50 



The Florists' Review 



Obcbmbbb 9, 1920 



sa^ffl^ 



KstabllHliod 18!)7, 

 by Ci. L Grant. 



Published every Tliursiliiy by 

 The Fujkists' Pnii.ismN(i Co., 



500 560 Caxton BulldlnK, 



608 South Dearborn St., ClilcaifO. 



Tel., Wabiish 8195. 



Rp(fistered cable address, 



Florvlew, Cblcaso. 



Enti'n'd as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 18U7, at the post-ollice at Clil- 

 catfo. III., under the Act of March 

 3,1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

 To Canada, $;i.0(); to Euro|>e. $4.00. 



AdvertislnB rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad' 

 Tertlsln? accepted. 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Prep.\r.\tions indicate florists' antici- 

 pation of a banner Christmas. 



Large quantities of artificial flowers 

 are being received from Germany. 



Before long florists will be able to 

 buy wrapping paper and other paper at 

 lower prices. 



New Ye^\r's is regarded by many as 

 likely to be the turning point in the in- 

 dustrial situation. 



WiLLi.vGNESs to resume buying is noted 

 in sonic mercantile lines, denoting a re- 

 sumption of business activity that flo- 

 rists will welcome. 



Often a florist's views are the result 

 of his own business situation. A ceme- 

 tery florist sees many things differently 

 than does the downtown store proprietor. 



Flowers never should be "cheap." 

 If they are, the industry never wUl get 

 beyond the hearthstone class, with the 

 family living on the place and doing all 

 the work. 



Unemployment is not affecting the 

 trade much in the west, outside of auto- 

 mobile manufacturing centers. Eastern 

 and particularly New England florists are 

 less fortunate. 



Differences of opinion, it used to be 

 said, make a horse race. If they are 

 discussed honestly and calmly, they also 

 make progress. Sometimes the otber 

 fellow's way has some good in it. 



It would be a mistake to hold off too 

 long on orders for supplies of staple ma- 

 terials in the hope of lower prices. No 

 business can remain at a standstill and 

 others' retrogression will affect us all. 



Knocking one's competitor is bad busi- 

 ness. First, it makes an unfavorable 

 impression on the listener. Second, if 

 one is busy picking flaws in somebody 

 else, he is apt not to give jiroper atten- 

 tion to remedying the few he has himself. 



Why is smoking, by proprietor, man- 

 ager or employees, permitted in first-class 

 flower stores? Where much thought and 

 money liave been spent to create a favor- 

 able impression, is anything gained when 

 Mrs. Gotrocks finds a "sleeper" on the 

 desk when she sits down to write a card? 

 Why not limit My Lady Nicotine to the 

 spaces behind the scenes! 



It is yet to be seen whether the change 

 in administration will affect horticultural 

 importations. 



Banks are becoming increasingly gen- 

 erous customers of florists. Conservative 

 in many respects, they are the most pro- 

 gressive of professions in recognizing the 

 value of our product in business. 



Quality is the thing most needed in 

 the florists' business. "Trifles make 

 perfection, but^ perfection is no trifle," 

 said Michelangelo, master of many arts. 

 The nearer we approach perfection the 

 stronger our position, both individually 

 and as a trade. 



The total production of soft coal dur- 

 ing Thanksgiving week declined, but the 

 rate per working haj increased. The esti- 

 mated output was 11,416,000, the largest 

 in any Thanksgiving week of the last 

 four years. In 1917 the output was 10,- 

 565,000 tons; in 1918, 9,565,000. 



Care should be taken to give street and 

 number on everything going through the 

 mails. In ante-Burleson days it was the 

 boast of the postoffice that it could and 

 did supply the omissions and correct the 

 errors of the public, but now the idea is 

 to do as little as possible in those direc- 

 tions. 



WE MUST PUSH HAEDER. 



Said a member of the trade the other 

 day: "Florists will have to do more 

 actual selling to dispose of their stock 

 this season. No sales ability was neces- 

 sary during the last two seasons, when 

 the flu raged and people took all the 

 flowers one had right out of his hands. 

 We shall have to become real merchants, 

 real salesmen of our products." 



Similar opinion is held by others, who 

 regard the approach to normal condi- 

 tions and the continued high cost of 

 flowers when other commodities show a 

 decline, as evidence of a time when 

 buyers must be sought for instead of 

 their seeking the sellers. These persons 

 look for a continuation of good business 

 for those florists who will work to get 

 it. In short, it will not be enough to 

 have flowers in the icebox; the florist 

 must have the ability to sell them. 



This is a progressive view, not a pessi- 

 mistic one. It recognizes a need before 

 it is on us, and enables us to prepare 

 to meet it. Good business is continuing 

 and will continue. We must all push 

 harder, however, to keep it up to the 

 profitable basis where we would have it. 



READJUSTMENT. 



The greenhouse industry finds itself 

 in a condition which is the effect of the 

 business conditions of the last three 

 years and whose remedy is balked by 

 the present industrial situation. Short- 

 age of workers and the high price of 

 building materials liave caused a cessa- 

 tion of growth in glass area, if not a 

 decline, until many florists fear hin- 

 drance of the trade's progress by un- 

 derproduction. Yet, while growers real- 

 ize tlie necessity of more glass, they are 

 hesitant to make contracts with the 

 builders or for material, lest they find 

 that they have bought on the verge of a 

 falling market and later sustain a loss. 



This feeling is the same as that pre- 

 vailing generally and producing a busi- 

 ness apathy unheard-of for many years 

 in the weeks just prior to Christmas. 

 It is purely a psychological attitude, for 

 which few can give a logical reason. 



The general belief is, however, that this 

 sentiment will not last till spring; it 

 will change to activity when 1921 ar- 

 rives. There is even danger then of a 

 press of orders, an urgent demand, 

 which will send up prices in the lines 

 affected, reacting to the disadvantage 

 of those now waiting for more favor- 

 able prices. It is not safe to hold off 

 too long; either a sudden strong de- 

 mand, sending up prices, or shutdowns, 

 resulting in bread lines, would be un- 

 desirable and unhealthy. 



ENCOURAGEMENT. 



In the various phases of business 

 there are signs that give encouragement 

 to florists in regard to the prospects for 

 the coming year's business. Despite the 

 present commercial languor there is an 

 optimistic tone in the outlook as noted 

 in reports of the situation. Last week 

 Dun's said: 



' ' Signs of betterment in business and 

 sentiment, if slow to appear, are rather 

 more distinct in certain quarters. The 

 retail movement, although lacking the 

 desired breadth, is accelerated as the 

 holidays draw nearer, and some primary 

 markets are recovering a little from 

 their lethargy. Yielding prices in- 

 variably place a temporary check on 

 operations, but there is usually a point 

 at which buyers' interest will be re- 

 awakened, and this basis is apparently 

 being approached in some leading lines. 

 Yet the whole situation is uneven and 

 uncertain, as is natural in a time of re- 

 adjustment, and the general policy is 

 one of deferring important action until 

 conditions become more stable. 



"After the turn of the year, when 

 results of inventorying and Christmas 

 trade shall have been made known, the 

 future business outlook may seem less 

 obscure. The groundwork for subse- 

 quent improvement is being laid during 

 the present transition, and the year's 

 grain and other harvests, while not 

 measuring up to some previous stand- 

 ards in money value, are fortunately 

 abundant in quantity. Recognition of 

 this fact gives rise to confident expecta- 

 tions, and the indications of relaxation 

 from the monetary tension, which may 

 become more definite after the year-end 

 settlements are completed, also afford a 

 reason for encouragement. ' ' 



ONE THING AFTER ANOTHER. 



Rome was not built in a day, nor can 



one reach the whole trade except by 



continuous effort. It takes time even 



when the article is advertised by those 



who use it, like this: 



I enclose $4 to pay for The Review two years 

 In advance, ns I find it ns necessary for the busi- 

 ness as bread and butter are for the Individual. 

 — Michael Mandl, St. Paul, Minn., November 

 24. 1920. 



If one has the ability to satisfy and 



hold his customers, any business will 



grow as the news goes 'round, like this: 



The sample copy we asked for has been re- 

 ceived; It's a dandy; The Review Is just what we 

 w;int; enclosed find check for a year's subscrip- 

 tion.— G. W. Gardiner &. Sons, Fall River, Mass., 

 November 26, 1920. 



If you hear a man complain of the 



cost of advertising you can be pretty 



certain he spends a good bit of money 



elsewhere than in The Review. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



O. J. N., Ga. — Sweet alyssum. 



K. S. C., la. — Becky McLane, dis- 

 seminated by A. N. Pierson, Inc., Crom- 

 well, Conn. 



