20 



The Florists^ Review 



January 9, 1919. 



Estebllshed. 1897, by O. L. GRANT. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co.. 



620-660 Oaxton Bulidlnif, 



506 South Dear bora St., Ohlcaffo. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Regrlstered cable address, 



FlorTlew, Ohicagro. 



Entered as second class matter fl 

 Dec.3.1897.atthepc8t-officeatOhl. ^ 

 cago. 111., under the Act of March 



3 1879. 



' Subscription price, $1JS0 a year. 

 To Canada, $2.60; to Europe, $3.00. 



Advertlslngr rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad. 

 Tertlslng accepted. 



NOTICE. 



It is impossible to guarantee the in- 

 sertion, discontinuance or alteration of 

 any advertisement unless instructions 

 are received 



BY 4 P. M. TUESDAY. 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Beview brings results. 



Roses fetched $2 apiece in good stores 

 in Paris at Christmas. 



Easter this year comes April 20, 

 three weeks later than in 1918. 



In what other line do retail merchants 

 make such effort to depress the market 

 on which they buy! 



The governments are releasing raffia, 

 which has lieen considered an essential 

 of warfare for nearly four years. 



The florist who does unto others as he 

 would he done by never lacks for any of 

 the things that make business good. 



If you arc sure your stock and your 

 service are the best in your section, send 

 word to the public. Hire an ad. 



Some florists can not get it through 

 their lioads that times have changed, 

 that bills now must be paid according to 

 the seller's terms rather than according 

 to the buyer's convenience. 



In order to stimulate confidence and 

 further increase the transfer-order de- 

 partment, two things are necessary: The 

 florist who receives such an order must 

 fill it, even if it entails great effort or 

 little jirofit, and the florist wlio sends the 

 order must pay the hill, not sometime but 

 p. d. q. 



Transportation did not break down 

 during the holiday rush as it did in 1917. 

 greatly to the relief of all florists, many 

 of whom had feared another sad experi- 

 ence. Train service and wagon service 

 are curtailed, but weather conditions were 

 much more favorable than in December, 

 1917, and everyone lacing forewarned, 

 serious congestion was avoided. 



It seems quite likely that members of 

 the traile are themselves responsible for 

 the public's idea that flower shortage 

 and jiricc altitudes were worse than really 

 was the case at Christmas. A lot of us 

 are like the parrot of anecdotal fame in 

 that we talk too much, but we are unlike 

 that bird in that we have not discovered 

 it is wliat is the matter with us. 



Prepare for a record Easter. 



Grow good stock; no other kind pays 

 except at intervals. 



The men who could keep their green- 

 houses going probably did about as well 

 in 1918 as in 1917. 



Instead of trying to undersell your 

 competitor, encourage him to ask as much 

 as you. Think it over and talk it over. 



Express rates went up again January 

 1. The first thing the government does on 

 taking control of a utility is to raise 

 wages and increase rates, then it repeats, 

 and curtails service. 



The larger retailers as a class are 

 charging in proportion to the cost of stock 

 purchased; it is the man who grows his 

 own flowers who most needs education on 

 cost-finding and price-making. 



An accounting expert who recently has 

 had occasion to audit the books of sev- 

 eral florists says that in no other trade 

 of his acquaintance is so little attention 

 paid to breakage and waste. These 

 losses, he says, account in large measure 

 for the absence of satisfactory profits. 



Taking the trade as a whole, florists 

 start 1919 in better financial condition 

 than ever before. During 1918 none of 

 us was allowed to pile up liabilities — ^it 

 was a case of pay as you go — and the 

 good prices of the last quarter of the 

 year made it possible to clear up a lot of 

 old matters, to the great advantage of 

 the debtor as well as of the creditor. 



The cost of living and of doing busi- 

 ness continues to rise and, when it stops 

 rising, will come down slowly because of 

 the cost of labor. Labor complains of 

 the cost of living and is itself the princi- 

 pal factor in that of which it complains. 

 But florists share the general view; we 

 do not wish to see wages fall faster than 

 commodity prices do, because labor has 

 l^ecome our best patron. 



There are three big reasons why Amer- 

 ica will not soon produce the plants which 

 will not be permitted to come from Eu- 

 rope after June 1. In the first place, we 

 have too few skilled growers and no cheap 

 labor that can be trained. In the second 

 place, not many who have the necessary 

 capital will be willing to invest it under 

 conditions which can be changed by the 

 stroke of a pen. And, finally, neither 

 men nor money could overcome the neces- 

 sary clement of time for plant growth. 



IT WILL NOT DOWN. 



The Federal Horticultural Board 

 finds itself under fire for practically the 

 first time since it was created; the 

 board's previous acts have been with 

 sufficient reason to pass without much 

 jirotest, but its general quarantine con- 

 tains so many points open to criticism 

 that Washington is not likely to hear 

 the last of it so long as the quarantine 

 stands unmodified. 



At present it is only interested Amer- 

 icans, whose business is hurt, who are 

 carrying the matter to higher powers, 

 but soon European governments are 

 likely to be heard from and in the course 

 of time the American public will want 

 to know. 



The Federal Horticultural Board com- 

 pletely disregarded the trade, after in- 

 viting an expression of its opinion. The 

 thing for the trade to do now is to edu- 

 cate members of Congress and United 

 States senators. 



FBOFITEEBS! OH! MY! 



The following is an editorial para- 

 graph from a nationally circulated Bos- 

 ton newspaper: 



Never, since greenhouses were Introduced Into 

 America, have flowers been so scarce and so 

 high as at the present time. Many people are 

 remarking this fact, some with a disposition to 

 criticize the producers and the florists as prof- 

 iteers. The true explanation goes back to the 

 supposed coal shortage a few months ago, when 

 the greenhouse men had their normal fuel supply 

 cut one-half. This meant shutting down fifty 

 per cent of the houses, with a corresponding 

 loss in production. It is safe to say that the 

 flower growers are feeling as uncomfortable over 

 the situation as are their customers, for they 

 are making less profit than when fiowers sold 

 for about half as much as now. Nor are they 

 made happier by being told that there is plenty 

 of coal. 



Profiteers! Those who call us that 

 don't know. Every retail florist has 

 been doing his best to keep prices down, 

 many of those who jgrow their own stock 

 even selling below the cost of produc- 

 tion! 



THE REVIEW'S POSITION. 



The Eeview is the forum for the dis- 

 cussion of trade problems, but it is not 

 to be considered that it endorses the 

 ideas of its correspondents any more 

 than it passes an opinion on the success 

 of a project by recording the news of its 

 inception. 



THIS IS NO FABLE. 



There was once a boy in a florist 's 

 store who made believe to himself he 

 was the "boss." Whenever he made 

 a sale he treated the customer as though 

 he owned the store. Whenever he did 

 any work around the store he did it as 

 if he owned the place. Eventually he 

 owned the place. 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



Conditions throughout the market 

 from New Year's day to the end of last 

 week can be likened to the calm that 

 follows the storm. Business was some- 

 what slow and there was plenty of 

 everything to go around. Shipping 

 business was badly handicapped by the 

 extreme cold. In spite of all precau- 

 tions a great deal of stock arrived in 

 the market frozen and the same thing 

 happened to a great many outgoing 

 sliipments. January 6 conditions were 

 better. Business picked up wonderfully 

 and the wholesalers were well satisfied, 

 especially when they looked back to a 

 year ago this week, when Chicago ex- 

 perienced its worst blizzard and ship- 

 ping was tied up for an entire week. 



New Year's business, as a whole, was 

 far above that of last year, both with 

 the wholesalers and city retailers. The 

 retailers reported a large volume of 

 decorations for tables, etc., for New 

 Year's eve, and most of them were 

 swamped with corsage orders. Extra 

 hands were necessary to handle the rush. 



The stock coming in is good and con- 

 tinues to bring a satisfactory price, 

 but, considering the fine quality of some 

 of the stock, the prices are none too 

 liigh. Rose prices vary little from those 

 of last week. All varieties of roses, 

 with the exception of Russell and Colum- 

 bia, are arriving in good supply, there 

 being just enough to meet the present 

 demand. Russell and Columbia in all 

 lengths are on the short side. Carna- 

 tions in some of the houses are equal to 

 the call and in others are overplentiful. 



