26 



The Florists^ Review 



Jdnb 10, 1920. 



% 



Eatabllahed, 1897, by O. L. aBANT. 



Published every Tharaday by 

 The Florists' Publishino Co« 



S20-JS60 OaxtoQ Building. 



608 Soutb Dearborn St., Obloa^o. 



Tele., WabaBb 8195. 



Refristered cable address, 



Florvlew, Cblca^o. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 1897, at the puet-offlce at Chl> 

 cbtfo. 111., under the Act of March 

 3.1879. 



Subscription price, $1.50 a year. 

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



Advertlsinff rates quoted npon 

 requent. Only strictly trade ad> 

 Tertlslngr accepted. 



t! 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Welcome indeed will be Red Columbia. 

 A good white rose also is needed. 



Now is the time to begin a thorough 

 general cleaning in the greenhouse. 



Chic.\go will set its clock ahead Sun- 

 day, June 13, in order to enjoy the ben- 

 efits of daylight saving. 



This should be a busy summer, in prep- 

 aration of an adequate supply of flowers 

 for a busy season next year. 



Acknowledgment of an order is often 

 of such moment to the customer that it 

 should always be worth while to the 

 recipient. 



There is no need for becoming hyster- 

 ical over the fuel situation, but no wise 

 florist will fail to store coal as soon as he 

 can get it. 



The cost of growing has not ceased to 

 rise. It will require more money to run 

 a greenhouse next winter than it ever 

 took before. 



The, continued cool weather is looked 

 upon as a business asset, general trade 

 iu flower stores holding up much later 

 than is customary. 



There is almost no cnance of overpro- 

 duction next winter. All the existing con- 

 ditions in the trade ])oint to heavy pro- 

 duction in autumn and spring and re- 

 duced production in winter. 



With reports of increasing unemploy- 

 ment, it Ix'hooves florists who have charge 

 accounts with working people to prosecute 

 collections with vigor. It never will be 

 easier than now to get the money. 



Undeniably there has been a general 

 slowing up in business, both manufactur- 

 ing and mercantile, during the last few 

 weeks, but it is a fair guess that most of 

 the trouble has come from the unseason- 

 able weather this spring and from conges- 

 tion on the railroads, both of which are 

 temporary matters. 



Flori.st-s who have loans from their 

 banks almost invariably report they are 

 asked to reduce them as soon as possible. 

 The banks undoubtedly are asking nearly 

 everyl>0(ly else to pay, too, but they seem 

 to feel that a florist has less claim to "ac- 

 commodation ' ' than anybody else, unless 

 possibly it may be the manufacturers of 

 furs and silk shirts. 



When it costs so much to build green- 

 houses, it is worth more to repaint them 

 well. 



Trade cooperation is a strong desidera- 

 tum in a good many minds. The uncer- 

 tainty lies in the best way to achieve it. 



Holland bulb salesmen explain the 

 high prices quoted British florists by 

 stating that all of the season's supply 

 could be sold to the American trade. 



CHICAGO TO CLEVELAND. 



The transportation committee of the 

 Chicago Florists' Club reports that two 

 railroads are available for direct trans- 

 portation to the convention of the So- 

 ciety of American Florists, which will 

 be held at Cleveland, August 17 to 19, 

 the New York Central and the Nickel 

 Plate. The train schedules and rates on 

 both roads are given below. No re- 

 duced or special rates are available for 

 this trip. It will be noted there is a 

 difference of 5 cents in the fares, in 

 favor of the Nickel Plate. 



NEW YORK CENTRAL. TRAIN SCHEDULE. 



Trains Leaving La Salle Street Station. 



Leave Chicago Due Cleveland 



8:2.') a. m. .5:05 p. m. 



10:25 a. m. (Pullman cars only) 7:00 p. m. 



10:30 a. m. 8:30 p. m. 



1:30 p. m. (Pullman cars only) 11:20 p. m. 



11:00 p. m. 8:15 a. m. 



Fares — Rate, one way, Chicago to Cleveland, 



$11.03. Pullman accommodations: Seat, $1.62; 



lower berth, $2.70; upper, $2.16; drawing room, 



$9.72. 



NICKEL PLATE TRAIN SCHEDULE. 



Trains Leaving La Salle Street Station. 

 Leave Chicago Due Cleveland 



9:55 a. m. 10:47 p. m. 



8:35 p. m. 9:05 a. m. 



Fares — Rate, one way, Chicago to Cleveland, 

 $10.98. Pullman: Seat, $1.62; lower berth, 

 $2.70; upper, $2.16; drawing room. $9.72. 



HIGH PRICES NOT A BLESSING. 



However other lines of business have 

 viewed high prices, they have certainly 

 not been regarded with favor by flo- 

 rists. Most of the trade have not felt 

 able to maintain their old-time ratio of 

 selling price to cost and, to keep their 

 customers, have trimmed their own mar- 

 gin of profit. At the same time, since 

 nil that the florist buys costs more, he 

 has felt a need for greater working 

 capital, and the high prices he has had 

 to ask mean a greater amount carried 

 on the books on outstanding charge ac- 

 counts. The accounts that run past the 

 regulation period give more occasion 

 for worry than they did in the old days. 

 Then, too, there is always the annoy- 

 ance of old customers and good cus- 

 tomers complaining about the high cost 

 of flowers, of which courteous explana- 

 tion does not always quite remove the 

 irritation. 



Extraordinary demand has main- 

 tained florists' sales at a figure they 

 have not before en.ioyed. So, despite 

 high prices, they have maintained a 

 profitable enterprise. But florists will 

 be among the gladdest of all trades to 

 see lower prices, though higher coal 

 prices, higher transportation rates, 

 higher costs all along the line, make a 

 decline in flower prices not an early 

 prospect. 



COAL CONDITIONS UPSET. 



Growers who begin at this time of 

 year preparations for receiving next 

 season's supply of coal find their usual 

 calculations upset by the trafiic conges- 

 tion. Most of the immediate troubles 

 in the coal trade are the result of the 

 failure of the railroads to carry freight 

 I'ormally. The lack of enough freight 



cars is enormously increased when the 

 loaded cars for weeks or more remair 

 on a side track. And in many case.'^ 

 cars which in a fortnight should make 

 two or three trips are taking a montl' 

 in transit. Both coal and coke are in 

 such short supply that many industrial 

 establishments are shut down and other.s 

 are operating on a hand-to-mouth basis. 

 Ordinarily at this season of the year 

 coal is dull. But this year everyone is 

 shouting for coal. 



Under these circumstances the grower 

 is likely to be forced to wait for his 

 storage supply until the factories whoso 

 activity has been curtailed by the short- 

 age have been able to renew operations. 

 This does not mean that the grower 

 should cease efforts to obtain coal — he 

 should sustain them unceasingly if he 

 wishes to secure an adequate supply for 

 next year. But he must do so with 

 patience, realizing the adverse condi- 

 tions that confront him. Constant ef- 

 forts, with patience and forbearance, 

 will be necessary to get enough coal for 

 next season. And those efforts should 

 begin now, for results will prove slow. 



BUSINESS ARTEBIOSCLEBOSIS. 



Some businesses have arteriosclerosis, 

 or hardening of the arteries, as it is 

 less technically known. As in human 

 individuals, it is superinduced by ad- 

 vancing age, but in the case of business 

 organizations, the disease can be entire- 

 ly cured and completely eradicated if 

 corrective measures are taken in time. 

 Otherwise the end is the same, a 

 hastened demise. 



Are the inner workings of your busi- 

 ness vigorous and free, or are the chan- 

 nels of your organization clogged or 

 hindered by constriction brought on by 

 old methods? Sometimes one learns 

 that "the old ways" are not always, 

 though they are sometimes, the best. 

 Businesses, like individuals, need rejuve- 

 nation at times, particularly if, as easily 

 happen* in so strenuous times as those 

 of the last few years, they have fallen 

 into slack ways and unhealthy methods. 

 Florists have been so busy first with 

 war-time and then with peace-time 

 problems that their businesses are like- 

 ly to feel the results of such strenuous 

 experience if methods and systems are 

 not given a thorough scrutiny, not to 

 see if they "will do," but to ascertain 

 if they are as good as they should be. 



A CLEAN JOB. 



There's a great deal of satisfaction 



in doing up a job clean. When a clear. 



job is done in advertising, three parties 



are satisfied — the seller who advertised 



and has sold his stock advantageously, 



the buyer who saw the ad and has got 



what he has been looking for and the 



advertising medium through which the 



service is performed. Think of the 



satisfaction implied in this brief letter: 



Please cut out all my ads in the Classified. 

 I am about sold out of everything I advertised 

 —Henry Krueger, Toledo, 0., June 6, 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 Review. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



N. J. P., Colo. — Use sweetened bran 

 mash and Paris green. 



P. F., N. Y. — Sow pansy seeds in July 

 or August, transplant when large enough 

 to handle and bench in a cool house 

 before freezing weather. 



