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32 



The Florists' Review 



March 25, 1»20 



n 



Established, 1807. by a. L. ORANT. 



Published every Tbnradar by 

 Thb Florists' Publishing Co^ 



620-S60 Oaxtoa BnlldlnK, 



SOe South Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Retfistered cable address. 



Florview, Cblcssro. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 8. 1897. at the post-ofQce at Ohl' 

 tbgQ, 111., under the Act of Ilarch 

 «. 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

 To Canada, $2.B0: to Europe. 13.00. 



AdyertlslnfT rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad> 

 yertlslnc accepted. 



(I 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



Mothers' day falls on May 9, five 

 Aveeks after Easter. 



Optimistic predictions in regard to 

 Easter business were never more general. 



Cables from France indicate chiffons 

 at recent prices will look cheap six months 

 from now. 



Fickle weather conditions make it wise 

 to be prepared for the possibility of a 

 cold Easter. 



Despite the short supply and high 

 prices of bulbs, ample stocks of Easter 

 lilies are reported in most markets. 



Of the carnations, rooted cuttings of 

 Enchantress Supreme have been in such 

 request as to suggest the variety is stead- 

 Uy winning new friends. 



The first action of the new Secretary 

 of Agriculture affecting the trade was 

 the promulgation of the New England 

 quarantine for the corn borer. 



If your city is not represented in the 

 news columns of The Review and you 

 would like to put it on the map by acting 

 as correspondent, write to the Editor. 



Those who watch The Review 's growth 

 as an indication of the trade's progress 

 will note that this week 's issue, the largest 

 regular number it has ever published, is 

 within four pages as large as last Christ- 

 mas 's special number, which was only 

 surpassed by last week 's record-breaking 

 Easter special. Truly it is said, The Re- 

 view is the paper which grows with the 

 trade. 



News-letters from the numerous cities 

 in which The Review has correspondents 

 have so generally reported a good sup- 

 ply of lilies for Easter that it has caused 

 observant persons to wonder if the im- 

 ports of lily bulbs last autumn did not 

 exceed the number believed to have 

 been imported, and if the market at 

 Easter will take, at the prices asked, so 

 large a quantity of pot plants and cut 

 flowers. The official Japanese govern- 

 ment figures on the bulbs exported to 

 America last season appear on page 120 

 of this issue, the first time they have 

 been in print. The total is so huge it 

 will cause much surprise. 



Prices are never so low that the buyer 

 is not disappointed at poor quality. 



The time for window boxes is close at 

 hand. Are you making preparations for 

 pushing this business in your locality? 



Prices of flowers cannot be allowed to 

 go down when coal, freight and express 

 are all shortly to go up. 



The florists' business improves mar- 

 ■4edly as the units in it become larger. 

 Big business can do easily what small 

 business does only with difficulty. 



When prices are high everybody knows 

 he is selling at a profitable figure. Do 

 you know how low you can sell and still 

 make money? That knowledge is a pro- 

 tection you should have. 



"Where are the young faces in the 

 trade?" a far-sighted florist asks. The 

 question is a vital one to those who wish 

 to avoid having their business run down as 

 their own activity diminishes. 



Abundant stock offers greater oppor- 

 tunities for window decoration than re- 

 tailers had during the winter months. 

 This form of advertising is too valuable 

 for florists to miss the advantage of. 



There will not always be the equal of 

 this season's demand for plants and the 

 shipper who thinks anything good enough 

 to send to the man who has paid cash in 

 advance will be the first to feel the change. 



A DAILY paper states: "Chicago an- 

 nounces a reduction in the cost of cut 

 flowers. There is hope that the message 

 of flowers will reach the gentlemen who 

 write the price tags for the beef pack- 

 ers. ' ' 



If anyone is to hold special flower sales, 

 let it be florists. They can afford to sell 

 large quantities on a small margin as well 

 as the department store when business is 

 slack and the advertising is more valuable 

 to them. * 



The hopeful eyes of the business world 

 are centered on a bill introduced in the 

 House of Representatives to substitute 

 for the excess profits tax a small tax on 

 the turn-over of all business throughout 

 the United States. It is only a 25-cent 

 tax on every $100 worth of sales or frac- 

 tion thereof, the collection thereof to be 

 performed in a simple manner. The ab- 

 normal condition created by the excess 

 jirofits tax has been felt by florists, even 

 though they did not all pay it themselves. 



Hard work can remedy high costs and 

 avert possibility of a panic, in the estima- 

 tion of J. H. Tregoe, secretary of the Na- 

 tional Association of Credit Men, who 

 says: "Human energy is necessary if 

 our prosperity is to continue. To add to 

 plant and equipment as an offset to the 

 letting down of human energy is inflation 

 for which a high price must eventually be 

 paid, and every attempt should be made 

 to build up the energies of the people 

 from the least to the greatest. We have 

 no hesitancy in saying that every worker 

 in the land can do much more than he is 

 now doing without impairing his physical 

 welfare. ' * 



more to the florists' business than mer.. 

 ly growing flowers, even for the ma . 

 who sends his stock to tl^e commissio. 

 house to be sold. The trade has reai 

 ized that the purely business part of 

 florists' enterprise is as important v 

 the part concerned with growing flov 

 ers. Now what is needed is dissemin;. 

 tion of the trade's business informatio. 

 like that of its cultural informatio? 

 An interchange of ideas and experienci 

 on this head will aid tremendously i, 

 the trade's advance. 



For instance, here is a query from ;; 

 florist with a large business in a gooci- 

 sized town: 



"We are much dissatisfied with our 

 system of bookkeeping and wish to 

 make a change. Can you give us th;; 

 names of any florists who have a good, 

 sensible, practicable and simple system 

 of keeping their accounts? 



"At present we are using a Bur 

 roughs bookkeeping machine, but find 

 that it is not exactly suited. We have 

 in mind using a machine on the order of 

 the Elliott-Fisher type. Do you know 

 of any concern using this or a similar 

 machine? 



"We have in the neighborhood of 

 1,800 accounts on our books and have 

 that many statements to get out on the 

 first of the month." 



The Review's columns are open to 

 readers who have suggestions or ex- 

 periences to offer on this subject. 



BUSINESS INTORMATION, 



For years it has been habitual for 

 members of the trade to discuss growing 

 problems and for each one to suggest 

 ways and means of improvement for the 

 help of fellow florists. Now it has be- 

 come generally accepted that there is 



BULES FOR PROPHETS. 



When one undertakes to play the role 

 of prophet, he is assuming a task that 

 few perform with any degree of luck 

 and none with a consistent record of 

 success. But there are certain rules 

 that can be relied upon with a fair de- 

 gree of accuracy. And the man who ap- 

 plies such rules to the business outlook 

 can arrive at a safe conclusion. For 

 the present situation the case is stated 

 by a writer on business in the follow- 

 ing terms: 



"In our reading of the future we are 

 compelled to be empirical and draw our 

 conclusions entirely from the record of 

 the past, from which we can deduce 

 only two rules or laws that we can rely 

 upon with safety. 



"One is the law of average, which 

 men have applied in developing the 

 science of insurance. 



"The other is the law of reaction or 

 compensation. 



' ' The existence of these laws is as cer ^ 

 tain as anything in life. The question 

 is, what will be the result of their oper- 

 i.tion during the present year? 



"It is certain that prices cannot ad- 

 vance forever and it is equally certairt 

 that business cannot always be pros- 

 perous. 



"For the last five years the value of 

 money has been diminishing all over tho 

 world and the cost of commodities has 

 been correspondingly advanced. Dur- 

 ing the same five years business has 

 been exceptionally prosperous — at least 

 in this country. 



"Has the climax been reached? No 

 one can say. But we are justified in 

 pointing out that each day that passes 

 brings the period of reaction nearer anfl 

 that extravagance and underproduction 

 must be hastening its arrival. 



"This is not a counsel of pessimism, 

 but of caution, offered with a keen con- 

 sciousness of our own limitations as tho 

 ephemeral present fades into the eter- 

 nity of the past." 



