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Most fortunate among retail lines at present, florists have fared well at 

 holidays this year. Easter promises good business for those who go after it. 



INOTHER Easter is at han.l. 

 In florists' stoii's in small 

 towns anil l)ig cities, in 

 the immense structures of 

 steel and glass where 

 jilants anil cut stock come 

 from, in tlu^ big supply 

 h o u s e s, everywhere in 

 trade circles is a kind of 

 ha If -doubting reali/atiou 

 that it's time to be up and doing. And 

 it is time. You, Mr. Pessimist, you 

 ilou't think it is worth while tiiis Eas- 

 ter, for this Easter, you say, is going to 

 be such a poor one. You think there 

 won't be nuich stock, and you think 

 high prices will scare off what littb; 

 demand hard times have allowed to 

 exist, and you think numerous disas- 

 trous things. But, if you reflect, you 

 may be able to remember that they 

 were just about tlio same disastrous 

 things you thought at 

 Easter ten years ago, 

 and every year since. 



Bad Guesses. 



You said t h e m 

 about Christ m a s, 

 1920. Christmas, 192tl, 

 was the best Christ- 

 mas in the history of 

 t h e trade, for it 

 passed the record 

 year of 1919. You 

 gloonu'ii about New 

 Year's, in si)ite of 

 the amazing prosper- 

 ity of one week be- 

 fore. Xew Year's 

 day broke another 

 record. Still unde- 

 feated, you suggested that St. Val 

 entine's day would be a "tiz/." It 

 wasn't. You were wrong: i|uiti' 

 wrong. No one fails to admire your 

 pluck in persistently standing by 

 your guns of pessimism, but when 

 you start worrying the trade froui 

 Cape Cod to California about how 

 bad Easter is going to be — well, there 

 may be a few florists who don 't alto- 

 gether share your fears. There are 

 some, however, and the jiurjxise of 

 this article is to steal away your last 

 followers. If you can be converted 

 yourself, why, so much the better. 

 You will be a happier man. 



Wc can begin by saying that the 

 Easter business will be exactlv what 



the trade chooses to make of it. That's 

 a bald statement, but when you think 

 it over you'll see it's just about so. If 

 the retailer buys ))lants and cut stock 

 so sparingly that he has a poor window 

 display, lu', is not going to attract 

 much business. On the other hand, if 

 he fills his store with so much stock that 

 it seems to overflow, flUing the windows 

 and displaying attractive masses of 

 bloom in every direction, the passer-by 

 cannot help himself. He is almost 

 dragged into the store by a force greater 

 than his will power — the adxcrtising 



power of flowers. That is u forre that 

 must be counted on. The flrst woman 

 used it to attract the first man. It has 

 never failed to attract, even in the 

 jiresent era, A. D. 1921. 



Of course, if you buy all the tlowers 

 within sight you may not be al)le to 

 sell them. That is one of tin- cases 

 where a little bit of judgment may go 

 a long way. But generally speaking, 

 the retailer will get out of Easter in 

 exact proportion to what he spends on 

 it. (irant that, and you are forever 

 after an optimist, because such a situa- 

 tion leaves no reason for worry. And 

 it is the situation today. 



There are three great factors 



which influence trade for better or 



for worse, demand, supply and the 



ublic pocketbook. In addition, 



there is one feature of the Easter 



trade, and that is when the holiday 



orcurs, whethrr early 



or lati'. The date of 



Kaster affects the 



stuck availabli-. 



Trade Factors. 



(iiveu these four 

 items and, with the 

 records of p;ist years 

 to draw from, an es- 

 timate ni i g h t bo 

 formed uf the prob- 

 iibilities for 1921. 



Easter, 191 H, was a 



|i o o r d a y for the 



trade. T h e r e w a s 



small demand and the 



I'ountry was comi)let- 



iiig its flrst ye.'ir of 



war. In 1919 E;ister 



was ;ilmost a mouth later and a large 



ileniand met with small supply. It 



was a record year, i)Ut beaten by 



192(1, when botii dem.'ind and supply 



were good and money ejisy, with the 



date intermediate, April 4. 



This year Easter comes March 27, 

 .■in early date, but as if to make up 

 for it, the winter lias been a mild 

 one ami the ])ublic is tjuite ready to 

 think of s]iriug, in view of the warm 

 weather of February. So that the 

 earliness of the holiday is off'set com- 

 detely by the pros[)ects of an early 

 pring. 



Demand this year lia> been jias- 



"ve, but that it is in e.Tistence can 



reaililv be shown bv refercnee to the 



