28 



The Florists^ Review 



Januauy 13, 1921 



awards scored 88 points, entitling it to a 

 jjrelimiiiary certificate. 



Tlie lioundbiook Greenhouses, Bound- 

 brook, N. J., exhibited a vase of new 

 rise-pink carnation, Arabella, which the 

 committee scored 80 points. 



Considerable discussion arose as to the 

 place for holding the annual dinner and 

 the price to be asked for tickets. It was 

 finally decided that it be held during 

 flower show week, and, on motion, all 

 arrangements were left in the hands of 

 the banquet committee. J. H. P. 



BETTER SERVICE IS THE PLAN. 



Shippers in every industry using cx- 

 l)rcss service will be asked to coiip- 

 erate in the "right way ])lan, " a new 

 educational movement about to be in- 

 augurated in the express business by 

 the American Kailway Kxjircss Co. 



Special eni])hasis is to be laid on what 

 is called ' ' starting express sliipnients 

 right," in which shippers will be asked 

 to give special attention to complete 

 and accurate addressing of shipments 

 and to the packing rules laid down in 

 the express classification, authorized 

 by the interstate commerce commission. 



The carrier announces that having 

 received shipments turned over to it 

 in proper condition for shipping, it pro- 

 poses to see that while in its hands all 

 business will be carefully guarded and 

 expeditiously handled to destination. 

 Numerous placards and pamphlets de- 

 tailing the correct shipping methods 

 will be distributed to express users. 



This is considered an opportune time 

 in the express business to call the at- 

 tention of express employees to proper 

 methods established by the carrier, for 

 the handling of the business. Under 

 the right way plan selected employees, 

 expert in their individual lines, will 

 take a prominent part in a series of 

 meetings to be held throughout the 

 year, the first of which was called Jan- 

 uary 11. 



These men have been organized into 

 right way committees, and the plan 

 will be simultaneously introduced at 

 every point where express traffic is 

 handled. 



RIVER WATER DOES DAMAGE. 



Many thousands of dollars' damage 

 has been suffered by Saginaw, Micli., 

 florists recently, due, they believe, to 

 pollution in the Saginaw river water 

 used in watering their plants. 



Investigation is now in progress by 

 the florists, through the Saginaw-Bay 

 City Floricultural Society, to determine 

 the exact nature of the trouble. While 

 most of them express themselves as cer- 

 tain that pollution of the water by 

 chemicals from factories is the cause, 

 they have sent samples of the plants to 

 the Michigan Agricultural College, at 

 Lansing, and water for analysis. 



Appearing most conspicuously in win- 

 ter, when tlie river is frozen over, the 

 condition of the water noted by the 

 florists troubles them when they try to 

 set out cuttings or seedlings and when 

 they water growing plants. In many 

 cases the florists find that their cuttings 

 are killed outright. 



Again in watering growing plants the 

 effects appear. Soon after watering 

 rusty spots appear around the edges, 

 and in places where the water has col- 

 lected on the petals. This is particu- 

 larly noticed on roses. Ferns suffer, too. 



Though hopeful that the pollution of 

 Saginaw's city water will be overcome 



eventually, some florists do not intend 

 to wait for this, but are planning to 

 build tanks or reservoirs to store rain 

 water from the roofs of their green- 

 houses and use this to water their crops. 

 They believe this is the only practicable 

 solution at present. 



The McVay Seed and Floral Co., now 

 known as Harris Bros., reports that 

 business has been good and the cut 

 stock came in better than in former 

 years. J. A. L. 



SOCIETY OF AMERICAN FLORISTS. 



BIRMINGHAM, ALA. 



Mrs. J. R. Lambly, proprietor of the 

 American Flower Shop, says she has 

 been three years in the game and the 

 business is still growing. Christmas 

 trade was all she expected. 



A. J. Koenig, with a record of fifteen 

 years in the trade here, called it "as 

 good a (^hristmas as I ever had." Mr. 

 Koenig has a record of not losing more 

 than $200 on bad accounts during those 

 fifteen years. He has departed from 

 the usual plan and employs girls to 

 drive his delivery automobiles. They 

 wear gingham uniforms and prove 

 neater and more accurate than boys did. 

 Mr. Koenig is not able to give his at- 

 tention to the greenhouses, owing to an 

 attack of rheumatism. 



Parker's Flower Store had some 

 extra good mums for Christmas and re- 

 ports that they moved readily. 



Miss Montgomery, manager of the 

 Tutwiler Flower Shop, has been indis- 

 ])oscd from overwork during the holi- 

 days. 



ilugh Scales has added another green- 

 house and is cutting some fine carna- 

 tions. Mr. Scales is planning to build 

 a modern and model retail store on the 

 site of his present one. 



Meetings Called. 



President Thomas Roland authorizes 

 the call for a meeting of the executive 

 board of the Society of American 

 Florists at the New Willard hotel, 

 Washington, January 24 and 25. 



George Asmus, chairman of the na- 

 tional flower show committee, has 

 called a meeting of the national flower 

 show committee, to be held during the 

 same week. 



Henry Peiin, chairman of the pub- 

 licity committee, has also summoned 

 the members of his committee to meet 

 at the same time. As practically al' 

 of the members of these committees 

 would be in Washington during the an- 

 nual meeting and exhibition of the 

 American Carnation Society, it was 

 considered advisable to hold all of 

 these meetings at the same time. 



John Young, Sec'y. 



Detroit, Mich. — At the last meeting 

 of the women's auxiliary of the Detroit 

 Florists' Club arrangements were com- 

 pleted for the annual charity ball, to be 

 held January 27. The affair promises 

 to be one of huge proportions. It is to 

 be held in the Statler hotel. 



tJ J l ».LLt | LVli | tiiJ | t^lLUJI4yjl>^i | t^lO l t^^^^^^ 



WHAT'S YOUR OPINION? 



^.lyiffii'^fl??';?!^!!^;^!^^ 



WHY NOT QUOTE PRICES? 



Some florists maintain that the dig- 

 nity of the profession is impaired by the 

 ([notation of prices in their store win- 

 dows. Almost all of them have got be- 

 yond the stage where they opposed put- 

 ting them in advertisements. Now 

 everybody 's doing it, except a few. 

 Why they shouldn't quote prices in 

 their windows, too, is then the question. 

 Being exclusive, in the words of the 

 gentleman quoted below, is being an e;x- 

 cluder, one who keeps away .business he 

 might have. 



The question of quoting prices is so 

 iin]iortant a matter in advertising today 

 tliat the chief organ in that field. Print- 

 ers' Ink, has had a scries of articles on 

 it. The question was later put to the 

 leading advertising agencies. One of 

 them was that of which the president 

 is Ij. W. C. Tuthill, whose work in ad- 

 vertising flowers is well known in the 

 trade. Mr. Tuthill exfirossed his views 

 so well, with florists as illustrations, 

 that his reply was published in Printers' 

 Ink December 30. He said: 



Wlion thP iirtiilc cntitli'd "Is It Tiiiio to 

 AdvtTtisp rriri' as Well iis rrcidnot '.'" aiipcHriMl 

 in rrinlers' Ink «i' wclccuni'il it uitli a sliont 

 iif .iov. "Ilcri'. tlicn," says I, "is .1 niiin wlio 

 is (■ndoavorinK to );ct rit'lit down to the base 

 of one of tlie Ijasic olemonts of soiling. " 



It has always scemod to me tliat the omission 

 of price in eonneetion with miTcliandise was 

 quite ns ineonsistcnt as to omit the dotting of 

 j-onr "i's" and the erossini; of your "t's." 



Kecarilless of the fait that there is a certain 

 lot of long haired, high-hrowed iien-piishers in 

 many agemy copy di'partments who feel it (piite 

 tahoo to mention price, and even "nndignitied." 

 still the r.'Uik and tile (wliiih is mostly most of 



us) want to know what a thing costs and want 

 to know It then and there. 



The omission of price in such a large propor- 

 tion of the advertisements. I l)elieve, is just 

 one more indication of most of us Americans 

 being slieep. We surely are a bunch of fol- 

 lowers. 



First it's no border. 



Then it's ail border. 



Then top and liottom border — no sides. 



Few there are who follow out their plans 

 consistently and insistently. 



Taking the cue from a good many of the 

 autoniol)ile advertisers, there's a wave gone 

 over the country of price omission. That it has 

 impaired and is impairing buying today, I am a 

 hundred per cent convinced. 



.Inst for example: 



I know a man wlio I doubt if he ever botight 

 flowers lialf u dozen times in his life until 

 recently. 



Why? 



Simply because when lie came to a florist's 

 window and looked in he didn't know whether 

 lie was going to pay $3 a dozen for roses or 

 ii-3,'?. He didn't want to go in and ask the price 

 and find it 'way above his means, and then come 

 out feeling like a piker. 



Happily for him. there is now n florist in New 

 York who advertises $5 boxes, $"> ferns and $5 

 tiaskets of flowers. 



He has a large clientele of men who call 

 np that shop on the phone and say, "Send 

 one of your $.'> items to so-and-so." 



What's so with flowers is so with most other 

 things. 



What good is it for a man to know how 

 high a clock stands if he doesn't know how deep 

 it is going to go in his pocket when it comes 

 to paying for it? 



What good is there in setting a so-called ad- 

 vertising trap for imiuiries. by giving no prices, 

 only to have the reply bring to the inquirers 

 news that gives a jolt? 



Inquiries not only cost money to get, but a 

 goodly hit to take care of. 



A price advertisement self-sifts inquirers. If 

 for no otiier reason, that's reason enough for 

 ])rices. 



It's time that that bunk about the ciqiidity of 

 the buyer was given the eternal kibosh. 



Year in and year out. those advertisements 

 ■which plainly state plain facts, so plain-thinking 

 folks can grasp them, are the ones that business- 

 build. 



Prices then be it — from chewing gum to 

 pianos. 



