46 



The Florists' Review 



Mabch 30, 1916. 



(I 



Eatobllshed, 1897, by Q. L. GRANT. 



Published every Tharaday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co., 



630-660 Oaxton Balldlngr, 



SOSSoutb Dearborn St., Chlcaco. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Registered cable address, 



Florrlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 8. 1891, at the post-office at Chi- 

 cago, IlL, under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



Subscription price, tl.OO a year. 

 To Canada, $2.00; to Europe, $3.00. 



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertialng accepted. 



t! 



NOTICE. 



It is impossible to ^arantee 



the iosertion, discontinuance or 



alteration ef any advertisement 



unless instructions are received 



BY 6 P. M. TUESDAY. 



SOCIETT OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 

 Incorporated by Act of Congress, March 4, 1901. 



Officers for 1916: President, Daniel MacRorle. 

 San Francisco; vice-president, R. C. Kerr. Hous- 

 ton, Tex.; secretary, John Youuk, 53 W. 28th 

 St., New York City; treasurer, W. F. Kasting, 

 Buffalo. 



Thirty-second annual convention, Houston, 

 Texas, August 15 to 18. 1916. 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



St. Louis took National Flower Show 

 week to announce a big spring show for 

 1917. The dates selected are March 15 

 to 18. 



The development of the rose and of the 

 carnation has been carried to a point 

 where a new variety must possess decided 

 merit to attract more than ordinary at- 

 tention on the exhibition table. 



A subscriber, somewhat new in the 

 trade, complains that he has difficulty in 

 procuring stock at wholesale prices; when 

 he writes, some do not reply, while others 

 send retail lists. But he uses paper out 

 of a school tablet! The first thing to do, 

 on starting a business, is to get a printed 

 letterhead. 



A JfEW DELIVEEY PliAN. 



The Western Union Telegraph Co. 

 has announced that on and after April 1 

 it will execute commissions for its pa- 

 trons and will deliver flowers, candy, 

 books and the like in any town or city 

 where it has an office. There is no need 

 to know a florist or confectioner or 

 bookseller — just hand the Western 

 Union the price, and it will make the 

 purchase and deliver the goods for a 

 small fee. This is an extension of the 

 company's money transfer service. 



The express companies for many 

 years operated a similar purchase and 

 delivery department, but the service 

 was too slow to have much effect on 

 the florists' business. The telegraph 

 company can do better. Florists in 

 large cities should find the telegraph 

 company's business highly desirable. 



WHEN COST COUNTS LITTI^E. 



The fear frequently is expressed that 

 the rapid rise in the price of green- 

 house materials, especially glass and 

 pipe', will result in checking building 

 operations. But why should it? If 

 conditions are ripe for the increase of 

 a grower's glass, the market price of 

 materials counts for little; a grower 

 would be unwise to build greenhouses 

 he didn't need, just because materials 

 were cheap, and he would lack in en- 

 terprise to postpone building, because 

 of high prices, if conditions otherwise 

 make building desirable. Given a mar- 

 ket that calls for increased supplies of 

 stock, any ordinary variation in the 

 investment caused by the price of glass 

 or pipe counts for little. Suppose a 

 house does cost five or even ten per 

 cent more this year than it did last 

 year; aren't general conditions in the 

 trade a lot better than that? 



AGAIN, CAN YOU BEAT IT? 



It isn't possible to give record re- 

 sults to every advertiser, but a sur- 

 prising number write of the more than 

 satisfactory returns they get through 

 The Review. Like this: 



Not advertising In The Review is like stop- 

 ping the clock to save time. — Conrad Freund, 

 Cleveland, O., March 17, 1916. 



Review ads are helping wonderfully. — Aeth- 

 borne Goldfish & Supply Co., Burlington, la., 

 March 17, 1916. 



I will say frankly, two short ads sold all my 

 geraniums and vincas, bringing me very good 

 results. I am perfectly satisfied with Review 

 ads. — Charles Taynor, New Carlisle, O., March 

 16, 1916. 



Mr. Taynor sold out his stock at a 

 cost for advertising amounting to only 

 $5.50. 



When you hear a man complain of 

 the cost of advertising you can be 

 pretty sure he spends a good bit of 

 money elsewhere than in The Review. 



FERNS NOT SCARCE THIS SEASON. 



At this time of year attention turns 

 to the situation as regards hardy cut 

 ferns and the prospect of a squeeze in 

 whatever interval there is between old 

 and new crop. 



But the indications are that there 

 are plenty of ferns this season and that 

 there will be no shortage around Memo- 

 rial day. It is true that many ferns in 

 cold storage have been keeping poorly, 

 but the loss, while it has hit the pocket- 

 books of certain parties, has not been 

 enough to affect the general supply. 



Perhaps the best evidence as to the 

 present situation is found in the fact 

 that prices all season, with business 

 good, have been a shade under those 

 of last season, with business slow. Also, 

 the eastern shippers usually raise their 

 wholesale prices each month as the sea- 

 son advances, but there was no in- 

 crease for March, some shippers even 

 reducing previously accepted quota- 

 tions. 



There evidently are plenty of ferns 

 in the hands of the Massachusetts ship- 

 pers, as well as moderate quantities in 

 storage elsewhere. 



PLANTSMEN'S TEOUBUBS. 



Outside the greenhouses it is the 

 quite general opinion that the grower 

 has a snap — all he has to do is to stick 

 some cuttings in the sand and, in the 

 course of time, bank the money. 



But there are plenty of indications 



that, this year at least, the growers 

 who specialize on spring stock for the 

 trade are having troubles of their own. 

 To root geraniums appears to have 

 been especially difficult this season. 

 And vincas and other stock in special 

 demand at this time also have given 

 trouble. 



Both growers and buyers have had 

 trouble: The growers could not fill 

 orders as expected and buyers were, 

 and are, impatient, especially if their 

 checks have been cashed. The insist- 

 ence of buyers, demanding that stock 

 be shipped at once or money refunded, 

 has resulted in the shipment of much 

 inferior stock, 2%-inch plants that 

 scarcely would have been able to get 

 by as rooted cuttings. 



It is a season in which the man who 

 is prompt and careful in answering cor- 

 respondence and who refuses to send 

 out stock until it is ready is adding 

 greatly to his reputation. 



AGAIN A RECORD. 



The excuse for referring so often to 

 The Review is that so many people are 

 kind enough to take interest in the 

 progress their trade paper still makes 

 even after it has become known as one 

 of the remarkable class journals of 

 America. Not in any other trade in 

 this country is there a journal carry- 

 ing so large and comprehensive a vol- 

 ume of advertising as appears in The 

 Review. Nor is there one in which so 

 large a percentage of the advertising 

 is depended on for direct mail orders to 

 clear stock — stock that will be lost if 

 not sold at once as a result of the 

 advertising. 



But to this week's record: It is for 

 volume of classified advertising. Other 

 issues have carried as much display, but 

 never before has so much classified ap- 

 peared in a single issue. There are al- 

 most twenty full pages of it this week. 

 It is the trade's market place. 



CHICACK). 



The Market. 



Beginning with the combined rain 

 and sleet storm March 26, Chicago mar- 

 ket conditions performed a right-about- 

 face, and as a result the early part of 

 the week found a bountiful supply of 

 practically everything. March 27 and 

 28, while not markedly cold, were 

 rainy and gusty, which quite effectually 

 put a dam|)er on local demand. Ship- 

 ping business, though not as heavy, per- 

 haps, as one could desire, has not been 

 so much affected. Moreover, the 

 dearth of weddings during the Lenten 

 season is beginning to make itself felt. 

 In spite of this fact,, however, busi- 

 ness was good until the weather took 

 an unfavorable turn. 



The supply of Beauties is regularly 

 increasing and there is a marked im- 

 provement in the quality of receipts. 

 The demand is primarily for short and 

 medium length stock. The supply of 

 other roses is more than equal to the 

 demand. Ophelia and Russell are 

 clearing with the least difficulty, 

 though Maryland is moving with a fair 

 degree of ease. 



Last week carnations were on the 

 short side of the market and experi- 

 encing a lively demand. This week 

 they are in good supply and are mov- 

 ing slowly. The red varieties are in 

 greatest demand. The general com- 



