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26 



The Florists^ Review 



JaNB 24, 1920 



ir 



Eatablished, 1897, by Q. L. aRANT. 



Pabllshed every Ttaaredar by 

 Thk Florists' Pubushino CIo., 



620-560 Oazton Balldinir. 



608 South Dearborn St., Ohicaaro. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Beglstered cable address. 



Flonrlew, Ohlca^ro. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 ago, IIU under the Act of March 

 «. 1879. 



SubscrtptloD price, $130 a rear. 

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



Adyertisinir rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlsinff accepted. 



n 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



There are many good growers who are 

 distressingly weak on the office end of 

 their business. 



Steps are being taken in Paris to form 

 an association of exporters of French 

 horticultural products. 



The best businesses, in this trade and 

 in others, are built on the rule to pay 

 bills promptly and collect accounts in the 

 same manner. 



There is a difference between caution 

 and cold feet. The former will aid the 

 trade in present conditions, though the 

 latter will prove a handicap. 



Peter Reinberq, of Chicago, is per- 

 haps the trade's only representative at 

 the Democratic national convention at 

 San Francisco. The Chicago grower is 

 a delegate. 



The American Peony Society decided 

 to hold next year's meeting at Boston. 

 The American Sweet Pea Society will 

 meet and exhibit there next month, July 

 10 and 11. 



The gluts of cut flowers this spring 

 were later and shorter than in any re- 

 cent year. As production was greater 

 than ever before, something must have 

 helped. Perhaps it was the trade's pub- 

 licity work. 



It is a positive fact that the larger 

 growers must obtain still more income 

 next season for cut flowers and plants. 

 Decreased income in the face of increased 

 outgo will spell disaster for them and 

 for the trade. The average price of 

 stock must continue to rise. 



Florists in the eastern states who have 

 surplus stock will find it particularly well 

 worth while to list it in the Classified 

 columns of The Review. There are many 

 reasons why the use of The Review col- 

 umns pays eastern growers unusually well, 

 but there is no use reciting them — "the 

 proof of the pudding," etc. 



It has been suggested that if J. .T. 

 Hess, in his official capacity, were a 

 more frequent contributor to the S. A. 

 F. Journal, it might obviate the neces- 

 sity for padding that publication with 

 matters not related to the affairs of the 

 society. Details of the financial affairs 

 of the society unquestionably would be 

 of interest to many members. 



Flowers as accessories in window dis- 

 plays in all sorts of stores are seen more 

 and more. At this time of year it would 

 pay to call that fact to the attention of 

 merchants in your neighborhood. 



The bulletin of the Dahlia Society of 

 California announces the annual show for 

 September 2 to 4. Secretary F. C. 

 Burns, of San Rafael, is responsible for 

 the interesting 16-page publication of the 

 organization. * 



Perplexing as is the fuel situation in 

 the middle west, it is much worse in the 

 east, particularly in New England, where 

 the only coal available is of such low 

 grade that it has little value but costs 

 undreamed-of prices. 



Bedding stock has cleaned up in good 

 shape and at prices which seem to afford 

 a satisfactory margin for profit, even 

 with the high costs. On the whole the 

 spring season seems to have been one of 

 the best the trade ever has enjoyed. 



The new decree of the French govern- 

 ment restricting imports prohibits the en- 

 try of greenhouse and nursery plants and 

 shrubs, cut flowers and dried and prepared 

 flowers. No exceptions are permitted 

 aside from admission for purposes of re- 

 exportation. 



According to the United States census, 

 Cleveland did not quite achieve its en- 

 thusiastic claim as the Fourth City, but 

 that does not diminish the enthusiasm of 

 the reception planned for S. A. F. mem- 

 bers August 17 to 19. Having been 

 surpassed by last year's convention city 

 in population, Cleveland will endeavor to 

 oatdo it in hospitality and entertainment. 



ATTENTION, WESTERN GROWERS. 



I expect to be present at the florists' 

 outing to be held at the range of the 

 Pinehurst Floral Co., at Pleasant Hill, 

 Mo., July 5. Growers wanting informa- 

 tion on the newly proposed National 

 Flower Growers' Association are kindly 

 invited for a conference. 



J. F. Ammann, Sec'y. 



WHO PAYS FOR INEFFICIENCY? 



One of the causes of rising costs in 

 the flower industry, as well as in prac- 

 tically all other lines, has been the 

 lower productiveness of common labor 

 used in both greenhouses and stores. 

 Efficiency experts have calculated the 

 exact percentage of decrease in fac- 

 tories where work is highly systematized 

 and results therefore are easily ascer- 

 tainable. In the florists' industry no 

 such close calculation is possible, but 

 proprietors who have given the matter 

 close study put the depreciation in 

 labor efficiency as high as fifty per cent. 

 In other words, today two men are re- 

 quired to do the work that one did be- 

 fore the war. 



This slump has taken place while 

 wages have been steadily on the in- 

 crease. Many florists are paying twice 

 as much as they did a few years ago 

 for the same kind of work. The net 

 result is, therefore, that it now costs 

 four times as much to get eight hours' 

 work as it did before the war, for today 

 it takes two men to do what one man 

 former!}' did and each of the two re- 

 ceives twice as much as that one man 

 did. 



Since the pay roll represents so large 

 a part in the cost of flowers, florists 

 are confronted with a dilemma, whether 



they shall pass on the total increase in 

 cost to flower buyers or shall bear part 

 of the increase themselves — in other 

 words, content themselves with a lower 

 margin of profit, in reality a loss of in- 

 come. 



The dilemma arises chiefly because 

 florists doubt whether the public will 

 stand the whole increase. It is highly 

 unpleasant to the retailer to see old 

 customers leave the store without buy- 

 ing when they find pricey high. But 

 observation of other industries reveals 

 that there the higher costs are passed 

 along in full to the consumer. That 

 is why we are paying such advanced 

 prices for food, wearing apparel and 

 other everyday articles, with which 

 flowers have not kept pace. Compare 

 the prices you ask today with those 

 you asked five years ago and compare 

 also the prices you pay with those you 

 paid five years ago. The florist must 

 pass along his increased costs just as 

 everyone else does. He must do it to 

 stay in business. Prices are not, ap- 

 parently, on their way down. Give the 

 public stock of good quality and ask 

 the price to which you feel entitled. 



WILL THE PUBLIC PAY? 



Ever and anon the question bobs up: 

 Will the public pay high prices for 

 flowers? Can we charge what we feel 

 we should, or must we be content with 

 a smaller margin? There are interesting 

 data on this subject to be had in a re- 

 cent letter of Secretary of the Treasury 

 Houston. Figures gleaned by Treasury 

 Department experts from tax returns 

 and other sources of information 

 furnish an approximate estimate of 

 what the people of the United States 

 spend in twelve months on certain items 

 classed as luxuries. Some of the esti- 

 mates given are: 



Chewing gum | 50,000,000 



Candy 1,000.000.000 



Cigarettes 800,000,000 



Soft drinks, including ice cream 



and soda 350,000.000 



Perfumery and cosmetics 750,000,000 



Cigars 610,000,000 



Tobacco and snuff 800,000,000 



Furs 300,000,000 



Carpets and luxurious clothing 1,500,000,000 



Automobiles and parts 2,000,000,000 



Toilet soaps 400,000,000 



Pianos, organs and phonographs... 250,000,000 



There may be some question as to 

 the inclusion of some items, such as car- 

 pets, ice cream and all automobiles, as 

 luxuries. That, however, is not the 

 point. The moral is: If the great 

 American public will pay such sums as 

 these — hundreds of millions of dollars 

 each year — for the items specified, will 

 they not, with proper education and 

 urging via the trade's growing adver- 

 tising, pay far more for flowers than 

 we have hitherto considered possible? 



• ' SO WELL DESERVED. ' ' 



In these times of skyrocketing prices 

 for paper The Review is adhering to its 

 policy of keeping its subscription and 

 advertising rates at the lowest possible 

 point, for the purpose of providing a 

 universally usable means of communi- 

 cation in the trade — we don 't want 

 cost to bar anybody out. And it is 

 working well. Like this: 



JuRt a word of encouragement, so well de- 

 served. I have been advertising in four florists' 

 journals, but all mail orders and inquiries say, 

 "Saw your ad In The Review."— Wm. F. Burch- 

 ardt, Baltimore, Md., June 5, 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. 



