16 



The Florists^ Review 



Decbmbbb 18, 1919. 



outside of the box are glass test tubes, 

 which can be cheaply bought at drug- 

 gists' or chemists' supply stores. These 

 tubes are held upright in a wire frame. 

 In them may be placed carnations or 

 roses or other short-stemmed stock. 



On a summer day passers are attract- 

 ed by the sign, "Help Yourself. 10 

 Cents Each," and drop a coin, putting 

 a flower in his buttonhole or pinning it 

 on the front of her dress. Mr. Palmer 

 states that during the five summer 

 months during which the stand stood 

 outside the store it averaged forty- 

 seven customers a day, or $4.70 for each 

 day of the five warm months. He says 

 he believes that on a street where there 

 are more pedestrians the average 

 would easily be tripled. 



Better Than MoneT 



But better than the actual returns 

 in money was the missionary work that 

 the stand did out on the walk in front. 

 On rainy days passers missed the stand 

 and went into the store for their flow- 

 ers. When winter came the customers 

 who had patronized the stand during 

 the summer came into the store and 

 made purchases. This is the way Mark 

 Palmer puts it: 



"From the time we opened our new 

 and beautiful store on Delaware avenue, 

 I always had a feeling that the average 



buyers into the store and creating cus- 

 tomers by slow degrees of education. 

 The trade can use such devices to its 

 permanent advantage. Perhaps there 

 are others of which it should hear. 



DUMSEB'SDATA. 



Paul M. Halbrooks, Newark, O., cut 

 his last mums two days before Thanks- 

 giving and within twenty-four hours 

 had the same benches planted to snap- 

 dragons. He is a firm believer in keep- 

 ing benches working all the time. 



Fred W. Arnold, Cambridge, O., has 

 not been bothered by the shortage of 

 coal or by the miners going on a strike. 

 He had valuable experience during the 

 war and ^aa opened a mine on his 

 twenty acres adjoining the greenhouses, 

 so that he does not have to buy coal. 



Fischer & Burkland, Youngstown, O., 

 have been carrying two houses of mums 

 for Christmas, but their trade calls for 

 them every day; so they are well satis- 

 fied. 



The J. Kiel Co., East Liverpool, O., 

 has a large call for funeral work and 

 regrets not building 50,000 feet of glass 

 before the war, as the 20,000 feet does 

 not supply their requirements. 



McFarlands, Akron, O., have a fine lot 

 of cyclamens, some with forty to sixty 

 blooms and many buds, on well shaped 



Self-Serve Flower Stand is of Simple andiEasy G>nstruction. 



person who passed by and perhaps had 

 the desire to buy a rose was afraid to 

 come into the store. So I went outside 

 to them. The result is, when winter 

 comes and we do not have the flower 

 stand out in front the customers who 

 have patronized it during the summer 

 come inside." 

 This is one way of bringing possible 



plants averaging twenty-eight inches 

 across. They say the local trade will 

 buy all of them. 



Geo. B, Watkin, Zanesville, 0., re- 

 ports his November sales this year far 

 in excess of the same month last year. 

 His benches are well filled for Christ- 

 mas. 



Harry Miller, Alliance, O., has closed 



a deal for a 5-year lease on a store at 

 the busiest corner in town. It is being 

 fitted up in modern style, with plenty of 

 mirrors. - He believes that the best loca- 

 tion is cheapest. 



Chas. Betscher, Dover, O., is having 

 his first vacation in twenty years. He 

 is serving on the grand .iury. He says 

 this is the first thing in twenty years 

 that has taken him away from his work, 

 but he enjoys his compulsory vacation 

 at $2 per day. D. W. D. 



MILWAUKEE. 



The Market. 



Conditions have not been so favorable 

 during the last two weeks. Cuts have 

 declined considerably, due to the ex- 

 tremely cold weather, which is the only 

 factor that has helped to keep the mar- 

 ket from getting overloaded. 



Mums are about out of the market. A 

 few of medium size and some poor 

 bunches remain, but the demand is not 

 strong. Boses move fairly well at me- 

 dium' prices. Their quality is good and 

 they are worth better prices. Carna- 

 tions, which have not been plentiful at 

 any time this season, still are scarce and 

 bring from $4 to $8 per hundred. Sweet 

 peas are coming in more heavily, some 

 being of good quality, others being 

 short-stemmed and poor in color. Vio- 

 lets move as fast as they come to the 

 market. The crop is apparently quite 

 short and the demand good. Few or- 

 chids are available and those marketed 

 bring a good price. Calendulas are in 

 fair supply and sell readily. Some callas 

 and a few rubrum lilies are coming in. 



The wholesale houses are busy dis- 

 tributing their supply of boxwood, win- 

 ter berries, wreaths and miscellaneous 

 Christmas supplies. The demand is good 

 and the retailers are preparing for a 

 large holiday business. 



The growers are well booked with 

 plant orders. Practically every plant 

 grown for Christmas sale is assigned to 

 someone and, while the variety this year 

 is not great, the quantity is normal. 



Various Notes. 



Restrictions on coal for lighting and 

 heating have caused the stores to oper- 

 ate only seven hours per day since 

 December 4. This has had a tendency to 

 slow up business to some extent, ac- 

 cording to opinions noted. Normal 

 hours were resumed December 15 and 

 the psychological effect is apparent. 



Mrs. M. O. Seeman has been seriously 

 ill for the last three weeks. 



Herman Hunkel says there were but 

 two local orders for Christmas plants at 

 the greenhouses the Monday following 

 Thanksgiving. On Wednesday of the 

 same week they were practically sold 

 out. 



Someone made a bit of money last 

 year on stevia. This year every grower 

 has some and no one will make any- 

 thing. This happens every year with 

 the item that had the strong call the 

 year before. 



Walter Maas has a new Dodge deliv- 

 ery car, also a motorcycle with side car 

 for specials. 



Biehard Lietz, who suffered a broken 

 rib while moving a case of bulbs into 

 his store, is getting along nicely and will 

 be fit for the Christmas rush. A. H. M. 



Kansas City, Mo. — H. C, Pfeiffer, 

 proprietor of the Gladstone Floral Co., 

 has acquired the St. Mary Greenhouse, 

 2215 Jackson street. 



