The Florists^ Review 



NOVEMBKR 20. 1919. 



economical operation is a prime factor 

 throughout. 



We make our direct appeal to the 

 middle and poorer classes, both of whom 

 are fond of flowers and are willing to 

 spend a portion of their income for 

 them. Our stores are always located 

 in the section of the city where the 

 transient trade is strong. By handling 

 only the freshest stock, procured in 



large quantities at advantageous prices, 

 and giving good value for a moderate 

 charge and courteous treatment to all, 

 we find it comparatively easy to gain 

 regular patrons. Although not strictly 

 cash, most of the business is conducted 

 on that basis. We tap the great mass 

 known as the American public and from 

 this raw material are creating flower 

 buyers. 



FINDING SUCCESSORS. 



For Those Who Have Succeeded. 



In my short span of life it has been 

 my lot to watch the florists' business 

 develop from its infancy into the enter- 

 prise which it is today. My earliest 

 recollection of it was when it was hum- 

 ble indeed, there being not more than a 

 dozen commercial growers in the city in 

 which I live, and none o^ those of that 

 time would be looked upon as an up-to- 

 date business today. In this time I have 

 seen new enterprise after enterprise 

 started, some to prosper, some to fail; 

 some to grow and become model estab- 

 lishments, others to die slowly, much the 

 same as the stock which did not receive 

 the proper care. In every case where suc- 

 cess has crowned the efforts of an enter- 

 prise, you will find that the proprietor 

 was a man who was willing to learn; that 

 is, a man who was always anxious to 

 learn how the other man did it, to com- 

 pare those methods with his own and, if 

 they showed better results, to adopt 

 them or perhaps to improve u])on them. 

 Those were the days when experience 

 was the only teacher and a costly tutor 

 it proved at times. 



Pioneers Lacked Business Training. 



When we consider the future possibil- 

 ities of the business, any wise grower 



will realize that at this time we are not 

 much above the foundation. But those 

 old pioneers, who have blazed the way to 

 what the business stands for today, have 

 laid a foundation that no man need 

 hesitate to build upon. Their business 

 methods when judged by the standards 

 of today may have been crude, but let 

 us not lose sight of the handicap under 

 which most of them worked. They were 

 for the most part men whose early lives 

 had been spent in the bothies and gar- 

 dens of private estates of England, Scot- 

 land and Germany, where they were 

 taught only the florists' business (or I 

 might say profession) ; they got no busi- 

 ness training, which is equally essential. 

 When they emigrated to this country, 

 often they would be obliged to take a 

 private place again until money enough 

 was accumulated to embark in business. 

 And by honest and square dealing many 

 of these humble beginnings have devel- 

 oped into enterprises that today com- 

 mand the respect of the business world. 



Dangers of Specialization. 



But in the florists' business, as in 

 every other business, times have 

 changed. These are days of specializ- 

 ing. Take, for instance, the young man 

 who decides to nlake this business his 

 life 's work. And there is nothing more 

 needful and I know of no better oppor- 

 tunity for an ambitious young man than 



The Newest of the Chain of Park Flower Shops, recently opened at Warren» O. 



the production of flowers. But has ln> 

 the same chance that our forefathers 

 had? If he associates himself with one 

 who makes a specialty of roses, he is 

 put into a rose section and the conse- 

 quence is that he knows nothing bul 

 roses. Or perhaps he lives with one of 

 the carnation kings; he has no opportu- 

 nity to know anything but carnations. 

 The same applies to plantsmen; with 

 them, what will he ever know about 

 growing cut flowers? Now, while he 

 may become an expert in whichever line 

 he selects, yet it is a psychological fact 

 that this will tend to make him narrow 

 in his ideas. A man may go through 

 life successfully as a good producer of 

 any of these flowers, but financial suc- 

 cess, while it is to be desired, is not 

 everything. This is one reason why I 

 claim that education is even more im- 

 portant today than ever. If one of our 

 large ranges is in need of a manager, it 

 requires a man with a well-trained mind, 

 as well as one skilled in his calling, to 

 take charge of, we will say, a range of 

 roses. Think, for instance, how suscep- 

 tible they are to disease, the care that 

 has to be given to heat and ventilation, 

 the vigilance that has to be exercised in 

 watching for numerous pests and the ac- 

 curacy required in timing a crop for the 

 most profitable market. 



For Life and Death. 



Now compare the florist's training of 

 today with that of the trained nurse 

 and you will see, when you analyze their 

 work, that there is not much difference. 

 The florist's duty is to keep his plants 

 healthy and productive, while that of 

 the nurse is to restore sick people to 

 health. It is life and death in both 

 cases; in the former it is the life of the 

 business that is at stake and in the lat- 

 ter that of the patient. Now, the as- 

 pect I wish to bring out most promi- 

 nently is the training each receives. In 

 most training schools the nurse has four 

 years of practical hospital work, lec- 

 tures by experts on various subjects and 

 textbooks, with examinations from time 

 to time before she repeives her diploma. 

 Now, is it not just as essential for young 

 men to be properly trained for the flo- 

 rists' business? 



The question is, how many of our 

 large growers are looking far enough 

 into the future to consider the education 

 of their successors? It is true that many 

 of our colleges, and especially those 

 that are devoted to agriculture, are es- 

 tablishing chairs of horticulture, but 

 many worthy youjig men find it impos- 

 sible to avail themselves of this oppor- 

 tunity. Any young man who is under- 

 going practical training in a range of 

 greenhouses, though tied down to a spe- 

 cific thing, is yet absorbing cultural 

 methods. Let him add to this training 

 careful and well-selected literature on 

 floral subjects (there is plenty of this to 

 be had), let him take one of the many 

 correspondence courses in business meth- 

 ods and he will soon find that his mind 

 is becoming broadened; a rose or carna- 

 tion section will not hold him long. Ex- 

 perience has taught me that a range of 

 houses is the easiest place in the world 

 for one to get into a rut and, once we 

 become established in a rut, it soon be- 

 comes a grave. Tate. 



PORTLAND TO CLOSE SUNDAY. 



Sunday closing in the florists' trade 

 has spread across the continent. Port- 

 land now has joined the ranks of the 



