24 



The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBBB 16, 1919 



Established, 1897, by a. L. QRANT. 



PablUhed every Thursday by 

 Thb Florists* Publishing Co., 



620-560 Oaxton BulIdlnR, 



608 South Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele.. Wabash 8196. 



Reg'iitered cable address, 



Florrlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago, 111., under the Act of March 

 3,1879. 



Subscription price, $1.80 a year. 

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



Advertising rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlslngr accepted. 



!! 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



There are not many lines of work in 

 which better wages are paid than now are 

 going to good growers. 



Not too high, because we want every- 

 one to buy freely, but let's hope we, as a 

 trade, never go back to the old days of 

 low prices. 



The war made many troubles, but it 

 took the first year of peace to show flo- 

 rists that they could get profitable prices 

 for good stock by asking for them. 



It usually is the unexpected that hap- 

 pens in this trade, but unless all signs fail 

 it will be a long time before stock in gen- 

 eral is plentiful in the florists ' trade. 



Long and vexatious delays attend the 

 importing of seeds and bulbs again this 

 year. When one orders imported stock 

 he can not know how soon the order will be 

 filled. 



There is no large trade flower show 

 .anywhere in the United States this year. 

 The next big flower show will be at New 

 York in the spring and largely dependent 

 on the private gardeners for exhibits. 



Authors of all ages have written 

 florists' advertising, for in the literature 

 of every period one finds reference to 

 flowers. The florist's task is simply to 

 place this advertising before those who 

 will make it pay. 



Reports indicate that only a small 

 quantity of cyclamen seed has been 

 planted this season, principally due to the 

 failure of expected imports to arrive. 

 Those who can look ahead can see a 

 shortage of plants for Christmas, 1920, 

 and later. 



It will be some time before Belgian 

 glass is a factor on the American market. 

 During the first six months of 1919 Bel- 

 gian glass works exported 3,772 tons jof 

 window pane glass, valued at 5,600,000 

 francs. The present production is up to 

 ten per cent of the pre-war production, of 

 which ninety per cent was exported. 



Penn's magazine for lovers of flow- 

 ers celebrates its fifth birthday with the 

 October issue. It is called The Blue Flow- 

 er, because, according to the old legend, 

 the flower of that hue was the symbol ot 

 happiness. Its eight pages carry propa- 

 ganda to bear out the symbolic title, and 

 the covers advertise Penn's offerings. 



Forehanded and farsighted florists be- 

 come the trade 's leaders. 



It is reported that Charles H. Totty 

 Co., Madison, N. J., will disseminate 

 Rose Frank W. Dunlop, pink, in 1920. 



What is advertised as "the ideal 

 hardy plant for cut flower purposes" is 

 being offered in England, by a firm, one 

 member of which received his training in 

 America, with the Chicago Carnation Co. 

 The plant, called Allwoodii, is said to be 

 a hybrid between the perpetual-flowering 

 carnation and the hardy dianthus. Six 

 colors are offered. 



LOOK OUT FOR HIM. 



That petty swindler, the subscription 

 faker, seems to have resumed his pre- 

 war occupation. Look out for him. 



The Review does not employ subscrip- 

 tion canvajsers. Its local representa- 

 tives all are well known to the florists 

 of their territory. Don't pay money to 

 strangers. 



If anyone offers a premium of any 

 sort to secure payment of a subscrip- 

 tion fee, give him the laugh — it will be 

 sure evidence that he is a faker. Look 

 out for him. 



QXnOK ACTION. 



It seems to make little difference 

 what one offers for sale these days, or 

 whence the offer comes; there are ready 

 takers for practically everything the 

 trade uses. Like this: 



Please discontinue the advertisement of carna- 

 tion plants. We sold out at the first day's mall. 

 — Wise Adkisson, October 9, 1919. 



The 13,983 flower pots were sold on an order 

 that reached us by telegraph even before our 

 own copy of The Review had come to hand. We 

 can readily appreciate the fine class of sub- 

 scribers The Review has and we are ver.v much 

 gratified at the results In this instance. — D. Hill 

 Nursery Co., Dundee, 111., October 11, 1919. 



If 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. 



WHAT'S THE LIMIT? 



"The trade expects to pay more for 

 bulbs and other stock when other prices 

 are high," said August Hummert, of the 

 St. Louis Seed Co., "but there is a limit. 

 When a grower asks $9 a thousand for 

 ^Xi-inch freesia bulbs in quantity, the 

 florists will buy Paper Whites instead. 



"Dutch bulbs have reached their top 

 price, too; 3 and 4 cents a bulb is as 

 high as the florist can be expected to 

 pay if he wants to be sure of holding the 

 public's sales at a reasonable price. 



"And lilies are not essential. Of 

 course, the public asks for lilies at 

 Easter, but if prices on them are extraor- 

 dinarily high people will easily get the 

 habit of buying something else for that 

 occasion in a couple of years. 



"There is a limit to the prices the 

 public will pay. There is a limit to the 

 prices the florists' trade can afford to 

 pay for the bulbs and other stock they 

 buy and grow them profitably." 



THRIFT PREVENTS FAILURES. 



Bad luck in business lies not so much 

 in the stars as in the business man him- 

 self, according to business statisticians. 

 Eighty-six per cent of the business fail- 

 ures in the United States in 1918 were 

 classed as due to the individual, while 

 only fourteen per cent were assigned to 

 outside causes. Among the factors of 

 the eighty-six per cent of failures com- 



pilers of figures numbered extravagance, 

 lack of capital and speculation outside 

 regular business. 



The savings division of the treasury 

 department has pointed out that thrift, 

 savings and safe investment are the an- 

 tidotes for the toxic virus in the veins 

 of business. Tens of millions of dollars 

 were lost last year through waste of 

 labor and material. Over $500,000,000 

 annually is being lost in the United 

 States through speculation in fraudulent 

 stocks. Lack of capital is holding up 

 thousan Is of enterprises which would go 

 far toward meeting lack of employment 

 and scarcity of production. 



New capital can be produced most 

 easily and most certainly through sav- 

 ing. Safe investment will add to instead 

 of detract from the business assets of 

 the nation. 



ONE WHO CAN STEP IN. 



The cry for first-class, experienced 

 help is keen today in both stores and 

 greenhouses.' Scanning the page and a 

 half of appeals for help wanted that 

 appear each week in the Want Ad de- 

 partment of The Review, one finds the 

 call is for a man "who can step in"; 

 in other words, one who has already 

 had experience and training and can 

 now be relied upon in his work, whether 

 it be decorating, design-making or 

 growing. 



The cause of the need should be plain. 

 The trade needs more learners or ap- 

 prentices year by year if the needs of 

 the trade are to be satisfied. The ap- 

 prentice today will be the "one who 

 can step in" tomorrow. At this time 

 growers and retailers are busy in the 

 press of good trade. But they will find 

 it greatly to their later advantage if 

 they seek among the helpers in their 

 employ the more promising ones and 

 give them opportunity to develop into 

 skilled hands. Teaching persons of 

 little or no trade knowledge the ways of 

 the craft is a tedious and difficult task. 

 But, hard as it is, it is nothing to the 

 handicap of short help at a busy time, 

 when one must throw away profits for 

 lack of capable persons to undertake 

 proffered work. 



ARGUE FERTILIZER PRICES. 



Representatives of the fertilizer com- 

 panies and packers in conference with 

 Department of Justice officials have 

 agreed on certain prices that will prob- 

 ably be put into force next spring. 

 (Chemical fertilizers occupied most of 

 the first sessions. Mixed fertilizers will 

 be discussed in later ones. 



Tankage has averaged $2.72 per unit 

 for the years 1913-14-15, which are used 

 as a basis for fixing future prices by the 

 government. It Is selling now at $6.86. 

 The price to be fixed for this commodity 

 will be $3.40. On this decision there 

 is decided dissent, especially from pack- 

 ers. Their argument in the conference 

 was that they had no cost figures for 

 production of tankage, and could only 

 say that whatever was made on such a 

 by-product tended to keep down the 

 price of meats to consumers and, on the 

 contrary, if the price of the by-products 

 were to be arbitrarily reduced it would 

 have the effect of raising the price of 

 meats to the public. 



Dried blood, it was shown, had had 

 an average price for the 3-year period 

 of $3.72 and was selling for $7.50. The 

 proposed price will be $3.72. 



