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A BIT ABOUT 



THIS AND THAT 



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Cooperation has succeeded competition in many lines of business, but it 

 is doubtful if the florists^trade has progressed to the point where the good 

 of all will be considered as outweighing supposed self-interest. Still, the 

 ideas here set forth may be workable. Who knows f 



'^;:^-^s 



HE florists' business is 

 passing through what 

 might be called a period 

 of automatic reconstruc- 

 tion, and it will, as a re- 

 sult, emerge as a real busi- 

 ness, conducted on real 

 business principles. The 

 ideas of yesteryear have 

 gone into the discard and 

 the trade is awake to the fact that its 

 methods are in need of radical revision, 

 riorists in general have become 

 greatly interested in finding out the cost 

 of production, a phase of the business 

 heretofore overlooked almost entirely. 

 Gone forever, let us hope, are the days 

 when flowers were peddled on the street. 

 Especially do we hope we have seen the 

 last of the faker who, on a Saturday 

 night, shouts, "Eoses 10 cents a 

 bunch;" of the department store which 

 advertises Boston ferns 

 at 29 cents each, and 

 the peddlers ' wagons 

 loaded with spring bed- 

 ding plants, all of 

 which have been fac- 

 tors in holding our 

 business on a much 

 lower plane than it 

 should be. The public 

 not unnaturally has 

 taken the hawkers ' 

 prices as a basis aiid, 

 when asked $2 or $3 per 

 dozen for roses, 25 

 cents per bud and 

 bloom for Easter lilies, 

 $1 for a Boston fern at 

 alegitimate flower 

 store, had the impres- 

 sion of being "robbed 

 in broad daylight." 



War Changed Things. 



Conditions brought 

 about by the war will 

 have had the effect of 

 putting the business on 

 its proper plane, and in 

 many ways it will work 

 out for the benefit of 

 everyone in the trade. 



Having no lilies this 

 Easter will bring its re- 

 ward, insofar as it will 

 give the public the sen- 

 sation of not having 

 lilies aplenty, and peo- 

 ple will be made to 

 realize how necessary 

 an Easter lily is. 



The embargo on Eu- 

 ropean plants, which 

 goes into effect June 1, 

 while on the face of it 

 unwarranted and un- 



BY ROBERT S. EDGAR. 



necessary, will work itself out satisfac- 

 torily if we have patience. 



It means that all varieties of stock 

 formerly imported from Europe will be 

 grown in this country and sold at in- 

 creased prices and, while such plants 

 will not be handled in such large quanti- 

 ties as before, the net profit per plant 

 will be larger. The increased selling 

 price will take care of the increased cost. 



Figure It Out. 



Azaleas we shall have to do without, 

 as there is only one place on this earth 

 where they can be readily grown, and 

 that is Belgium. The condition of plants 

 received from California is conclusive 

 evidence that we have not learned to 

 grow them here. 



We used to import Ardisia crenulata 



BUT WE HAVEN'T CAUGHT THE SQUIRREL 



A Cartoonist's Idea of the Cost of Doing Business. 





from'^Belgium in the spring, at 50 cents 

 the^her side, grow them till Christmas 

 anti sell them for $2. That 50-cent plant 

 wiuld cost $1.50 to grow here for three 

 years, but if it is sold for $4 at Christ- 

 mas there is an increase of $1 in the 

 gross profit as compared to that on the 

 imported plant. The increased cost of 

 production will be taken care of, pro- 

 vided that florists are awake to the sup- 

 ply and demand. 



There are many beautiful plants that 

 we can grow ourselves which have al- 

 ways been considered cheap and common 

 because they were sidetracked by im- 

 ported goods. 



While the demand for flowers and 

 plants keeps steadily increasing, it is 

 doubtful if there will be any material 

 increase in production with the cost of 

 greenhouse material where it is at pres- 

 ent. Glass, for instance, is $8 per box, 

 that years ago cost 

 $2.12, and less than 

 that at times. The re- 

 cent autumn and 

 Christmas have proved 

 that flower lovers will 

 pay a reasonable in- 

 crease in price for our 

 product, and it behooves 

 florists to get together 

 and consider supply 

 and demand, thereby 

 standardizing the busi- 

 ness and regulating 

 prices. 



A "Soviet" Plan! 



It is reasonable and 

 feasible for florists to 

 control every line of 

 the business to avoid 

 gluts, and a plan could 

 be worked out by hav- 

 ing a board of trade in 

 various sections of the 

 •country, and it might 

 be to considerable ad- 

 vantage to have such 

 boards affiliated with 

 the S. A. F. in such a 

 way as to get the co- 

 operation of all the 

 local boards. 



For example, let us 

 take New England as 

 a district, with the con- 

 trolling board located 

 in Boston. Every grow- 

 er in that district 

 should be asked to list 

 the quantity and varie- 

 ties of plants he has 

 benched, or, with pot 

 plants, that have re- 

 ceived the final potting. 

 The quantities sub- 



