21 



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The Horists^ Review 



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Mat 4. 1916. 



EataUlshed, 1897. by O. L. QRANT. 



Published every Tbaraday by 

 Thb Florists' Pcblishino Ck)., 



630-660 Oaxton Balldln?, 



S06 South Dearborn St., Oblcago. 



Tele.. Wabash 8196. 



Begrlstered cable addreaa, 



Sloryiew. Chicago, 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. S, 1897, at the post-office at Ohl> 

 caffo. IIL, under the Act of March 

 8.1879. 



Subscription price, fl.OO a rear. 

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



AdTertisinif rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad* 

 Tertisinff accepted. 



(I 



NOTICE. 



It is impossible to s^uarantee 



the insertion, discontinuance or 



alteration of any advertisement 



unless instructions are received 



BY 6 P. M. TUESDAY. 



SOCIETY OF AMEBICAK FLORISTS. 

 Incorporated by Act of Congress, Marcli 4, 1901. 



Officers for 1916: President, Daniel MacRorle, 

 But Pranclsco; vice-president, R. C. Kerr, Hous- 

 toa, Tex.; secretary, John Young. 63 W. 2Sth 

 St., New York City; treaiorer, W. F. Easting, 

 Bailalo. 



miirty-second annual conTention. Houston, 

 Texas, August 15 to 18, 1916. 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



The F. T. D. orders for Mothers' day 

 probably will be heavier than they were 

 for Easter. 



The rising cost of wire will preclude 

 the low prices that sometimes are made 

 to keep the wire-workers busy during 

 smnmer. 



There is a steady increase in the em- 

 ployment of women in large greenhouse 

 establishments, where the routine tasks 

 are well performed by them. 



Although cow manure is unobtainable 

 in most places, horse manure still is to be 

 had in considerable quantity. As a spring 

 mulch for carnations it is excellent and 

 can be used without fear. 



Slowly this trade is approaching the 

 point, long since reached in most other 

 lines, where regular settlement dates are 

 insisted on. The slow pay buyer steadily 

 finds himself at greater disadvantage. 



If importers in this trade may be said 

 to have had troubles of their own in the 

 last few months, it seems that their dif- 

 ficulties will be multiplied as time goes 

 on. Some of the largest importing houses 

 are said to be considering discontinuing 

 business until conditions become more 

 nearly normal. 



Never a day passes but some Chicago 

 florist calls The Review on the tele- 

 phone to obtain an address to which an 

 order can be sent in a town not on the 

 Telegraph Delivery lists. If your town, 

 Mr. Reader, is not represented in the 

 Telegraph Delivery Departni^nt you can 

 get all the orders for your section by 

 putting in a card. 



MORE COMMEBCIAUZATION. 



Talking about * ' commercializing ' ' 

 Mothers' day, the florists are hot the 

 only ones who seek to make a littlo 

 something out of it. For instance, each 

 Western Union message now contains a 

 slip that reads: 



Sunday, May 14, Is Mothers* day, the day set 

 apart in honor of the mothers of the land; the 

 day on which everyone who is distant from his 

 mother will delight in sending her a message of 

 affectionate greeting. Mothers' day messages 

 sent by Western Union will be delivered on special 

 blanks appropriate to the occasion. 



There isn't a word about sending 

 flowers, but there is a cut of carnations 

 that would better have been left off. 



F. T. D. ORDERS BY HUNDRED. 



In the Mott-ly Musings in this issue 

 of The Review, George M. Geraghty, 

 manager of the Dunlop retail store in 

 Toronto, is quoted as stating they re- 

 ceived, during the week preceding Eas- 

 ter, 160 orders from other florists for 

 delivery in Toronto and vicinity — 160 

 orders of the kind the trade has come 

 to know as F. T. D. orders. It would 

 be a quite respectable week's business 

 for many a store, and all from out of 

 town. 



The F. T. D. business has grown to 

 such a volume that it is surprising that 

 there is any city of 25,000 or more not 

 represented in The Review's telegraph 

 delivery department. A card there (a 

 half inch) can be carried for as little 

 as 35 cents per week on yearly order — 

 and it brings the orders. If your city 

 is not in the list, there's a golden op- 

 portunity for you. 



PUT IT JUST SO. 



The man who advertises white car- 

 nations, or carnations of any color, as 

 the emblematic flower of Mothers' day 

 only lays up trouble for himself, and 

 for all of us. Of course, the estimable 

 lady to whom we are indebted for the 

 idea asserts as loudly as lies within 

 her power that the official flower is the 

 white carnation and none other; but 

 she is the same one who once told the 

 editor of The Review that if the flo- 

 rists did not cease commercializing the 

 day she would change its emblem to a 

 button or a ribbon — so we have each 

 to go our own way. 



When Mothers' day was only a year 

 or two old The Review appreciated 

 that the occasion had annual possibili- 

 ties far beyond the limits of the sup- 

 ply of white carnations; that the ex- 

 ploitation of the white carnation would 

 be positively harmful to the trade and 

 that the value, of the day lay only in 

 the general use of all kinds of flowers. 

 To meet the situation a phrase was 

 coined that since has come into general 

 use: 



For Mothers at home, flowers bright, 

 In Mother's memory, flowers white. 



While nearly every reference to 

 flowers for Mothers' day now contains 

 this thought, and it has resulted in a 

 truly wonderful benefit to the whole 

 trade, a great many fail to use the 

 couplet in exactly the words here given. 

 Some fail to use the rhyming form, 

 though it is the rhyme that clings in 

 the memory; some retain the rhyme but 

 destroy the meter, thereby giving of- 

 fense to those who like verse to scan; 

 some almost lose the thought in the 

 looseness of their language and only a 

 few watch the capitalization and the 

 position of the apostrophe. In last 

 week's issu^ of The Review eight of 

 last year's Mothers' day ads were re- 



produced as examples of what to do or 

 not to do. All of them showed the in- 

 fluence of the "bright" flower idea, 

 but not one followed the quotation ex- 

 actly; yet none of the variations was 

 so good as the original. This year put 

 it just so: 



For Mothers at home, flowers bright. 

 In Mother's memory, flowers white. 



HARDY CUT FERNS. 



This is a trade in which the unex- 

 pected usually happens, and the indica- 

 tions are that this is the case with 

 hardy cut ferns. During the late winter 

 there was an evident general desire on 

 the part of practically all who deal in 

 ferns to push along the sales and clean 

 up the stock in storage. One of the 

 regular monthly advances in prices even 

 was omitted. The result appears to be 

 that, instead of a surplus, there now is 

 less than the usual quantity on hand 

 and May 1 brought a general advance 

 in prices. In addition to the New Eng- 

 land and Michigan ferns in storage, a 

 few of the spring pick technically 

 known as snow birds have appeared on 

 the market. There also are small quan- 

 tities of southern ferns ready for im- 

 mediate use, but the holders of good 

 ferns in storage do not fear the compe- 

 tition of spring stock before the middle 

 of June. They are looking for some- 

 thing of a squeeze around Memorial day. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



This year, unlike last year, the Chi- 

 cago market experienced no such after- 

 Easter reaction as to cause a reversal 

 of conditions. Instead of the inertia 

 that usually follows the holiday rush 

 there has been at least a normal de- 

 mand. Small, to be sure, in comparisdn 

 with the inflated demand of the week 

 preceding, but still much larger than the 

 trade, judging by experience, had ex- 

 pected. Prices on some items of stock 

 dropped as a matter of course, but on 

 the whoje there was much less decline 

 than is usual during a post-holiday 

 week. 



.Perhaps Beauties experienced a 

 greater change of condition than any 

 other item on the market. Whereas they 

 were extremely scarce and barely pas- 

 sable stock was selling at good prices 

 during Easter week, the market last 

 week was decidedly slack, prices were 

 softening, and the supply, particularly 

 of long-stemmed stock, was much more 

 liberal. Demand, however, needed much 

 coaxing. The supply of other roses 

 continues large. Demand, too, is large 

 enough to leave no grounds for com- 

 plaint. Russell, without an effort, still 

 leads the list. Ophelia may be given 

 second place with little danger of con- 

 test. Ward, Sunburst and Milady, when 

 well grown, sell themselves. Richmond 

 and the Killarneys may always be de- 

 pended upon to hold their own, though 

 quite a few Killarneys were a little off 

 color last week. Hoosier Beauty, though 

 still somewhat of a stranger, is rapidly 

 vnnning friends. 



Carnations are holding up remarkably 

 well, not only in the matter of supply, 

 but in that of price and demand. Qual- 

 ity on the whole is good, though some 

 Enchantress and Victory are a trifle oflf. 

 The supply of Spanish iris is shdrt 

 enough to clear readily. Sweet peas 

 seem to have gained the favor of the 



