24 



The Rorists' Review 



JUNB 16, 1921 



Established 1897, 

 by a. L. Orant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Fixjkists' Publishing Co., 



BOO-560 Oaxton Bulldlnf;, 



SOe South Dearborn St., Ohlcairo. 



Tel., Wabash 819S. 



Rei;lgtered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897. at the post-office at Chl- 

 ca«ro. 111., under the Act of March 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, (2.00 a year. 

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



Advertlslnfr rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 TertlslDg accepted. 



EESULTS. . 

 We give them. You get them. 

 We both have them. 



Just two months away is the S. A. F. 

 convention at Washington. Get ready 

 to go. 



No man ever failed in business by keep- 

 ing his bills paid up, but many have met 

 disaster through not doing so. 



There seems to be no reason to be- 

 lieve otherwise than that the florists' 

 business is due for another big boom 

 when the tide of general business once 

 more begins to rise. 



The better business enjoyed by this 

 trade in comparison with other lines lately 

 should not be allowed to make us careless. 

 The coming summer months demand ac- 

 tivity and earnest efifort to maintain the 

 good fortune florists have had. Go after 

 business and got your money for it. 



This week-end, June 18 and 19^ the 

 American Peony Society holds its annual 

 meeting and show in Horticultural hall, 

 Boston, and next week-end, June 25 and 

 26, the American Sweet Pea Society 

 will be similiirly engaged at the Mu- 

 seum of Natural History, in Central 

 park, New York. 



One of the peculiarities of the present 

 business situation is that many articles of 

 merchandise can be bought out of stock 

 on hand at lower prices than for future 

 manufacture and delivery. This is the 

 case with coal and with fertilizer — spot 

 quotations are below contract prices. 



It frequently has happened that our 

 trade has had excellent business in a 

 season during which general business was 

 not active. This has been the case in the 

 last year and ia of special interest now 

 that it is becoming apparent the bankers 

 and the business leaders expect some- 

 thing like present conditions to prevail 

 for another fifteen to eighteen months. 



The cost of membership in the Society 

 of American Florists, tlie ])arpnt body of 

 the trade 's organizations, is, like that of 

 a postage stamp, out of all proportion to 

 the service bought. The annual fee of $5 

 should not be deemed the price of the 

 organization's worth to each florist. Our 

 famous slogan is worth more than that 

 much a week to every one of us. If you 

 are not a member, fill out the blank on 

 page 20 and mail it to Secretary Young 

 today. 



The supply of spring stock has proved 

 inadequate, many growers of bedding 

 plants having been sold out long before 

 the trade's demands had been satisfied. 



In its two years of existence the Amer- 

 ican Dahlia Society has grown from a 

 handful of members to an organization 

 of more than 2,000. Secretary E. C. Vick 

 has worked hard in its behalf and, for 

 his pains, has still more work in caring 

 for the business of the society, prosper- 

 ing under the able leadership of Eichard 

 Vincent, Jr. 



THB3iE still are a few florists who do 

 not subscribe for The Review, but they 

 mostly haven't seen the paper and don't 

 know what they are missing. So an effort 

 is being made to gather the names and 

 addresses of all florists to check with 

 The Review's mailing list. A subscriber 

 in New York state, responding to the 

 request for the names of neighboring 

 florists, sends the florists' page from his 

 city directory; another sends the florists' 

 page from his classified telephone direc- 

 tory. Won't you do the same? 



PROMPT PAY. 



Complaint frequently is heard of the 

 so-called slow pay characteristics of flo- 

 rists and it is without question that 

 there always will be those in this, as in 

 other trades, who never will pay with- 

 out considerable urging; but that our 

 trade as a class is prompt pay The Re- 

 view has plenty of evidence. Here is 

 a straw which shows which way the 

 wind blows: 



To those advertisers who use this 

 paper regularly a bill is sent at the end 

 of each month. Accommodation ac- 

 counts, these are called; monthly pay- 

 ment is expected. After the last issue 

 in May over 1,700 such bills were ren- 

 dered. Of the aggregate sum of these 

 bills by June 11 a trifle over fifty-seven 

 per cent had been received and sent to 

 the bank. 



Could anyone ask for greater prompt- 

 ness than that? 



PAYING THE POSTAGE. 



Once upon a time a new subscription 

 was regarded by a publisher as addi- 

 tional income worth seeking. Now it is 

 an additional loss. In the case of The 

 Review, when a subscriber pays $2 for 

 fifty-two copies, he does not even meet 

 the cost of transporting the paper to 

 him. After July 1, when Uncle Sam 

 puts up the postage rates another notch, 

 matters will be even worse. Then it 

 will cost almost 10 cents to send some 

 subscribers each of their copies of The 

 Review, for which they pay less than 4 

 cents apiece. 



For that portion of a publication de- 

 voted to reading matter the postage 

 rate is 1^4 cents a pound. For the por- 

 tions devoted to advertising the follow- 

 ing rates will apply after July 1: 



First and spcond zones 2 cents per lb. 



Third zone .3 cents per lb. 



Fourth zone H cents per lb. 



Fiftli zone 6 cents per lb. 



Sixth zone 7 cents per lb. 



Seventli zone 9 cents per \h. 



Eighth zone 10 cents per lb. 



The preponderance of the circulation 

 of The Review is in the fourth and 

 fifth zones, with a fair share in the 

 three higher zones. The average cost 

 per copy will be, under the new rates, 

 4.86 cents. When the subscriber pays 

 .$2 for fifty-two issues, he pays 3.85 

 cents a copy, or 1 cent per copy less 



than the postage cost. This week's is- 

 sue of The Review, down to summer 

 weight, tips the scales at thirteen 

 ounces. Some issues exceed seventeen 

 ounces and the average for the year is 

 close to one pound. 



Yet The Review, so far from econo- 

 mizing on its postage bill, is adding to 

 its circulation constantly. During the 

 last twelve months 800 florists have 

 been added to the subscription list. The 

 $416 postage those extra subscribers 

 cost — not to speak of the increased ex- 

 pense in paper, presswork, binding and 

 mailing — was one item in what The Re- 

 view pays to increase its value as the 

 medium of this trade. 



OUB SPENDING MONEY SHBINKS. 



Everybody's spending money shrank 

 by $1.99 during the last year, accord- 

 ing to the statement by the Treasury. 

 June 1, 1920, the per capita circulation 

 in the country was $57.42, compared 

 with $55.43 June 1, 1921. In the same 

 period the total money in circulation 

 dropped from $6,102,162,244 to $5,983,- 

 258,293, but even the latter sum seems 

 enough so we florists might still expect 

 business to be good. 



The 1920 per capita figures were com- 

 puted by the Treasury on a basis of a 

 population of 106,275,000, while the 

 1921 figures were arrived at on the basis 

 of a population of 107,947,000, as esti- 

 mated by the Census Bureau. When we 

 get to the point of selling only $1 worth 

 of flowers per year to each person in the 

 United States we shall have quite a 

 business — at present it isn't much over 

 70 cents per person. 



"IT PAYS TO ADVERTISE." 



When The Review wants anything, it 

 makes that want known through its 

 own columns — and the want usually is 

 immediately supplied. Having it in 

 mind recently to study the methods 

 used by the trade in acknowledging the 

 receipt of orders and giving notice of 

 the probable date of shipment, The Re- 

 view printed a paragraph asking read- 

 ers to send samples of such notices used 

 or received. Within a week cards were 

 received from: 



KrlRRs Floral Co.. Moorhead, Minn. 

 Butchart Floral Co., LaCygne, Kan. 

 I>o8 Angeles Geranium Co., Sawtelle, Cal. 

 Memphis Plant Co., Memphis, Tena. 

 Royston & Fenton, EvansviUe, Ind. 

 C. W. Harold. West Plains. Mo. 

 Fraitk M. Warner. Inglewood, Cal. 

 Wonsetler Greenhouses, Bryan, •. 



The purpose of The Review was to ob- 

 tain cards used for acknowledging the 

 receipt of orders for plants and cut- 

 tings, and all those named above sent 

 cards used for that purpose, but cards 

 used for acknowledging receipt of tele- 

 graph delivery orders were received 

 from the following retailers: 



S. A. Anderson, Buffalo, N. T. 

 Billincs Floral Co., BlUinKs, Mont. 

 Idle Hour Nurseries, Macon, Ga. 



Perhaps the time is not far distant 

 when the trade as a body will demand 

 that a reply card be sent to acknowl- 

 edge every order not shipped the day 

 it is received. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



D. A. T., Fla. — Anonymous inquiries 

 are not answered. Subscribers are 

 freely given information if they sign 

 their communications. 



N. M., Kan. — A gas stove in a green- 

 house means the loss of most of the 

 plants. 



