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The Florists^ Review 



July 21, 1921 





Kstabllslied 1897, 

 by a. L Orant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishi.no Co., 



600 560Caxtoa BulldiDK, 



508 South Dearborn St., Cblcago. 



Tel, Wabash 8195. 



Rntrlnterod cable address, 



Florvlow, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dpc. 3. IHUT.attliepoet-orace at Clil- 

 caKo, 111., under the Act of March 

 3, 1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

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



Advertising rat<>8 quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 TertialDg accepted. 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Short crops on all imported bulbs and 

 a higher tariff propel prices on them in 

 the opposite direction from normalcy, in- 

 deed a distant goal. 



A PERSON who sends a telegraph ord- 

 er is not, in the usual course, a cheap- 

 skate. Little effort is necessary to get 

 him or her to make it at least $5. 



It is not -wisdom to curtail sales effort 

 with a view to economy. That is as 

 though. a motor racer, seeking to cut ox- 

 cess weight, threw off his gasoline tank. 



Opportunity to offer flowers at low 

 prices is enabling florists expert in the 

 use of printers' ink to do good business 

 this month by advertising in their local 

 newspapers. 



Tourist travel i.s licing stiniul.ited by 

 lower rates on the ruilioads this summer. 

 Florists may benefit by stressing the tele- 

 graph delivery of flowers in their adver- 

 tising and talk to customers. 



A HOMEiiUiLDiNG boom already under 

 way, following a shortage of several years, 

 will make tlie demand for bedding plants 

 next spring as keen as this year's. Do 

 not fail to propagate all you can grow. 



Thk hot weather of July in the mid- 

 dle west has passed all records kept by 

 the weather bureau. Outside stock has 

 been burnt up and temperatures under 

 glass, when no breeze stirred, have been 

 terrific. 



Symptoms of more favorable condi- 

 tions are seen by commercial reporting 

 agencies despite the usual doldrums. Cool- 

 er weather, however, is necessary to de- 

 velop the sym])toms to a Ktage recogniz- 

 able to the public. 



The trade is in a most unusual situa- 

 tion, inasmuch as the prices of many ar- 

 ticles in this trade are rising to unprec- 

 edented heights at a time when general 

 commodities are falling sharply and in- 

 dustry as a whole is at the lowest level 

 known in years. At the moment Paper 

 Whites and Japanese lilies arc conspicu- 

 ous examples, but there are many others, 

 such as grafted rose plants and field- 

 grown carnation plants. What effect the 

 higher prices will have when they are 

 passed on to the public cmnot be fore- 

 told. 



The Pageant of Progress at Chicago 

 will add to the attraction of the great 

 central market for visitors on their way 

 to the Washington convention. 



A neighbor in another line of business 

 may be glad to exchange mailing lists 

 with you, to mutual benefit. You should 

 constantly strive to improve yours. 



Ability to get the notice of a large 

 number of florists not to be reached in 

 any other way swells the ranks of those 

 represented in the Pink Part constantly, 

 summer as well as winter. ■• 



Your customers believe what you say 

 until they have reason to do otherwise. 

 If you tell them you are accustomed to 

 have all bills paid promptly, ' they will, 

 as a rule, send their remittai^ces when 

 due. 



How the grower is to lower his prices 

 is not easily seen. Coal, bulbs, freight 

 and express were never so high as they 

 will be the coming season and good labor 

 is not readily accepting a cut in wages. 

 Economy of operation and eflScient pro- 

 duction is the sole means of meeting the 

 situation. 



The telegraph delivery department 

 calls for the best system and service of 

 any in the flower store. Eecords of ord- 

 ers sent, acknowledgment of orders re- 

 ceived, prompt rendering and payment of 

 bills and unimpeachable service all should 

 be part of a routine that would prevent 

 slips and errors. 



Production of bituminous coal pro- 

 ceeds at the rate of about 8,000,000 net 

 tons a week, which represents from 

 seventy to eighty per cent of what might 

 be expected in a season of prosperity. 

 The sluggishness of buying indicates that 

 the usual reserves are not being stored up, 

 despite the fact that prices receded 

 slightly last month. When autumn 

 comes, there is sure to be a rush, which 

 will boost pricQ.s and retard deliveries. 



STOP OVERS ARE ALLOWED. 



The secretary is advised that stop- 

 overs are allowed on reduced fare 

 tickets to the S. A. V. convention at 

 Washington at certain points, both go- 

 ing and returning. Ticket agents at 

 points of departure will furnish full 

 details in this respect. 



John Young, Sec'y. 



GRADE YOUR STOCK. 



As the summer advances the tendency 

 seems to be for the grower to become 

 careless in grading stock. My attention 

 was first called to this during peony 

 season. Just before Memorial day I 

 was taken into a cold-storage vault that 

 was filled with peonies, and if every 

 grower might have had that opportunity, 

 there would, perhaps, be no occasion for 

 this warning. There was to be seen 

 grading of all sorts, from bunches of 

 twenty-five of a single variety, of uni- 

 form quality, down to a box of all varie- 

 ties, colors and sizes, some fine, some 

 medium and some that should have been 

 thrown on the rubliish heap when cut. 

 As it happened, just at this time there 

 was a scarcity and, no doubt, everything 

 was used up, but those who had paid 

 most attention to preparing their stock 

 for market were best paid for their 

 trouble. 



Gladiolus season is now here and th: 

 same conditions apply. It is a question 

 whether this poor grading can be attrib- 



uted to plain carelessness or to certain 

 growers trying to get away with a bit 

 of sharp practice. Take, for instance, 

 a bunch of a dozen gladioli. The blooms 

 to all appearances are just what the pur- 

 chaser expects them to be. He is willing 

 to pay a price in accordance. When he 

 gets his purchase home and opens the 

 bunch he finds four or five inferior 

 spikes in the center. He may have an 

 order in which each spike will have to 

 stand on its own merits. He simply can- 

 not use the inferior stock. He feels that 

 he has paid too much for the flowers. 

 He telephones the wholesale house, states 

 his grievance and tells the wholesaler to 

 send for the blooms, as they are no use 

 to him. Now, what is the position of 

 the wJiolesaler? First, a good customer 

 must be considered. Then, it will be 

 expensive to use a man's time or a ma- 

 chine to send for them. Often similar 

 complaints have been received regarding 

 the same grower. What is the result? 

 Why, a compromise is made over the 

 telephone at the price of the inferior 

 flowers for the entire bunch. Would it 

 not be more profitable and more satis- 

 factory to all concerned to grade them 

 right in the first place and to let the 

 inferior stock go as seconds, or whatever 

 they really are? There are men on the 

 market who insist upon having certain 

 growers' stock, just to avoid such an- 

 noyances. The same thing holds good 

 in every line of stock, especially at this 

 season, when, as a rule, stock is plenti- 

 ful. It will pay to arrange your stock 

 in good, salable bunches, no matter 

 what the stock may be. Try it and see 

 if your returns do not prove the method 

 a profitable one. Tate. 



CHANGE IN IMPORT RULES. 



August 1 there goes into force a re- 

 vision of Quarantine 37. The revision 

 makes no change in the quarantine, but 

 two regulations. No. 2 and No. 7, have 

 undergone important modifications. 

 The \equirement of freedom from sand, 

 soil and earth is made to apply to all 

 plants and seeds imported under the 

 terms of regulation 2. Under regula- 

 tion 7, inspection must hereafter be 

 made at the time of packing of all 

 nursery stock and other ])lants and 

 seeds, and the certificate of inspection 

 must include certification of pack- 

 ing materials and that the jilants have 

 been washed and are free from soil. 

 This modification has been enforced 

 under a special order since March 7, 

 1921. Under regulation 1, a number 

 of definitions have been added and a 

 few unimportant verbal changes have 

 l>een made in other regulations. 



MOST STOCK STILL SHORT. 



In a time when large numbers of fac- 

 tories are shut down because of a lack 

 of orders it is interesting to note that in 

 the florists' business demand still ex- 

 ceeds supply. Like this: 



Thp little classified ad on smilnx sure liroiiirlit 

 results. We had only (MK) pliints and the first 

 order was for 1,000. We listed the other orders 

 as they came in and found tliat we had calls 

 for 4,800 plants on one insertion of the little 

 liner. Reminds us of tlie ad we ran on coleus 

 last spring. We had L.'iOO plants and got one 

 order for 12,000, the total of all orders rimning 

 over 20,000. Whenever we send a classified ad 

 to The Review, offering some surplus stock, we 

 put on an extra stenographer to return surplus 

 checks and write "sold out" letters. — Tapscott, 

 Florist, Owensboro, Ky., July 16, 1921. 



If you hear a man complain of the cost 

 of advertising you can be pretty certain 

 he spends a good bit of money elsewhero 

 Ihan in The Review. 



