10 



The Florists' Review 



Jdlt 18, 1916. 



a longer average g^ade af roses and the 

 showing this year is n«t so high an av- 

 erage price as in the seasons referred 

 to, but the larger cut this year balances 

 the account. 



In addition, a small sum was realized 

 on retail sales at the greenhouse, prob- 

 ably enough to increase the average in- 

 come per plant by 1 cent, but the total 

 per month is so small for each variety 

 that it is not included in this record of 

 sales. There was a small addition to 

 the revenue through the sale of bench 

 plants, but no young stock is grown for 

 the trade; the plants are handled for 

 cut flowers only; we consider it cheaper 

 to buy young stock from a specialist 

 than to produce it ourselves at the ex- 

 pense of space and flowers. 



A Few Comparisons. 



Eose growers who do not keep an ac- 

 curate record, of cuts and income (there 

 are a dozen who know what they cut 

 for each one who knows what he gets) 

 I am sure will be interested in noting 

 that while the cut per plant varies 

 from twenty-five to thirty-six blooms, 

 the income per plant varies only from 

 $1 to $1.11^; in other words, while 

 the number of flowers cut per plant 

 varies nearly fifty per cent, the cash 

 returns vary only eleven and one-fourth 

 per cent. Here it is, tabulated: 



Income 



Variety Cut per plant per plant 



Sunburst 27.0 11.11 V4 



Mrs. Ward 86.0 1.07 



KlUamey Brilliant 26.8 1.06 



KlUamey 28.4 1.03% 



White Klllamey 28.0 1.00 



Milady 25.0 1.00 



Betums per Foot. 



Then, as to the returns per square 

 foot of bench space, which, within cer- 

 tain limitations, is the real test of the 

 value of any crop. The following tabu- 

 lation shows that the variety grown 

 most heavily gave a return of slightly 

 under 75 cents per foot of space occu- 

 pied, while the variety planted in small- 

 est quantity gave nearly 83% cents. 

 This is the way it tabulates: 



Variety Square ft. Brought Per foot 



<?XHiburst 4,800 $4,004.55 .$0.8.S4.S 



Mrs. Ward 14.400 11,642.60 0.8016 



Klllarpey Brilliant. . .13,600 10,835.45 0.7067 



Klllerney 14,400 11,163.81 0.7763 



White Klllamey 16,000 12,009.70 0.7506 



Milady 28,600 21,434.10 0.7495 



Total 91,800 $70,900.21 $0.7733 



It will be interesting if some of the 

 growers of Ophelia, Mrs. Eussell and 

 American Beauty will supply, for com- 

 parison, records covering their cuts and 

 sales for the last year. 



A DIFFEEENT FLOWER STORE. 



Of course it is not so different — the 

 store with the group of sago palms in 

 front, as shown in the illustration — of 

 course it is not so different or distinc- 



tive in the south as It would be in the 

 north, since the Cycas revoluta is a 

 comparatively common plant in south* 

 em gardens and' parks. Yet the store 

 is different from those that are gener- 

 ally seen in pictures. It is decidedly 

 different, too, from stores where the 

 decorations are confined to the show 

 window, and where outdoor opportuni- 

 ties for the display of stock are either 

 nonexistent or are entirely neglected. 



The store with the cycas-planted 

 dooryard is located on St. Charles ave- 

 nue. New Orleans, La., and is conducted 

 by the Avenue Floral Co., of which 

 C. W. Eichling is president. Doubtless 

 the attractive grounds form a good ad- 

 vertisement, silently invoking attention 

 from many passers-by on week days and 

 from larger throngs on Sunday. For 

 just across the street is a handsome 

 church. And the appeal of the cycas 

 plants to the church-goers is not in- 

 congruous, but eminently appropriate, 

 suggesting Palm Sunday and the whole 

 calendar of religious festivals, while 

 steadily offering the reminder that the 

 Avenue Floral Co. has flowers to sell. 



It is to be hoped, however, that not 

 many of the congregation, on going 

 home from church, straightway forget 

 the proffered flowers completely, just as 

 some church attendants go home and 

 forget their religion, leaving it in a 

 sort of cold storage in the church build- 

 ing, not to be aired or disturbed again 

 until the next Sunday arrives. 



HOW MUCH FOR ADVERTISING? 



By A. HUMASON, of the H. V. Swenson Co., Chicago. 



PLAlfNTNO PRACTICAL PUBLICITY. 



Analyzing the Prospects. 



No two lines of business can be suc- 

 cessfully advertised by the use of one 

 method. One often hears that Mr. 

 Florist is handling his business and ad- 

 vertising in a manner similar to that of 

 Mr. Candy Man, who is unusually suc- 

 cessful; or Mr. Florist is attempting to 

 imitate profitable advertising placed by 

 .1 successful department store, or in 

 fact, imitate that of any prosperous re- 

 tailer. This cannot be successfully ac- 

 complished. No two lines of business 

 are suflSciently alike to enable their 

 owners to use the same advertising 

 methods. It is true all retail advertis- 

 ing has points of similarity, but in the 

 main the advertising for one retail busi- 

 ness is vastly different from that of 

 another. 



When planning an advertising cam- 

 paign, your first need is to ascertain 

 just how many people or families in 

 your community are in the market for 

 that which you have for sale. With 

 this information in hand, it may easily 

 be learned just what percentage of the 

 total people or families your prospective 

 clientage bears. This is necessary in 

 order to learn how to reach this per- 

 centage. For instance, should you have 

 some staple article which is used uni- 

 versally, such as American Family Soap, 

 general publicity is about the best 

 method of advertising, because in ad- 



vertising this article few people who 

 read the advertisements are uninter- 

 ested, but in advertising flowers you 

 will find you can figure on only about 

 one out of every ten people being a 

 prospective flower buyer. 



Appropriations Minus Guesswork. 



When you have learned just what 

 percentage of the people or families you 

 can figure on as possible patrons, the 

 next advertising step is to set aside an 

 advertising appropriation. This is a 

 harder task than would appear at a 

 casual glance. Of course, it is an easy 

 matter to make up your mind that you 

 will spend $1,000, $2,000 or even $5,000, 

 but can anyone who sets aside any of 

 these amounts offhand state why he has 

 set aside that amount? Is he reason- 

 ably sure that his business can stand 

 an advertising appropriation of that 

 size? There is only one safe way — the 

 advertising appropriation should be 

 based on the annual volume of business 

 transacted. If the business shows a 

 profit of forty per cent, then five per 

 cent of the total volume is not too 

 much to set aside as an advertising 

 appropriation, although there are many 

 florists who go as low as three per cent, 

 and some as high as eight per cent. 



To use an illustration: You have 

 learned that you can figure on about 

 five per cent of the people in your 

 community as possible flower buyers, 

 and your annual volume of business is 

 $20,000. Should you go into advertis- 



ing blindly, taking, say $1,000, or five 

 per cent, and apportion it among the 

 numerous advertising men by whom 

 you are approached, regardless of 

 whether the advertising be newspaper, 

 "direct appeal" literature, picture 

 houses, street cars, or billboards? By 

 all means, NO! 



Absolutely your first need is to ascer- 

 tain just what kind of people compose 

 this five per cent. How shall this be 

 done? There are numerous ways. One 

 way is to learn the average income of 

 your customer. When this is done, this 

 information, together with your knowl- 

 edge of the people or families in your 

 community, should enable you to make 

 up a list of the five per cent. Another 

 way is to pick out people or families 

 in the better neighborhoods. Another 

 way, and probably the best method of 

 all, is to make a note of the various 

 people who frequent your store, regard- 

 less of whether they are cash or credit 

 buyers, and add to this list the names 

 of the various people or families in the 

 better neighborhoods, together with the 

 names of those who are receiving fairly 

 good incomes. 



A Penny Versus Two Pennies. 



Now, then, it is necessary to reach 

 these people. This has to be done by 

 direct literature, but of what nature? 

 Should it be done by literature placed 

 in an envelope and mailed under 2-cent 

 postage, or should it be handled under 

 1-cent postage? In recent years it was 



