28 



The Florists^ Review 



Decembeb 11, 1919. 



Christmas demand. He knows that, 

 after the fashion of the weather prog- 

 nosticator, he must combine present 

 facts and figures and indications in 

 such a way as to make as clear a men- 

 tal picture as possible of the Christmas 

 market, and must then make provision 

 accordingly. This precaution is par- 

 ticularly needed this year, on account 

 of the precariousness of transportation. 



Hitting the Market Bight. 



As already intimated, the wisest and 

 easiest course, in a general way, will 



mens are somewhat scarce but poinset- 

 tias appear to be especially abundant. 



Obtaining Advance Orders. 



One of the best methods of prepara- 

 tion, practiced by numerous florists to 

 a greater or less extent, is to secure 

 as many advance orders as possible, thus 

 lightening the labor of the last day or 

 two, increasing the total volume of busi- 

 ness and making it possible to attend 

 to it all without confusion and vexation. 

 When a large proportion of the cus- 

 tomers have selected their purchases 



Poinsettias Can be Used in about as Many Ways as There Are Baskets. 



be to promote the sale of the com- 

 paratively plentiful and low-priced 

 classes of stock. It is frequently prof- 

 itable thus to follow the path of least 

 resistance, if that policy does not be- 

 come too confirmed a habit. On the 

 other hand, there is sometimes great 

 advantage, both prestige and profit, in 

 presenting for sale the rarer articles 

 of stock, which other florists may not 

 be able to offer. For the shrewd florist 

 there are infinite possibilities in fore- 

 casting the future conditions of the 

 market and planning to "hit it" just 

 right. 



Of course, we all realize the neces- 

 sity of finding substitutes for azaleas 

 and for some other plants which here- 

 tofore have been principally of foreign 

 origin. We are all aware how the world 

 war almost demolished this semi-foreign 

 department of the trade, and how the 

 Federal Horticultural Board then came 

 along and completed the work of de- 

 struction by hurling Quarantine No. 37 

 at the devastated region. Any florist 

 who has succeeded in saving a few 

 azaleas from the wreck deserves his 

 reward. But there seems to be a fair 

 supply of other seasonable plants^ — for 

 him who orders early enough. Cycla- 



early and the orders have been placed 

 on file, the final task of wrapping and 

 sorting and routing and delivering is 

 greatly simplified. And one of the best 

 expedients for obtaining these advance 

 orders is to mail to a selected list of 

 customers and prospective customers, as 

 early as December 15 if possible, a neat- 

 ly printed card, stating the benefits — 

 especially, of course, the benefits for the 

 customer— to be derived from early or- 

 dering. Attractive cards for this pur- 

 pose are supplied by some of the 

 publicity specialists. 



Since such a form of preparedness is 

 also a means of publicity, this is one of 

 the instances in which the close rela- 

 tionship of preparedness and publicity 

 is obvious. 



Planning for a Clean-Up. 



It is evident, then, that these ad- 

 vance orders are advantageous to the 

 florist in several ways, expanding his 

 business, lessening the intensity of the 

 eleventh-hour rush and improving the 

 quality of the service he renders. But 

 another advantage, and perhaps the 

 greatest one of all, is the clue that the 

 advance orders give to the florist in 

 regard to the stock that he will need for 



the holiday. If many of his customers 

 have already given their orders for 

 Christmas and have thus given some in- 

 dication, also, of the general trend of 

 popular fancy and desire, surely the flo- 

 rist is better informed in regard to 

 the required stock than he otherwise 

 would be. He need not buy blindly, to 

 have his temper and his profits spoiled 

 later by grievous surpluses and short- 

 ages. He can buy intelligently, with a 

 reasonable prospect of the devoutly de- 

 sired result — a clean-up. "Oh-h-h, Boy! 

 Ain't it a gr-r-rand and glor-r-rious 

 feelin'?" 



The time is short and our action must 

 be prompt. Let our watchword be ' * Pre- 

 paredness ' ' and let us practice what we 

 preach. 



HOLIDAY PLANT ARRANGEMENTS. 



Some Good Sellers Illustrated. 



There is no great variety in the 

 Christmas plants — the number of kinds 

 is limited to a comparative few and 

 they are practically the same from year 

 to year, but there is infinite variety in 

 the accessories by whose use the capa- 

 ble retailer can provide an assortment 

 of stock rich in artistic attractiveness. 

 This issue contains a number of illus- 

 trations of the popular style of plant 

 combination. 



While there is an excellent sale for 

 single plants in simple form with the 

 pots concealed by infxpensive covers, 

 the effort of the flqwst should be to- 

 ward beter things; toward those items 

 of stock which give liini opportunity to 

 make a charge for his artistic skill as 

 shown in the arrangement. When a 

 sale consists of a plant with nothing 

 but a piece of crepe paper around the 

 pot there is no opportunity to charge 

 for the florist's knowledge of his busi- 

 ness. One 's experience in the trade can 

 only be represented in the price when 

 artistic combinations of plaivts are of- 

 fered. It is not necessary that these 

 plant combinations be large or expen- 

 sive- It is possible to make up artistic 

 combinations in small baskets to sell 

 at moderate prices and yet bring 

 more money than the plants would be 

 worth without the addition of the 

 baskets, ribbons and artistic qualities. 



It is not in every store that big mixed 

 baskets of plants can be sold, but every 

 store can do business with small baskets 

 filled with a variety of material. The 

 small baskets call for small plants, but 

 a number of them can be used. If the 

 baskets are provided with metal liners 

 and the combination is carefully plant- 

 ed, the keeping qualities are excellent 

 and one sale leads to another. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



R. O. W., Ind.— Before attempting to 

 grow sweet peas outdoors "in a large 

 way" for market, consult the market as 

 to the varieties and quantities wanted. 



J. P., Mich. — Clean the mealy bug off 

 the coleus by means of a fine, strong 

 spray of clear water. You can use con- 

 crete blocks, but a solid concrete wall 

 would be more desirable for a green- 

 house. Hot water is preferable for a 

 small house. 



C. M. W., Tenn.— There is nothing 

 harmful either in the paraffin or linseed 

 oil. 



C. J. K., Wis. — Manager Chicago 

 Flower Growers' Association, 182 North 

 Wabash avenue, Chicago. 



