, the arteries co- 

 operate with the blood vessels, etc. 

 An enormous waste of human energy 

 will result unless this anatomical Co- 

 operation exists, or is made to exist. 



There is absolutely no difference in 

 the results obtained when it comes to 

 the flower business. It goes without 

 saying that the resources of the 

 growers are dormant and undeveloped. 

 The value of flowers in the home, in 

 the hospital, in the theatre, etc., is in 

 no way pointed out to the public at 

 large. Glutted markets are too fre- 

 quent. The florists of Boston and 

 the New England States are entirely 

 disorganized. More than half do not 

 know that the other half is alive. I 

 have no doubt in my mind that proper 

 Co-operation along these lines would 

 be fraught with a marked tendency to- 

 ward the reduction of these evils. 



It is indeed a pleasure to feel that 

 some of our florists have awakened 

 from a long dream. I mean specifi- 

 cally the formation of the Boston 

 Florist Association. This association 

 brings us on the threshold of a new 

 era, which, with proper leadership, 

 eificient management, which spells Co- 

 operation, this association can do in- 

 numerable good for our flower busi- 

 ness. But we must remember, as 

 Ralph Waldo Emerson put in one of 

 his famous essays — 



"For good thoughts are no better 

 than good dreams unless they be ex- 

 ecuted." 



Samuel Robinson. 



THE MARKET 



There has been no important change 

 in the markets of the country during 

 the past week. There has been, to be 

 sure, a slight stiffening which leads 

 all hands to hope that in a week or 

 two the gluts will be over and profits 

 greater. Nevertheless, prices have re- 

 mained just about the same in all of 

 the markets. Until the middle of the 

 week there was a downward tendency, 

 especially in New York, Pittsburgh 

 and Buffalo. It certainly has been a 

 buyer's market and there has been a 

 general tendency on the part of the 

 retailers to take advantage of the situ- 

 ation. This was noticeable in Boston 

 where dealers got together and made 

 special advertisements in the daily 

 papers to promote the sale of flowers. 

 Possibly the Boston people have not 

 done the job quite so effectively as the 

 Chicago florists, but have made a 

 move in the right direction. Certainly 

 the Chicago florists have found how 

 to do retail advertising to the queen's 

 taste. 



Of course stevia is out of the mar- 

 ket. Paper whites have been very 

 short and in some places not to be 

 obtained. Pittsburgh reports some 

 very flne orchids which have sold from 

 75c. to $1.00 each. In that market 

 pussy willows are going well at from 

 $5 to $6 and daisies $.3. Tulips are ajv 

 pearing and selling for about the same 

 price as daffodils, that is, 6c. Violets 

 are away down and it is safe to say 

 that there is little money being made 

 when they sell for from 75c. to $1. 

 Carnations have naturally followed 

 the downward tendency. 



It is understood that Mr. A. Jablon- 

 sky, of Clayton, Mo., is to erect three 

 new greenhouses, each 32 x 300 feet, 

 using pipe frame construction 

 throughout. 



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I HEADQUARTERS FOR | 



I LAWN, VEGETABLE AND FLOWER | 



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AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS 



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Boston, Mass. i 



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