16 



" VF? ; \ '^^^i '^^/VTl '. ■ 



The Florists' Review 



' - ■ Mat 11, 1016. ' 



ODCN mrm^y^ KEADBn^ 



HE SHOULD SELL BOSES. 



As I see that the wholesale florists 

 intend to raise the price of carnations 

 to $7 per hundred, it seems to me that 

 Mothers ' day was put up for their bene- 

 fit and not for the people or for the re- 

 tailer. I think I will go to my cou- 

 ^essman and to the newspapers and 

 get them after the flower trust, for 

 surely it is against the Sherman act to 

 freeze the people out. I do not like to 

 be soaked and there are many poor peo- 

 ple who have mothers to remember. 

 You may say I am foolish to write like 

 this, but if all retailers would put up 

 in the movies and in their ads, "Cut 

 out flowers; buy something else," then 

 where would the wholesalers bef 



Charles Helm. 



SYSTEM IN THE OFFICE. 



The letter of the Livingston Seed Co. 

 in the issue of The Eeview for May 4, 

 setting forth the errors often attending 

 the settlement of F. T. D. orders, owing 

 to a lack of proper billing and account- 

 ing, and 'requesting The Eeview to 

 open its columns to a discussion regard- 

 ing better methods for handling this 

 «lass of business, is a step in the right 

 direction; an exchange of ideas and a 

 frank discussion on any subject will 

 prove beneficial. 



It is to be presumed that no florist 

 would willfully make such blunders as 

 were referred to, but many firms, and 

 some of the larger ones, seem to give 

 the accounting end of their business 

 little thought toward improvement and 

 evidently deem it of minor importance, 

 when in fact small leaks here and there, 

 ■directly and indirectly, occasioned by 

 an inadequate system of bookkeeping, 

 "will make a big hole in the net profits 

 in the course of a year's business. This 

 is an age of advancement and improve- 

 ment in all departments of the florists' 

 business and the accounting department 

 should be given as careful attention 

 and consideration as any other. 



When an F. T. D. or mail order is re- 

 •ceived it should be carefully filled and 

 promptly delivered as specified, a 

 proper entry made charging same and 

 an invoice mailed as soon as delivery 

 bas been made; always being particu- 

 larly careful to make the charge against 

 the firm ordering, and not against the 

 person whose card was enclosed, as was 

 •done in the case cited. In sending an 

 order, the telegram or letter should be 

 specific and a copy of it should be re- 

 tained and filed under a special index. 

 When an invoice or statement of bill 

 is received it should be remitted for 

 promptly and copy of the order 

 stamped "Paid," and refiled. 



Frequent errors in accounts are an- 

 noying to customers and have a tend- 

 ■ency to lead them to expect the same 

 methods to be employed in the filling 

 of their orders, so naturally their busi- 

 ness will eventually go to the ones who 

 have an established reputation for ef- 

 ficient service. 



The maintenance of a reliable system 

 of accounting does not necessitate a 



cost disproportionate to its value, but 

 is a live asset to any business, large or 

 small. 



Owing to its wide circulation. The 

 Eeview is an excellent medium for an 

 exchange of ideas and methods em- 

 ployed by diflferent florists throughout 

 the country, and a general discussion 

 along these lines will tend to establish 

 a more uniform system of handling or- 

 ders and accounts and will prove bene- 

 ficial to all concerned. 



E. E. Cardwell. 



THE IMPOST SITUATION. 



As is remarked in The Eeview, issue 

 of May 4, the importing game becomes 

 more and more bothersome and difi&cult 

 and we are one of the wholesalers seri- 

 ously thinking of discontinuing business 

 until more opportune times. 



The ocean freight, insurance and ad- 

 ditional costs on account of lost papers 

 (we have not seen consular invoice or 

 bill of lading on our last four or five 

 shipments) increase the cost of import- 

 ing to a great extent, while the flo- 

 rist has been educated up to buying 

 f. 0. b. an American port. 



It seems to be impossible to get this 

 extra expense out of the florist, as com- 

 petition has increased noticeably since 

 the beginning of the European war. 

 This is due, of course^ to a decreased 

 consumption of bulbs in Europe. 



Whether or not we will fill fall, 1916, 

 orders depends on conditions existing 

 in July. 



It would be interesting to try to 

 find out what the consequences would 

 be should no Dutch bulbs be imported 

 next fall. It spells big money for some- 

 body. Who will be the lucky dog? 

 Carnation or rose grower! Or perhaps 

 the plant specialist! Give us your 

 views in your valued paper, please. 

 Lechner Bros. 



The Eeview is of the opinion that 

 there will be plenty of Holland bulbs 

 in the autumn. There is a prospect that 

 the British market will be closed by 

 act of the government there and that 

 the Hollanders will have to look else-t 

 where for a market for about twice as 

 many bulbs as come to America. 



The only difficulty in shipping to 

 America will be because of the reduced 

 and irregular service of the Holland- 

 America line and the freight congestion 

 that has resulted. But the line values 

 the bulb business too highly to fail 

 to take care of it as long as its boats 

 are running. 



Should the Holland-America line sus- 

 pend sailings, which now seems unlike- 

 ly, The Eeview predicts that the Dutch 

 Bulb Exporters' Association will find 

 a means of putting at least one large 

 shipment into this country. 



London, England. — Insurance brokers 

 now are writing government policies 

 covering greenhouse damage resulting 

 from air raids by German zeppelins. 



London, England. — The trade con- 

 ference on which hopes are based has 

 been set for May 24, the second day of 

 the Chelsea show, and will be held at 

 the Windsor hotel. A special com- 

 mittee of the Horticultural Trades' As- 

 sociation has been formed to arrange 

 the program and draft a series of pro- 

 posals, formed to advance and protect 

 the interest of the trade now and after 

 the war, which will form, the ground of 

 discussion at the conference. 



Botterdam, Holland. — American im- 

 porters of plants and bulbs will be in- 

 terested to note that the annual report 

 of the Holland-America line for 1915 

 shows a total revenue for the year of 

 22,841,533 florins, as compared with 

 7,253,806 in 1914, The dividend is fixed 

 at fifty per cent. The report mentions 

 that the company made every endeavor 

 to carry out its agreement with the 

 Netherlands Overseas Trust and the 

 British government, but in spite of this 

 its ships experienced considertlble de- 

 lays in British waters on the homeward 

 as well as on the outward voyage, and 

 this caused some prejudice to the com- 

 pany's business. The space available 

 to shippers has been reduced by the 

 loss or damage of several steamers by 

 submarines or mines. 



London, Englttnd. — ^The Horticultural 

 Trades ' Association of Great Britain and 

 Ireland, seeking to compromise the con- 

 tention with the Dutch Bulb Exporters' 

 Association growing out of the agree- 

 ment to charge for cases and packing, 

 has officially suggested that a definite 

 and reasonable scale of these charges 

 be drawn up and agreed upon, so that 

 the amount of the charges be uniform 

 to all buyers and known in advance. 

 The British association advises its mem- 

 bers to insist that terms be f. o. b. 

 steamer. 



Orpington, England. — The Carnation 

 Yearbook for 1916, edited by J. S. 

 Brunton, of Burnley, recently made its 

 appearance, published by the secretary, 

 T. A. Weston, of this place. The vol- 

 ume, with its records of work accom- 

 plished by the Perpetual Flowering 

 Carnation Society during 1915, makes 

 its appearance at a time when Europe 

 is still engaged in warfare. Accord- 

 ing to the preface, "the depleted roll 

 of members is partly accounted for 

 through many members and carnation 

 growers being actively engaged with 

 the forces of His Majesty at home and 

 in foreign lands, and partly on account 

 of the stress of the times in which we 

 live. Nevertheless, considering all cir- 

 cumstances, the society's records are 

 praiseworthy, and the determination to 

 carry on amply justified by the meas- 

 ure of success attained." The organi- 

 zation has 410 members. 



