66 



The Rorists^ Review 



NOVKMBBB 11, 1920 



Til* florist* whose cards appMtf on th* paces oarrytnc this baad, aro proparati to fill ordars 

 — "-^^ from other florists for local dellTerr on the usual basis. 



Index by Towns Crowded Out of Pink 



WHY ARE PKICES SO HIGH? 



Weather Imaginary Cause. 



Last winter, during the season when 

 flowers were so high and hard to pro- 

 cure at any price, the writer made a 

 careful investigation to find out, if pos- 

 sible, what was the cause of this un- 

 precedented inflation of prices. The 

 main cause, as given by the growers, was 

 weather conditions. We all recall that 

 we had a protracted spell of cloudy 

 weather about this time, yet when one 

 considers the aggregate number of 

 flowers handled by the wholesale houses 

 it was as groat as, if not greater than, 

 that of previous years. This being the 

 fact, is it not reasonable to conclude 

 that the increased demand was the 

 cause of the shortage of stock last 

 winter? I want to drive that point 

 home in the minds of my readers in the 

 simplest English at my command, for, 

 to my thinking, supply is the most im- 

 portant problem the florists of this coun- 

 try have to solve today. The real cause 

 of the high prices last winter was the 

 fact that, at the height of the flower 

 season, there were not enough flowers to 

 meet the demand. 



Now, we can all go back a short period 

 to the lime when a like condition ex- 

 isted, but there was no trouble to find 

 the cause for that shortage. An epi- 

 demic of influenza was raging from one 

 end of the country to the other, with en- 

 tire {lages of our daily papers devoted 

 to death notices, and in many cases 

 it was impossible to get caskets to bury 

 the dead. Under such circumstances as 

 these, there was no difliculty in tracing 

 the reason for the increased demand for 

 flowers. It is true that the influenza 

 epidemic was in the fall, when, through 

 part of it, outdoor stock was procurable, 

 but is it not a fact that last winter 

 cut flowers were scarcer and higher in 

 price (and, mind you, under normal 

 physical conditions, aside from a little 

 cloudy weather) than they were during 

 the influenza epidemic? Now, just as 

 there was a reason for the one, there 

 must be a reason for the other. 



In my articles last winter it was my 

 endeavor to show the florists of the 

 country that as the flu was responsible 

 for the first shortage, national advertis- 

 ing was the cause of the second. I was 

 even accused of being an advertising 

 "nut," but just as sure as the flu was 

 responsible in the first place, publicity 

 was in the second. If you will consult 

 the files of The Review you will find 

 that I went so far as to advocate a 

 greater glass area to meet this condition 

 during the present season. What reason 

 have we to suppose that conditions will 

 not be at least as bad during the 



coming season as they were last? Na- 

 tional publicity has been going on, not 

 by any means as it should; neither has 

 it since it started. I firmly believe 

 that Major O'Keefe realizes that he 

 has the best advertising proposition that 

 he ever handled in "Say It with 

 Flowers. ' ' Why, it 's safe to say that, 

 if we were to give this firm carte 

 blanche with the publicity of this slo- 

 gan, there would not be half enough 

 flowers after the first killing frost to 

 meet the demand. And on top of this 

 national publicity there are local cam- 

 paigns springing up all over the coun- 

 try. 



Publicity Increases Demand. 



As 1 write this, Baltimore has just 

 closed a "Say It with Flowers" week 



that cost about $3,500; Chicago is on 

 the eve of one that will no doubt cost 

 more. In Washington there will be the 

 Chrysanthemum Society of America's 

 show. Similar stunts are being held all 

 over the country, all of which are edu- 

 cating the public to "Say It with 

 Flowers." The question the writer 

 wants to bring home to florists is, why 

 is all this money being spent? When 

 you begin to gather the fruits of all 

 this publicity, are you going to have 

 an ample supply of the goods you have 

 been advertising, or, as in last winter, 

 is the supply going to be so short that 

 the price will be prohibitive? Instead 

 of educating the public to ' ' Say It with 

 Flowers," are you, by the price you 

 aro obliged to charge for them, going 

 to educate them to the idea that flowers 

 are a luxury that no one but the wealthy 

 can afford? The writer is not a "ca- 

 lamity howler" by any means. This 

 article is being written at this time for 

 the sole purpose, right at the beginning 

 of the season, of aiding the growers in 

 keeping tab on conditions throughout the 



TO 



We Deliver Direct to 



Every Outgoing 



Steamer 



Sailing from 



New York City, 



Hoboken, 



Brooklyn 



' 785 FIFTH AVENUE - 



vie <l<liV<f order* promtrKv' »r«i i'Aici'cnil)^— inJ 

 BTEAMEB 8AIUN08. 



If you want Service — 

 you want Schling 1 



Display the following list of steamer sailings in a conspicuous place in your 

 window or store, or use it in advertising matter with the statement that you have 

 facilities for flUing bon voyage orders on short notiee at any port. You eaa 

 thus develop telegraph business for steamer trade, especially at this time of year. 



Steamer — From — 



Zeeland New Tork 



La Lorraine. .New Tork 

 Colombia ....San Fr'sco 



Ponc« New York 



Sicilian Montreal 



Pr. Fr. WlUielm. Quebec 

 Noordam ....New Tork 



Adriatic New Tork 



San Joan New York 



Duca D'Abmzzl...N. T. 

 Bmp. of Bniiia.Vanc'Ter 

 Olnseppe Verdi... N. T. 

 HelllK Olay.-.New Tork 

 DrottnlnKholm ...N. T. 



Grampian Montreal 



Bergengfjord N. Y. 



Siberia Mam. San Fr'aco 



Katori Mam Seattle 



Cassandra Montreal 



To— Sails 



Antwerp Nor. 13 



Harre Not. 18 



Tokohama Nor. 18 



San Joan Nor. 13 



Olasgow Not. 17 



Liverpool Not. 17 



Botterdam Nor. 17 



Soathampton .. .Not. 17 



San Joan Not. 17 



Genoa Not. 18 



Tokobama Not. 18 



Naples Not. 18 



Copenbagen . . . .Not. 18 



Sweden Not. 18 



Antwerp Not. 19 



Norway Not. 19 



Tokohama Not. 19 



Tokohama Not. 19 



Olascow Not. 20 



Steamer — From — 



Carmanla New Toric 



Baltic New York 



La Tonraine. .New Tork 

 MInnedoaa ....Montreal 



Coamo New Tork 



Patria New Tork 



N. Amsterdam N. T. 



Aqnltanla ....Npw York 



Sonoma San Fr'sco 



Porto Rico. . .New York 



Caronla New York 



Pretorlan Montrenl 



Olympic New York 



Kroonland ...New York 

 Ln Savoie .... New York 

 Monteagle . . .Vancouver 

 Metagama .... Montreal 



Mohawk New York 



Ryndam New York 



Balla 



LtTtrpooI Not. 20 



LlTcriwol Not. 20 



HsTre Not. 20 



LlTcrpool Not. 20 



San Joan Not. 20 



Naples Not. 23 



Botterdam Not. 28 



flnnthampton ...Nor. 23 



Sydney Not. 23 



San Juan Not. 24 



Ixmdon Nov. 26 



Glasgow Nov. 28 



Southampton . . .Nov. 27 



Antwerp Nov. 27 



Havre Nov. 27 



Yokohama Nov. 27 



Liverpool Nov. 27 



San Juan Not. 27 



Rotterdam Dec. 1 



