30 



The Florists^ Review 



November 6, 1919. 



Eatabllohed, 1897. br Q. L. aRANT. 



PablUhed every Thursday by 

 The Floeists' Pdblishino Co., 



S20-660 Oaxton Building, 



SOS South Dearborn St., Chlca«ro. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Registered cable address, 



Florvlew. Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897. at the poet-office at Ohl- 

 cago, lU.. under the Act of March 

 8.1879. • 



Subscription price, tlJSO a year. 

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



AdvertlsinfT rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertislnf accepted. 



i u i iinn n 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



October was not far behind June this 

 year in the number of weddings. 



Some growers of Paper White narcissi 

 report that much stock is coming blind 

 this season. 



Absence of valley for wedding decora- 

 tions has resulted in numerous inquiries 

 by retailers for swainsona. 



Outdoor stock is coming to an end 

 without the help of killing frosts, which 

 have not yet arrived in a number of lo- 

 calities. 



It will be in line to get your ruscus 

 while you may. It is an Italian' specialty 

 and the crop was small this year. Im- 

 mortelles also are scarce. 



Neither lycopodium nor holly will be 

 so scarce as in the last two years, but the 

 price must continue high because of the 

 increased demands of labor. 



Without a mortality demand, October 

 sales records set high marks in some flo- 

 rists' stores. Those whose totals were 

 not up to those of a year ago find them 

 well above any other previous season. 



The expert and fluent pen of Secretary 

 A. P. Saunders makes the bulletins of 

 the American Peony Society interesting 

 and instructive reading. Bulletin No. 9, 

 bearing date of August, 1919, just out, 

 carries the proceedings of the annual 

 meeting and report of the society's ex- 

 hibition, which are put in a form that 

 is far from dry. 



In the printed roster of its 164 mem- 

 bers, the St. Louis Florists ' Club indicates 

 by one, two or three stars after his name 

 whether a member belongs to the St. 

 Louis Club, the S. A. F. and the Missouri 

 State Florists' Association, and asks, "If 

 you have not three stars, why not?" 

 Membership of 200 is hoped for by the 

 thirty-fourth anniversary, June 28, 1920. 



MOVINO THE GLUT. 



When frosts hold off and the weather 

 is bright, outdoor stock, chrysanthe- 

 mums and the first heavy crop of roses 

 combine to flood the markets. Two of 

 the factors cause difficulty; the three 

 together make much trouble. The stock 

 that is too abundant to be moved is 



often of good quality — better than de- 

 serves to be sacrificed or wasted. 



Is there a way to move this stockf 

 Milwaukee thinks so. At such a time 

 cooperative advertising comes to the 

 fore. By using space in the daily news- 

 papers at the critical period, the local 

 club arouses the public's interest and 

 gives just the addition to the natural 

 impulse to buy flowers that is needed 

 to effect sales. 



In every city live retailers take ad- 

 vantage of full stocks and low prices 

 to advertise sales and thereby aid them- 

 selves and the market. But vastly more 

 could be done if the work of these few 

 individuals could be multiplied by the 

 cooperation of all the florists of the 

 community. Sufficient space could then 

 be taken to benefit the entire city's re- 

 tailers and to move stock in such quanti' 

 ties as to make a decided impression on 

 the glut. 



The number of florists' clubs which 

 are discussing raising advertising funds 

 this fall make one hopeful of wide- 

 spread results. If they realize they hold 

 in cooperative advertising a means not 

 only of developing business gradually 

 but also of combating that periodical 

 bugbear, a glut, they will consider the 

 project much more interestedly. 



EXPBESS CLAIMS. 



The unsatisfactory manner in which 

 the attorneys of the Adams Express Co. 

 are attempting to dispose of claims for 

 loss and damage against it is causing 

 much concern among shippers all over 

 the country. Anxiety is felt on account 

 of danger of the limit for flling suit, two 

 years and one day, expiring. After that 

 period there is no recourse. As suits 

 must be filed in New York, the expense 

 involved would be too great in propor- 

 tion to the amount of the claims to war- 

 rant such action by indiviual florists. 



For this reason it is suggested by T. 

 P. Langhans, of the Pittsburgh Cut 

 Flower Co., that some concerted action 

 might be taken, perhaps through the 

 S. A. F. Various chambers of commerce 

 of cities distant from New York are ask- 

 ing local shippers to advise them of 

 claims, so that steps may be taken to 

 protect their interests. An aggregate 

 sum of money of considerable size might 

 be gained for the trade should its ship- 

 pers unite in action against the express 

 company. 



KAILBOADS TO BE INVOLVED? 



Whether the coal strike will bring to 

 a crisis differences between the admin- 

 istration and the railroad trainmen is 

 a question of concern to florists. Not 

 only would the shipping business, which 

 is increasingly large as cold weather 



iomes on, be affected, but general trade 

 rould assuredly suffer from a tie-up of 

 transportation at this time. 



At conferences during the last few 

 c ays in Washington Director-General 

 HHines and representatives of the Broth- 

 erhood of Railroad Trainmen have failed 

 to reach any basis of agreement. Indi- 

 cations are that Mr. Hines will follow 

 the policy adopted by President Wilson 

 on the labor situation during the shop- 

 men's strike and refuse to meet the 

 trainmen's demands for increased wages. 

 The trainmen are likely to push things 

 while the government is in charge of the 

 roads, realizing that failure now will 

 mean the passing of their best oppor- 

 tunity. The railroads, immediately after 



their return to private operation, are 

 not expected to be so placed that de- 

 mands of labor at that time would create 

 any public sympathy, while the period 

 subsequent to January 1 is that of the 

 slackest traffic, when a strike would be 

 least effective from the standpoint of 

 tying up the nation's arteries. 



Officials of the brotherhood have not 

 stated whether a strike would be called 

 in case the demands were not granted, 

 but they characterize the situation as 

 dangerous. Though they stated also be- 

 fore November 1 that no strike would 

 be called in sympathy with the coal 

 miners, upon the resort of the govern- 

 ment to the use of injunction against the 

 leaders of the striking mine workers, 

 Warren S. Stone, head of the Brother- 

 hood of Railroad Engineers, informed 

 Attorney General Palmer that he could 

 not guarantee that the membership of 

 the railway brotherhoods could be held 

 in check if the government intended to 

 deal with labor disputes by the injunc- 

 tion process. He did not threaten a rail- 

 way strike, but he left no doubt that it 

 was a strike he had in mind. 



The situation is fraught with a num- 

 ber of possibilities, any one of which 

 may prove as a lighted match to the 

 powder magazine. 



ABMISTICE DAT. 



Armistice week or Armistice day, No- 

 vember 11, will be celebrated in many 

 cities in the country. Whether it is ob- 

 served to any marked degree or not by 

 civic authorities, it may be made an 

 occasion of extra business for the flo- 

 rist if he will take steps to cultivate it. 

 As a day when those who served in the 

 war may be honored, when the memory 

 of those who still lie in foreign soil may 

 be recalled, when the mothers who 

 mourn them may receive tokens of sjon- 

 pathy in their loss, Armistice day offers 

 opportunities to the trade dependent 

 only in part upon the extent to which 

 the community takes steps to observe 

 it. The florist himself can develop the 

 observance of the day with flowers by 

 newspaper advertising, by circulariza- 

 tion and by suitable window display. 



Many have been the splendid window 

 decorations made by florists upon the 

 occasion of soldiers' home-coming dur- 

 ing the spring and summer. Ones simi- 

 lar to those which stirred up so much in- 

 terest then will be effective in stirring 

 up trade for the retailer now. 



What the trade makes of this first 

 anniversary of Armistice day will meas- 

 ure largely what it can do in coming 

 years on this occasion. Impetus that is 

 given its observance this November will 

 add to the likelihood of its becoming 

 a yearly benefit to the trade. It is a 

 ground-floor occasion. The trade should 

 endeavor to make the most of it. 



SURE FIBE. 



The Classified ads in The Review are 

 sure fire, the most dependable of sales- 

 men; as one user said, "The cost and the 

 returns to advertisers have no relation 

 whatever." They work like this: 



One Insertion was enough to clean up 10.000 

 plants. — H. J. Potomkin, Muncle, Ind., October 

 25, 1919. 



Am much pleased with the results. Sold out 

 all my stock and had orders amounting to $75 

 I could not flU. — Ward B. Davis, Oshkosh, Wis., 

 October 24, 1919. 



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. 



