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The Florists* Review 



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Mat 25, 1916. 



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EBtaUlshed. 1897. by Q. L. QIUNT. 



PabllBhed every ThurBday by 

 Thk Florists' Publishing COm 



630-660 Oaxton Balldlnflr, 



806 South Dearborn St., Oblcago. 



Tele.. Wabaeb 8196. 



ReeUtered cable address, 



FlorTiew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 ca«o. IlL. under the Act of March 

 8, 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.00 a year. 

 To Canada, $2.00; to Europe. 13.00. 



AdTertislnir rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strlQUy trade ad- 

 vertlslnr accepted. 



NOTICE. 



It i> imp«ssible to guarantee 



the insertion, discontinuance or 



alteration of any adTortisement 



unless instructions are received 



BT i P. M. T'UESDAY. 



SOCIETY OF AXEBICAir XXOBISTS. 

 Ineorp<Nrated by Act of Congress, March 4, 1901. 



Officers for 1916: ^sldent, Daniel MacRorle, 

 8an Prandsco; Tic«-presldent, R. C. Kerr, Hous- 

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

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

 Baffalo. 



niirty-second annual couTentlon, Houston, 

 Texas, August 16 to 18. 1916. 



The trade is asked to contribute funds 

 for the use of Miss Jarvis and her Moth- 

 ers' Day Association, which exploits 

 the white carnation as the official flower 

 of the day. 



Nearly everyone in the selling end of 

 the business approves of having special 

 flower days at intervals of two or three 

 weeks, like Easter, Mothers' day and 

 Memorial day this year, and votes to 

 make it custom. 



One of the European items no longer 

 available because of the war is the sup- 

 ply of immigrating gardeners. Some of 

 the eastern concerns that, have been using 

 and placing these European-trained men 

 are said to feel the shortage keenly. 



Not often » is a florist asked to pay 

 for glass a price that consists of a' single 

 discount, and that discount less than 

 ninety per cent. But current quotations 

 on the first three brackets, D. S. A., are 

 not below eighty-nine per cent off the list. 



The committee on exhibitions of the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society be- 

 lieves in taking time by the forelock, as 

 it last week issued a pamphlet containing 

 the preliminary schedule of prizes for the 

 spring exhibition to be held March 21 to 

 25, 1917. 



It is reported that one of the leading 

 Boskoop exporters of • florists ' plants 

 has a representative making headquarters 

 at Chicago, engaged with a stenographer 

 in adjusting claims for losses on spring 

 imports. It is said these claims exceed 

 200 in number, most of them being on 

 small lots, insured, and the effort is to 

 protect the exporter by transferring the 

 claims to the insurer. 



CAN YOU BEAT IT? 



The value of a publication to its ad- 

 vertisers is in direct proportion to its 

 value to its readers; if a publication 

 cannot maintain its circulation without 

 employing solicitors it will not have 

 the value to advertisers that is found in 

 the one that can command prompt mail 

 renewal of subscriptions. Like these, 

 from east and west: 



The enclosed dollar for another year's sub- 

 scription to Tbe Review is being sent to you 

 with our heartiest congratulations and to show 

 you in a small way our appreciation of your 

 splended paper. — Lawrence A. Whitford, Stow, 

 N. Y., May 20, 1016. 



In renewing -our subacription to The Review we 

 would like to say that we admire your up-to- 

 date publication.--Shenandoah Nurseries, Shenan- 

 doah, la.. May 17, 1916. 



Please renew our subscription for one year. 

 We do not know how we would get along with- 

 out The Review, as it al'ways is up to the minute 

 with the news. — 6. L. Curry & Sons, Valencia, 

 Pa., May 17, 1016. 



For many years The Eeview has dis- 

 continued sending the paper when the 

 subscription expires and it does not 

 employ subscription canvassers; a 

 smooth canvasser can induce almost 

 any kind of man to subscribe but can- 

 not make him read the paper or buy 

 the advertised goods. 



FOR THE BLOOMINGTON SHOW. 



At the recent annual meeting of the 

 Illinois State Florists' Association, at 

 Moline, it was decided to hold a fall 

 meeting and, if possible, a small show 

 in connection with it, at Bloomington, 

 111. Since then A. Washburn & Sons, 

 of Bloomington, have stated that they 

 will contribute $250 towards premiums 

 for a fall show to be held there. Secre- 

 tary J. F. Ammann considers this ex- 

 tremely liberal on their part and has 

 taken it upon himself to write the mem- 

 bers asking for a small contribution 

 towards raising a fund to the extent 

 of at least the same amount. 



"We think," says Secretary Am- 

 mann, "a premium list carrying $500 

 will give us a creditable show for a 

 beginner. Won't you please pledge us 

 something? Just say on enclosed postal 

 card what you will agree to donate — 

 cash from $5 to $10 or a definite num- 

 ber of roses, carnations or mum blooms 

 by November 1, 1916." A reply postal 

 is enclosed with his letter. 



CREATING DEMAND. 



An interesting experiment is being 

 tried by French & Salm, of Union 

 Grove, Wis., who devote their entire 

 establishment to the Mrs. Russell rose. 

 Believing that better demand and bet- 

 ter prices, though both already are good, 

 will follow a wider acquaintance with 

 the rose, tbe growers have undertaken 

 the unprecedented work of populariz- 

 ing the rose through advertising it. A 

 means to this end was exhibiting to 

 the public at the Philadelphia and 

 New York flower shows. Later a trade 

 paper campaign to the retailers, in ad- 

 dition to what their commission man 

 does, was begun with a full page ad- 

 vertisement in The Review for May 4. 

 As a further step in the plan, French 

 & Salm participated in the Mothers' 

 day cooperative advertising of the re- 

 tail florists of the near-by city of 

 Racine, taking one of the spaces for 

 the same copy that had appeared in The 

 Review, only changing the phrases that 

 applied to trade buyers and substituting 

 a head directing that purchases be 

 made through Rehl & Benz, proprietors 



of the Flower Shop, where the French 

 & Salm Russells ane a regular item 

 of stock. 



Of course the grower can not go be- 

 yond certain limits in the effort to 

 create public demand on the retailer 

 and by him on the commission man, 

 but it is interesting to note that in the 

 Bacine attempt the results were so 

 good that Rehl & Benz wrote expressing 

 appreciation and stating that not only 

 did calls for Mrs. Russell increase 

 greatly for Mothers' day, but that since 

 then they havp handled more Russell 

 than any other rose. Other retailers at 

 Eacine also have been buying Russell 

 in larger quantity than before. 



The factor that heretofore has de- 

 terred growers from attempts to in- 

 fluence the public and the retail dis- 

 tributors has been that there is as yet 

 no practicable way of branding or 

 trade-marking the grower's stock. 

 French & Salm have not been deterred 

 by the fact that they are not the only 

 growers of Russell and that others 

 also profit by the publicity. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



Business during the last week has 

 been good. That does not mean that it 

 could not have been better, but that 

 the tipie of the year, the quality of the 

 stock and the supply considered, there 

 is little room for any complaint. This 

 is more especially true of shipping busi- 

 ness; city trade in cut flowers is not 

 notably active for the season. 



A touch of real summer weather the 

 first part of this week brought out the 

 street venders, who disposed of large 

 quantities of inferior lilacs and sweet 

 peas. 



Good Beauties have experienced a 

 brisk demand, but quality, generally 

 speaking, is decidedly poor. Roses, re- 

 gardless of variety, were none too plen- 

 tiful. Russell, Ophelia and Sunburst 

 enjoyed their usual popularity, but, as 

 a matter of fact, it has not been neces- 

 sary to push any roses with the possible 

 exception of short Wards. 



The supply of carnations was much 

 easier than during the preceding week, 

 but cleared regularly. Quality is gen- 

 erally good for the time of the year, 

 but there are still too many splits. 

 Valley continues on the short side of 

 the market. It is almost impossible to 

 get cattleyas. This crop of Easter lilies 

 is about done for and callas have re- 

 tired to the wings. Sweet peas are in 

 heavy supply. Really fancy stock 

 clears easily, but the numerous off- 

 grades are inclined to drag. There is 

 a good demand for daisies, particularly 

 yellow. The supply of snapdragons and 

 calendulas is not large and those re- 

 ceived meet with a normal demand. 

 Daffodils and jonquils have ceased to 

 figure in market considerations. Span- , 

 ish iris clears with little difficulty. 

 There are a few greenhouse gladioli on 

 the market, but not enough to cut any 

 figure. Narcissus poeticus may be 

 found in small quantities, but it will 

 soon be off the market. White lilac is 

 in small supply and less demand. Pur- 

 ple lilac in large supply fares much 

 better. 



Peonies, though not unusually plenti- 

 ful for this date, are seen on every 

 hand and meet with a ready demand. 

 Large quantities have accumulated in 

 cold storage in preparation for the big 



