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The Florists^ Review 



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August 30, 1917. 



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Established, 1897. by G. L. GRANT. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co., 



620-S60 Oaxtoa' Building, 



608 South Dearborn St., Ohlcagrc 



Tele., Wabash 8195. 



Reiflstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago. 111., under the Act of March 

 3 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

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



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



NOTICE. 



It is impossible to g^uarantee 



tlie insertion, discontinuance or 



alteration of any advertisement 



unless instructions are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



SOCIETY OF AHEBICAN XXOBISTS. 



Incorporated by Act of Congress, March 4, 1901. 



Officers for 1917: President, Robert C. Kerr. 

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

 maica, N. Y.; secretary, John Young, 53 W. 28th 

 St., New Yorli City; treasurer, J. J. Hess, 

 Omaha, Neb. 



OfHcers for 1918: President, Charles H. Totty, 

 Madison, N. J. ; vice-president, Jules Bourdet, 

 St. Louis; secretary and treasurer as before. 



Thirty-fourth annual convention and Fifth Na- 

 tional Flower Show, St. Louis, Mo., April 6 to 

 15, 1918. 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



There is every indication of a scarcity 

 of pot plants during the approaching sea- 

 son. 



The coal men are beginning to choke on 

 the smoke from the fire of public indig- 

 nation their price-raising aroused. 



Don't talk about raising prices; wake 

 up to the fact that the public is paying 

 more for flowers than heretofore and get 

 your share. 



Two bulb-laden steamers of the Hol- 

 land-America line are on the way 

 across the Atlantic. They carry nearly 

 three-fourths of a normal year's im- 

 ports of bulbs. 



The trade has acquired confidence that 

 business will be good during the autumn 

 and winter; indeed, the New York conven- 

 tion did much to produce a belief that 

 the flower business this season will be 

 better than ever before. 



The primulinus hybrid gladioli occupy 

 the center of the stage in the east. They 

 have made a hit with the retailers, who 

 find them an improvement for their pur- 

 poses because of their grace and colors, 

 and the growers recommend them unqual- 

 ifiedly for forcing. 



The growers of palms have needed no 

 other encouragement to raise prices than 

 that afforded by supply and demand. 

 There are few palms of other than the 

 emaller sizes, a shortage is imminent and 

 prices are on a level that will compare 

 with those of food and other merchandise. 



If you have the idea that it is not feas- 

 ible for florists individually to raise retail 

 prices, travel a week in the east and note 

 what some of the members of the trade 

 have done. 



There has been an excellent demand 



for field-grown carnation plants so far 



this season, although many report that 



the call did not start until somewhat 



.later than usual. 



The influence of the late spring still is 

 to be seen in many branches of the trade, 

 particularly in the supply of cut flowers 

 and in the condition of the crops that 

 follow the bedding plants. 



It is pleasant to hear a cut flower 

 grower like Joseph Heacock say that 

 the season of 1916-17 was the largest in 

 money returns and cash profit of any 

 since he went into rose growing. Evi- 

 dently in these times it pays better than 

 ever to grow good stock. 



Distinctiveness is one of the prime 

 requisites of a new variety of almost any 

 of our popular flowers. There has been 

 much improvement, but many novelties 

 among carnations, sweet peas, gladioli, 

 peonies and other flowers are too much 

 like other sorts to be worth another name. 



and anyone who has ever attended the 

 Harvard-Yale or army-navy matches is 

 struck by the fact that mums are to 

 football what lilies are to Easter. 



NO AZAIJIAS THIS YEAR. 



The principal importers of azaleas 

 have abandoned all efforts to procure 

 azaleas from Belgium this year. It is 

 impossible to communicate with the ex- 

 J)orters and all the difficulties expe- 

 rienced last season still exist, in addi- 

 tion to which is the fact that the Unit- 

 ed States now has a stringent law on 

 the subject of trading with the enemy 

 which is held to apply to that part of 

 Belgium occupied by the Germans. Con- 

 ditions change almost daily, but there 

 seems to be little reason to hope to ob- 

 tain azaleas for next spring's sales. 



FOOTBALL AND MXTMS. 



A bit of news of cheering character 

 that filtered in last week was the an- 

 nouncement that football was not to be 

 struck off the sports calendar of the 

 country's colleges, as announced in the 

 spring shortly after the declaration of 

 war, but that at the behest of President 

 Wilson it had been decided to have a 

 full schedule of intercollegiate games, 

 both east and west. As every florist 

 knows, or at least as every college towTi 

 florist knows, football games represent 

 no mean outlet for chrysanthemums. 

 Mums, football and snappy weather are 

 first cousins, and richer is the retailer 

 who realizes their relationship and 

 strives to strike hard while the iron is 

 hot. 



The case is recalled of how an Illinois 

 florist last year made a study of the 

 sales possibilities of football games in 

 his town. Whenever there was a game 

 he would make a special window dis- 

 play, featuring in mu^ui, if possible, the 

 colors of the two contesting schools. 

 The idea was not only to catch the eye 

 of home fans, but also to attract the at- 

 tention of the visiting rooters. Some- 

 times a special stand was set up at the 

 football field, and when the home team 

 left for an out-of-town game there 

 would be a representative at the depot 

 to coax the departing fans into wearing 

 ^he "colors," as represented by his 

 mfima;^ 



Penn's, of Boston, have found the 

 football windmv a great sales-maker, 



LINE OF LEAST RESISTANCE. 



Your product is mighty interesting 

 to you, but other florists do not seem 

 to enthuse about it. To get them to 

 give up real money for it is not so easy 

 as it looks. 



Providing a simple, easy, natural 

 point of contact — the line of least re- 

 sistance between your product and the 

 buyer — 'is the function of The Review. 

 How well The Review serves its adver- 

 tisers at a low cost is told by the ad- 

 vertisers themselves: 



Cancel my classified advertisement. The en- 

 tire 7,000 carnation plants were sold — some re- 

 sults for one insertion! Thanks. — James B. Kel- 

 ler, Lexington, Ky., August 23, 1917. 



Please discontinue my ad for carnation plants. 

 The Review sure is a business getter. — A. D. 

 Kuble, West Indianapolis, Ind., August 20, 1917. 



When you hear a man complain of the 

 cost of advertising you can be pretty 

 certain he spends a good bit of money 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



FLORISTS. 



When a plumber makes a mistake he 

 charges time for it. 



When a lawyer makes a mistake, it's 

 just what he wanted, because he has a 

 chance to try the case all over again. 



When a carpenter makes a mistake, 

 it's just what he expected, because the 

 chances are ten to one he never learned 

 his business. 



When an electrician makes a mistake, 

 he blames it on "induction," because 

 nobody knows what that is. 



When a doctor makes a mistake, he 

 buries it. 



When a judge makes a mistake, it be- 

 comes the law of the land. 



When a preacher makes a mistake, 

 nobody knows the difference. 



But a florist, he is different. He can- 

 not turn his mistake into profit, as 

 other people do. He must use good 

 judgment; much labor; feed his crops as 

 well as his furnace; supplicate Provi- 

 dence for sun and hustle all the time. 

 In fact, my boy, you've got to "go 

 some" to be a successful florist. 



CHICAaO. 



The Market. 



The recent cool weather has brought 

 about a markedly improved tone in 

 the wholesale cut flower market. 

 August 25 a shortening of stock of all 

 kiAds took place, which, continuing 

 over August 26, found the market in a 

 tight condition with the first day of 

 this week. The cool weather has not 

 only caused a decided shortening of 

 stock, but has also made for greatly 

 improved quality. Roses show better 

 color and more of the longer grades are 

 arriving. 



Although American Beauties are be- 

 ing cut in slightly larger quantities, 

 they are still a scarce item and what 

 stock arrives sells quickly at satisfac- 

 tory summer prices. Russells, best in 

 demand as ever, were also decidedly 

 scarce last week and it was at times 

 difficult to procure the stock needed. 

 Ophelia and Milady are the other two 

 favorites. The former shows greatly im- 

 proved color. Although most of the 

 stoek-eoming in-is of the shorter grades, 



