108 



HORTICULTURE 



August 7, 1920 



HORTICULTURE 



EsUbUshed by WtUlam J. St«wart In 1»M 



Vol. XXXII 



August 7, 1920 



No. 6 



rrni.isiiETi wkeki-y nv 



HORTICULTRE PUBLISHING COMPANY 



739 Boylston Street, Boston, M&ss. 



EDWARD I. FARRINGTON, Editor. 



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Bntered aa second-class matter December 8, 1904, at the Post OfBee 

 at Boston, Mass., under the Act of Congress of March 3, 1897. 



It is always a pleasure to do business with a 

 Keeping concern that keeps its records in a concise, 

 records businesslilie way, which sends its bills the 

 moment they are due, makes its returns with 

 equal promptness, and seldom gives occasion for complaint 

 because of mistakes. Would that the florists might be 

 numbered among those of whom it can be said: "It's ac- 

 counts are kept in perfect shape." 



Unfortunately this is far from being the case. Many 

 florists, and especially those who have begun in a small 

 way and worked up to a good sized business, have never 

 learned the art of methodical, orderly filing of bills, state- 

 ments, reports, complaints and the like, and of attending 

 to each matter the moment such attention is needed. It 

 would be the part of wisdom, and a real economy often- 

 times, for a florist who finds his bookkeeping and his ac- 

 counts giving him too much trouble, or occupying too much 

 of his time, to employ an accountant who would outline 

 the simplest form of bookkeeping for him to follow, and 

 start for him a set of books. To tell the truth, the day of 

 haphazard, go-as-you-please business methods has passed. 

 It is imi)ossible to be successful in modem business with- 

 out keeping accurate accounts, and there is no florist 

 clever enough to carry these accounts in his head. 



The florist business is growing more and more com- 

 plicated each year, and there never was a time when it 

 was more necessary to have all the details in black and 

 white. There would be fewer hours of sweating over the 

 desk when it becomes necessary to make income tax re- 

 turns and other reports required by the government if a 

 simplified, orderly method of keeping the accounts were 

 installed. As Mr. Robert E. Mapes, of Baum's Home of 

 Flowers in Knoxville, told the Tennessee Florists' Asso- 

 ciation last year: 



"Statistics, figures and facts are the basis upon which 

 every activity of today, legislative, political or commercial, 

 is based. A florist may watch every detail of expense in 

 his greenhouse in order to produce stock at the lowest 

 possible cost; he may use every effort to dispose of his 

 stock at the best prices, but if there is a weak link in the 

 administration of his affairs, if the management of his 

 office is not up to date, he stands a good chance to make 

 a failure." 



Now with the beginning of a new season, many a 

 florist will find it to his best interest to overhaul his ac- 

 counting system and make a careful investigation to learn 

 whether his methods are the best which have been devised 

 for keeping accurate tally on his business. 



President Hannah made a number of i)ertinent 



Retail points in his address before the Texas State 



prices Florists' Association, and some of the things 



which he said are worth pondering, although 



they may not all fit in exactly with the theory of other 



florists throughout the country. He warned especially 



against a tendency to charge all the traflJc will bear and 



a little more. His remarks on this score are worth quoting: 



"Do not make haste to get rich too fast. Do not get 

 prices too high. Keep safely on the side of public opinion. 

 Go slow but sure. This expresses the doctrine which has 

 been the guide of many florists throughout the country, 

 but there have been some instances where the gouging 

 process has been indulged in. This has never been good 

 business, though, and the tendency has been checked 

 oftentimes by the better sense of the florists in general." 



Mr. Hannah went on to elaborate one special feature 

 of the tendency mentioned when he said: 



"One thing is seriously wrong, and that is doubling 

 your price on Christmas. Easter. Mothers' Day and such 

 days. I understand the retailer must because the whole- 

 saler does. He commits the wrong, and is tempted to ship 

 you pickled stock when the retailer holds the bag. No 

 other commodity doubles its price in two days. Why 

 should ours?" 



There are many things to consider if the florists busi- 

 ness is to be put on the bigger, broader basis which is the 

 aim of the most progressive members of the trade through- 

 out the country. Many difficulties remain to be ironed 

 out. They are not all in the South or in the West, either. 

 Right in Boston there is a serious feeling between certain 

 members of the trade about transactions in the flower 

 market. This feeling has had its effects on the local or- 

 ganization, and yet there is no reason why, by a proper 

 getting together, all of the difficulties which interfere 

 with the up-building of the business cannot be worked out. 

 It is well to have free speaking at the conventions and at 

 the local meetings so long as the remarks are without 

 rancor or bitterness, and intended for the betterment of 

 the trade. Certainly President Hannah's talk was received 

 in the best of spirits, and he has received many congrat- 

 ulations. 



How a flower garden can improve the gen- 

 All having eral appearance of an industrial plant and 

 gardens relieve the monotonous sight of a bare land- 

 scape which would otherwise greet the eyes 

 of its employes, is forcefully exemplified at the plant of 

 the J. D. Crosby Company, manufacturers of wire goods, 

 in Pawtucket, R. I., where, in a hollow square contiguous 

 to three mill buildings is located a beautifully ordered plot 

 containing all sorts of flower plants and shrubs, tastefully 

 arranged in a semi-circle facing the South. 



To the North lies the office and strip rolling room; 

 on the West the machine ship and shipping department, 

 and on the South the band rolling room. The fence inclos- 

 ing the space on the East is a mass of rambler roses, a 

 brilliant display of horticultural beauty. In the centre is 

 a bed of red and silver leaf geraniums. 



The garden was planned and laid out about three years 

 ago by J. D. Crosby and has been cultivated by Henry C. 

 Mahler, 73-year-old gardener, who is helped by two assist- 

 ants. A greenhouse completes the garden equipment. 

 Considerable acerage to the South beyond the plant is 

 devoted to agricultural purposes. 



