Dbcbmbbk 8, 1921 



The Florists^ Review 



47 



to brisk business activity is certain to 

 be shorter than in past * ' cycles. ' ' And 

 when the rest of the community is busy, 

 oiirning money and making profits, flo- 

 rists will be doing the same. 



FIGUEES ON RETAIL TEADE. 



It is of interest to note that in 

 October, for the first time during the 

 current year, the dollar value of sales by 

 department stores in the New York 

 Federal Reserve bank district showed an 

 increase over that of the corresponding 

 month of last year. Making due allow- 

 ance for price change in the interim, the 

 bank estimates that the actual amount 

 of merchandise moving over the count- 

 ers was between fifteen and twenty-five 

 per cent in excess of that of October, 

 1920. Somewhat the same situation is 

 to be observed in the New England 

 cities. 



In the New York district the value of 

 sales is reported to have been about 

 fifty per cent greater than in September, 

 iin increase which is larger than appears 

 to be usual for the period of the year 

 under considei'ation. 



The fact that retail trade has all 

 along held up remarkably well, every- 

 thing considered, leads to the belief that 

 unemployment is not so prevalent as it 

 lias been pictured. At any rate, latest 

 reports show that it is lessening to a 

 notable extent. The above figures re- 

 garding retail trade also indicate that 

 the public has plenty of money to buy 

 riowcrs if we will energetically try to 

 sell them. 



LET'S GET ACTION! 



In the issue of November 24, The 

 Review urged its readers to impress upon 

 their respective congressmen how ob- 

 noxious would be the removal of the 

 special delivery privilege on parcel post 

 shipments, as threatened in a bill to 

 which the trade's attention was called 

 by William F. Gude. The sjiecial delivery 

 service is needed by florists and by their 

 patrons, and its discontinuance would 

 be a real hardship on both. Some florists 

 have already placed the matter before 

 their representatives at Washington. 

 D. C. Horgan, of the Idle Hour Nurs- 

 eries, Macon, Ga., known to tlie trade 

 as a man who, when he puslies, i)uslies, 

 hard, went farther. He imt tiie matter 

 so emphatically before the editor of the 

 Macon News that an editorial, nearly a 

 column long, appeared in that paper 

 December 2, headed "A Blow to S})ecial 

 Delivery." The editorial quoted th.- 

 statements of Mr. Gude, given in The 

 Review of November 24, in his interview 

 with Second Assistant Postmaster 

 'Jcncral Shaughncssj'. It wont on fur- 

 ther to say: 



Tlip Postoffloe dppnrtnipnt's Ingic is a hunt .is 

 iinsalisfactor.v ns anvtliiiiK we cmi imagine. lii'- 

 I'aiisc the Bpecial delivery feature of p.inel iM)st 

 shiimienls is so popular, it must be destroyeil. 

 .Such seems to he the arsiimeiit. 



I>. C. HiirKaii lias taken the view that an 

 extra T, cents woulil lie f;la<lly Pti'l '•>' ""^ Horist.- 

 for the continiinnce of this special service, ami 

 we feel sure tlmt the shippers of all kinils of per 

 islialile products feel the same way. 



The parcel post in foreign countries has devel- 

 fiped until it is one of the mo-it popular and con. 

 venient agencies in the life of the people, and it 

 oUEht to he so here. 



It is hoped our representatives in Congress will 

 see the wisdom of comhatinpr the proposed 

 change. If they will once get it into their heads 

 'hat the people want service out of the depart- 

 ment, and are willing to pay the price, all will 

 lie well. A way will be found to handle the 

 situation. 



Hnt as U is the bill may lie passed at any time 

 and there is no time to lose. 



Such public presentation of the 

 florists' case is sure to be of benefit. 



The protest, however, should be more 

 widespread. Every florist should, now 

 that Congress is convened again, 

 urgently request his representative to 

 down tiie bill for removing the special 

 delivery privilege on parcel post ship- 

 ments. 



DOES SOME BEADEB ENOW? 



Recently I was at Ormond, Fla., and 

 visited the winter home of John D. 

 Rockefeller. He has a greenhouse 

 covered with so-called "glass cloth." 

 Can you give me the address of the 

 manufacturer of this product? What 

 is its value for a greenhouse in Florida? 

 The light beneath it is soft and the 

 plants seem to do well under it. But 

 the house at Rockefeller's had only been 

 built two months, and his gardener 

 could give me no idea of the lasting 

 <iualitv of the material. 



A. N. H.— Fla. 



FORGET-ME-NOT DAY. 



Florists who wish to participate in a 

 day that will appeal strongly to the sen- 

 timent of the public will be interested 

 in what is termed "Forget-me-not day," 

 to be held December 17. On this date 

 will take place a great national drive 

 under the direction of the Disabled 

 American Veterans of the World War 

 for the purpose of raising $250,000 to en- 

 able that organization to care for its 

 liel])less members. 



The Disabled American Veterans of 

 the World War has its headquarters at 

 Cincinnati, O., and has chapters in 

 (dties, towns and villages from coast to 

 coast. Its purpose has been to aid the 

 government in the adjustment of claims 

 for wounds, disease and various disabil- 

 ities incurred by them while in the mili- 

 tary or naval service of their country. 



With limited funds, supplied mainly 

 by its own members and a few others, 

 the work of the org.anization has out- 

 grown its means. It is compelled to seek 

 funds for a cause that automatically en- 

 lists the syin])athy (if all America. All 

 the money raised will be collected and 

 its expenditures su]iervised by disinter- 

 ested prominent citizens. All will gO to 

 the relief of disabled veterans. 



A statement issued by the headquar- 

 ters of the organization says: "Every 

 day hundreds of appeals from all over 

 the country reach the headquarters of 

 tile organization asking for assistance. 

 Ill hundreds of cases, the organization is 

 ,il)le to obtain direct government aid for 

 the disabled man through its knowledge 

 of government forms, which in many in- 

 stances are not thoroughly understood. 

 The organization has interceded success- 

 fully -ivith the government in ]irevcnting 

 the turning adrift after short periods of 

 training hundreds of men taking voca- 

 tional training. It has l)een a big aid 

 to the government in bringing to its at- 

 tention and securing relief for hundreds 

 whose compensation has been cut down 

 unjustly. 



•'The figures of tlie government show 

 tlie immensity of the problem of the 

 disabled. A thousand ex-service men 

 are rejxirting every month at govern- 

 ment hospitals for medical treatment. 

 There are tliousands of ex-service men 

 in government hospitals and the surgeon- 

 general 's office has given warning that 

 the peak may not be reached until 192"). 



•'With sufficient funds, we expect to 

 reach tliousands of ex-service men who 

 are not in hospitals but who should be, 



who are not receiving compensation but 

 who should be, who are not taking voca- 

 tional training but who should be. It 

 is our belief that the American people 

 want to see justice done to the men who 

 defended the flag at the cost of x'crma- 

 nent disability from wounds or disease 

 and whose unhappy experiences with red 

 tape have resulted in two congressional 

 inquiries. Our sole aim is to help wher- 

 ever possible the disabled soldier and 

 cooperate with the government in dis- 

 charging its obligation to him," 



STILL HITTING ON SIX. 



Good progress is still being made by 

 those florists who use a high-sjieed motor 

 to accelerate sales. If you count the 

 following letters it will be observed that 

 The Review still hits on all six: 



Please change m.v advertisement as enclosed; 

 I am sold out of the variety previously offered, 

 — .lames O. Jacobs, Irwin, Pa,, >iovember 30, 

 l!t21. 



I'lease stop my ad quick; all sold out. — Middle 

 bush Kosery, Aliddlebiish, N. J., November 26, 

 1921. 



Please discontinue my ad for the present to 

 give me a chance to catch up. — C. G. Locke, Ark- 

 port, -N. Y., -November 'Ji, ISiil. 



I had good luck with the ad; am sold out; 

 will hardly have enough left to place an ad next 

 spring. — Henry Hestman, Ottawa, 111., November 

 27, 1!I21. 



Kindly cancel my advertisement of stock 

 plants, as I am mostly sold out. — E. H. Mont- 

 gomery, Fairfield, la., November 27, 1921. 



Telegram: Discontinue Foch bulblet adver- 

 tisement; swamped with orders. — J. D, Long, 

 Honlder, Colo., November 28, 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, 



CHICAGO. 



The Market. 



The week following Thanksgiving was 

 one of the most difficult the growers and 

 v.diolesale dealers in this market ever 

 have experienced. Never before have 

 there been so many clirvsaiitliemums and 

 pompons after Thanksgiving. They 

 weighed down everything. Each year 

 the mums run later and later; the grow- 

 ers discard their earliest varieties and 

 replace them with the late-blooming * 

 sorts. This year such effort proved un- 

 fortunate, as the early mums made good 

 prices and the late ones have sold 

 cheaply. That the condition in Chicago 

 was paralleled in many other i)laces was 

 apparent. Demand from out of town 

 was extremely light and when the whole- 

 salers called their customers on the long- 

 distance telephone, to find out why they 

 were not ordering, the exjilanation al- 

 most invariably was, ' ' Our local market 

 is full of late mums and pompons." In- 

 deed, in a number of cases jteojile who 

 usually are buyers at this season called 

 up to see if the wholesaler was in posi- 

 tion to handle their surplus. The over- 

 .',uii])ly was only of mums and pomjions, 

 but it affected the demand for and price 

 of all other flowers. 



At the end of last week there ap- 

 peared signs that a change is impend- 

 ing. Demand began 1o pick u]i, Decem- 

 ber 2 and ^ being moderately good days, 

 indicating that buyers had used up their 

 home stock. Then, too, the quality of 

 the mums received was such as to indi- 

 cate that the growers were clearing their 

 benches; it was the tail end of the 

 crop. Of course, there will be mums 

 until Christmas, but the number still to 

 be cut will have a negligible effect on 

 the market. About all that remains of 



