The Florists^ Review 



Makck 20, 1910. 



m7E¥ 



Established, 1897. by G. L. ORANT. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Flokists' Publishing Co.. 



B20-560 OaxtoD Bulldlnfir, 



608 South Dearborn St., ChlcaRO. 



Tele., Wabash 81'.». 



Reiristered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 1897, at the post-oftice at Ohl- 

 caffo. 111., under the Act of March 

 3.1879. 



Subscription price, 11.50 a year. 

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



AdyertislnR rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlslng accepted. 



Kesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Put your best foot forward ; keep your 

 show window looking attractive. 



The oflBcial arrival of spring is sched- 

 uled for 11:19 a. m. March 21. 



The language of flowers has a new 

 meaning to the trade; it resembles the 

 clink of dollars more than it has before. 



Like all really great persons and 

 things, ' ' Say It with Flowers ' ' is simple 

 and plain. Therein lies the slogan's 

 value. 



No one can deny that flowers are po- 

 lite, for they show no rudeness to the 

 eye. Florists should strive to emulate 

 their goods. It will pay. 



Time and tide wait for no man, nor 

 does business. If you want business, you 

 will have to go after it. Advertising is 

 the best vehicle for the chase. 



Many records have been broken in the 

 last few months and the prediction is that 

 in spite of the shortage of lilies and bulb- 

 ous stock, another one will be smashed 

 at Easter. 



It is said of certain flowers that their 

 fragrance is "intoxicating." Is it not 

 possible that the man who "can let it 

 alone if he wants to ' ' will turn to the 

 flower shops for stimulation after the 

 "bone-dry" amendment goes into effect? 



Many a "faint heart that ne'er won 

 fair lady" would speak with better suc- 

 cess in the "Say It with Flowers" lan- 

 guage, and enterprising florists will do 

 ■well to impress this idea upon the minds 

 of all suitors, timid and courageous, now 

 that spring is so near at hand. 



When the Ruascll rose was new the 

 eastern growers shrugged their shoulders 

 over the middle west's enthusiasm for it, 

 but, having studied middle-western meth- 

 ods with it, the east now thinks Russell is 

 the best yet, while on the Pacific coast 

 there is a big unsatisfied demand for 

 bench-grown plants of it. 



The Horticultural Trades' Association 

 of Great Britain recently has reorganized 

 and is seeking a permanent, full-time 

 secretary. An advertisement inviting 

 applications recently was published in the 

 horticultural trade papers in England, 

 with the result that between 500 and 600 

 applications for the job were received. 



Watch; you will find that it will be a 

 ])('tunia window-box summer. 



Boston ferns will be fine property 

 \\\\(n\ it conies time to fill porch baskets. 



Those who wish to get an idea of what 

 the Department of Agriculture may be ex- 

 pected to do for the trade in the way of 

 importing new plants after the quaran- 

 tine goes into effect should send to David 

 Fairchild, Agricultural Explorer in 

 Charge, Bureau of Plant Introduction, 

 Washington, D. C, for its bulletins, 

 ' ' Plant Immigrants. ' ' 



MEETING PRICES. 



Everybody knows one man's stock is 

 worth more than another 's, even though 

 measured by the same unit, so why ex- 

 pect prices to be uniform? 



To say that a plant is from a certain 

 size of pot gives no idea of its value 

 and much less can one judge the quality 

 of cut flowers by any description in 

 general use. The man with the best 

 goods is entitled to receive the best 

 prices and should ask a price, rather 

 than to offer his output at a price to 

 compete with lower quality. 



PLAN EXHIBITIONS. 



A number of exhibitions have been 

 ])1anned for 1919 by the Pennsylvania 

 Horticultural Society and the dates for 

 these were recently announced by the 

 secretary, David Rust, as follows: 



Exhibition of peonies, outdoor cut 

 flowers and hybrid tea roses, at Fire- 

 men 's hall, Bryn Mawr, Pa., June 3 

 and 4. 



Exhibition of sweet peas, hardy peren- 

 nials and hybrid perpetual roses, at the 

 .lenkintown Club and Reading Room, 

 .Tenkintown, Pa., June 24 and 25. 



Exhibition of dahlias, outdoor cut 

 flowers and vegetables, at Masonic hall, 

 Ardmore, Pa., September 16 and 17. 



Annual exhibition and chrysanthe- 

 mum show, at the First Regiment Ar- 

 mory, Broad and Callowhill streets, 

 Philadelphia, November 5 to 8, inclusive. 



At all the above exhibitions prizes 

 will be offered for vegetables from the 

 school and war gardens. 



The office and library of the society 

 are now at 606 Finance building. South 

 Penn square, Philadelphia. Meetings 

 are held on the third Tuesday of each 

 month, except July and August, at 3:30 

 p. m. at Griffith hall, 1420 Chestnut 

 street, Philadelphia. 



Officers of the society for 1919 are as 

 follows: President, .Tames Boyd; vice- 

 presidents, Robt. Craig, Henry F. Mich- 

 cll, William Klcinheinz, J. Otto Thilow; 

 treasurer, Sidney W. Keith; secretary, 

 David Rust. 



"THE SUNSHINE OF LIFE." 



The Kiwanis Club, of Washington, 

 D. C, recently offered a prize of $15 for 

 a friendly word contest among its mem- 

 bers. The proposition was for each 

 member to describe his business in 

 fifteen words, no more, no less. The re- 

 ward was $1 per word, or $15 to the 

 winner. Forty-seven members entered 

 tlie contest. Z. D. Blackistone, florist 

 at Fourteenth and H streets, N. W., was 

 given second place with his slogan: 



"Flowers are the sunshine of life. 

 My business: Supplying the means of 

 sjireading sunshine everywhere." 



The first prize was awarded to the pro- 

 prietor of a moving picture theater. 



WHY THE REVIEW GROWS. 



Probably there is no trade piiper 

 which spends less of its income for 

 soliciting than does The Review — and 

 still The Review grows. The slogan lias 

 been, and is, "Results bring advertis- 

 ing; The Review brings results." It ig 

 like this: 



I am sold out on the mpsemhryanthemums. sold 

 out clean and clear. — Louis P. Foulk, Hellcvue 

 Pa., March 14, 1919. 



I have sold out my place and am wntcliiiiK 

 The Review for a new location. I carried iin «<! 

 in one issue and received replies from Minnesota, 

 Montana, Texas, Florida, KansaH and Michl;;aii! 

 Does It pay to advertise in The Review'- \ 

 should say it does! — R. II. Stokes, Springlieid 

 Mo., March l.'j, 1919. 



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. 



LET EVERYBODY PUSH. 



The time has come for everybody in 

 the trade to put his shoulder to the wheel 

 — there is plenty of stock of one kind or 

 another to keep everybody selling at the 

 necessary prices. 



There has been complaint on the part 

 of retail florists that the season's good 

 business has not afforded them adequate 

 return because of the higher cost of 

 stock. Growers reply that the retailers 

 had become so accustomed to pocketing 

 the bulk of the profits made by the trade 

 that they were loath to share them with 

 the producers, but be that as it may, 

 stock is plentiful again and wholesale 

 prices are lower, affording the retailers 

 whatever profit opportunities were de- 

 nied them earlier in the season. It will 

 pay to push. 



The immediate future of the florists' 

 business lies in the hands of the retail- 

 ers. They can work together in their 

 several communities to maintain prices 

 so that they can make good profits for 

 themselves after paying the growers in 

 proportion to the present cost of living, 

 or the retailers can revert to their 

 former custom of scrambling for trade, 

 each striving to undersell the others. 



The chief difficulty in getting fair re- 

 turns out of all branches of the flower 

 business from this time on will arise 

 from the fact that the average florist 

 knows no other way to get trade except 

 to reduce prices; the idea of really sup- 

 plying better stock and actually giving 

 better service as a means of increasing 

 trade has made little headway. 



GENERAL BUSINESS. 



"Moderate but still definite progress 

 toward better things," is "Brad- 

 street's" summary of the trade develop- 

 ments of the week, while on the same 

 subject "Dun's Review" says: "Not 

 without accompanying irregularities, 

 yet ■vV'ith unmistakable clearness, tlic 

 betterment in business is being grad"- 

 ally extended. Both in growth of actual 

 transactions and in strengthening of 

 that sentiment which is essential to 

 further revival, the week has been one 

 of good progress in certain leading 

 branches, and where no gain at all ap- 

 pears, price uncertainties chiefly ex- 

 ])lain tlie continued halting. With un- 

 diminished force, the price question 

 dominates most commercial markets, 

 and buyers, while momentarily disre- 

 garding the clement of cost, if thi^r 

 Avants be especially urgent, are, in tlie 

 main, still waiting for various com- 

 modities to move more decisively down- 

 ward. ' ' 



