18 



The Florists^ Review 



Jamuart 8, 1920. 



aoda at the rate of one pound to fifteen 

 gallons of water. I would recommend 

 the latter for backward plants; after it 

 is used once a week for three weeks, a 

 noticeable improvement will show. Dis- 

 continue feeding when the flowers start 

 to open. 



In any batch of lilies there is a great 

 variation in the time the buds will ap- 

 pear and it will be necessary to move 

 backward plants to the warmest and 

 sunniest part of your house. In the 

 case of early plants, use discretion in 

 moving from a high to a low tempera- 

 ture. If you move half developed flower 

 buds into a temperature of 45 degrees 

 from one of 60 or 65 degrees, you will' 

 probably stunt most of the buds. Do 

 not move any to a cooler house until 

 the flowers start to open and even then 

 be careful not to expose them to cold 

 drafts. It is a simple matter to hold 

 lilies back for a week or two in a cool 

 cellar or greenhouse. It is better to do 

 the forcing early rather than just before 

 the holiday, and remember that while 

 lilies command a high Easter value, 

 thoy are hardly salable in a wholesale 

 market just after the holiday. 



Keep Down Pests. 



Green aphis is liable to cause seri- 

 ous damage and you must either spray 

 your plants with nicotine or fumigate 

 once a week to keep them clean. Aphis 



may hardly be discernible, but thou- 

 sands may be lurking at the tops of 

 the growths and will seriously disfigure 

 both these and the flower buds if not 

 fought persistently. A simple and safe 

 method of fumigation is to use tobacco 

 papers. These are clean and effective. 



Properly grown giganteum lilies will 

 need no supports, but if you do use 

 them, have them painted green and as 

 inconspicuous as possible. Be sure to 

 have all pots well washed before the 

 sales commence. Clean pots greatly en- 

 hance the appearance and the selling 

 value of any plant. In forcing plants 

 which are quite late, you can give them 

 almost any amount of heat, provided 

 you keep them well watered and sprayed 

 and the atmosphere moist. Where the 

 flowers are opening, however, a little 

 shade should be given. As soon as the 

 flowers open remove such plants to a 

 slightly cooler and drier house. 



We cannot tell anything about what 

 kind of a winter we shall have. From 

 present indications it will be more near- 

 ly like that of 1917-18 than 1918-19, and 

 for that reason growers should let their 

 plants have a good heat now and if 

 they can see and count the buds on or 

 about February 20 they are all right. 

 If not, the plants are late and must be 

 subjected to more forcing. Therefore, 

 push them now. C. W. 



M4yMyaiyjffi^ i K^aMi«Miiy«i^ ^ 



TATE'S TIPS 



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TESTING THE FOUNDATION. 



Basis of Trade's Prosperity. 



Another Christmas has passed into 

 history and, as I write, these lines from 

 Longfellow's "The Ship of State" 

 come to me as applicable to every flo- 

 rist: 



"Fear not each sudden sound and shock, 

 'Tls of the wave, and not the rock; 

 'Tis but the flapping of a sail. 

 And not a rent made by the gale! 

 In spite of rock and tempest roar. 

 In spite of false lights on the shore. 

 Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea!" 



The fact that there was much appre- 

 hension as to just how the florists were 

 going to come through the Christmas 

 holiday led me to make a more careful 

 study of the situation than I have ever 

 made before, and I feel that everyone 

 will agree with me when I say the flo- 

 rist has nothing to fear, that the busi- 

 ness is today resting on as firm a foun- 

 dation as is any other business in lux- 

 uries. The candy business, which I have 

 heard referred to a great deal this fall 

 in connection with the florists' busi- 

 ness, is not nearly so firmly established 

 in the minds of the public as is the flo- 

 rists' business. We will admit that a 

 crisis might come when luxuries would 

 be cut out — the public will not be 

 obliged to eat candy, but they will con- 

 tinue to marry and die, and what would 

 either of these ceremonies be without 

 flowers? 



Analysis of Christmas Sales. 



We have just passed through a 

 Christmas business and it might be well 

 to analyze this a little. That stock was 

 scarce we will all have to admit, and 

 this fact prompted me to look for the 



;cause of this shortage. Upon investiga- 

 tion I found there were two causes for 

 this shortage. Of course, I am not tak- 

 ing into consideration the quarantine 

 order; this, no doubt, was responsible 

 for some of the shortage in plants. The 

 two causes I found most responsible 

 were, first, that for at least a month 

 before Christmas we had not more than 

 half a dozen bright, sunny days and, 

 second, that the growers are, for the 

 most part, endeavoring to produce qual- 

 ity stock. There are more Columbia 

 and Premier planted in the vicinity of 

 Baltimore than was ever known in new 

 varieties. Just why these should not be 

 so prolific as other varieties I must ad- 

 mit I do not know, unless that in order 

 to get fine roses they are disbudded 

 more closely. Be that as it may, we 

 know that conditions were the same all 

 over the country, and yet there was 

 more business done by the trade this 

 Christmas than ever before, at prices 

 that everyone would have thought a 

 few years ago were impossible. 



While in a leading store a short time 

 ago, I heard a conversation that I think 

 will explain this point fully. A promi- 

 nent banker was ordering some flowers 

 over the telephone. The salesman told 

 him the prices. The customer's reply 

 was, "Remember I am only a banker, 

 not a mechanic." There was more 

 truth than poetry in the remark. Give 

 to each of the two, banker and me- 

 chanic, $100 and in the one case perhaps 

 fifty per cent of it will be saved, while 

 in the other case the entire amount 

 will be spent. There is no other reason 

 why there is so much money in circula- 

 tion today. A sign of the times is that 

 during the Christmas rush two large de- 



partment stores in Baltimore had to 

 close their doors and let in the public 

 in relays. The crowd was so dense it 

 was impossible to handle it other- 

 wise. 



Future Policy. 



I spent Christmas morning visiting 

 the various retailers. Every one of them 

 had the same message, "We never saw 

 business better, ' ' Though prices in the 

 florists' business were never known to 

 be so high before, every florist I visited 

 was sold out. 



The time has come when the florist 

 must stop talking high prices; his busi- 

 ness is to produce as cheaply as pos- 

 sible and then to this cost of production 

 add a fair profit. The retailer must 

 watch his overhead expenses and al- 

 ways be on the alert to reduce these 

 without injury to his organization. Be- 

 cause he has been able to get big prices 

 this year, if he can afford to reduce 

 them next year it will be good policy 

 to do so. 



The florists' business was never in a 

 more healthy condition than it is today; 

 all it needs to keep it so is good pro- 

 duction and good business methods. But 

 then, we do not want it to rest there; 

 we want it to expand, and anyone will 

 admit there is plenty of room for ex- 

 pansion. This can he done in but one 

 way, by educating /he public, throtigh 

 advertising, in the )buying and use of 

 flowers. Tate. 



POETIC FKOPAOANDA. 



Since the national slogan stimulated 

 so many versifiers into poetic paraphrase 

 of the four famous words, examples of 

 florists' propaganda in rhyme have be- 

 come more frequent. Here is one from 

 Thomas E. Evans, of Hess & Swoboda, 

 Omaha: 



Give flowers to your friends while they are liv- 

 ing; 

 Sprinkle sunshine down life's path each pass- 

 ing day. 

 The greatest Joy in life Is giving; 

 Kind words aad deeds, the greatest kind of 

 pay. 

 For diamonds cannot take the place of roses: 



Fine trappings cannot take the place of gold. 

 For every heart some grain of gold reposes. 



So cheer them on before they grow too old. 

 Send roses today. 



WHAT CHRISTMAS TAUGHT. 



The aftermath of the Christmas rush 

 brings out many features that can stand 

 improvement, also many that are worthy 

 to be remembered for future use. 



The uncertainty of delivery by parcel 

 post is a great disappointment to the 

 local trade. Shipments of flowers by 

 this medium on the afternoon before 

 the day of their use, even in the first 

 or second zone, are invariably delivered 

 a day late, even though special delivery 

 stamps are attached to the packages. 

 Service on express packages is even 

 worse. Since government control has 

 been in force, the express helpers have 

 assumed an attitude of indifference and, 

 in consequence, it is a matter of chance 

 as to the time when one may expect a 

 package. 



In the earlier shopping days there was 

 a great demand for anything in the way 

 of dry or artificially colored flowers. 

 Many prospective patrons confuse the 

 artificially colored with artificial flow- 

 ers and in every instance the sales- 

 people ought to straighten out the con- 

 fusion. While a great many artificial 

 flowers have a place in a flower store, 

 much "junk" is palmed off on the trade. 

 Dry flowers, such as aeroclinium in the 

 dark and orange shades and helichry- 



