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26 



The Florists^ Review 



Januabt 16, ItM. 



(If 



Established, 1897. by a. L. GRANT. 



Published e7erf TtaarMay by 

 The Florists' PuBUSHiNa Co^ 



520-660 Oaxton Bnlldlngr. 



808 South Dearborn St., OblcafifO. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Baelstered cable address, 



Florrlew, Olilcaco. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897, at the post-office at Ohl- 

 ca^o. 111., under the Act of March 

 a, 1879. 



Subscription price, fl.SO a year. 

 To Canada, $2.60; to Europe, $3.00. 



Advertlslnir rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlalnff accepted. 



n 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



Are you "doing your bit" for St. 

 "Valentine's day sales f 



Dakk -weather has held cuts down and 

 prices up since the holidays. 



Don't tell the public that flowers are 

 high; call attention to how fine they are 

 and state the price without comment. 



Signs point to a shortage in carnation 

 plants again for next season. High prices 

 for the blooms and scarcity of greenhouse 

 labor are two important factors. 



Collections now are good and the 

 wise florist will seize the opportunity 

 to get his accounts into the best pos- 

 sible shape while it is fairly easy to 

 do so. 



Many carnation growers are expected 

 in Chicago next week for the exhibition 

 and meeting of the American Carnation 

 Society at Hotel La Salle, January 21 

 and 22. 



Though prices have been higher than 

 in former years, charges of exorbitant 

 figures by the public have been fewer in 

 the florists' trade than in other lines of 

 business. 



When a coimtry florist goes to town 

 and a salesman takes him around, is it 

 an act of pure courtesy or an attempt 

 to steer him back to the train without 

 the opportunity of visiting the hospitable 

 one's competitors? 



Have you sent John Young ' ' two bits ' ' 

 for one of those St. Valentine's day 

 posters and put it in your window? If 

 not, his address is 1170 Broadway, New 

 York, and you no doubt know where the 

 paste pot and the window are. 



This is the largest regular issue of The 

 Review thus far published. The paper 

 consumed in the printing weighs nearly 

 six tons and the work requires the simul- 

 taneous operation of twelve large presses 

 for more than fourteen consecutive hours. 



The hour of the meeting of the Illi- 

 nois State Florists' Association at Hotel 

 La Salle, Chicago, January 22, wUl be 

 2 p. m. The exhibition of the American 

 Carnation Society will, it is expected, 

 make the attendance at the state meet- 

 ing unusually large. 



It must give C. H. Frey, of Lincoln, 

 much pleasure to watch the rise of Car- 

 nation Nebraska. Each year it has en- 

 joyed increased favor and the demand 

 for stock is stronger today than ever 

 before. 



Emil Buettner, than whom there are 

 few more successiful growers, says the 

 quantity producer can not hope for profit 

 except in times of underproduction, that 

 in times of overproduction the producer 

 of quality stock is the only one who 

 stands a chance. 



News of the exclusion from the state 

 of Illinois of gladioli, dahlias, geraniums 

 and chrysanthemums grown in New Eng- 

 land and New York appears in the Seed. 

 Trade Department in this issue. Coming 

 at this time, this is of much importance 

 to those florists of Illinois whose source 

 of supply of these items has been in the 

 area mentioned. 



the limit and debts should be paid. 

 These processes should be set in motion 

 without delay. It will require several 

 years to readjust industry and trade on 

 a firm basis again." 



A CAIJ. TO aSOWERS. 



Since the Detroit convention last Au- 

 gust, I have met and conferred with 

 many of our leading growers of both 

 plants and cut flowers. The consensus 

 was in favor of organizing a national 

 flower growers ' association. It was also 

 believed that the gathering in Chicago 

 this month for the meeting of the Amer- 

 ican Carnation Society would present 

 a good opportunity to form a tempo- 

 rary organization and to lay plans for a 

 permanent organization, which could be 

 perfected at Cleveland during the S. A, 

 F. convention next August. 



I hereby issue a call for all growers 

 interested to come to Chicago January 

 21 and 22, prepared to help plan for an 

 organization which should be a sister to 

 the F. T. D. and another strong asset 

 to the S. A. F. 



It is no use to try here to set forth 

 the necessity for growers to unite for 

 a common cause. Just come to Chicago 

 and you will be convinced. 



J. Fred Ammann. 



NO PROSPECT OF LOW PRICES. 



Holding up work in doubt as to the 

 trend of prices is a course being aban- 

 doned as overcautious by the trade's 

 wisest members. They see in greater 

 production the solution of the present 

 difficulties and think no more of high 

 prices. In that decision they are in 

 accord with the leading economic inves- 

 tigators of the country. No prospect of 

 any considerable fall in prices for sev- 

 eral years to come is seen by Royal 

 Meeker, commissioner of labor statistics 

 and head of the bureau which collects 

 information on the trend of prices used 

 by the government in official negotia- 

 tions concerning wages and similar ques- 

 tions. He advocates increased produc- 

 tion as one way to help remedy condi- 

 tions. 



"People generally are yearning so 

 intently for lower prices that they have 

 not thought much about the results of 

 falling prices," Mr. Meeker said. "The 

 prices we kicked about in 1913 have 

 come to be regarded as ideal. Untold 

 distress has been caused by the rapid 

 price increases of the last four years. 

 The sufferings already endured by the 

 people through rising prices will be 

 multiplied tenfold if prices drop with- 

 in the next seven years to the 1913 level. 

 A period of falling prices is always a 

 time of business depression, failures 

 and unemployment. 



"Production should be speeded up to 



THE HIGH COST OF LOAPIKO. 



How paramount is production is em- 

 phasized by a recent statement of a 

 leader in business: "At the moment 

 low cost is, next to production, the most 

 important consideration; without pro- 

 duction there cannot be a lasting low 

 cost. The law of supply and demand 

 has always brought production. Willing 

 workers who do not watch the clock are 

 the kind that will produce. He who 

 pays the bills must dictate the policy; 

 otherwise business must necessarily con- 

 tract. Contraction of business does not 

 in the long run compel production. The 

 zealous buyer of a healthy business con- 

 cern, whether large or small, can usually 

 scent the future and obtain the raw 

 products to better advantage than those 

 who are not peculiarly interested in the 

 welfare of the business. Low prices 

 for an unavailable product do not ap- 

 pease the appetite. Abolish the high 

 cost of loafing and reinstate the law of 

 supply and demand; when this is done 

 all men will be intelligently engaged, 

 production will be the result, and every- 

 one except the loafer or slacker will be 

 happy and contented." 



BUILDING PRICES TO STAT UP. 



That prices of all building materials 

 are going to keep on climbing to higher 

 levels this year, as a result of heavy 

 underproduction caused by the labor 

 situation, is the opinion of leading 

 manufacturers. 



There is a heavy demand indicated 

 for all commodities used in construc- 

 tion work and it is expected that the 

 amount of building activity this year 

 will be limited only by the ability of 

 the material manufacturers to keep up 

 production. 



The manager of one of the largest 

 manufacturers of steel products states: 



"In our opinion the demand for 

 building materials at the present time 

 exceeds the available supply, at least 

 in the eastern half of the United States. 

 This is particularly true as regards steel 

 products. We are not producing as 

 much as in normal years. 



"We believe the upward trend in 

 general costs of building materials v^ll 

 continue and that there will be no re- 

 cession during 1920." 



COMPLIMENTARY COMPLAINT. 



After spending a few nickels and 

 dimes to advertise 5,000 geraniums in 

 several lines in the Classified depart- 

 ment, a florist would feel well satisfied 

 if he sold most of them. He would 

 justly be elated if he cleaned out them 

 all. When, however, he receives so 

 many orders that the postage used to 

 return the checks eats into his profits, 

 he has reason for complaint or for com- 

 pliment to the advertising medium 

 which gives such overwhelming returns. 

 Listen to this: 



Please discontinue our advertisement of 6,000 

 Iteranlums, as we shall lose our profits on this 

 lot returning checks, for we have been Just 

 swamped with orders. — L. A. Baton ft Bobs, Con- 

 neaut, O., January 6, 1920. 



If you hear a man complaim of the 

 cost of advertising you can be pretty 

 certain he spends a good bit of money 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



