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30 



The Florists^ Review 



Mabch 4, 1020 



n 



Established. 1897, by a. L. GRANT. 



PnbllBhed every Tharaday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co., 



S20-860 Oaxton Bulldlnfr, 



808 Soatb Dearborn St., Ohlcago. 



Tele., Wabash 819S. 



Registered cable address, 



Florvlew, Otalcago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago, ItL, under the Act of Ilaroh 

 », 1879. : 



Snbscrlptlon price, 11.50 a year. 

 To Canada, $2J!0: to Europe. 93.00. 



Advertlslnff rates quoted apon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad* 

 vertislnff accepted. 



n 



Besults bring advertising. 

 The Beview brings results. 



Plenty of flowers; push the retail 

 sales. 



In advertising methods the florists' 

 trade has made extraordinary advance 

 in the last two to three years. And only 

 a start has been made. 



Publicity of flowers has done so well 

 for florists that, after the nurserymen 

 took the example, seedsmen have now fol- 

 lowed in their footsteps. 



A NEWSPAPER paragrapher remarks, 

 ' ' Saying it with flowers at this season has 

 a severe financial drawback — most of us 

 suffer an impediment of speech." 



In the succession of C. C. Pollworth, of 

 Milwaukee, to the place on the national 

 publicity committee resigned by Edwin J. 

 Fancourt, of Philadelphia, one able man 

 replaces another. 



Canadian exchange is hindering the 

 placing of orders with supply houses in 

 the United States, since florists across the 

 line do not wish to pay fifteen per cent 

 premium or more on their purchases. 



To the box makers' trouble to secure 

 the paper-board of which their containers 

 are made is added the difficulty of obtain- 

 ing female help in the factories. Kegard- 

 Icss of price, some box makers cannot fill 

 their orders. 



Retailer's comments on St. Valentine's 

 day sales almost all included mention of 

 numerous telegraph orders. This branch 

 of the business has become a matter of 

 much consideration by a growing number 

 of florists, who find the more they push 

 it the more it pays. 



An express strike which threatened in 

 Chicago, Toledo, Omaha, Kansas City and 

 other flower centers when union teamsters 

 and other employees demanded a flat in- 

 crease of $35 per month, was averted by 

 prompt consideration of the proposition 

 by express company officials. 



The Sweet Pea Annual for 1920, the 

 official yearbook of the National Sweet 

 Pea Society, Great Britain, adds a color 

 plate of Hawlmark Pink to its features of 

 previous years. Among the interesting 

 articles is one on ' ' Sweet Peas in Ameri- 

 ca, ' * by Qeo. W. Kerr, of Doylestown, Pa. 

 Several of Burpee's early-flowering vari- 

 eties are shown in the illustrations. 



Nothing is harder than doing a brisk 

 business at high prices on a small capital. 

 As large a percentage of cash sales as 

 possible and speedy collections is the only 

 solution. 



What is the chief cause of failures? 

 This question was put to merchants 

 throughout the country by the National 

 Association of Credit Men and 10,000 gave 

 as the answer, "Failure to keep books." 



Stationery in keeping with his pro- 

 fession is a material aid to the florist in 

 securing the public's patronage. Your 

 letterhead is a rating of your business to 

 those making first acquaintance by maiL 



RAILROADS IN OWNERS* HANDS. 



After twenty-six months of federal 

 control the railroads returned to the 

 hands of the private owners March 1. 

 The change was welcomed as a settle- 

 ment of an uncertain and therefore dis- 

 turbing situation and takes place with 

 several omens favorable to the users 

 of transportation facilities. The roads 

 are returned with provision by Con- 

 gress, in the bill which was signed by 

 President Wilson February 28, for con- 

 ditions which enable the companies to 

 improve service and equipment, guar- 

 antee of financial return and of assist- 

 ance being given by the government. 

 Moreover, railroad officials are de- 

 sirous — nay, anxious — to show the 

 superiority of private over government 

 service, so that the bogey of public 

 ownership, so strong before the war, 

 may be definitely downed. 



There is also reason for satisfaction 

 in the labor settlement. The unions, 

 all save one, promptly acceded to Presi- 

 dent Wilson's proposal for a bipartisan 

 board to settle the wage question. Their 

 action removes the likelihood of strikes 

 in the critical period following the 

 roads' return. Altogether there is op- 

 timism in the railroad situation and 

 outlook. 



even a sudden reaction necessarily. 

 There are no grounds for pessimism or 

 hesitancy, but there is every reason for 

 sound conservatism in business methods. 



PASSING THE "PEAK." 



Discussion is prevalent as to whether 

 we have reached the "peak" of high 

 prices and are soon to start on the down 

 grade. The figures of economists do 

 not indicate that such is the case. There 

 are, however, symptoms which the 

 shrewd florist will take into considera- 

 tion. 



Though production of certain basic 

 commodities was far short of normal 

 last year, including coal, iron, steel, 

 paper and cloth, some other lines have 

 reached a point where the supply ap- 

 proximates the demand. Some prices 

 will continue to advance while others 

 begin to recede somewhat, and reports 

 of business conditions may vary with 

 the line of business. 



There is also a growing tendency of 

 the public to scrutinize its purcha!»es 

 more closely and consider values more 

 carefully than last year. Even the 

 wage-earning class is not so lavish of 

 late in its spending, according to re- 

 ports. The application of some credit 

 restrictions by banks has been felt, 

 also. The result is more moderate and 

 more nearly normal conditions in some 

 linos of business. 



This means that business is apparent- 

 ly passing out of the war boom stage 

 and into a period of greater economy, 

 closer adaptation and more careful esti- 

 mates on the parts of both buyers and 

 sellers. It does not mean a panic or 



NEXT SHORTAGE IN 1921. 



There will be a lapse of one winter 

 before the next flower shortage occurs,, 

 if the calculations of a prominent med- 

 ical scientist are correct. He sees no 

 epidemic until December, 1921. Tho- 

 newspaper account of it reads: 



"With the subsidence of the present 

 influenza outbreak, the world may- 

 breathe easily for a while. The next 

 violent epidemic will occur in December, 

 1921. 



"This is the conclusion from the in^ 

 vestigations made by Dr. John Brown- 

 lee, who predicted in the London 

 Lancet last December there would be a 

 recurrence of influenza in January andx 

 February of this year. 



"Medical authorities of the public 

 health service at Washington, D. 0., say- 

 Dr. Brownlee has probably reduced 

 what is called the periodicity of in- 

 fluenza to a known law. Dr. Brown- 

 lee's investigations seem to show that 

 influenza occurs at regular intervals of 

 thirty-three weeks, provided the thirty- 

 third week does not fall between June- 

 and December. ' ' 



PROTECT FELLOW TRADESMEN. 



In its effort to protect the trade f rom^ 

 the results of its wholesale prices fall- 

 ing into the hands of retail buyers, The 

 Beview accepts a subscription from no 

 one who cannot show that he is a bona 

 fide member of the trade. Each in- 

 quiry or check, if the sender is not 

 known to be in the trade, is held up- 

 until such connection is established. 



To insure and continue such protec- 

 tion, each subscriber should take care 

 that his copy does not fall into the 

 hands of an outsider when he is done 

 with it. Do not allow it to lie around' 

 where it may be picked up and carried 

 away by some curious customer. If you- 

 do not maintain a file of The Review, 

 destroy each issue when you are done 

 vdth it. 



The Beview is not of interest to per- 

 sons outside of the trade save those 

 who work detriment to its members by 

 unfairly securing wholesale prices. If 

 you will protect the other fellow by pre- 

 venting this, he will protect you, an(J alL 

 of us will benefit and no one lose. 



ORDERS FROM EVERYWHERE. 



There are still a few advertisers in 



the district known as "down east" who 



do not seem thoroughly to appreciate 



that it is not where a paper is printed 



but where it is read that counts in 



bringing results to adve»tisers. This 



is the way it has worked for one east 



coast florist who relied on The Beview 



as his sole means of selling this stock: 



After one more week yon may discontinue 

 our ad for chrysanthemum plants. We still hare 

 some stock, but think one more ad -will selti 

 the remainder. What we wished especlallyv 

 for these new chrysanthemums, was a wide 

 dissemination, looking to future large business. 

 We think we got It from The Review, as onr 

 orders came from Bellflower, Cal., and Trenton, 

 N. J., from Paris, Tex., and Wobum, Mass., 

 not forgetting the north as represented by< 

 Manistee, Mich., with orders from nearly all the 

 states l)etween. — L. M. Smith & Co., Laurel, 

 Del., February 22, 1920. 



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 Beview. 



