24 



The Florists^ Review 



January 30, 1919. 



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iTS* 



BBtebllshed, 1897, by a. L. aRANT. 



Publlahed every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishino Co., 



620-B60 Oaxton BalidlDg, 



906 Sootb Dearborn St., Ohlcago. 



Tele.. Wabash 8196. 



Registered cable address, 



Florylew, OhlcsKO. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897, at the pcat-offlce at Chi- 

 cago. Ill,, under the Act of March 

 S 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

 To Oanada, $2.60; to Europe, (3.00. 



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising 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. 



— '■■■'■■■ ' ■ ■ ™ 



Besults bring advertising. 

 The Beview brings results. 



Fuel consumption this January has 

 been only a small fraction of what it was 

 in the initial month of 1918. 



At funerals we now see at least as many 

 colored flowers as white ones, a change 

 in custom greatly to the advantage of the 

 trade. 



There will be no large spring flower 

 show in the United States, or elsewhere, 

 this year. It is too soon after the close 

 of the war. 



The S. a. F. committee on National. 

 Flower Show is expected to present, at the 

 Detroit convention in August, plans for 

 resuming the series of large exhibitions 

 interrupted by the war. 



One will be risking no reputation as a 

 prophet if it is predicted that next 

 spring's bedding season will be much 

 heavier than in the last two years. It 

 will be as well to get ready. 



Plan now to keep a record of the St. 

 Valentine's day orders, the ones received 

 from other florists and the ones sent for 

 other florists to deliver, number of orders 

 and total value. Send the record to The 

 Eeview February 15. 



Do not fear there will be little stock 

 for Easter and spring. The trade is 

 filled with energetic, resourceful men, 

 and they are working up large blocks of 

 plants of many kinds. We are confident 

 there will bo call for all. 



W. E. Wallace, Eaton Bray, England, 

 who has many American friends, visitors 

 to his place and acquaintances made on a 

 trip here the year of our first national 

 flower show, is planning another tour of 

 the United States this summer. 



The help problem is steadUy correcting 

 itself through the cessation of war and 

 war work. Especially in the eastern muni- 

 tions centers there is plenty of unskiUed 

 labor to be had at moderate wages. 

 Skilled help never was abundant in the 

 florists' business. 



On the whole, the new year has started 

 well and promises better. 



A FLORIST should wear a smiling coun- 

 tenance; frowns and flowers do not go 

 together. 



Let's let "the other fellow" have 

 some business if he wants to take it at 

 unprofitable prices. 



Sell good stock and the customer comes 

 back. Sell poor stock and you probably 

 never hear of it again, unless there is a 

 kick. 



We must not overcharge the public, 

 but we must ask enough and pay enough 

 to encourage the production of good 

 stock. 



It may be well to say again that in- 

 quiries which do not bear the full name 

 and address of the sender cannot receive 

 attention. 



There is every indication that green- 

 house building and rebuilding will break 

 all records, not in the size of the jobs, 

 but in their number. 



Ip the average person were an accurate 

 judge of values a good many people 

 would go out of business. This wiU ex- 

 plain why your competitor is able to stick 

 around. 



Perhaps no other day in the year, not 

 even Christmas or Mothers' day, affords . 

 the opportunity St. Valentine's day gives 

 for boosting the telegraph delivery de- 

 partment. 



The attention to complaints and claims 

 is even slower than when the express com- 

 panies were separately and privately op- 

 erated. Nor has remittance on C. 0. D.'s 

 been accelerated, to say the least. 



Large numbers of new people now are 

 going into the florists' business, in the 

 majority of cases in a modest way, grow- 

 ing outdoor stock for local trade. Green- 

 houses will come later for those who suc- 

 ceed. 



A FEW florists may think that anything 

 is good enough to work up in a funeral 

 piece. It is not true. Listen to the com- 

 ments made on the flowers after any large 

 funeral and it will be plain that the only 

 way to get away with it is to deliver the 

 pieces with only the name of the pur- 

 chaser. 



Among other items the cut flower mar- 

 kets will lose through the operation of the 

 approaching quarantine is Iris tingitana, 

 the roots of which have come from Hol- 

 land and the Island of Guernsey. But 

 perhaps someone will in time develop an 

 American supply of roots that can be 

 forced. 



For years the florists' trade has been 

 becoming less and less attractive to in- 

 telligent, ambitious workers; yet it is a 

 fine business. What we need is to raise 

 our standards all along the line. Now is 

 the time to make a start, each doing his 

 part. Wages are up; keep them there. 

 Prices are up ; keep them there. 



The florists' trade is different from 

 most lines of business in that there is no 

 control over selling prices; the producer 

 must sell his output within a limited time 

 after it is ready or see it spoil, Vfith the 

 result that he takes as much as he can or 

 as little as he must. It would be easier, 

 far, if sales could be declined or produc- 

 tion slowed up when prices are too low to 

 be profitable. 



DEMAND AND SUPPLY. ^ 



Apprehensions as to the effect on the 

 trade of the war were scarcely formu- 

 lated before prognostications were 

 heard as to the difficulties which must 

 be faced in the period of reconstruc- 

 tion followiijg suspension of hostilities. 

 But, as in the case of the dying father 

 who told his sons that he had had a 

 good deal of trouble during his long life, 

 but that most of it was things that 

 never happened, a good deal of this 

 pessimism has not been justified by 

 actual conditions. At any rate, the law 

 of supply and demand has kept things 

 moving and reports from every quar- 

 ter are indicative of improved condi- 

 tions rather than the contrary. This 

 is one of the reasons for the optimism 

 which characterizes the reports received 

 from patrons of the Classified depart- 

 ment of The Eeview. Another is that 

 experience has taught them how to find 

 a market for their crops at a trifling 

 cost. We submit that there is nothing 

 in the letters of these growers to in- 

 dicate discouragement: 



Please omit our geranium ad In the Classifled 

 section for a while. Orders are coming in 

 faster than we can fill them. — Cherry Park Gar- 

 dens, Fredonia, N. Y., January 13, 1919. . 



Kindly discontinue my ad in the Classifled 

 department for chrysanthemum stock plants. It 

 is costing me too much in postage to return 

 checks. — Max B. Schreiber, McDonald, Pa., Jan- 

 uary 11, 1919. 



When you hear a man complain of 

 the cost of advertising you can be pretty 

 sure he spends a good bit of money else- 

 where than in The Eeview. 



OHIOAOO. 



The Market. 



An increase in both shipping business 

 and city demand has caused a further 

 shortage of stock. The market this 

 week finds short and medium-stemmed 

 roses extremely scarce, with long- 

 stemmed stock, which was abundant 

 last week, just about plentiful enough 

 to go around. With this condition pre- 

 vailing, a further shortage is predicted 

 for St. Valentine's day. Many of the 

 wholesalers have large advance orders 

 for carnations and roses. The rose 

 price holds up. A scarcity of Beauties 

 continues, with prices stiff. Carnations 

 are no longer abundant, there being 

 just enough for the call, due to the in- 

 crease in out-of-town orders. There is 

 not as much stock coming in as there 

 was last week, as the carnation crop is 

 starting to shorten up. Everything 

 cleans up, from the commonest splits to 

 those of the highest grade, but prices 

 are not advancing. 



Valley is scarce and from present in- 

 dications there will not be enough for 

 St. Valentine 's day, at which time an 

 enormous quantity is used for corsage 

 work. The demand for orchids has in- 

 creased, but there is more than enough 

 stock to go around. Plenty of violets 

 are coming in to take care of immediate 

 needs and no shortage of these is looked 

 for. Easter lilies are scarce; likewise 

 callas. A shortage of calendulas con- 

 tinues. Sweet peas in all lengths of 

 stems are now arriving plentifully and 

 there is enough to take care of the pres- 

 ent call for them. The flowers are of 

 fine quality and bring a satisfactory 

 price. 



Although stevia is about over for the 

 season, there is still a little to be had. 

 Paper Whites continue on the long side, 

 but yellow narcissi remain scarce. The 



