WHY NOT PRACTICE 



WHAT YOU PREACH? 



While the S. A. F. is spending a proposed sum of ^100,000 in magasines 

 and individual florists ar^ spending an aggregate of many times that amount, 

 all to tell the public to "Say It with Flowers," the same gospel may be spread 

 effectively by force of example. 



w-^r% 



HEN the trade spends its 

 money to exhort the public 

 to "Say It with Flow- 

 ers, ' ' the message in those 

 four >,ords is not limited 

 to their literal meaning. 

 Surely, we advise the 

 younger generation to ex- 

 press its affection on 

 Mothers' day by sendidg 

 mother flowers, we counsel the suitor 

 and husband to hold the esteem of their 

 fair ones by sending them occasional 

 boxes of blooms, we maintain that the 

 spirit of the year's chief holidays is best 

 conveyed by flowers, and we believe 

 tnat sympatny for a bereaved family is 

 shown most fittingly by floral remem- 

 brances. But "Say It with Flowers" 

 means much more also. It means not 

 only that flowers are the finest conveyors 

 of sentiment, but that they are also 

 the surest visible sign of beauty and 

 aesthetic appreciation in the home and 

 in the community. And not only flow- 

 ers, but also plants, shrubs, trees, win- 

 dow-boxes, gardens, home grounds — 

 the whole range of floricultural possi- 

 bilities is suggested to the public by the 

 simply wotded phrase, "Say It with 

 Flowers." We could not confine the 

 meaning of the slogan to the flowers 

 sold as merchandise, even if we would. 



AU to Florist's Gain. 



And the florist reaps a benefit from 

 the other implications of the phrase, for 

 he is called upon to supply the plants 

 for the window-boxes and gardens, and 

 if he carries seeds and nursery stock, 

 he gains a profit from them at planting 

 time. Pot plants and bedding plants are 

 increasingly important in his sales. 



There is, then, ample reason for thp^ 

 florist to boost all these forms of hor- 



ticulture. And there is the more rea- 

 son since his sales of flowers will grow 

 in pace with the public's appreciation 

 of all forms of floral beauty. The home 

 garden is not a competitor of the florist; 

 it is an aid to him. If he loses at all in 

 the summer time, because the house- 

 wife obtains the blooms for her table 

 from her own yard, he gains in the win- 

 ter, when the same housewife, who has 

 become accustomed to having flowers 

 on the dining table and about the house, 

 comes to purchase them of him. The 

 greatest advantage will come to the 

 florist from the public's habit of seeing 

 and enjoying flowers and plants about 

 them 80 much that they come to feel the 

 necessity of having them as a matter of 

 course. That is the end to which the 

 trade's advertising works. 



Means to tlie End. 



As means of bringing about that re- 

 sult there are ways besides printed ad- 

 vertising. In addition to telling the 

 public what to do, the florist has the 

 opportunity of showing the public how 

 to do it. To the power of argument he 

 can add the force of example. In other 

 words, he can gain much by practicing 

 what he preaches. He can "Say It with 

 Flowers" himself as well as he can say 

 it with print. 



Most florists now do this to a greater 

 or less extent. What is desired is that 

 they all, not some, do it to a greater 

 extent. Flower boxes adorn the fronts 

 of many stores; boxwoods and ever- 

 greens in tubs often grace the entrance 

 or decorate the sidewalk. It goes with- 

 out saying that the window should be 

 arranged as attractively as possible, for 

 if ever flowers can talk, here they 

 should be made to say, "Buy Me!" to 

 the passers-by. The store interiors are 



decorated with plants and flowers as 

 pleasingly as can be by florists who are 

 leaders in their profession. The whole 

 atmosphere of a flower store should con- 

 vey the possibilities of the enjoyment 

 of flowers. 



Where the location permits, much use " 

 can be made of adjoining grounds by 

 the florist. No such space is, of course, 

 available to the owner of a shop in a 

 crowded shopping center. But, compar- 

 atively speaking, these are few, and 

 thousands of florists have from a few 

 feet to an entire lot of vacant property 

 where they now have plantings or 

 might have them. 



What J. W. Briggs, of the Briggs 

 Floral Co., at Moorhead, Minn., did on 

 the plot illustrated below is just one 

 example of what hundreds of others 

 have done towards showing the folks ia 

 their towns how to ' ' Say It with Flow- 

 ers. " Mr. Briggs took advantage of a 

 tract that formed the Northern Pacific 

 railroad's right of way. "He had amplei 

 space thereon to construct a little park 

 next to his store. Trees, shrubs, urns 

 and a fountain make a splendid form of 

 advertising for the store. And the 

 work was not much in comparison with 

 the returns. 



Traffic Post Flower Box. 



To this more usual method of helping 

 the townsfolk to a fuller appreciation 

 and use of plants and shrubs, Mr. 

 Briggs added one novel idea of his own. 

 This may be seen in the illustration. 

 It is the flower box that surmounts the 

 traflBc post on the corner. Every one 

 of the concrete traflic posts in the town 

 of Moorhead is equipped with a self 

 watering flower box, in all of which the 

 plants grow well. The bpx is built to fit 

 snugly on the top of the post, slipping 



Flower Boxes en the Tralfic Posts and a Park on the Railroad Right of Vay are Two Methods. 



