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The Florists^ Review 



OCTOBBB 30, 1019. 



ft 



Efltebllahed. 1897. by O. L. QRANT. 



Pablished every Tharaday by 

 Thb Flobists' Publishing C!On 



620-saO Oaxtoa Bulldlnif. 



608 Soatb Dearborn St., OblcaffO. 



Tele.. Wabaab 8196. 



Reifistered cable addreoa, 



FloiTlew, Ohicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago, IIL, under the Act of March 

 8,1879. 



Subscription price, 11.60 a yesr. 

 To Oaneda, $2.60; to Europe, IS.OO. 



Advertislnir rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad> 

 Tertlslnc accepted. 



n 



Besults bring advertising. 

 The Beview brings results. 



It's always a buyer's market if you 

 don 't know what your costs are. 



Let's bury the hatchet — in the skull 

 of that trade hindrance, low quality. 



It isn't the way stock leaves you that 

 counts; it's the way it reaches your cus- 

 tomer. 



Next week begins the succession of 

 autumn flower shows that fills the first 

 half of the month of November. 



BoNNAFFON still maintains its high 

 place among chrysanthemums despite the 

 introduction of many fine varieties. 



Armistice week is being planned as an 

 occasion for urging the public to "Say 

 It with Flowers ' ' by the trade in a nufl- 

 ber of cities. 



Since daylight saving ended and the 

 clocks were set back, October 26, florists 

 must accommodate themselves to dark- 

 ness descending an hour earlier. 



When your friend, who isn 't a florist, 

 has a birthday anniversary, put a vase of 

 flowers on his desk. He will like it so 

 well he will send your flowers to his other 

 friends on similar occasions. 



Wages have advanced more than the 

 cost of living has. If you had not 

 thought of it, look around and note the 

 wage-earners buying luxuries on a scale 

 never equalled in the history of the 

 world. 



Oregon gets double-price for selected 

 apples wrapped in soft paper and neatly 

 boxed. Potato shippers are now doing the 

 same thing. If it pays them, it will pay 

 you to deliver your goods smartly stowed 

 away. There 's money in good packing. 



Report is that Pemet-Ducher 's two 

 novelties, Souvenir de Claudius Pemet 

 and Souvenir de George Beckwith, are 

 two of the greatest of this famous 

 raiser 's triumphs. The fact that the first 

 is the variety chosen to perpetuate the 

 memory of the elder of the two sons lost 

 in the war is received as guarantee that 

 it is a really fine rose. It is described as 

 a beautiful yellow rose and the biggest 

 advance in the Pernet tamily of roses 

 yet introduced. The other variety wa.s 

 named aft^'r the late George Beckwith, of 

 Hoddesdon, England, and is described as 

 a real advance on the Lyon rose, free 

 from the faults of that variety. 



Records of returns show that what is 

 worth growing is worth most if grown 

 well. Quantity is outdistanced by quality. 



Besides showing a lack of originality, 

 it is taking chances when one attempts to 

 compliment a lady by giving her name to 

 a new variety. Suppose the novelty proves 

 to be a "lemon!" What will the lady 

 think when she finds her namesake has 

 gone into the discard? 



COAL S^IEE NOT AVIISTED. 



Even an appeal from President Wil- 

 son from his sickbed was futile in its 

 attempt to avert the strike of coal 

 miners, called for November 1. All en- 

 deavors to bring operators and workers 

 together failed. State and federal ad- 

 ministrations have declared that they 

 will not permit industries and trans- 

 portation to be tied up, but will not dis- 

 close what measures are to be taken to 

 prevent it. The country is threatened 

 with the loss of its fuel supply at a 

 most critical time, when production has 

 been below normal and stocks arp low, 

 when cold weather is just at hand and 

 when the industries of the nation need 

 a greater supply of coal than ever to 

 increase production and meet the de- 

 mands that are forcing prices con- 

 stantly higher. 



Months ago, when the first warnings 

 of a fuel famine appeared, The Review 

 urged florists to fill their bins early, in 

 order to avoid increased prices and to 

 make sure of their season's supply. As 

 a result of that early and continued 

 warning the greenhouse trade is fairly 

 well stocked. Many have their season's 

 full supply, come what may. Others 

 have ample to carry them part way, the 

 extent being dependent upon the se- 

 verity of the winter. The ones who 

 disregarded the portents are now 

 hastily gathering what they may. 



The attitude of the operators and the 

 miners at the Washington conferences 

 indicates a stubborn fight. How long- 

 drawn it will be depends upon the ac- 

 tion of the government and how effec- 

 tive it will be. 



WHAT IS YOUR MAItaiN? 



Retailers who have made conspicuous 

 business successes have held firmly to 

 the policy of charging prices from 100 

 to 200 per cent above actual cost of 

 stock used, in order to provide fully for 

 all overhead and incidental costs. At 

 various times plans have been worked 

 out to cover departments of the busi- 

 ness, giving illustrations to show the 

 necessity of such a method. About the 

 time the war began the three-to-one es- 

 timate was gaining currency; if you 

 paid $1 for stock you charged $3 for it. 

 Then came high prices and higher 

 prices. It had not been a hard step 

 to move up figures from $2 to $3 when 

 one had found his prices only two-to- 

 one instead of three-to-one, but even 

 after one had found how wise, how 

 needful, was such a fixed rule, he paused 

 before following it when the old-time 

 $1 stock cost $2 and the rule called for 

 a retail price of $6. Many have hesi- 

 tated. They disliked to offend cus- 

 tomers; they were tender to criticism 

 of their prices. So they "shaded" a 

 little. And the increased costs have 

 eaten into the margin more and more, 

 until the retailer wonders where his 

 jirofits are. It takes a bold spirit to 

 advance prices under present conditions, 

 when "profiteer" has an ugly sound. 



But the business man who has treated 

 his customers right before will not open 

 himself to that charge now. Cultivate 

 confidence of your customers in you by 

 all means, but do not forget a safe 

 margin is as necessary now as it was 

 five years ago for the maintenance, not 

 to say success, of your business. 



THE ABT OF SAIiESMAKSHIP. 



One of the leading business men of 

 the country gives the following advice 

 tl^t we can all apply whether we are 

 selling flowers, seeds or nursery stock. 

 This is it: 



' ' There are three magic words of 

 salesmanship: Listen! Agree! Oblige! 

 But the average untrained salesman 

 does not know the power of these 

 words. Usually he has three other 

 words: Talk! Argue! Compel! These 

 three words have spoiled many a sale, 

 and lost many a customer. Of course, 

 I do not mean that a salesman should 

 surrender to a customer, but I say that 

 he should avoid all appearance of op- 

 position or compulsion. The art of 

 salesmanship is in getting the customer 

 over to your point of view without 

 pushing him. And the secret of doing 

 this well is really to desire to be help- 

 ful, both to your firm and the customer. 

 If you don't believe this, please give it 

 an honest trial on at leaat three cus- 

 tomers. Try it for one day, anyway, 

 and see what will happen. Listen! 

 Agree! Oblige!" 



THANK YOU. 



It always is a satisfaction to know 

 that those one serves are pleased with 

 the service. That The Review receives 

 many letters like this is one of the chief 

 incentives to w^ 



We consider Th^ 

 ndvertislnf; mediu: 

 Peacock Co., Chici 



We have had w< 

 In The Reyiew. — : 

 John C. Lundgren, 

 tober 19, 1919. 



If you hear 

 cost of advert 



view as by far the best 

 e employ. — Bveretti; II. 

 October 23, 1919. 

 ful results from our ads 

 ood Cemetery Association, 

 '., Minneapolis, Minn., Oc- 



^an complain of the 

 you can be pretty 

 certain he spenH-' a good bit of money 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



INDIANAPOLIS SHOW. 



The final premium list has been issued 

 of the fall flower show to be held at In- 

 dianapolis November 13 and 14 in con- 

 nection with the joint meeting of In- 

 diana and Kentucky florists. The exhi- 

 bition will be staged in the Riley room 

 of the Claypool hotel. The classes are 

 for chrysanthemums, plants as well as 

 large and small-flowered cut blooms; 

 roses, carnations and begonias. No re- 

 striction is placed on competition by flo- 

 rists outside the state, but exhibitors 

 in Indiana must be members of the 

 State Florists' Association of Indiana. 

 Premium lists may be obtained of the 

 secretary, O. E. Steinkamp, 3800 Rock- 

 wood avenue, Indianapolis. 



The exhibition committee is composed 

 of John Hartje, A. F. J. Baur, Walter B. 

 Lewis, Otto Larenz, H. L. Wiegand and 

 W. E. Lommel, of Purdue University. 

 The judges are to be R. Witterstaetter, 

 Cincinnati; George Schulz, Louisville, 

 Ky., and Fred Burki, Pittsburgh. 



The officers of the State Florists' As- 

 sociation are: President, Anders Ras- 

 niussen; first vice-president, Herman 

 Junge; second vice-president, E. E. Tem- 

 perley; treasurer, Chas. G. Pahud; sec- 

 retary, O. E. Steinkamp. 



