16 



The Florists^ Review 



Septembeu 13, 1917. 



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THE RETAIL 



FLORIST 



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MR. POCHELON STIRS THINGS UP. 



Does the secretary of the Florists' 

 Telegraph Delivery Association hold the 

 idea that his organization has outgrown 

 its connection with the S. A. F., or does 

 he want the other affiliated societies to 

 get in line with the F. T. D. in this mat- 

 ter? Some of his recent writings have 

 raised the question and now he has put 

 the matter squarely up to the F. T. D. 

 members by propounding the following 

 query: 



"Do you believe in our membership 

 being compelled to join the S. A. F., or 

 shall they become members of the S. A. 

 F. voluntarily?" 



The F. T. D. is the only one of the 

 trade societies affiliated with the S. A. 

 F. whicli requires its members also to 

 be members of the S. A. F.; it is so pro- 

 vided in the by-laws of the F. T. D. 

 The other organizations, the presidents 

 of which are affiliation directors of the 

 S. A, F., hold their representation be- 

 cause 100 or more members belong si- 

 multaneously and "voluntarily" to 

 both; the F. T. D. is the only allied so- 

 ciety every member of which also is a 

 member of the S. A. F. and it seems as 

 though Mr. Pochelon is stirring things 

 up with intent. 



There are other questions on his reply 

 card mailed to members that are likely 

 to enliven the doings at the approaching 

 meeting, the first time, by the way, that 

 the F. T. D. has held its annual meeting 

 otherwise than simultaneously with that 

 of the S. A. F. Mr. Pochelon 's ques- 

 tions, each followed by a blank for 

 brief reply, are as follows: 



Will you be able to attend the Detroit F. T. D. 

 meeting October 2 and 3? 



Wliat benefit have you had from membership 

 in the F. T. D.7 



Are yon satisfied with the work the F. T. D. 

 has done? 



Do you believe in our membership being com- 

 pelled to join the S. A. P., or shall they become 

 members of the S. A. P. voluntarily? 



Do you think it advisable for the P. T. D. 

 publicity to be connected •with the S. A. F. pub- 

 licity, or shall it be kept separately? 



Do you believe in the strict enforcement of our 

 by-laws and constitution in regard to our P. T. D. 

 Clearing House system? 



Have you had any good results with the col- 

 lection of past due bills through the P. T. D. 

 Clearing House? 



Have you had any good results from your mem- 

 bership in the National Floral Corporation? 



Have you had any trouble with F. T. D. mem- 

 bers in one way or another? 



"Do not wait, but answer this at 

 once," says Mr. Pochelon. He signs 

 himself "secretary," giving the com- 

 munication official force. The sugges- 

 tions thrown out by the form of the 

 questions may not, however, have been 

 submitted to the other officers. They 

 are: President, W. F. Gude, Washing- 

 ton, D. C; vice-president, George 

 Asmus, Chicago; treasurer, W. L. Eock, 

 Kansas City; past presidents, J. A. 

 Valentino and Irwin Bertermann. The 

 directors, with date of end of term, are: 

 1917, IT. Papworth, G. E. M. Stumpp 

 and O. J. Olson; 1918, August Lange, 

 F. D. Policano and Frank X. Stuppy; 

 1919, L. D. Thomson, Karl P. Baum and 

 T. J. Wolfe. The publicity committee 



consists of Herman Knoble, George E. 

 Schalz and Albert Pochelon. 



plies, etc., tliat we are compelled to use In 

 connection with our business, we are compelled 

 to rearrange our commissions to our agents, the 

 same to take effect October 1, 1916: 



All goods purchased during one month amount- 

 ing to and over $5, ten per cent. 



All goods purchased during one month amount- 

 ing to and over $10, 12i^ per cent. 



All goods purchased during one month amount- 

 ing to and over $15, fifteen per cent. 



All goods purchased during one month amount- 

 ing to and over $25, twenty per cent. 



All accounts to be paid on or before the fif- 

 teenth of the month following date of purchase 

 or commission to be withdrawn. Haentze Co. 



Unquestionably, it is up to every flo- 

 rist to study his business and to cut oflf 

 the unprofitable parts if it can be done 

 without injury to the paying ends. 



ARRANGEMENT WITH AGENTS. 



In The Eeview for September 6 G. W. 

 — N. D. asks for a form of contract that 

 a retail florist has with his agents. We 

 are enclosing a form or schedule that 

 we adopted some time ago and we find 

 that we are having good success with it. 

 At first we had a lot of kicks from our 

 agents, but we consider that we must 

 educate our agents to our system of do- 

 ing business and enforce the system to 

 the letter. We used to give our agents 

 a commission of twenty per cent on all 

 orders, but how can a florist make any 

 money on, say one dozen carnations 

 packed in a box and delivered to the ex- 

 press company or post-office and give a 

 commission of twenty per cent? We be- 

 lieve that the sooner all florists get to- 

 gether and adopt a uniform commission 

 to their agents, the sooner we florists 

 will be able to make a little more than a 

 living. We have wholesale florists in this 

 section to cater to the undertakers and 

 give these same undertakers twenty-five 

 per cent commission, and yet they ex- 

 pect to sell to the retail florists. What 

 are we retailers going to do about it? 

 Let us get together and organize. 



Haentze Co. 



The enclosed "form or schedule" is 

 not of the nature of a contract, which 

 was what G. W. asked for, but is a 

 notice of revision of the commissions al- 

 lowed agents. It reads as follows: 



TO OUR AGENTS. 

 On account of the increased cost of all sup- 



INSURING SATISFACTION. 



That ancient business belief that "a 

 satisfied customer is the best advertise- 

 ment" is still adhered to by Penn, of 

 Boston. The Penn store, noted for its 

 use of printers' ink, is now taking out 

 insu«ranc6 against having dissatisfied 

 customers by inviting criticism, when 

 there is reason for criticism. The invi- 

 tation is in the shape of a neat card, 

 which is enclosed with all orders. 



Of the idea, Mr. Penn says: "One of 

 the greatest difficulties encountered in 

 the florists' business is the number of 

 dissatisfactions which arise from time 

 to time where packages of flowers are 

 not up to the usual standard. The 

 consumer in many cases will not notify 

 the florist, but harbors a feeling of dis- 

 satisfaction. We think this card over- 

 comes the obstacle, and that it will 

 work out for the best interests of the 

 florist using it." 



The card reads: 



To All Recipients of Penn's Flowers: 



Our plan for* showing our appreciation of aa 

 order is not merely by thanking our customer, 

 but by trying to fill the order better than was 

 expected. 



We are always careful to check over and in- 

 spect every order before shipping, but regard- 

 less of the fact that we are operating the best 

 inspection system we can Invent, errors will 

 occur in a business which handles hundreds of 

 orders daily, as we do. 



We therefore suggest that you examine the 

 flowers as soon as received and make sure they 

 are satisfactory. If not, notify us at once, as 

 we desire every recipient of Penn's flowers to be 

 a little more than satisfied. 



It is this desire that has built our business. 



Penn, The Florist. 



Other florists have Mr. Penn's permis- 

 sion to use this idea. 



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HARDY PERENNIALS 



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SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Japanese Anemones. 



What beautiful and valuable flowers 

 the Japanese anemones are in August, 

 September and October! Many people 

 plant them out one spring and, because 

 they fail to flower well the succeeding 

 fall, abandon their culture. As a mat- 

 ter of fact, these anemones need a year 

 to become established; then the plants 

 throw up stalks four to six feet high 

 and bloom for many weeks. The flowers 

 are superb in floral work, especially the 

 white varieties, such as Japonica alba, 

 still the best, and Whirlwind. Of the 

 colored forms. Queen Charlotte, semi- 

 double pink; Alice, silvery pink; Kriem- 

 hilde, soft rose, and rosea, the old single 

 pink form, are all good. There are also 

 a number of newer varieties. Anemone 

 vitifolia is a new fall-flowering variety 



from China, with pretty pink flowers 

 carried on stems a yard in height. The 

 anemones like an abundant water sup- 

 ply when growing, but must have dry 

 feet in winter. They are easily propa- 

 gated by cutting the roots in short 

 lengths and starting them in a warm 

 cutting bench in winter. 



Peonies. 



Perhaps your peonies are not flower- 

 ing as they should. This is probably 

 because they need dividing and replant- 

 ing. Give them a well drained piece of 

 ground, free from shade, deeply ma- 

 nured and plowed, and do the trans- 

 planting now. Then they will become 

 well established before winter. Divide 

 large clumps carefully, so as not to in- 

 jure the eyes, and do not cover the eyes 

 to a depth of more than three or four 

 inches. Of course you can continue to 



