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10 



The Florists^ Review 



JUMB 22, 1916. 



Let Us Boost. 



The basket business is so fine an ad- 

 junct to the flower business that we all 

 should boost. But will it prove a boost 

 to the basket business to recommend 

 the use of baskets for funeral flowers? 

 Will it increase the sale of baskets for 

 presentation and decorative purposes or 

 will it curtail the sale through the asso- 

 ciation of unhappy ideas? It is a ques- 

 tion to which this article does not pro- 

 fess to afford an answer. Who can tell? 



KIGHTS OF CEMETERY. 



I have a few questions on which, if 

 it is possible, I would like to have your 

 opinion and also the opinion of the 

 trade. 



There is a greenhouse located in the 

 cemetery in a city under 35,000 inhab- 

 itants. The greenhouse does not pay 

 taxes to the city, because it is located 

 in a cemetery which is not taxable. 



No outside florist is allowed to make 

 and fill flower beds, urns or plant shrub- 

 bery for any of the lot owners. As 

 near as we can estimate we could plant 

 between 100 and 150 beds if we were 

 allowed to plant inside the cemetery. 

 Some of these beds are planted by the 

 association, while other lot owners will 

 not have them planted unless we do 

 the work, and so no one profits by not 

 allowing us to plant them. 



Inside the cemetery they charge for 



outside the cemetery without paying 

 taxes; also, if they come out and pay 

 taxes on the greenhouses only, whether 

 they would have any more right to sell 

 inside than any other florist. 



We feel that it is a burden to compel 

 us to pay taxes when another who en- 

 ters into competition with us does not 

 pay a cent and besides will not let us 

 sell inside the cemetery to people who 

 will not patronize them. 



We wish to get what information or 

 opinions the trade has on this subject. 

 Please omit the name of the town and 

 person inquiring. You may mention the 

 state if you wish; it is Ohio. B. 



The rights of a cemetery association 

 are based on the law of the state in 

 which the cemetery is incorporated and 

 on local laws not in conflict with the 

 law of the state. The scope of the 

 cemetery's operations under the law are 

 defined and limited by its clfarter and 

 by its constitution and by-laws. No 

 man could pass an intelligent opinion 

 in any case without a full knowledge 

 of the facts in that case and the study 

 of the state law and the association's 

 charter and by-laws. Most of the states 

 make special and liberal provision for 

 cemeteries in spite of the fact that in 

 recent years many cemeteries are no 

 more than private corporations, con- 

 ceived, organized and operated for in- 

 dividual profit, just as is a florists ' busi- 



Flowers by Z. D. Blackistone for Funeral of Jolin R. McLean. 

 (A Wreath on Stand, a Spray of Lilies and. Note It Weli, a Basket.) 



making the beds, but the cemetery flo- 

 rists will go outside and not charge a 

 cent outside of the actual cost of the 

 plants. They sell shrubs, cut flowers, 

 potted plants, vegetable plants or any- 

 thing else in the florists' line to be 

 used outside the cemetery. 



We would like to know if, in your 

 opinion, they have a right to sell plants 



ness. But, liberal as are the laws, ceme- 

 teries in some cases doubtless exceed 

 their legal rights, for the simple rea- 

 son that no restraint is put upon the 

 managers. It was reported in The Ee- 

 view for June 8 that the florists of 

 Lincoln, Neb., have joined in injunc- 

 tion proceedings in the effort to check 

 a specific instance of cemetery compe- 



tition and The Review will be pleased 

 to publish letters from readers giving, 

 not opinions, but definite information 

 of how cemetery competition and re- 

 strictions have been met in other in- 

 stances. 



SUCCESSFUL ADVEBTISINQ. 



[An extract from an address by Frank B. 

 White at the Seedsmen's Convention, Chicago, 

 June 20, that affords "food for thought" for 

 those In every branch of the horticultural 

 trades. ] 



Good advertising is a plain, honest 

 statement of fact. Good advertising is 

 truth-telling. Good advertising is in- 

 tended to acquaint the man in need with 

 the man who has to sell. 



The advertising should square up with 

 the article. If it is good, it will, but 

 it is more important to have the article 

 support the advertising — in fact, it is 

 best to give a little better than you 

 promised to. Better underrate in your 

 statements than to exaggerate. I am 

 talking about good advertising — Fair 

 Play Advertising — the kind that, will 

 make your customer happy and satisfied 

 to remain a customer. 



Various Kinds of Advertising. 



There are various kinds of advertis- 

 ing. One kind is for those who wish to 

 make themselves or their product famil- 

 iarly known, thus inducing the purchas- 

 er to inquire for it when he buys 

 through the regular established channels 

 of trade. Another is what is known as 

 mail order advertising and is intended 

 to reach out and find the customer, in- 

 ducing him to send his money and his 

 order by mail. He must be instructed 

 in a different way. In either case the 

 goods themselves will prove to be the 

 best or the worst advertisement. If 

 they are according to representation, 

 they will make a lasting impression and 

 prove to be the best kind of advertis- 

 ing. If they are not as represented, 

 woe betide the man who sold, so far as 

 this particular customer is concerned. 

 Honesty in advertising is not different 

 from honesty in business in any other 

 capacity. 



One of the things to be hoped 

 for is that the true-to-name principle 

 may obtain and that many of the high 

 sounding names applied to common va- 

 rieties may be dispensed with. 



There are laws affecting advertising. 



Justice McKenna recently commented 



upon a decision of the Supreme court in 



the following terms: 



Mere "pufltog" might not be within Its mean- 

 ing — that Is, mere exaggeration of the qualities 

 the article has; but wlrten a seller goes beyond 

 that, assigns to the article qualities it does not 

 possess, invents advantages and falsely asserts 

 their existence, he engages in false representa- 

 tions and pretenses. 



The decision construes only the act 

 against unlawful use of the mails and 

 directly applies to schemes worked 

 through that medium of publicity, but 

 it is evident that the same reasoning 

 would apply to other modes of adver- 

 tising. In short, it is unlawful to put 

 into an article in word description what 

 it does not possess in fact. Too much 

 advertising is done thoughtlessly or 

 without due regard for the conse- 

 quences. 



Too Much Expected. 



Another difficulty is that too much is 

 expected from advertising copy. You 

 plant the advertising today and you ex- 

 pect to reap a profitable crop tomorrow. 

 Time is an element to be reckoned with 

 in business as in all things else. It is 

 particularly so in advertising. An ob- 



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