OCTOBIB 4, 1917. 



The Florists Review 



15 



The sales were made up of 55 per cent 

 cut flowers, 30 per cent plants, 12 per 

 cent bulbs, seeds, nursery stock, soil, 

 etc., and 3 per cent florists' supplies. 

 The profits were only 10 per cent of the 

 sales, but the proprietor had drawn a 

 good living wage charged to pay roll. 



Mr. Wilson's item of 4 per cent for 

 coal attracted the attention of many 

 who have greenhouses. F. C. W. Brown 

 said the J. M. Gasser fuel bill has been 

 about 4 per cent of the gross sales, but 

 both gentlemen said it will double this 

 year. They were speaking of retail 

 sales, which would put the growers ' per- 

 centage figure, on the same basis, at 10 

 per cent to 12 per cent of the receipts 

 at wholesale prices. Mr, Brown said 

 that the experience of the J. M. Gasser 

 Co., operating three distinct businesses, 

 greenhouse, wholesale commission store 

 and retail store, with carefully kept 

 books for each, shows the growing end, 

 all stock sold at wholesale, to be much 

 the most profitable. The retail store 

 pays 10 per cent on the sales in an av- 

 erage year, but the wholesale house, 

 operating on 15 per cent commission, 

 would not break even if it were not for 

 the items of merchandise handled, like 

 ferns and supplies, on which better than 

 15 per cent is to be had. 



Secretary's Report. 



Secretary Pochelon had no written 

 report. He had some notes, but said 

 that if it sounded like the result of a 

 nightmare he had made the notes be- 

 tween the hours of 10 p. m. and 2 a. m. 

 the night before. He showed that in 

 1911 the dues received by the associa- 

 tion were only $203, while this year 

 they exceed $6,100. The association 

 now has in good standing: 



Members Paying dues Amounting to 



1 $30 per year $ 30.00 



153 20 per year 3,060.00 



76 15 per year 1,140.00 



87 10 per year 870.00 



92 8 per year 736.00 



69 5 per year 345.00 



478 $6,181.00 



It is understood that dues of the 

 members vary in proportion to the size 

 of the city and the ilumber of F. T. D. 

 members there. The one paying $30 is 

 Samuel Feast & Sons, the only member 

 in Baltimore. 



Mr. Pochelon then spoke extempo- 

 raneously of the many points that have 

 come up in the year's work. He ex- 

 plained his recent inquiry blank to 

 members, saying that he had no antag- 

 onism to any other society or the work 

 it is doing, but hoped to create discus- 

 sion and add to the interest taken in 

 the affairs of the F. T. D. He said that 

 the splendid progress so far made has 

 been the work of a volunteer army, but 

 that he purposes to make it an army 

 of conscripts by demanding the assist- 

 ance of every member to swell the 

 membership and extend the usefulness 

 of the association. 



Treasurer's Report. 



Treasurer W. L. Eock presented a 

 report of the financial affairs of the 

 association from August 1, 1916, to Sep- 

 tember 30, 1917. It showed: 



RECEIPTS. 



Membership fees $ 890.00 



Annual dues 6.226.00 



For guarantee fund 2,138.00 



For publicity fund 2,259.00 



For adTertlsements 800.00 



Sale of posters 1,196.00 



Sale of electrotypes 46.00 



Interest 338.32 



Total $13,793.32 





W. F. Gude. 



(President F. T. D.) 



DISBURSEMENTS. 



Deposits returned six members $ 141.50 



Printing 2,756.61 



Secretary's expense 2,513.00 



Audit 60.00 



Trade paper advertising 343.00 



Treasurer's expense 28.75 



Legal expense 75.00 



Mothers' day publicity 677.00 



Reporting meetings 289.90 



Exchange and miscellaneous 35.50 



Total $ 6.920.26 



Balance 6,873.06 



Grand total $13,793.32 



The association now has in its work- 

 ing balance the sum of $5,755.90 and 

 holds in its guarantee fund $7,155.09, 

 the greater part of the money being out 

 at interest, $1,000 in a Liberty bond. 

 The total funds are $12,910.99. 



Trade-Mark. 



The committee appointed at the Xew 

 York meeting in August to consider the 

 matter of a trade-mark for the use of 

 members reported that there is urgent 

 need for a design which can be em- 

 ployed on windows, parcels, stationery, 

 wagons, signs and in advertisements of 

 members, and recommended that a prize 

 of $100 be offered for the accepted de- 

 sign, with $100 expense money to ad- 

 vertise the competition, the designs sent 

 in to be submitted to the members at 

 the next annual meeting. So practical 

 did the idea appear that the committee. 



whicli consists of F. C. W. Brown, G. 

 E. M. Stumpp and E. A. Fetters, was 

 instructed to go ahead, but to offer $200 

 as the prize and to try to have the de- 

 signs ready for selection at the meeting 

 to be held at St. Louis at the time of 

 the National Flower Show next April. 



PubUcity. 



Publicity occupied a large share of 

 the time, being a special order of busi- 

 ness for one of the sessions of the sec- 

 ond day, but a report by H. P. Knoble 

 precipitated a long discussion at the 

 first session. The committee reported 

 that members and others had subscribed 

 about $2,;5O0 to a publicity fund. The 

 committee was about to spend the 

 greater part of the money on a special 

 article in a syndicate of big newspapers 

 featuring sending flowers to soldiers, 

 but were deterred by the action of the 

 S. A. F, in entering the publicity field. 

 It was thought best by the committee 

 that action be postponed until after 

 this meeting. 



E. C. Kerr, president of the S. A. F., 

 asked the F. T. D., the United States 

 Florists, the Eotary Florists and all 

 others with funds for general publicity 

 to put their money in with that of the 

 S. A. F. This led to a general expres- 

 sion of views participated in by George 

 Asmus, Max Schling, Albert Pochelon, 



