20 



The Florists' Review 



Febbuabt 22, 1917. 



pm 



^lyij^ 



Established, 1897, by G. L. GRANT. 



Publiahed every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Ck>., 



820-660 Oaxton BnlldlnK, 



606 South Dearborn St., Ohica^o. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Registered cable address, 



Korrlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter tf 

 DecS.lSgT.atthepost-ofBceaf:!!!!. ^ 

 casro. 111., under the Act of Mar ~H 

 8,1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

 To Canada, $2.60; to Europe. Is.io. 



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad* 

 vertislng accepted. 



NOTICE. 



It ia impoasible to (guarantee 



the insertion, diacontinnanee or 



alteration of any adTertiaement 



anleaa inatructiona are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



SOCIETY OF AXEBIOAV FL0BIST8. 

 Incorporated by Act of Ooncren, March 4, 1001. 



Offlcen for 1017: Prealdeat, Bobert 0. Kerr, 

 Houstcm, Tex.; Tlce-prealdent, A. Ij. Miller, Ja- 

 maica. N. Y. ; secretary, John Young, 68 W. 28th 

 St., New Yoric Olty; treasurer, J. J, Beaa, 

 Omaha, Neb. 



Thirty-third annual convention, New York, 

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



Besults bring adTertiaiiig. 

 The Review brings results. 



Before the trade lies the busiest tliree 

 months ever experienced. 



The coal towns, east and west, are the 

 equal of the munitions centers in the mat- 

 ter of having plenty of money for flowers. 



There has been a tendency to start 

 planting roses earlier this year, with a con- 

 sequent brisk demand for rose plants for 

 February delivery, before they -were 

 ready. 



The price of glass is considerably higher 

 than usual, but the greatest percentage 

 of increase in the cost of building a 

 greenhouse this season will be found in 

 the pipe. 



In many lines of business the man who 

 has made no effort to meet existing condi- 

 tions by obtaining better prices is looked 

 upon as a doubtful creilit risk, as a man 

 unsafe to deal with. 



It is well to remember that it wUl be a 

 long time before prices will be back where 

 they were before the war. For instance, 

 how long will it be before any grower can 

 get coal at the old prices? 



The man who happens to have a house 



of asparagus for cutting for bunches is 



to be congratulated, as the California crop 



. is at the lowest ebb at the time the Flor- 



idans have lost out from frost. 



Lent began February 21. In recent 

 years it has had little effect on the flower 

 business, bringing a lull for a few days 

 but losing practically all its apparent in- 

 fluence before the first week had passed. 



In spite of the British blockade, lily of 

 the valley is not the scarce article it was 

 a few months ago. Apparently many re- 

 tailers stoppeia tising it When the price, 

 in certain places, went to $8 per hundred. 



Young women are rapidly displacing 

 men as sales persons in £01 except the re- 

 tail stores that cater to the wealthiest 

 trade. And a girl bright enough to sell 

 flowers usually soon learns to make them 

 up. 



American growers soon will be inde- 

 pendent of a European supply of cycla- 

 men seeds. There are hundreds who have 

 set aside some of their best plants this 

 season with the idea of making a trial of 

 saving their own seeds. 



Tissue for wrapping flowers and lining 

 boxes soon will be prohibitive in price if 

 the rise continues. Retail stores that 

 paid $4.-50 under normal conditions re- 

 cently have paid $16 per bundle and are 

 told $17.50 will be the price next time. 



Secretary Young last week sent to 

 members of the S. A. F. the annual vol- 

 ume of Proceedings. This year it is a 

 book of 444 pages and contains, besides 

 the stenographic report of the convention 

 :tt Houston last August, similar reports 

 of the meetings of some of the affiliated 

 organizations, with the longest list of 

 members thus far recorded by the so- 

 *iety. 



WE HAVE AN ALIBI. 



The proposition to prohibit all im- 

 ports of plants and bulbs for the pur- 

 pose of preventing the introduction of 

 other insect enemies and plant diseases 

 is sure to provoke sharp discussion, but 

 this trade should take issue whenever 

 it is suggested that our imports are in 

 any way responsible for any of the 

 present troubles in that line. None of 

 the devastating diseases, not one of the 

 injurious insects, came to this country 

 on stock imported by florists, nursery- 

 men or seedsmen. We have a perfect 

 alibi. Let us insist that the fact be 

 recognized. • 



FULFILLING ITS FUNCTION. 



The only item of expense which has 

 not advanced in the publishing business 

 is that of postage — and an effort is be- 

 ing made by Congress to at least double 

 the rate periodicals pay. The theory of 

 the present penny a pound rate was that 

 jiublications are a benefit to the people. 

 It may be true, as alleged, that some pa- 

 pers scarcely can be classed as perform- 

 ing a public service, but — 



Herewith find our cliook for $1.50 for another 

 year of The Keview. I'his is a paper we need as 

 much as we need anythinc alxiiit our bu.slness. — 

 \us«bannier Floral Co., San Angelo, Tex., Feb- 

 ruary C, 1917. 



Any publication standing so well with 

 its readers naturally would be a profit- 

 able advertising medium and the adverr 

 tising manager asserts that when you 

 liear a man complain of the cost of ad- 

 vertising you will find he spends a good 

 bit of money elsewliere than in The Re- 

 view. 



BIRDS AND BUSINESS. 



In view of the rapid growth of inter- 

 est in bird life in this country, the for- 

 mation of innumerable bird clubs and 

 the agitation for a "National Bird 

 day," it is believed that the coming 

 spring will witness a great impetus to 

 the so-called "Bring Back the Birds" 

 movement. The creed of the bird lovers 

 and ornithological societies is that birds 

 must be shielded from all agencies of 

 extinction— 31,000,000 birds are killed 

 each year by cats alone — and provided 

 witl^^gpecially built houses for nesting 

 purposes. This naturally involves the 

 sale of bird houses, bird baths and bird 



foods, and as these articles are more or 

 less related to gardens and flowers, it 

 is fitting that florists pocket the profits 

 from their sale. Last spring several 

 wide-awake florists featured aviaries 

 with success, and several florists under- 

 took the manufacture of bird houses on 

 a wholesale scale. Here is a side line 

 for florists that a popular movement will 

 help to sell. 



Manufacturers and retailers have had 

 many disastrous experiences in promot- 

 ing the sale of goods required in follow- 

 ing popular hobbies and fads, for fads 

 come and go quickly. The bird idea, 

 however, is resurrected each spring and 

 seems to be more than a fad each year; 

 the efforts of the bird lovers have taken 

 the force and form of an almost na- 

 tional propaganda. It therefore would 

 seem that the sale of bird houses, bird 

 baths, etc., will not be subject to the 

 whims of a short-lived fancy; the mer- 

 chandise that remains unsold one year 

 has a chance to sell the next year. 



THE LORD HELPS THOSE 



Who Help Themselves. 



The truth of the old saying was 

 demonstrated again last week when the 

 St. Valentine's day business made an- 

 other substantial increase. It was an- 

 other case of the trade building for its 

 own benefit another special flower day, 

 building it by the power of publicity, 

 nothing else. 



No one outside the trade can be given 

 any credit for the steady and rapid in- 

 crease in the use of flowers for valen- 

 tines — florists are advertising the ap- 

 propriateness of their merchandise for 

 the purpose and thereby developing the 

 business. It not only proves that "the 

 Lord helps those who help them- 

 selves," but it shows that the public is 

 quick to respond to any sane suggestion 

 for the use of flowers and that the de- 

 velopment of the flower business rests 

 in the hands of the trade rather than 

 with chance. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



Business last week, on the whole, was 

 fairly satisfactory. The demand for 

 roses and carnations, both for shipping 

 and local trade, was brisk; in fact, it 

 exceeded the supply, which still is be- 

 low par, making it possible, in the great 

 majority of cases, to fill orders only in 

 part and clearing the market Febru- 

 ary 16. Bulbous stock, on the other 

 hand, is in plentiful supply and is mov- 

 ing slowly, with some items dragging. 

 Probably more bulbous stock was grown 

 this season than in any previous year. 



American Beauties, although not so 

 scarce as a few weeks ago, still are in 

 short supply and prices hold up con- 

 sistently to quotation figures. Other va- 

 rieties of roses all clear easily, shorter 

 lengths going first and preference gen- 

 erally being given to red and yellow 

 varieties. Prices hold up well. The sup- 

 ply of carnations has been just about 

 sufficient to meet the demand, although 

 February 17 there was something of a 

 shortage. They moved well throughout 

 the week and fair prices were obtained. 



Easter lilies remain scarce and sell 

 well at good prices. The supply of callas 

 has increased until it is sufficient to 

 meet the demand.. TVioIetti are arriving 

 in good supply, but are not selling so 



