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AUTUMN OUTLOOK 



AUSPICIOUS AUGUR 



T 



Consideration of the factors which affect the prosperity of the trade 

 induces confidence in the belief of many florists that the coming season zvill 

 set a high mark for normal business. To the busy florist this glance qt the 

 industrial barometer zvill be reassuring. 



IIKH^: 



EPT on the jump by the 



K necessity of meeting the 

 everyday problems that at- 

 tend the increasing busi- 

 ness of autumn and the 

 difficulties of the present 

 commercial situation, the 

 t'V^'' A busy florist wonders oc- 

 ^ -l| casionally if he is going 



aright, if his hurried judg- 

 ment of current affairs is correct. One 

 day a newspaper scarehead causes doubt 

 and depression; another day's report 

 gives rise to corresponding elation. It is 

 hard, in the midst of these actions and 

 reactions, to strike a balance. 



Many florists, like successful men in 

 other lines, have an uncanny ability to 

 size up the situation on the move, their 

 subconscious impressions steering them 

 in the right channels. They look far 

 enough ahead to see out in the open, be- 

 yond the present hurry and bustle, and 

 so anticipate conditions which have a 

 vital effect upon their businesses. They 

 are the florists who last season kept 

 their ranges going, to their present ad- 

 vantage; who last summer laid in coal, 

 and don't worry now; who were not 

 deterred by high prices 

 of supplies from buying 

 early, and rest easy in 

 consequence at the present 

 time. Their faith is in a 

 bounteous season ahead. 

 What is the justification 

 of it? Cast up the busi- 

 ness balance and see. 



Crux of High Prices. 



In the minds of the peo- 

 ple of this country no com- 

 mercial factor is more 

 prominent than that of 

 present high prices. To 

 some they are a menace; 

 to others they are a boon, 

 the difference in viewpoint 

 arising from the personal 

 advantage or disadvantage 

 of the individual. High 

 prices in themselves are 

 not nearly so important 

 as the causes of them. In- 

 sofar as they represent a 

 higher living scale, they 

 are innocuous. Insofar as 

 they are the result of un- 

 sound financial or commer- 

 cial methods, they repre- 

 sent danger, but the 

 danger lies not in the high 

 prices but in the cause of 

 them. For the florist who 

 pays high prices and re- 

 ceives high prices, the 



only problem involved is the greater 

 capital necessary to carry on business. 

 Actually for the retailer the prime 

 consideration is not the cause of high 

 prices, but the possible effect on the 

 public. Will the public pay for flowers 

 prices high enough to make profits for 

 grower and retailer? Can the grower 

 pay the high prices asked for giganteum 

 lily bulbs and pass the increase along 

 to the consumer? 



Public Is Spending. 



For a reply to this question one has 

 only to look for reassurance to other 

 retail trades and observe the "public's 

 spending proclivities. The dry goods 

 trade reports unprecedented sales in 

 luxury lines; the shoe manufacturers 

 complain that their high prices exist 

 because there is no sale for the cheap 

 products even to the working man; 

 butchers say everyone buys porterhouse 

 steaks and veal chops and no one takes 

 boiling beef and rump steak at ridiculous 

 figures; silk and wool manufactUriers are 

 behind on orders, but cotton clothing 

 does not have nearly the same demand. 

 Whatever one may think in regard to 



such method of expenditure, he will 

 hardly doubt that a public which buys 

 thus will pay proportionate prices for 

 flowers. 



That the public spends thus is not so 

 much a cause for wonder when one con- 

 siders the favorable factors in the busi- 

 ness situation. This country is enjoying 

 an export trade greater than it has ever 

 had in history; its crops this year were 

 all excellent, if not record-breakers; a 

 larger number of people are employed 

 than were ever before, and at better 

 wages. Though anticipated with grave 

 concern, the steel strike actually caused 

 little disturbance in the general business 

 conditions of the country. The coal 

 strike, beheld in similar manner before- 

 hand, proved short-lived. Its effect on 

 the country's industry was less than 

 expected. These are two nation-wide ex- 

 amples out of a series of many strikes 

 in recent months. It is remarkable 

 evidence of this country's firm industrial 

 prosperity that the labor unrest has in 

 reality affected it so little. A nation on 

 the brink of commercial disaster would 

 never pass through such disturbances so 

 steadfastly and calmly as this country 

 has in the last few months. 

 There is much talk of 

 money spent, but at the 

 same time savings banks 

 deposits show greater to- 

 tals than ever and invest- 

 ments have reakched marks 

 never before dreamed of. 



Large Investments. 



The remarkable business 

 transacted day after day 

 on stock exchanges is at- 

 tributed to the vast 

 amount of buying by the 

 public in addition to the 

 manipulators' activity. 

 Figures quoted on another 

 page of this issue tell 

 of the enormous capital is- 

 sues authorized in . new 

 corporations. And Dun 

 and Bradstreet report 

 fewer commercial failures 

 than ever before in the 

 decades during which rec- 

 ords have been kept. 



Families today are earn- 

 ing far more than before 

 the war. While our sol- 

 diers were abroad the 

 daughters and sisters, and 

 often wives, supplemented 

 or replaced the earnings 

 of the male workers, 

 whether they were absent 

 or not. Manv of them 



(v.v 



