26 



The Florists^ Review 



Septembbb 16, 1920 



!! 



Established. 1897. by a L. QRi^NT. 



Pabllshed every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishino Ck>.. 



620-660 Oazton Bnlldlnt;, 



808 Soatb Dearburn St., Ohlcatro. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Registered cable address, 



Florrtew. Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. S. 1897, at the poet-office at Ohl> 

 «Wo, 111., under the Act of March 

 8. 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

 To Oamda, $2.S0: to Europe. $3.00. 



AdTertlsinf? rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertlslng accepted. 



n 



Besults bring advertising. 

 The Eeview brings results. 



Perhaps now that people are buying 

 automobiles with less rapidity, they will 

 be spending more for flowers. 



The new rose, Pilgrim, has won the 

 praise of eastern retailers, who have 

 handled it most, particularly for its 

 color. 



Florists can add to autumn business 

 by urging home plantings now. Many 

 things do better for being put in the 

 ground at this time instead of next 

 spring. 



Less than a month away is the meet- 

 ing of the F. T. D., at Indianapolis, 

 October 12 and 13. Plans and prosrpects 

 are for a largely attended and highly in- 

 teresting gathering. 



Business methods must improve. The 

 day will come when a severe penalty will 

 be inflicted on any man who cashes a 

 check for stock he can not ship until he 

 finds it somewhere. 



The Classified columns in this issue oc- 

 cupy nearly fifty per cent more space 

 than they did a year ago. These busi- 

 ness-bringcrs have demonstrated their 

 power to tlie trade in all parts of the 

 country. 



Numerous new flower stores are open- 

 ing this fall, most of them managed by 

 young men who have had training in 

 established stores and who have acquired 

 the money for a start for their own ac- 

 count. 



The florists' trade as a class still is 

 reluctant to pay the market price for 

 doing business. It's well to be careful, 

 but there's nothing in quitting. Pay 

 what necessary things cost and push the 

 selling. 



Steps are being taken by wholesale 

 coal dealers to oust the speculators from 

 that trade. They realize that too groat 

 ascension in price, even on such a neces- 

 sity, may bring reaction to their own 

 detriment. 



Does the retailer realize how many ad- 

 vertising helps are provided at Secretary 

 Young's office, 43 West Eighteenth street. 

 New York? They include seasonal fold- 

 ers, monthly blotters with "Say It with 

 Flowers" calendar, slogan billboards, 

 transfer signs, electric flashing window 

 signs, lantern slides, motion picture film, 

 window posters, slogan cuts and stickers. 



The florist who keeps close watch on 

 collections and pays his own bills prompt- 

 ly need fear least any effect of business 

 depression. 



The distribution of flowers, rather 

 than their production, is what needs to 

 be studied. Develop the outlet and pro- 

 duction will keep pace. 



When growing costs hold high while 

 other commodities go down, there is now 

 the greatest need for economy and re- 

 sourcefulness in producing flowers. 



Nowadays there are so many labor- 

 saving devices manufactured for green- 

 house men that a grower spends all his 

 time growing and need not put in hours 

 tinkering with home-made makeshifts. 



Business on the whole is extremely 

 good in the florists' trade. There never 

 has been a summer during which the 

 public has bought so many flowers. That 

 prices have been low was due solely to 

 the unusually large production, which 

 naturally followed last winter's scarcity 

 and which was helped by an extremely 

 favorable growing season. 



When one orders at the lowest price is 

 it a matter for surprise if the stock turns 

 out not of the highest quality? And 

 when one buys second-hand material, 

 "unsight and unseen" as boys say when 

 they trade jackknives, is it to be expected 

 the glass will be clean and the wood- 

 work freshly painted? Some people ex- 

 pect too mu<ih in this world. 



Last week the editor's desk was graced 

 by blooms of J. K. Eugowski's asters, 

 whose great size and excellent color have 

 excited the praise of those who know this 

 flower best. Pure Honor, Meritorious 

 Pink and Purple Honor are the most 

 notable of his varieties, but there are 

 others of much interest also. He 

 promises a deep yellow aster for next 

 year. 



This publication does not sell advertis- 

 ing space on "credit"; a large number 

 of accommodation accounts are carried, 

 to afford the publication's customers the 

 convenience of monthly settlement, but 

 such arrangements are made only with 

 the understanding that payment will be 

 made each thirty days as bills are ren- 

 dered. A similar practice is recom- 

 mended for selling flowers. 



IT DOESN'T SEEM TO. 



Calling attention to the following 

 paragraph under "Harbor Activities" 

 in the weekly bulletin of the Portland, 

 Ore., Chamber of Commerce, Clarke 

 Bros, remark that "Quarantine No. 37 

 didn't keep 'em away": 



Millions of little black Manclinrinn flies were 

 destroyed when the Columbia-Pacific Shipping 

 Co.'s North China line steamer West Nomentum 

 was fumijrnted last Tuesday. Tlie flies came 

 aboard with the falsing on of a cargo of soya bean 

 oil at Darien. The stowaways were swatted with 

 BcientiDc accuracy. 



STEEL REPORT SIGNIFICANT. 



Many persons besides greenhouse 

 builders regard the monthly unfilled 

 tonnage report with much interest, con- 

 sidering it a barometer of the trend of 

 business and of freight traffic during 

 the preceding month. In the minds of 

 these, the August report, issued last 

 week, confirmed the sentiments ex- 

 ])ressed in many circles that shipments 

 were greatly increased, production 

 much improved, cancellations active 

 and new business largely curtailed. 



These factors were quite clearly illus- 

 trated in the figures given. 



The unfinished business on the books 

 of the corporation August 31 repre- 

 sented a gross weight of 10,805,038 

 tons, a decrease of 313,430 tons when 

 compared with the month previous. 

 This was actually the first decrease in 

 unfilled tonnage since March of last 

 year and of important significance as 

 indicating the prevailing trend of busi- 

 ness activities. 



The report was not altogether an in- 

 dication of large cancellations, since 

 shipments were largely improved and 

 production showed steady progress as 

 well. The corporation's operations, 

 which are now near an eighty-five per 

 cent level, were from five to ten per cent 

 better than in July, while car shortage 

 was not as hampering as in the previous 

 month. Moreover, it is interesting to 

 note that the production of crude steel 

 last month made a gain of 197,614 tons 

 over July, which also tends to show a 

 better supply of finished products. 



HAVE YOU SEEN HEM? 



Charles Eussell, recently of the 

 United States Army and the govern- 

 ment greenhouses at Washington, D. 

 C, is reported to have suddenly depart- 

 ed with some property belonging to 

 Bertermann Bros. Co., Indianapolis. He 

 is of South America Indian parentage, 

 speaking Spanish and Portuguese, and 

 is alleged to have worked for Wilcox & 

 Sons, Council Bluffs, la., and bore a 

 letter of recommendation from Mrs. 

 Freeman, at Washington, D. C. He will 

 be readily recognized. He evidently 

 has had several years of experience in 

 the flower business. Any information 

 in regard to this gentleman will be ap- 

 preciated by Bertermann Bros. Co. 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Sioux City, la. — Application for the 

 appointment of a receiver to take charge 

 of the flower department of the Olympia 

 Candy Co. was made last week in the 

 District court by Peter D. Eorris. The 

 hearing on the application was fixed by 

 Judge W. G. Sears for September 10. 

 The petition sets forth that December 

 11, 1918, the plaintiff and the defend- 

 ants signed an agreement whereby Mr. 

 Eorris was to take charge of the florists' 

 business of the company and have an 

 equal share in the profits and losses of 

 the business; he also paid $100 for a 

 half interest in the business, he says. 

 The plaintiff asserts that he was wrong- 

 fully discharged by the defendants July 

 27, 1920. As a result of the florists' 

 business, there accumulated $1,000 

 worth of stock now in the possession of 

 the defendants, $1,600 on deposit in the 

 Continental National bank, $2,300 in 

 book accounts and $300 due from the 

 American Express Co., declares the peti- 

 tion. The plaintiff states that the de- 

 fendants have refused to permit him to 

 conduct the business further, or to ac- 

 count for the stock on hand, or to permit 

 him to collect his alleged share of money 

 on deposit or the amounts collected on 

 accounts. If the business had been con- 

 ducted until December 11, 1920, the 

 day of the termination of the contract, 

 Mr. Eorris would be entitled to $1,200 

 profits, he says. He sues for this sum 

 of money and half the stock on hand, as 

 well as for the appointment of a re- 

 ceiver. 



