22 



The Florists' Review 



Decbmbek 21, 1916. 



ErtkbUahed, 1897. by Q. L. QRANT. 



Pabllshed every Tbaraday by 

 Thb Florists' Publishing Co^ 



830-660 Oaxton Bnlldln?, 



608Soatta Dearborn St.Ohloaea 



Tele.. Wabash 819S. 



Bettered cable addreas, 



Jlorvlew. Ohlcago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Deo. S, 1897. at the poet-of&ce at Ohl> 

 ca«o, IIU under the Act of Maroh 

 1. 1879. 



Subscription price, 11.00 a year. 

 To Canada. |2.00; to Europe. $3.00. 



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 ▼ertlslnff accepted. 



(I 



NOTICE. 



It ia impoaaible to i^uarantee 



the insertion, discontinuance or 



alteration of anj advertisement 



unless instructions are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



BOCIETT OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 

 Inoorporated by Act of Conrreas, March 4, 1901. 



Offloera for 1916: President, Daniel MaoBorle, 

 Ian Fraaclaco; vice-president, B. C. Kerr, Heoa- 

 tra. Tex.; secretaty, Jebn xauBK, S3 W. 28th 

 St., New Tork City; treasurer, J. J. Haaa, 

 Omaha. 



OlBcera for 1917: President, Robert O. Kerr, 

 Hooston, Tex.; vlce-prealdent, A. L. Miller, Ja- 

 maica, N. T.; secretary, John Tounr. S3 W. 28th 

 St., Mew Tork City; treasurer, J. J. Heas, 

 Oinaha, Neb. 



Thirty-third annual convention. New Tark, 

 V. T.. Auffnat 81 te 24. 1917. 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Anonymous inquiries always go into 

 the waste basket. To receive attention, 

 full name and address are required. 



Tomorrow, December 22, will be the 

 shortest day of the year, not only by the 

 almanac but by comparison with what 

 the average florist must encompass in the 

 way of work. 



The great conflict will leave an im- 

 press on the trade, more or less perma- 

 nent as the longevity of the varieties 

 develops, through the strong tendency to 

 apply to novelties names brought to no- 

 tice by the war happenings. 



Now come reports that orders for both 

 English and French Manetti stocks are 

 being cut heavily, with the prospect that 

 deliveries will be so far short that a 

 normal demand for grafted rose plants 

 can not be met next spring. 



An unfortunate number of claims for 

 frost losses have been filed with the ex- 

 press companies as a result of the cold 

 snaps of November and December. Read- 

 ers of The Review are urged to be as 

 reasonable as possible in such matters, 

 as the companies will raise rates if the 

 business is considered unprofitable. 



In every line of business there are 

 men who are afraid — who never ask 

 quite as much as their competitors. 

 Sometifnes it is because of a conscious- 

 ness of the inferiority of merchandise or 

 service, but among florists it more often 

 is simply for want of confidence; one 

 man could get as good prices as another 

 if he only thought so. 



The Census Bureau has been investi- 

 gating the cost of delivery as affecting 

 retail prices and has found that with 

 ice, coal, wood and milk the cost of de- 

 livery is about eight per cent of the retail 

 price. How is it with flowers? 



The settlement of the season's losses 

 on azaleas will be a diflficult matter, as 

 between shipper, purchaser, forwarding 

 agent and transportation company. The 

 insurance people stayed out of it after 

 last year's experience and have reason 

 to congratulate themselves. 



HABD LINES! 



The law known as the Act of August 

 24, 1912, makes a publisher liable to a 

 fine if he prints in his reading columns 

 statements which properly are advertis- 

 ing matter and fails to add the word 

 "Advertisement," or "Adv." Al- 

 though the law has been in existence 

 four years, no effort has been made to 

 enforce it until recently. The Post- 

 oflSce Department has just drawn the 

 attention of daily newspapers in many 

 cities that the automobile notes, pub- 

 lished as reading notices, really are ad- 

 vertising matter which, while printed 

 without direct charge, are quite plainly a 

 part of the service given on an order for 

 other advertising in the same or a sub- 

 sequent issue and that such reading no- 

 tices must be plainly marked "Adver- 

 tisement, ' ' as the law requires. 



If the post-office ever gets around to 

 enforcing the law with respect to cer- 

 tain trade papers the word "Advertise- 

 ment" will be more overworked than 

 the word "very" now is in their text 

 pages. 



A BEASON FOB CLOSEB CBEDITS. 



The following is printed on a paster 

 attached to the trade list of W. W. Wil- 

 more : 



I- wish to say to the trade in general that, 

 with the exception of postage stamps, overy- 

 tliing connected with tlie management of my 

 Imsiness, from tlie tools used In the production 

 of the crops to the paper on which the finished 

 iwodnct is billed, has advanced In price from 

 fwcnty per cent to over 100 per cent In the last 

 year or two — still I am quoting the same prices 

 as heretofore. And while I realize that this 

 course will cut Into the season's profits, still 

 I hope to serve my patrons and still have a 

 workin? profit left over. 



To do so will require more care in extending 

 credit to persons unknown to me and also to 

 tliose who In the past have been negligent In 

 meeting their obligations when due. Orders, 

 therefore, from persons unknown to me must 

 be accompanied with the remittance or satis- 

 factor.v references or the order will not be 

 recognized. 



Tracing references causes delay In executing 

 orders. I trust that the reasonableness of the 

 foregoing will appeal to all fair-minded people. 



With costs as they are, losses through 

 the accumulation of uncollectable ac- 

 counts become a serious item and nearly 

 everyone is examining credits more 

 closely than in years when margins of 

 profit were wider. 



MUST EARN OUB MONEY. 



This is a Christmas that florists will 

 be compelled to earn every cent of prof- 

 it they make. The cold wave is general 

 over almost the entire United States and 

 it adds tremendously to the difficulties 

 of the holiday season. In the first place, 

 it has held back the shoppers, reducing 

 the early buying and adding to the rush 

 that always comes as Christmas eve ap- 

 proaches. In another direction it has 

 added to the complexity of the situation 

 because the cold, dark, snowy weather 

 has reduced the supplies of stock; re- 

 ports indicate that the supplies of cut 

 flowers as well as those of blooming 



plants are less than usual this year in 

 spite of the rapid increase in glass. But 

 after the florist has taken his orders am 

 found the stock to fill them with, hi 

 troubles are by no means at an end 

 Delivery with the temperature in thi 

 neighborhood of zero is no joke. Unus 

 ually thorough wrapping must be dom 

 this season because of the unusual se 

 verity of the weather. Those whole '■ 

 salers who have neglected it already ar( 

 paying the penalty, because they an 

 having complaints that stock has beei ■ 

 frozen in transit. The retailers must 

 wrap heavily and carefully or they wil 

 meet with large losses in delivery; ar 

 zero plants cannot make the trip fron 

 curb to doorway without thorough cov 

 ering. 



THE PENXJLTIMATE NOTICE. 



No subscriptions to The Review 

 mailed after December 31 will be ac 

 cepted for a full year unless accompa- 

 nied by a remittance of $1.50, but s(' 

 long as 1916 is with us any member ot 

 the trade is welcome to extend a present 

 subscription or enter a new subscrip 

 tion at the old rate of $1 per year. Wel- 

 come, although this is the way a Maine 

 subscriber looked at it: 



Please advance the date of my subscription two 

 years, although on account of the increased cost 

 of paper it seems like taking advantage of vou.— 

 G. W. Huff, Sanford, Me., December 11, 1910. 



Although The Review's paper bill in 



November was $1,500 greater than in 



the same month of 1915, the publishers 



want every reader who will feel the 



extra 50 cents to take advantage of the 



opportunity to save the money — go as 



far as you like: 



Enclosed Is a check for $7 for extension of sub- 

 scription seven years from date of expiration 

 (June 7, 1917), as we find The Review Indispen- 

 sable. — Lyle E. Severance, Lansing, Mich., 

 December 7, 1916. 



The assurance of even larger circula- 

 tion than ever, thus given for 1917, in- 

 sures the continuation of prompt re- 

 turns to advertisers. Like this: 



The ad In The Review did It; sold out the first 

 day; hart about twenty offers for mv plants. — 

 Henry Gerstenkorn, Decatur, 111., December 8, 



inio. 



When you hear a man complain of 

 the cost of advertising you can be 

 pretty sure he spends a good bit of 

 money elsewhere than in The Review. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The dark and cold weather of last 

 week shortened all stock considerably. 

 This shortage was further added to by 

 the fact that growers were holding bac' 

 as much stock as possible so as to havi 

 it in the market after Christmas price 

 went into effect. Apparently what wa- 

 true of Chicago obtained nearly a"' 

 over the country, for many outside mai 

 kets drew on Chicago for their want-. 

 This, together with a brisk deman i 

 from regular customers, made for a goo i 

 shipping business and tended to tighte i 

 up prices considerably. The deman 1 

 from outside customers was so grer: 

 that it was at times almost impossible t > 

 fill orders. Local trade, on the othf ' 

 hand, was slow and, while larger retai - 

 ers were kept busy with parties an 1 

 special work, almost all of the small*"" 

 dealers complained of poor business, i 

 not unusual condition in the f ortnigl t 

 before Christmas. 



Present indications are that th s 

 Christmas will be a most successful ore 

 for florists, retailers, wholesalers anl 

 growers alike. That there is a gener;.l 



