14 



The Florists^ Review 



Makch 1. J917. 



The Store Staff of Grimm & Gorly, Retailers, at St. Louis, Mo. 



under the cuptoinere name in the front 

 or daybook compartment, and each 

 night the proprietor or his delegated au- 

 thority unlocks the glass-covered rear 

 compartment and transfers the daily 

 charges to the p;oper locations in the 

 pernianent, or "Ituger" file. 



Aids Credit Man. 



The information locked under glass 

 serves two j.urposes: First, a private 

 mark, made by the proprietor or credit 

 man, may tell the clerk that no further 

 credit should be extended to that cus- 

 tomer without his personal O. K. 



Second, the clerk enters on the cus- 

 tomer's bill the amount carried forward 

 plus the amount of the customer's cur- 

 rent purchase, the customer being 

 handed the duplicate sales slip embodj'- 

 ing this information. 



It may be said, in passing, that this 

 act of reminding the customer of his 

 full indebtedness each time he makes a 

 purchase is calculated to prevent dis- 

 putes and to speed up liberal payments 

 on account. 



But the major function of this new 

 credit-file is to compel the filing of all 

 charges and C. O. D. slips in a safe 

 place where they cannot be mislaid, 

 altered or destroyed. 



Equally important is the fact that 

 this file shows the proprietor of any 

 business in a graphic way, each evening, 

 exactly the extent and condition of his 

 credit business. 



Fifty per cent of the florists who fail, 

 fail through extending more credit than 

 their capital warrants. 



They are blindly ignorant of the fact 

 that far too many of their charge cus- 

 tomers are not worthy of the credit ex- 

 tended. Careless habits of bookkeeping 

 and filing are fatal to any business. 



It is true, also, that most merchants 

 get into deep water because they don 't 

 realize how much outstanding credit 

 business they have upon their books 

 until it is too late to save themselves. 



This new credit file not only tells them 

 the general condition of their credit 

 business but the actual status of each 

 charge or C. O. D. account, as well as 

 the amounts paid on account each day 

 bj each customer. 



THE GEIMM & aORLY STAFF. 



The skceompanying illustration was 



made in the workroom of Grimm & Gorly, 

 St. Louis, and the group includes the 

 store staff, all but the employees in the 

 packing room and the delivery boys. The 

 size of the force will give an idea of the 

 volume of business necessary to keep so 

 many people busy. 



are irretrievably injured or not. Usually 

 a chill, not to say a freeze, will finish 

 the buds on lilies, especially if they 

 were grown warm. If you have been 

 growing your lilies cool, there is a 

 chance that some may be all right. 

 C. W. 



PUBLICATIONS SECEIVED. 



["The Dahlia — a Practical Treatise on Its 

 Habits, Characteristics, Cultiyation and History," 

 by Lawrence K. Peacock. Fifth edition. Pub- 

 lished by Peacock Dahlia Farms, Berlin, N. 3. 

 Size, about 8x10% inches; eighty pages, fully il- 

 lustrated. Price, in paper cover, 50 cents.] 



Although this book may have been in- 

 tended principally or primarily for the 

 use of amateurs, yet it can scarcely be 

 amateurish in any objectionable sense 

 of the word, since the author's long ex- 

 perience in the trade should be an as- 

 surance of the practical nature of his 

 opinions. Moreover, by the time he 

 gets halfway through the book he has 

 passed beyond the rudiments of the sub- 

 ject and is addressing himself directly 

 to the oommercial growers. The fact 

 that the needs of the amateurs receive 

 full consideration is probably an advan- 

 tage, tending to prevent the omission 

 of any of the important elementary prin- 

 ciples. At the end of the book is a 

 ' * select list of varieties, ' ' carefully clas- 

 sified and briefly described. 



WHEN LILIES FREEZE. 



My lilies were frozen recently, but I 

 think some of them could be saved. As 

 I have a great many, I woul^ like to 

 separate the good from the bad, and use 

 the space. Some of them are in bloom. 

 Can these be moved without injury? 

 Also, can those not in bloom be safely 

 moved to another house? 



M. C. M.— Mich. 



I am afraid that if your lilies were 

 really frozen they will not amount to 

 much. The foliage may remain green, 

 but the buds are likely to be killed. 

 You can move the plants you wish to 

 keep into another house. You will soon 

 be able to find out whether the buds 



AMARYLLIS CULTURE. 



I am starting some amaryllis bulbs. 

 They now are dormant and I wish to 

 bring them into flower as soon as possi- 

 ble. Please inform me as to soil, heat 

 and watering, and length of time before 

 they will show buds. E. W. P.— 111. 



Use a mixture of fibrous loam, three 

 parts; old, dried cow manure, one part, 

 and some sharp sand. Give the bed 

 good drainage. Place the bulbs in a 

 temperature of 60 to 62 degrees at night. 

 Give them a watering after potting and 

 then run them on the dry side. Flower 

 spikes will show within a week or two 

 and flowers will be open within 

 a month from the time the spikes appear. 

 Established plants in tubs give much 

 finer spikes than can be had from dry 

 bulbs. C. W. 



NEW TERMS AND DISCOUNTS. 



For Agents in Smaller Towns. 



A letter has been sent to the florists 

 throughout Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and 

 Missouri, in accordance with the plan 

 adopted at the meeting in Lincoln some 

 time ago. About 200 copies of the let- 

 ter have been sent out and every report 

 that has been received up to date is fa- 

 vorable and a great many are now oper- 

 ating under these new terms and dis- 

 counts. A committee intends to follow 

 up this campaign and do everything pos- 

 sible to get the trade to adopt this plan 

 for agents in smaller towns. 



The commissions allowed by different 

 florists to their agents seem to have 

 varied from twenty to forty per cent. It 

 can be readily understood that no florist 

 can do a legitimate business and give 

 his customers value if he allows such 

 large commissions, especially under the 



present conditions of increased expenses. 



We, the members of the committee re- 

 ferred to, certainly feel that it is short- 

 sighted for florists to continue giving 

 such large discounts and lose so much in 

 their profits, for they can certainly ob- 

 tain business on other arguments, of 

 quality and service rather than dis- 

 counts. 



It seems that a great many florists are 

 extremely negligent in their methods of 

 handling their terms and some do not 

 got out their statements until the mid- 

 dle of the month. We, therefore, would 

 like to have The Review help get the 

 new discounts universally established 

 and do everything possible to get the 

 florists to enforce their terms more rig- 

 idly. Any assistance or suggestions will 

 be greatly appreciated. 



The Letter to the Florists. 



The following is a copy of the letter 



t 



