24 



The Florists* Review 



March ^1, 1921. 



Pm 





Egtabllshed 1H97, 

 by a. L arant 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Puulishino Co., 



500 560 Caxton BuUdlnsr, 



SOB South Dearborn St., ChlcaKO. 



Tel, Wabash 8195. 



Rejflstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 18i)7, at the post-otflce at Clil- 

 cacro. 111., under the Act of March 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

 To Canada, $3.00; to Europe, $4.00. 



Advertising rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



Kesults bring advertising. 

 The Keview brings results. 



ViNCAS are again selling extremely 

 well this season. 



Though Easter was early this year, 

 Mothers' day is not far away. It is just 

 six weeks from the big day. The date is 

 May 8. 



Growers, as well as retailers, should 

 read what a banker has to say to florists 

 on "How to Borrow Money," in the re- 

 tail department this issue, page 68. 



The success of a business should not 

 be measured by the money it makes, but 

 no business can be considered successful 

 which cannot keep its bills paid up. . 



The nearest to a "national" rose show 

 this year will be held at Boston April 6 

 to 10. The American Rose Society at that 

 time will cooperate with the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society at its sjiring 

 show. 



As competition increases there will be 

 two ways of meeting it. One will be to 

 grow better stock than is offered else- 

 where; the other, to cut prices. The man 

 who uses the latter method seldom at- 

 tempts the first. 



It looks like a great year for spring 

 bedding work. If the public is a little 

 short of money, compared with recent 

 years, it is longer on time and the two 

 factors are likely to result in a material 

 increase in home gardening of all kinds. 



No doubt this trade must come down 

 on its prices as others do, but we hope the 

 day never will come again when 4-incli 

 geraniums will be advertised at $7 per 

 hundred. It is better to grow a smaller 

 quantity and hold prices to a point that 

 permits a profit. 



High rents in the cities are a menace 

 to our trade, recently recruited by the en- 

 listment of large numbers of new flower 

 buyers among the salaried and wage- 

 earning classes. Families spending for 

 shelter half tlieir incomes are not likely 

 to have much money for flowers. 



The lowest production of soft coal in 

 four years, exclusive of the strike period 

 of 1919, was recorded the second week of 

 March. Approximately sixty per cent of 

 full-time operation is being lost for lack 

 of orders, it is said. Despite low prices, 

 contract buyers hold off in the hope of a 

 still further decline. 



Your appearance and that of your 

 salespeople marks the character of your 

 store. Let there be nothing lacking in 

 either. 



In reducing expenses, do not reduce 

 your ability to get business or your capa- 

 city to handle it. That is the opposite 

 of economy. 



The French Chrysanthemum Society, 

 after a lapse of eight years, is reviving 

 its annual convention and exhibition. It 

 will take place next November at Le 

 Mans. 



Newspaper reports of thefts of se- 

 curities always concern Liberty bonds, 

 never oil stocks. What appeals to a thief 

 ought to appeal to the florist who has 

 profits to invest. 



A YEAR or so ago the effort was to get 

 a few pennies per plant more than the 

 other fellow. Now the idea seems to be 

 to meet competition, or to go the other 

 fellow one better. 



During the post-war boom nearly all 

 florists were able to clean up their ac- 

 counts payable and to put themselves on 

 a cash basis. It will be the sellers' fault 

 if the trade backslides. 



The florists who handle the planting of 

 shrubs and other hardy stock find a rapid 

 increase in the demand. It is a depart- 

 ment every florist who does bedding work 

 can add to his great advantage. 



Collections are what you make them. 

 If you don't watch credits or fail to be 

 persistent in asking for prompt payment, 

 collections will be poor — and they are 

 likely to become poorer before they are 

 better. 



Unfortunately, there is small pros- 

 pect of immediate revival in general 

 business. The observers who are most 

 often right think business in general must 

 await the break in the building deadlock 

 before there can be pronounced accelera- 

 tion. • 



WHO IS OUT OF WOEK. 



Florists regard with concern nation- 

 wide unemployment, for when jobs are 

 scarce, purchases of flowers are corre- 

 spondingly diminished. The shut-down 

 of factories last fall was unwelcome 

 news to the trade. Since that time re- 

 ports of industrial depression and re- 

 vival have so conflicted that few per- 

 sons knew which way things tended. 

 It is encouraging, therefore, to know 

 actual facts, which show where depres- 

 sion has its effects and where revival 

 has begun. 



The United States employment serv- 

 ice, obtaining its information from 

 1,433 firms in sixty-five principal indus- 

 trial centers, reports that February 28 

 there were 1,626,958 workers employed, 

 as against 1,643,253 January 31, a de- 

 crease of 16,295, or one per cent. The 

 returns show that the greatest unem- 

 ployment during February was in the 

 iron and steel industry, a decrease of 

 7.3 per cent in labor employed being re- 

 ported. Industries reporting increases 

 were: Vehicles and land transporta- 

 tion, 18.8 per cent; textiles and other 

 products, 8.5 per cent; leather and its 

 finished products, 7.7 per cent. As for 

 individual cities, decreases of from 12 

 to 24.9 per cent were reported for Perth 

 Amboy, N. J.; Schenectady and Albany, 

 N. Y.; Grand Rapids, Mich.; San Fran- 

 cisco, Indianapolis, Youngstown, O., and 

 Denver, Colo. Increases of from 18.5 



to 67.6 per cent were reported in the 

 cases of Bridgeport, Conn.; Johnstown, 

 Pa.; Peoria, 111.; Detroit, Mich., and 

 Chattanooga, Tenn. 



Aecording to reports made to the De- 

 partment of Labor for February, ten in- 

 dustries showed increases in the num- 

 ber of persons employed, as compared 

 with January, while in four industries 

 there were decreases. The largest in- 

 crease, 42 per cent, is shown in the 

 woolen industry. Men's ready-made 

 clothing shows an increase of 21.1 per 

 cent and hosiery and underwear an in- 

 crease of 20.8 per cent. The smallest 

 increases, 0.8 per cent and 0.2 per cent, 

 appear in iron and steel and leather. 

 Percentage decreases of 12.8 per cent 

 and 3.3 per cent appear in oar building 

 and repairing and cigar making, re- 

 spectively. 



From these figures it is evident that 

 those industries which were earliest 

 affected by the depression incidental to 

 readjustment have entered upon the re- 

 vival period, while those not at first 

 affected have now experienced their 

 turn. In the aggregate, however, there 

 seem to be fewer jobless now than 

 there were, though not many. 



NATIONAL HOSPITAL DAY. 



Another holiday presents an opportu- 

 nity for florists. Florence Nightingale's 

 birthday. May 12, is to be celebrated 

 as national hospital day. Promotion 

 of this day is being carried on by the 

 National Hospital Day Committee, com- 

 posed of ofiicers of leading hospitals 

 throughout the country. 



For this day, the one hundred first 

 anniversary of Florence Nightingale's 

 birth, the 8,000 hospitals of the United 

 States and Canada are preparing a pro- 

 gram to bring themselves and their 

 service to the notice of the public. An 

 inspection of the local hospitals and 

 training schools will be featured in 

 many localities, so that the people may 

 see for themselves what the institutions 

 are doing. 



President Harding, governors of 

 states, and oflBcers of corresponding rank 

 in Canada are to be asked to proclaim 

 national hospital day. 



It is expected that thousands of per- 

 sons will visit the hospitals and take 

 flowers to the sick. The only drawback, 

 as The Eeview pointed out to the com- 

 mittee, is that flowers are not aj)t to 

 be abundant four days after Mothers ' 

 day. 



CLASSIFIED ADS PULLING BIG. 



That there are more Classified ads 



this season than ever before is due to 



two causes — the growth of the trade 



.and the spreading of the knowledge 



that these little ads pay big. Like this: 



Plonse cut out our ad for the time beine: we 

 nre swamped with orders. — Waiter P. Newell 

 Co.. Apopka, Fla., March 24. 1921. 



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. 



G. R., 111. — The present address of E. 

 D. Mitting, formerly operating as the 

 Poinsettia Gardens, Morris, 111., is 

 Berrydale Gardens, 101 California 

 street, San Francisco, Cal. 



B. B., La. — Address the Garden Chem- 

 ical Co., Park avenue and One Hundred 

 Forty-sixth street, New York city. 



