34 



The Florists^ Review 



April 10, 1919. 



ff 



EstobllsUed, 1897, by G. L. GRANT. 



Publlahed every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co., 



630-S60 Oaxtoa Building, 



608 South Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele.. Wabash 8195. 



R«(?i8tered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago, lU., under the Act of March 

 3.1879. 



Subscription price, $1.S0 a year. 

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



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



t! 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



It may be in line to open flower stores 

 in some of the good rooms which will 

 cease to be saloons July 1. 



What this trade needs is not so much 

 increased quantity as it is improved qual- 

 ity in plants and cut flowers. 



Mothers' day comes only three weeks 

 after Easter, and Memorial day less than 

 three weeks after Mothers' day. Some 

 busy season, eh, what? 



Thus far there has been a big shortage 

 of geraniums this season, but unless all 

 signs fail there will be enough, perhaps 

 some to spare, by late May or early June. 



Moss, one of the scarce items early in 

 the season, has turned the way so many 

 of our trade commodities do under the 

 stimulus of a little better than the usual 

 prices. 



The florists ' business improves wonder- 

 fully in all its aspects as the units be- 

 come larger. Big business can do with 

 ease many things impossible to small 

 business. 



There will not always be the equal of 

 this «Beason 's demand for plants and the 

 shipper who thinks anything good enough 

 to send to the man who has paid cash in 

 advance will be the first to feel the change. 



After all, there are lilies, cut, enough 

 to supply the demand this Easter — to sup- 

 ply the demand at the price, that is. 

 Many retailers are not handling lilies be- 

 cause they are not disposed to pay the 

 prices asked. 



The rapidity with which production 

 has been brought back to normal has been 

 the surprise of the season. Florists have 

 been able to resume normal production 

 more quickly than most other trades cur- 

 tailed during the war. 



It is a perfectly good policy to ship 

 cuttings and plants only to those who 

 have sent cash with order, but with such 

 a policy goes the necessity of satisfying 

 the buyers. One who does not do so soon 

 runs himself out of the business. 



Ten years ago there were no flower 

 stores outside the larger cities, practically 

 all the product being retailed from the 

 greenhouses. Now there are retail flower 

 stores even in the small towns and scores 

 of new ones are being opened this season. 



The Rainbow Number. 



Flowers are linguists; they speak all 

 languages. 



There never was a time when the flo- 

 rists' business grew as fast as it is grow- 

 ing now. 



All the signs indicate that the florists' 

 business rapidly is returning to the con- 

 ditions which existed before the war. 



Exceedingly easy terms have been ar- 

 ranged for the Victory loan and florists 

 will not be hard pressed in buying to the 

 limit. 



' ' Stone walls do not a prison make, 

 nor iron bars a cage," is a statement of 

 fact. Another statement, just as true, 

 is that flowers alone do not make a flo- 

 rist's shop. 



The high cost of tulip bulbs is given by 

 city authorities of Boston as the reason 

 for the absence of the usual beds in the 

 public parks of that city this spring. 



Not much courage is needed to proph- 

 esy that Easter business this year will be 

 good, and even a timid man might venture 

 to say that a record or two may lose 

 prestige when the figures are compiled. 



The immediate future of the fuel mar- 

 ket still is in doubt. The coal trade and 

 one government department seem to be 

 seeking to stabilize prices at about the 

 same level as last season, but the railroad 

 administration refuses to recognize such 

 action and contends that both coal and 

 steel should come down still more. 



The farmers are decidedly opposed to 

 the change of time occasioned by the day- 

 light saving law, but florists, large num- 

 bers of whom work from sunrise to sun- 

 set, just as farmers were supposed to do, 

 seem to favor the change. Giving advice 

 to farmers is the city man's specialty, so 

 The Review ventures the suggestion that 

 those who do not like the present order 

 of things just let the old clock run down 

 and go on doing business by the sun as 

 in ye olden time. 



SHORT CREDITS, PROMPT PAY. 



Florists should note the trend of the 

 times indicated in the warnii^ to credit 

 men of the country that a new danger 

 confronts them, by J. H. Tregoe, secre- 

 tary-treasurer of the National Associa- 

 tion of Credit Men, in a letter addressed 

 to members of the organization. He de- 

 clares there has arisen a demand for the 

 exercise of credit skill such as never be- 

 fore has been known in the history of 

 the nation, Mr. Tregoe states that a 

 marked change has come to business in 

 the last four months, as from a state of 

 incapacity to produce all that was re- 

 quired, the business men now have ca- 

 pacity waiting on demand. To bring 

 about a better balance between capacity 

 and demand by increasing the latter is 

 the problem, he continues. 



"The time has arrived for credit men 

 throughout the country," avers Mr. Tre- 

 goe, "to use ingenuity to sell and pro- 

 tect accounts to the fullest, a time to 

 know every credit fact and have a well 

 established reason for the hope that is 

 in them. The credit men must not be 

 obstinate in changing the attitude which 

 has become fixed during the war period. 

 We realize that the working out of re- 

 adjustment problems rests upon the flex- 

 ibility of commercial credits, yet it is 

 just as important now that terms be 

 short, collections prompt, with discrim- 

 ination exercised in the selections of 



risks, as at any time in the war period. 

 "Don't be an easy mark in the time 

 ahead when the pressure will be to let 

 down credit bars. Never be accused of 

 being easy, but be known as a credit 

 man who is ready to grant credits liber- 

 ally if only it can be shown that the 

 basis of credit is there. The temptation 

 is strong, but do not let down the bars 

 in our hour of peril." 



TOO MANY READERS. 



It is generally recognized that prac- 

 tically all the florists, nurserymen and 

 seedsmen in the United States are reg- 

 ular readers of The Review, and that 

 this publication is the buyers' guide for 

 practically the whole trade. Usually 

 such a condition is considered a val- 

 uable asset for a trade paper, but this 

 season there is complaint that The Re- 

 view reaches too many buyers, that un- 

 less an advertiser has a pretty fair 

 batch of stock the orders he receives ex- 

 ceed his ability to fill them. Like this: 



For heaven's sake cut out my ad for Easter 

 Greeting. It takes two men and a boy to open 

 the orders and I spend most of my time return- 

 ing money. I did not know there were so many 

 florists In this good old U. S. A. — B. M. Robin- 

 son, the Emporia Floral Co., Emporia, Kan., 

 April 2, 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. 



QUALITY OUR CUE. 



With each passing season florists come 

 more and more into competition with 

 those in other lines of business. This 

 comes about through the addition of 

 various lines of accessories, etc., which 

 are being taken up by flower stores, and 

 through the disposition of department 

 stores to try out anything noted as sell- 

 ing well in specialty shops. But the 

 florist has nothing to fear from compe- 

 tition if he makes quality the keynote 

 of his establishment, both in merchan- 

 dise and in service. The merchandise 

 in a flower store should be of superior 

 quality; there should be no attempt to 

 compete on price. Not only should the 

 flowers and plants be better than those 

 offered elsewhere, but the ribbons, bas- 

 kets, flower bowls and other items 

 should be good. The handling of the 

 stock should be as skillful as can be. 

 The leaders in the trade are not the 

 Cheap Johns, but those who strive to 

 excel on quality. With the increasing 

 wealth of the country there is an in- 

 creasing number of buyers who know 

 quality when they see it and who are 

 willing to pay what quality costs. 



Work each day toward a higher stand- 

 ard. Remember that it is not so much 

 where we are, but where we are going 

 that counts. 



AN ANTIDOTE. 



Enviousness is of course a bad thing 

 and should be avoided. 



If you have a little of it in your sys- 

 tem in consequence of progress being 

 made by some other concern in your line, 

 you should take an antidote at onee. 



The best antidote in a case of this 

 kind is advertising. It will eradicate 

 the trouble more rapidly than anything 

 else. 



Do not take it, however, without ex- 

 pert advice. One way to get advice on 

 the subject is to write to the Editor of 

 The Review. 



