May 15, 1920 



H R T 1 C U L T U K K 



;)!)! 



Little Talks on Advertising 



Mr. P. C. McDonald is a widely 

 known advertising man who had made 

 a Iteen study of advertising methods 

 as they apply to retailing. In a recent 

 number of the Retail Public Ledger of 

 Philadelphia, he made this statement: 



■■Small, unpretentious beginnings in 

 an advertising way ultimately lead to 

 increased space. The attempt to lead 

 off with a big display is utterly falla- 

 cious and not justified by returns. The 

 small, neat, ■well-thought-out, local ad- 

 vertisement, running at regular inter- 

 vals, is a species of publicity that 

 brings home the bacon, and builds a 

 bigger, broader, better business." 



I am sure that this advice ajiplies 

 with special emphasis to florists, and 

 I would particularly recommend a sec- 

 ond reading of that sentence which 

 points out the desirability of running 

 one's advertising at regular intervals. 

 It Is this constant pegging away which 

 does the business. At the same time 

 merely having one's name in the pa- 

 per may not accomplish much unless 

 the space used is filled with enticing 

 and convincing copy. 



In any event, it is very poor policy 

 to plunge unless one has studie<l out 

 his marltet and experimented a little 

 with the best way to reach it. Three 

 or four-inch advertisements, used two 

 or three times a week for a while, may 

 be followed by little larger copies If 

 returns justify li. In any event this 

 small space used regularty will bring 

 much greater financial results than an 

 occasional full page spread. This, it 

 must be understood, is viewing the 

 matter from the florist's standpoint 

 and considering the kind of goods 

 which he sells. 



Mr. McDonald says furllier in his 

 article- 



"Let advertising develop a market 

 for a commodity — it makes no differ- 

 ence what that commodity may be — 

 and suddenly cease advertising for a 

 season and you will find competitive 

 articles taking advantage of the letup, 

 breaking heavier tlian ever into space 

 and winning away that market. 



The Ostrich Policy 

 "There's no theory about this argu- 

 ment — it's backed by numerous cases 

 where this very thing has been done 

 and done thoroughly. The undermined 

 advertisers, feeling themselves slip- 

 ping, have had to come back stronger 

 than ever before to recover, in part, 

 their lost prestige. 



"I have often thought that the deal- 

 er who won't advertise because he 

 feels he can't afford it, is burying his 

 head in the sand, and therefore abso- 

 lutely blind to his opportunities. He's 



a derelict among dealers, simply hang- 

 ing on and letting the makers of his 

 wares flght the battle alone. If he 

 grows he's in luck. If he fails he's 

 getting what's coming to him — what 

 he ought to have every reason for ex- 

 pecting. Once he takes newspaper 

 si)ace and is brought face to face with 

 a realization that his stuff is moving 

 faster, and his profits proportionately 

 larger, then and then only, will he feel 

 the power of the printed word — of 

 worth-while and lucrative salesman- 

 ship. 



"The dealer who makes up his mind 

 right now that he's going to travel In 

 fast company and multiply his sales 

 and reduce his overhead by advertis- 

 ing is building for the future. Small 

 beginnings make big endings, and 

 never was this bromide more apropos 

 than it is today. Small ads, kept be- 

 fore the public, will soon make a most 

 perceptible bulge on the credit side of 

 the ledger. 



How It Works. 



"Once you've started a campaign of 

 advertising in your local newspapers, 

 stick to it. Bear in mind advertising 

 is cumulative, that it's like the prover- 

 bial snowball, gathering trade-impetus 

 as it rolls along. Don't run one or 

 two advertisements expecting big re- 

 sults and, not getting them, declare 

 advertising doesn't pay. 



"Continuity of small-space advertise- 

 ments is what produces regular, grati- 

 fying volume. Spasmodic large space 

 is too easily forgotten — it's too long 

 between drinks. You can't hold the 

 interest of your community by spora- 

 dic publicity any more than a novelist, 

 no matter how great his reputation, 

 can hold the interest of his following 

 by publishing his latest yarn serially 

 in semi-yearly installments." 



shortly after Memorial Day, the exact 

 date to be announced by President 

 Wilson. This gathering will take place 

 at the Arnold Arboretum, and Mr. Wil- 

 son will conduct the party through the 

 ground.s. pointing out the most inter- 

 esting and valuable specimens of trees 

 and shrubs to be found there. 



HORTICULTURAL CLUB OF BOS- 

 TON 



At the last meeting of the Boston 

 Horticultural Club, at the Parker 

 House, on Wednesday evening of last 

 week. Professor E. H. Wilson, of the 

 Arnold Arboretum, the president, was 

 in the chair and introduced Mr. Fred 

 Wilson, of Nahant, who gave an un- 

 usually interesting and valuable talk 

 ■ in perfumes, with special reference to 

 the flowers from which they come. 

 After that there was a general dis- 

 cussion lasting until 11 o'clock. Pro- 

 fessor Pray, of Harvard College, had 

 expected to be present to talk on land- 

 scape architecture, but on account of 

 illness was unable to be present. 



It was decided to hold a field day 



SHORTIA GALACIFOLIA 



Among the early spring wild flowers 

 at Hillcrest, blossoming at the same 

 time as the bloodroot and scilla. is 

 the exquisite little shortia galaclfolia 

 native to the mountains of North 

 Carolina. The dainty bell like blos- 

 soms on stems from two to three 

 inches high grow above a tuft of red- 

 dish green leaves which have been 

 aibove the ground all winter. 



The leaves closely resemble those 

 of the galax aphylla which are now 

 so much used by florists for w^reaths. 

 The leaves have the same heavy vein- 

 ing. leathery texture and serrated 

 edge. Both leaves have a beautiful 

 lustre and the same rich shades of 

 deep red and green. The Galax leaf is 

 a little rounder and more pointed at 

 the apex. 



The Galax blossoms later than the 

 Shortia bearing its flowers on stalks 

 a foot high. The exquisite dainty 

 bells of the shortia are about the size 

 of a lady's thimble with a scalloped 

 edge to its five -white petals. The 

 stems are pink and this year some of 

 the flowers have assumed a rosy hue. 



We grow it in the shade by our 

 wood road in a well enriched wood 

 soil with which peat or black muck 

 from our meadow has been mixed. 

 The heavy snows of this past winter 

 seem to have agreed with it for the 

 plants are in good condition this 

 spring. 



M. R. Case. 

 Hillcrest, Weston. May G. 1920. 



NEW ENGLAND. 



The Urainerd. Shaler and Hall 

 Quarry Co. of Portland, has sold to 

 A. N. Pierson, Inc., the florists of 

 Cromwell, two tracts of land with 

 buildings thereon, located in Crom- 

 well. 



The properties involved in the 

 transfer have been leased by the Pier- 

 son Company for many years. A por- 

 tion of the land is being used for coal 

 storage purposes. 



It is understood that John R. Barnes 

 has retired from the firm of Barnes 

 Bros., the well known nurserymen of 

 Yalesville, Conn., and will no longer 

 engage in business. He has bought a 

 home in Wallingford, Conn. 



