HORTICULTURE 



VoL XXXI 



APRIL 10, 1920 



No. 15 



THE TALK OF THE TRADE 



The accompanying illustration por- 

 trays a feature of the exhibit made 

 hy the Beacon Florist, J. Eiseman, at 

 the recent flower show in Boston. It 

 doesn't by any means do justice to 

 the design, because the delicate colors 

 of the flowers cannot be reproduced. 

 The framed bouquet attracted no little 

 attention and brought Mr. Eiseman 

 many hearty compliments. The idea 

 is one which he has used for several 

 years, and which probably will be 

 taken up in a more general way as it 

 offers many possibilities. Although 

 the holder does not appear at all. the 

 flower stems are in water so that the 

 flowers keep fresh a long time. 



There is something wrong with the 

 system which results in seedsmen 

 sending out two or three duplicate 

 catalogues to the same family and 

 even to the same individual. It would 

 be impossible to estimate the waste 

 of paper and postage which results 

 from this duplication. It has occurred 

 to me that the difliculty might be over- 

 come by adopting the plan used by a 

 large mail order house in New York. 

 Once a year this house sends out a 

 return postcard with the following 

 line at the top: "You may send me 

 free my copy of your new spring and 

 summer book. Please mail to this 

 address." Lines for the address then 

 follow, and below them is printed the 

 following: "You have been sending 

 more than one copy of your catalogue 

 to the members of my family. Please 

 remove from your mailing list the 

 names which I give below." Then 

 there are five lines for such names. 

 By using this card it is possible to 

 keep the list constantly revised, for 

 it can be pretty confidently assumed 

 that only those who are willing to re- 

 turn the card are likely to develop into 

 buyers. At any rate it helps to get 

 rid of duplication waste. 



One of the most unusual pieces of 

 advertising ever undertaken in the 

 trade was carried out by the Ameri- 

 can Bulb Co.. of Chicago, just before 

 Easter. Copy which took a large part 

 of a page was inserted in the Chicago 

 Sunday Tribune, which is read by 

 nearly ten million people and reaches 

 every city in the United States. This 



advertisement was entitled "The Ro- 

 mance of your Easter Lily," and re- 

 viewed the growing of the bulbs, their 

 long trip across the sea and their 

 forcing in the green house. It was 

 handsomely illustrated and concluded 

 in large letters with the slogan, "Say 

 It with Flowers." 



This advertisement, while paid for 

 by the American Bulb Co., was de- 

 signed to serve all the florists of the 

 country by creating an interest on the 

 part of the public in the buying of 

 Easter lilies. It is the flrst time that 

 this concern has ever advertised 

 direct to the public the products which 

 it sells to the florists. We are glad 

 that many florists were ahle to co- 

 operate by displaying copies of the ad- 

 vetisement in their windows. This 

 sort of advertising is bound to be very 

 helpful, and may perhaps mark a new- 

 epoch in successful methods of reach- 

 ing the public. 



Apparently there is considerable dif- 

 ference of opinion among florist as to 

 the relative values of the calla and the 

 Easter lily. The question has been up 

 for discussion in the Canadian Florist 

 and the answers vary. According to 



W. L. Lindsay of Tillsonbuirg, Ont., 

 callas are gaining as a staple flower, 

 Mr. Lindsay says: 



"People have got over the old time 

 objection and, with most customers, 

 they are well liked. The Easter lily 

 would soon be forgotten were it not 

 for its association with Easter." 



\V. G. Peacock, Brampton, says: 

 "We are forcing these every month 

 now, and always arrange to bring in 

 specially large quantities at holiday 

 times. They have been more in de- 

 mand than ever since the price ad- 

 vanced last year, but they last a long 

 time, and are as much sought after 

 for weddings as for funerals." 



Alfred Deal & Son of Stratford, Ont, 

 also says that callas are as popular as 

 ever and thus there is a continuous de- 

 mand tor them for funeral work. 



Quite a different story is told by W. 

 W. Walker, of St. Catharines who says, 

 "The casual outsider might think, from 

 not seeing the usual large number of 

 these two lilies, that they were not as 

 popular as formerly. The explanation 

 of this is that the older type of florist, 

 who considered the calla lily as neces- 

 sary to a floral design or for funeral 

 work, is being gradually replaced by 

 a younger generation, who want to 

 know whether or not the calla can 



Mr. Kiseman's Unique Design 



