■f-'fi: ?/■:■ 



24 



The Florists^ Review 



Dbcembeb 25, 1919. 



11 



Established. 1897, by a. L. QRANT, 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co^ 



620-660 Oaxton Bnlldlntr, 



608 South Dearborn St., Chicago. 



Tele., Wabash 8196. 



Begrlstered cable address, 



Florview, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897, at the post-office at Chi- 

 cago. 111., under the Act of lliu«h 

 ^ 1879. 



Subscription price, $1.60 a year. 

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



AdTertislng rates quoted upon 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlsing accepted. 



n 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Mekry Christmas. 



The time is not in sight when the pro- 

 duction of plants will catch up with the 

 demand. 



Give the other fellow credit for mo- 

 tives as good as your own ; sometimes they 

 might even be better. 



Many a bench now will be filled with 

 gladiolus bulbs instead of being per- 

 mitted to stand idle this winter. 



Produce plenty of spring bedding stock 

 — yes. But produce it of good quality. 

 Prices will repay the extra care. 



What the trade needs is quality — there 

 are too many growers who seek maximum 

 jiroducfion witliout regard to the quality 

 of their stock. 



There seems to be no surplus of any- 

 thing this season, except work ; there is 

 plenty of that to go around among all 

 who are capable of doing it. 



A well-known publicity man calls the 

 growers "a tongue-tied trade." Yea, 

 verily, but they are getting over it, and 

 how the florists' business will boom! 



So strong has been the resi)onse to Sec- 

 retary Young's appeal for life members 

 in the S. A. F. while the low rate lasted 

 that the stock of engraved certificates ha.s 

 been exhausted. The new ones ordered 

 will not be delivered until after the holi- 

 days. 



It is an extremely bad ha])it, when over- 

 sold on a batch of plants, to hold orders 

 until the next lot is ready. And the 

 worst part of it is that this usually is 

 done with the orders that were accom- 

 panied by remittances. To casli a man's 

 check and not ship his order for anywhere 

 from two to twelve weeks is not in ac- 

 cordance with the golden rule. 



The editor 's desk is decorated with 

 chrysanthemums this Christmas. The 

 variety is Hamburg Late Pink, a sport of 

 Maud Dean, which appeared a number of 

 years ago at tlie establishment of C. T. 

 Guenther, Hamburg, N. Y. It is liked so 

 well in the vicinity of Buffalo that it has 

 been decided to disseminate it next spring, 

 through the Wm. F. Kasting Co. The 

 flowers sent to The Review were excellent 

 and evidently might have been left on 

 the plant still later if desired. 



When you help the other fellow's busi- 

 ness you help your own. 



Empty benches are the most costly 

 things in any greenhouse establishment. 



The dealer who complains about the 

 business methods of another might check 

 up his own mothoda first. , 



Without question, growers would re- 

 ceive more for their flowers if those in 

 charge of the selling could get out of 

 their heads the old idea of oflfering reduc- 

 tions in prices the moment stock begins 

 to accumulate. 



An advertisement which asks, "Write 

 us on your, letterhead," follows the as- 

 sumption that business stationery gives 

 an indication of the firm's character. 

 Even when printing costs are mounting, 

 money paid for properly printed letter- 

 heads, billheads, etc., is well spent by the 

 man who is building a permanent busi- 

 ness. 



THE TRADE'S CHRISTMAS. 



The days before Christmas gave 

 ample evidence how extensive would be 

 the sales for this holiday. No one had 

 doubt that every flower and plant 

 would be sold when florists sat down 

 to their Christmas dinners'. And though 

 prices this autumn were high, the usual 

 holiday increase occurred, carrying 

 figures up to marks that few thought 

 possible. Just how high they would go 

 could only be seen at the eleventh hour, 

 but buyers were bidding strong in their 

 desire to get wanted stock when, the 

 week opened and their determination 

 gave evidence of still stronger offers 

 later. 



So closes an autumn which has been 

 the most successful and most profitable 

 in the trade's history. Without an in- 

 fluenza epidemic to create demands on 

 stock, prices have held high and sales 

 have continued strong since cool weather 

 began. How much of such sales is due 

 to the general prosperity, how much to 

 greater trade publicity and how much 

 to other causes, is difficult, if possible 

 at all, to determine. Until trade 

 analysts sav which cause is most im- 

 portant and which is less, florists will 

 be satisfied with the knowledge that the 

 results are what they have been and, 

 winding up with a record holiday sale, 

 celebrate their most prosperous Christ- 

 mas. , 



CONSIDER THE OTHER FELLOW. 



Tn a trade that deals in perishable 

 commodities consideration of the man 

 at the other end of a sale is more desir- 

 able and, indeed, necessary than in 

 otlier lines of business. Wlien differ- 

 ences of opinion develop in transac- 

 tions concerning goods which are not 

 affected by delays and weather condi- 

 tions, the leisurely progression of the 

 courts of law will settle the matter and 

 one or the other of the parties concerned 

 will take ultimate possession of the 

 merchandise without its having suffered 

 materially in the meantime. It is quite 

 otherwise in the florists' trade. When 

 a person receives a shipment of plants 

 or bulbs or other stock which is not 

 up to the standard, according to the 

 buyer's mind, or perhaps had been dam- 

 aged by weather conditions or improper 

 packing, the consignee cannot re.iect 

 them summarily. He may be the loser, 

 and perhaps legal redress would not 

 compensate him for the loss. Perhaps 



legal action is prevented by some tech- 

 nicality of which he has never heard. 

 Yet if he accepts the shipment, there 

 are still other questions that make 

 doubtful his ability to recover dam- 

 ages. By the time a court hears the 

 case, only testimony, not the goods 

 themselves, remains as evidence, and the 

 outcome is doubtful to any but a keen 

 legal mind. 



The buyer, when he places his order, 

 can by definite shipping directions aid 

 the shipper to give him the best service. 

 And the seller, by thought of the 

 buyer's interest in the transaction, can 

 remove a large share of possible trouble. 

 It is to his interest to do so, for nothing 

 serves to build a business so fast as 

 reliable service. Low prices are of 

 value only as an introduction; no prices 

 are so low that a buyer who has not 

 been satisfied a first time will come 

 again. No individual can make money 

 by selling to each customer but once. 

 Success comes in selling to the same 

 buyer time and time again. The basis 

 of such repeat orders is mutual satisfac- 

 tion, which comes of consideration for 

 the man at the other end of the deal. 



WHO KNOWS ABOUT THIS? 



We have heard that some of the 

 growers in eastern Pennsylvania and 

 New York are using cast-iron radiators 

 for heating instead of pipe. We should 

 like to be put right on the subject and 

 to know the names of one or two firms 

 that are using cast-iron radiation, if 

 the rumor is true. We are interested. 

 J. N. Spanabel & Sons. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



H. F. C, S. C— See page 100, issue of 

 December 18. 



L. C. L., Va. — We do not know of 

 "Scientific Decoration"; have been un- 

 der the impression decorating is an art. 



STOCK FROZEN IN TRANSIT. 



The present cold weather makes of 

 timely interest a decision handed down 

 the other day by the North Dakota Su- 

 preme court in the case of O. J. Barnes 

 Co. vs. Northern Pacific Railway Co. 

 (173 Northwestern Reporter, 943), con- 

 cerning the liability of railway com- 

 panies for freezing of freight in transit. 

 The gist of the court's decision, which 

 seems to state sound law, applicable 

 throughout the country, is as follows: 



Where a railway company receives 

 perishable goods for shipment at a sea- 

 son when it is reasonable to expect freez- 

 ing temperature, and where, following a 

 delay in transportation, the goods are 

 damaged by freezing, the perishable na- 

 ture of the goods is to be taken into 

 consideration in determining whether or 

 ftot there was an unreasonable delay in 

 delivery. 



Where goods are shipped under an 

 option in the shipper, as against the rail- 

 way company, whereby the shipper as- 

 sumes the risk of the goods being dam- 

 aged by heat or cold, the company is not 

 relieved from liability for such damage 

 if the same is caused directly by a delay 

 in transportation. 



Nor can a railway company escape 

 liability for freezing of goods on the 

 ground that the damage was caused by 

 an act of God, where the freezing might 

 well have been foreseen as a direct re- 

 sult of the carrier's failure to make rea- 

 sonably prompt delivery. S. 



