86 



The Florists^ Review 



Fbbbuaby 1, 1917. 



The white paper used to print this 

 issue of The Eeview weighed 10,645 

 pounds, or nearly fiva and one-half tons. 



Batabltehed, 1897. by Q. L. GRANT. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Floeists* Publishing Co., 



620-S60 Caxtoa Bulldinfir, 



608 Soutb Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Regrintered cable address, 



Florview, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 1897, at the post-office at Chi- 

 cago, 111., under the Act of Mar H 

 3.1879. 



Subscription price, $1.50 a year. 

 To Canada, $2.50; to Europe. $3.00. 



Advertising rat<>8 quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



im iMPMnnniiuMiiriiJba 



NOTICE. 



It is impossible to g^uaranteo 



the insertion, discontinuance or 



alteration of any advertisement 



unless instructions are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



S0CIET7 OF AMEBICAN FLOHISTS. 

 Incorporated by Act of Congress, March 4, 1901. 



Officers for 1917: President, Robert 0. Kerr, 

 Honaton, Tex.; vice-president, A. L. Miller, Ja- 

 maica, N. Y. ; secretary, John Young, 63 W. 28th 

 8t., New York City; treasurer, J. J. Hesa, 

 Omaha, Neb. 



Thirty-third annual convention. New York, 

 N. Y., August 21 to 24, 1917. 



Besults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



In spite of the higher costs of all ma- 

 terials, it looks as though this will prove 

 to be a record year for greenhouse build- 

 ing. 



Fulsome praise of certain novelties, in 

 quarters known not to weigh their words, 

 is thought to have been a handicap to 

 their sale fliis season. 



Personality still counts for much in 

 the flower business. It is difficult to de- 

 velop flower growing or selling on the 

 impersonal, system plan. 



There are many growers of carnations 

 who think roses have been a more profit- 

 able crop the last year or two, but after 

 they have changed they will wish they 

 hadn't. It is ever thus. 



The final premium li.<)t for the St. Louis 

 spring show, March 15 to 18, has been 

 issued. Correspondence concerning com- 

 petitive exhibits should be addressed to 

 Frank Weber, Nursery, Mo. 



The excellent returns to rose growers 

 this season are being made by a good 

 average. Top prices have not been high- 

 er than usual, but the bottom has not 

 been so low as frequently is the case. A 

 demand which makes possible clean sales 

 at moderate prices is the secret of the 

 season's success. 



Within the last few weeks The Review 

 has received several letters from employees 

 in greenhouse establishments, the writers 

 •explaining that it is with regret they are 

 leaving the trade for more profitable em- 

 ployment in some other line. It seems 

 •clear many florists have not felt able to 

 advance wages as they have been advanced 

 in most other trades and it affords another 

 evidence of the necessity of pushing up 

 ;the retail prices of plants and cut flowers. 



WILL DISCUSS EXPRESS SERVICE. 



The shortcomings of the express serv- 

 ice at Christmas have stirred up the 

 whole country, but especially the Phila- 

 delphians. In The Review for January 

 25, in the Philadelphia column, there 

 was a request from members addressed 

 to W. F. Therkildson, chairman of the 

 Essay Committee, asking that a leader 

 be assigned for the discussion of the 

 matter at the Florists' Club. Here is 

 Mr. Therkildson 's answer. 



Noticing in the Philadelphia Notes the open 

 letter addressed to W. F. Therkildson, I am 

 liappy to report tliat I have secured, for March 6, 

 the very man that the two members and even 

 more want to hear. In other words, for March 6 

 1 have secured an official of the Wells Fargo Ex- 

 press Co., name not yet announced, who will talk 

 to the Philadelphia Florists' Club. For February 

 6, Max Schling will talk on "Art and Nature." 



It is understood the members are 



privileged to heckle the expressman. 



WHICH? 



One class of people want things cheap. 

 Another class want things dear. A third 

 class want things good. Which class 

 do you cater to ? 



Persons who want things cheap con- 

 sider price first, last and all the time. 

 It is what they pay, not what they get, 

 that is kept in mind. Consequently they 

 usually get less value for their money 

 than anyone else. Those who want 

 things dear also consider price first, 

 but they pay enough so the seller usu- 

 ally can afford to give the best. But 

 neither class of customers is permanent; 

 the "cheap" buyers flock to the new 

 place that offers low grade goods a little 

 cheaper, while the "dear" purchasers 

 stampede to the latest place that finds 

 fashion's fleeting favor. 



The florist who builds a permanent 

 l^atronage is the one who sees to it that 

 everything he sells is good — not flashy; 

 just plain good. He can not compete in 

 price with the fellow whose only idea 

 is to undersell, but he will have no 

 trouble in getting prices that will sat- 

 isfy both buyer and seller; he will 

 make the business pay, pay consistently, 

 and paying consistently means steadily 

 and well. 



MONEY IN FLORISTS' POCKETS. 



Everybody is familiar with the old 

 quotation about the man who made two 

 blades of grass grow where only one 

 blade grew before, and it may not be 

 wholly new to apply it to the purposes 

 of a trade paper, but the fact is St. 

 Valentine's day affords an especially 

 fine illustration of how The Review has 

 put thousands upon thousands of dollars 

 into the pockets of the trade. 



Not that The Review ever has caused 

 money to rain on florists like manna 

 from heaven — that was a miracle, and 

 the days of miracles are over — but that 

 the paper can and has, repeatedly, 

 shown to enterprising florists opportu- 

 nities and methods whereby the trade 

 may increase its sales and its profits. 



The beauty of it is The Review's 

 suggestions work out in practice — they 

 have the punch — they get there. 



To cite a conspicuous example that 

 all will remember, there's Mothers' day. 

 The Review did not originate Mothers' 

 day, but scarcely any florists had heard 

 of it before The Review, recognizing 

 an opportunity for the trade as a whole 



to add many thousands of dollars to the 

 annual sales, made Mothers' day the 

 feature of one of its issues. Every flo- 

 rist knows what happened: That year 

 hundreds of florists pushed Mothers' 

 day, and The Review reported how they 

 did it, and how the public responded. 

 The next year thousands helped, and 

 now everybody pushes Mothers' day. 

 The result is another special flower day 

 has been developed — one that puts, in 

 the aggregate, an immense sum of ex- 

 tra money into circulation in the trade. 

 It might have come to pass, in time, 

 without The Review to point out the 

 opportunity and the methods of devel- 

 oping it — but take the case of St. Val- 

 entine's day: 



St. Valentine's day has been known 

 to us all since childhood. But what 

 did it amount to for florists until The 

 Review published a special number to 

 tell the trade about the neglected op- 

 portunity? Then it was said: 



The purpose of this issue is to get 10,000 florists 

 each to do at least a little something to attract 

 the attention of the public to the appropriateness 

 of flowers for use as valentines. 



If 10,000 florists did not push flowers 



for that St. Valentine's day, in 1913, 



at least they are doing so now — and 



making money by it. 



WHAT THE S. A. F. IS DOING. 



In a circular by Secretary Young, 

 sent to the newly appointed state vice- 

 presidents of the S. A. F., there are 

 these paragraphs: 



The society has much work mapped out for 

 the near future, including an effort to induce a 

 greater use of flowers on Ihe part of the public. 

 It has been painfully evident within the last 

 two years that the consumption of flowers is 

 woefully short of the production, entailing a 

 vast loss to growers. A campaign of publicity 

 such as the society has in contemplation will 

 entail prodigious expense and can only be en- 

 tered upon when those whom it will most interest 

 will give the small support asked of them — a 

 membership in the society. 



State legislation in regard to the operation 

 of greenhouse heating plants is another impor- 

 tant problem now receiving the attention of our 

 organization, one in which individual action is 

 without avail. The growers in every state are 

 threatened with legislation to compel them to 

 yield to unjust measures to force them to em- 

 ploy licensed engineers to run their beating 

 plants, and these to work in eight-hour shifts. 

 Just stop to think what this would cost florists! 

 (:!ould an individual florist do anything to stop it, 

 or change it to meet conditions? 



A bureau of credits and collections, to 



be operated under the auspices of the 



society, also is planned. A committee 



headed by C. E. Critchell, of Cincinnati, 



has the matter under consideration. 



CHICACK). 



The Market. 



The main feature which characterized 

 the wholesale cut flower market last 

 week was a supply insufficient to meet 

 the brisk demand which came in during 

 the entire week. The market generally 

 was better than the preceding week and 

 good prices, the best average, in fact, 

 since Christmas, prevailed. Although 

 business may be said to have been good 

 during the entire week, there was actu- 

 ally no more stock sold than has been 

 the case right along, but the fact that - 

 the better demand enabled wholesalers > 

 to clean out well from day to day at ' 

 good prices, gave an improved tone to ^ 

 the market. A general advance in | 

 prices on all stock is being made and i 

 the lower figures on inferior grades are 

 being clipped off. j 



American Beauties are still extremely \ 

 scarce and are obtaining premium \ 

 prices. Other varieties of roses are in \ 

 fair supply, but are clearing readily at l 



