22 



The Florists^ Review 



Febbuabt 20, 1919. 



Ifll 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co.. 



621-560 Caxton Bulldlnsr, 



608 South Dearbora St., Chicago. 



Tele., Wabash 8195. 



Re8ri<4tered cable address. 



Florrlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897. at the post-ofHce at Ohi- 

 caKo, 111., under the Act of March 

 3.1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

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



AdvertlsinK rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



■-■^^^ P ...... . .I'rw. 



^kjTi 



TICE. 



It is impoatible to guarantee the 'in- 

 sertion, discontinuance or alteration of 

 any advertisement unless instructions 

 are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



A DOLLAR does not look so big to the 

 average florist as it did a year or two ago. 



As it stands today, what we need is 

 better quality rather than increased pro- 

 duction. 



Robert George, veteran plantsman, is 

 spending in California one of his infre- 

 quent holidays. 



What the trade needs is not cheaper 

 labor, or more labor, but increased pro- 

 duction on the part of those now em- 

 ployed. 



Did you ever notice that the condition 

 of the stock in a greenhouse can almost 

 always be told from the outside, by the 

 appearance of the grounds and buildings? 



There probably is nothing in which the 

 danger of loss is greater than in the 

 shipping of geranium cuttings. Some of 

 the careful packers have found it expe- 

 dient to ship nothing smaller than 2^- 

 inch stock of geraniums. 



Any man is a traitor to his trade if he 

 tells the newspapers how high prices are. 

 Tell, instead, that prices of flowers right 

 now are lower than other things the peo- 

 ple crave, compared to pre-war stand- 

 ards, lower than coal or candy, food or 

 finery; it is the truth. 



A GOOD many florists are beginning to 

 appreciate that their individual interest 

 does not necessarily lie in buying at the 

 lowest possible price; it is necessary to 

 pay enough to encourage the production 

 of good stock or the business will not rise 

 in the estimation of anyone, neither of the 

 public nor ourselves. 



You can not, according to the experi- 

 ence of the S. A. F., get a page ad in the 

 Saturday Evening Post for April 19 even 

 when you order it as early as the first 

 week of February, but you can get a page 

 in The Review if your copy arrives forty- 

 eight hours ahead of publication date — 

 only why cut us so short; why not give 

 the trade paper a week to work in? 



No doubt you have noted many of your 

 customers prize flowers more highly now 

 they are not to be had so cheaply. 



We shall seek to make up for lost time 

 this summer and, among other tasks, a 

 tremendous quantity of good, white paint 

 will be spread on greenhouses. 



Send The Review a clipping of the St. 

 Valentine's ad you, or the ad florists of 

 your city, ran in the local newspaper. 

 Also send a photograph of your St. Val- 

 entine's window display. 



It is a mistake to say that stock is 

 short. Except for local shortages, the 

 scarcity of cut flowers has passed; the 

 wholesale markets, if given sufficient no- 

 tice, can supply any local shortages, al- 

 though the prices may still be above what 

 some of those who grow their own stock 

 are selling for. 



The trade certainly has become thor- 

 oughly inoculated with faith in the value 

 of publicity — the only fear is that the 

 ability has not yet been acquired to dis- 

 tinguish between the publicity which 

 makes sales and that which makes selling 

 difficult. Most of the talk in the news- 

 papers of late has been harmful to our 

 interests. 



VAiENTINE'S A FLOWER DAY. 



Almost without effort we have made 

 St. Valentine's day our own. 



For the last two years the trade had 

 relaxed its attempts to create new flower 

 days; the general publicity of the S. A. 

 F. was about all that was done. Indeed, 

 only a few florists, comparatively speak- 

 ing, turned to in the effort to boost flow- 

 ers into favor for valentine uses, using 

 the excuse that they were afraid of a 

 shortage of stock. But flowers are so 

 eminently fitted to the needs of the oc- 

 casion that it took only a little local 

 advertising to show that February 14 is 

 our day — if we choose to take it. 



The volume of sales exceeded all pre- 

 vious records and included everything 

 from a half-dozen carnations to elabo- 

 rate novelty arrangements that com- 

 manded real money. It is true that many 

 people whose ideas of the values of fiow- 

 ers were formed at department store 

 sales bought lightly if at all, after hear- 

 ing the florists ' prices, but on the whole 

 the prices were paid willingly — no need 

 to sell without profit. 



THE GLASS MARKET. 



Albert E. Baur, of the Baur Window 

 Glass Co., Eaton, Ind., believes that it 

 will be to the advantage of all con- 

 cerned for the greenhouse trade to have 

 knowledge of the facts regarding the 

 reasons for the present and future price 

 of window glass, and makes the follow- 

 ing statement: 



"Before the war the average produc- 

 tion of window glass was ten million 

 boxes of fifty feet each, but in 1918 the 

 Fuel Administration curtailed the sup- 

 ply of fuel, wdth the result that the 

 output was only slightly more than one- 

 half the normal production, or around 

 six million boxes. Owing to the uncer- 

 tain market conditions, the high cost of 

 the material they have on hand, etc., 

 the manufacturers have voluntarily 

 agreed to curtail production again this 

 year to the same quantity of glass pro- 

 duced in 1918. The stocks of glass in 

 the hands of the manufacturers are 

 practically nil. This, coupled with the 

 high fuel and labor cost, the voluntary 

 reduction of production and the foreign 



demand which is beginning to be felt, 

 accounts for the continued high price of 

 glass. It is my opinion that prices can- 

 not go back to pre-war level for a lonjr 

 time to come, if ever." 



SOME FULL. 



It's no trick to get your stock mar- 

 keted nowadays, if only you let it be 

 known that you have it for sale. The 

 demand is something unusual and it is 

 a demand that continues brisk, regard- 

 less of conditions that might be sup- 

 posed to check it at times. It is a de- 

 mand, moreover, that absorbs the all 

 and every of greenhouse products. It is 

 not one but many advertisers who are 

 finding their stock taken as soon as they 

 give notice through the Classified sec- 

 tion of The Review, but the following 

 will serve as a sample of the statements 

 received with every mail: 



Your classified ads pull like a mustard plaster. 

 — Bnld Floral Co., Enid, Oltla., February 10, 1919. 



When you hear a man complain of the 



cost of advertising you can be pretty 



certain he spends a go^d bit of money 



elsewhere than in The^Keview. 



DECLINING COMMODITY PRICES. 



A continued and extensive decline in 

 commodity prices is reported by both 

 Bradstreet's and Dun's, the latter ex- 

 plaining that although price changes last 

 week were somewhat less numerous than 

 of late, there was little abatement in 

 the trend toward lower levels. Brad- 

 street's says: "Commodity prices 

 crumbled slowly in December, but fell 

 faster in January, with the result that 

 not only the rise from July 1 to Decem- 

 ber 1 was canceled, but a good big slice 

 cut off the rise from January 1 to July 

 1, 1918." The "index number" by 

 which Bradstreet 's indicate the rise and 

 fall of prices still is twenty-six per cent 

 above that of February 1, 1917, and just 

 double that of August 1, 1914. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



St. Valentine's day proved to be the 

 best the trade has experienced. The re- 

 tailers did an exceptionally good busi- 

 ness, far exceeding the St. Valentine's 

 day sales of the years during the war 

 period. Some of the leading retailers 

 report that individual sales were larger 

 than any within their memory and the 

 public willingly paid high prices for 

 novelties. The shipping trade was large 

 and the market was well cleaned up; 

 no doubt many more flowers might have 

 been sold at lower prices, but there was, 

 on the whole, about enough stock 1o 

 meet the demand at the going price's. 

 There was far less bulbous stock than 

 usual and roses were short. Cattleyas 

 were comparatively plentiful and soH 

 at prices that induced some of the re- 

 tailers to feature them. 



This week shipping business con- 

 tinues as heavy as ever, with no let-up 

 in the excellent city business. Stock 

 conditions vary only a little from those 

 of last week. Roses are slightly more 

 plentiful. Long-stemmed stock remains 

 in good supply, with enough to answer 

 all present needs. Short and medium 

 lengths continue scarce, the bulk of the 

 demand being for stock at the lower 

 prices. There is still a shortage of 

 Beauties. Orchids continue to come in 

 good supply and there are more than 

 enough to fill orders. Big buyers are 



