

September 28, 1916. 



. T V V'' ■■■: V*- , 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



cept ten or fifteen per cent as the full 

 payment on the thousand-dollar account 

 of someone who never complained as 

 long as his credit was good. 



Although our Texas friend is per- 

 fectly correct in his list of the losses 

 to the retailer as the result of unsatis- 

 factory quality of shipped-in stock, the 

 northern shippers are equally puzzled 

 with regard to breaking even after du- 

 plicating every fourth or fifth shipment. 



In suggesting a commission house for 

 the Texans, the speaker at their conven- 

 tion made the assertion that "we all 

 have at times some good stock to offer 

 at wholesale," but admits that such 

 a glut would be of short duration and 

 would not warrant the expense of ad- 

 vertising, which of course is logical. 

 But would not more glass increase such 

 overproduction at a time when cli- 

 matic conditions are most favorable in 

 the south, and could such a surplus be 

 disposed of in adjoining markets when 

 perhaps such overproduction would be 

 national in scope? And are not the 

 northern growers already confronted 

 with this uncertainty, since the erection 

 of larger sheets of glass in the south, 

 and repeatedly receiving notices to can- 

 cel standing orders when perhaps their 

 crops have been brought into prime 

 condition with the expectation of sup- 

 plying such customers? And, therefore, 

 the writer is stilLin doubt if the retail- 

 ers in the south have been financially 

 benefited by the spasmodic home pro- 

 duction which only is possible at a time 

 when northern stock is also at its best, 

 for they still must call on the northern 

 houses at a time- when there is more 

 risk to shipping and less chance to pick 

 up a good quality of stock. 



As a conclusion to this letter I would 

 ask the question : Before going to the ex- 

 pense of equipping a commission house, 

 why not let a trusted member of the 

 Texas association spend a few weeks in 

 some of the northern cut flower centers 

 to investigate the methods used by 

 growers and shippers in handling the 

 stock, and thereby ascertain the time 

 between cutting and shipping and other 

 incidentals? -This I am sure would meet 

 with the approval of practically every 

 grower. This cooperation would fore- 

 stall any risk in connection with the 

 proposed undertaking, and also help the 

 northern growers to find "the error of 

 their ways." 



J. Edw. Johnson. 



THE NEW TWELVE-TWENTY. 



M. Bice Co. in New Home. 



A year ago the M. Rice Co., of Phil- 

 adelphia, planned a new building that 

 would give to the business the space, 

 the light and the facilities that it re- 

 quited. Today that building plan has 

 become a reality. September 25 saw 

 the first mail shipments leave the new 

 building, after a week's suspension of 

 business made necessary by moving 

 from 1220 Race street to 1220 Spring 

 Garden street, a distance of four blocks. 

 The following day saw the resumption 

 of shipments by express, by freight and 

 also of local delivery. The transfer of 

 oflBces, with all the necessary books and 

 paraphernalia, was a mere trifle com- 

 pared with the task of moving the large 

 stock necessary to carry on a modern 

 florists' supply business. Some idea 

 of the congestion in the old quarters, 

 large as they were, can be gleaned from 

 the fact, that while there is three times 

 as muck floor space in the new building 



The New Home of the M. Rice Co., Spring Garden St.> Philadelphia. 



as there was in the old, that space is all 

 filled. 



The new Rice building is situated on 

 the south side of Spring Garden street. 

 Spring Garden is the widest street in 

 Philadelphia, a street that is made 

 beautiful by a central grass plot that 

 stretches away out toward the park en- 

 trance on the west. The Rice building 

 is of reinforced concrete, fifty-four feet 

 wide and over 100 feet deep, five stories 

 surmounting the basement. Each story 

 is of generous height, completely glass 

 covered at front and rear, with gener- 

 ous windows on each side, each floor 

 an exact duplicate of every other. 



What the Floors Contain. 



Entering from a flight of double 

 steps, through a large doorway orna- 

 mented with the Rice coat of arms, 

 the first impression is one of space, an 

 impression that is enhanced as floor 

 after floor is reached. The right of the 

 first fioor is devoted to the general 

 offices, where all the clerical force has 

 ample space, wonderful light and every 

 modern appliance for aiding the work. 

 In the corner of this general oflico is 

 the safe, built into the building like 



a large closet, with fireproof metal doors 

 and 12-inch concrete walls. The safe 

 is 6x8x8 feet. To the east of the gen- 

 eral offices are the private offices of 

 the secretary and treasurer and of the 

 president, both thoroughly equipped. 

 Near by, just in front, is a neat sales- 

 man's office. 



To the left of the front door is the 

 general display room, where samples of 

 choice staple stock and novelties are on 

 view. The rear, and by far the larger 

 proportion of the first floor, is occupied 

 by the checking department, where all 

 orders are brought together and 

 checked preparatory to shipment. Im- 

 mediately in the rear of* the cheeking 

 room is the packing room, where the 

 orders are packed and dispatched, Jtnd 

 where all incoming goods arrive. This 

 floor is equipped with an electric 

 freight elevator of considerable size 

 and speed and with a chute from out- 

 side to the basement below. 



The basement is devoted to bulky 

 supplies and those requiring moisture. 

 It is equipped with a self-feeding maga- 

 zine steam boiler that can be divided 

 in half in mild weather. It is also the 

 temporary home of moss wreaths, mag- 



