The Florists' Review 



Januauv 19. 1922 



c 





Establlghed 1897, 

 by G. L Grant 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Puisi-isHiNa Co.. 



500-560 Caxton BulIUInir, 



608 South Dearborn St., Chlcaifo. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



Reerfstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dt'C. 3, 1897. at the post-office at Ohl- 

 casro. 111., under tlie Act of March 

 3. 1H79. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

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



Advortlslnu rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertlslngr accepted. 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



The tightened market in January lias 

 enabled some <j:rowers to recoup wliat the 

 bad weather of December cost them. 



That brisk youufr man, Frank R. Pier- 

 son, the mayor of Tarrytown, will j.ass 

 another milestone Sunday. As he was 

 born January 21', 1S55, he will be 67 years 

 of age. 



Fi.oui.sTs cannot be too fastidious in re- 

 gard to the ai)i)earance of their stores. 

 Most of our i)atrons are women, whose 

 observance of neatness and orderliness is 

 most pronounced. 



The Stui)py Floral Co., St. Joseph, 

 Mo., IS working up stock of a new sport 

 of Ojihelia, said to be a stronger grower 

 than Butterfly and to have inanv more 

 petals in the flower. 



This trade will weather the readjust- 

 ment period without hardship if collec- 

 tions are watched closely and the ac- 

 counts receivable not allowed to pile up 

 till the florist has not the cash to meet his 

 bills. 



A FEW dollars a week spent for the 

 services of some one to keep up his corre- 

 spondence and books would enable manv 

 a small florist, now too rushed to do 

 either, to add to his profits several times 

 the outlay. 



Some small livelihoods are gained in 

 businesses built up on friendship or favor, 

 but no enduring success or extensive enter- 

 prise c;in be conducted on anv otlier b.asis 

 than service. Particular! v 'is this true 

 in our field. 



High rents militate against the open- 

 ing of more flower stores in business cen- 

 ters of large cities. Otherwise it is like- 

 ly the profitable prices retailers are ob- 

 taining there would invite competition. 

 In the smaller localities the newcomers 

 are to be noted. 



The tendency toward greeidiouse 

 ranges (,f large size, established at 

 distances from large cities, in place of 

 many small growers on the immediate 

 outskirts, makes express and freight rates 

 of increasing importance to this trade. 

 The loss of second-class rates by exjjress 

 was a blow to the plantsmen. A plank in 

 the platform of the S. A. F. adminis 

 tration this year might well be the re- 

 duction of transportation charges for flo- 

 rists. 



The improvements you plan to make in 

 your store some day will not help your 

 business any until you have made them. 



Take time to study your business — 

 your expenses, your sales, your advertis- 

 ing, your methods. Careful scrutiny will 

 yield you better suggestions for improve- 

 ment than another person can give you. 



High express rates lead florists to look 

 for stock grown in their own section. 

 You may have a surplus of plants that 

 a not-distant neighbor needs. A few 

 dimes spent for a classified ad in The 

 Review would turn the extra stock into 

 cash. 



Knowledge of the stock he sells is 

 fre(]uently not what it should be in the 

 case of the retail store salesman, be he em- 

 ployee or proprietor. The more one 

 knows, the more one can transmit to cus- 

 tomers interesting, not to say valuable, 

 information that creates more business. 



This week the Editor's desk has been 

 decorated by cyclamen blooms from J. A. 

 Peterson & Sons, Westwood, Cincinnati, 

 O. Three show the double form which 

 the variety Brilliant Red sometimes shows. 

 The rest are of a semi-double strain of 

 a ])leasing salmon shade. The large, jier- 

 fcct flowers and long stems give evidence 

 of the splendid quality of the plants from 

 which they came. 



NOT A PLEASURE. 



All is not pleasure in the publishing 

 business, and one of the most pro- 

 nounced vexations is the delivery serv- 

 ice. Yet, while the quality of service 

 has gone down, the cost has gone up. 

 Time was when it cost 1 cent a pound 

 to mail The Review to readers. Today, 

 on the entire subscription list, the cost 

 is close to 4 cents a pound. Of all the 

 advances in costs, this is among the 

 greatest. The federal government, 

 through this advance in mailing ex- 

 pense, is responsible for the high sub- 

 scription prices of periodicals. 



Not only does the high cost trouble the 

 publisher; it goes farther. Last week 

 a group of presidents of international 

 labor bodies met President Harding to 

 urge a reduction in the second-class 

 postal rates as a measure to aid the 

 unemployment situation. The delega- 

 tion pointed out that the present second- 

 class postal rate was ,378 per cent 

 greater than that of 1916 and that as a 

 result many magazines and periodicals 

 were being placed in jeopardy and some 

 had been forced to discontinue publica- 

 tion. _ Thousands of members of the 

 printing trade and associated workers 

 had been rendered jobless as a result, 

 they said, and they urged the Presi- 

 dent 's support of measures to reduce 

 the postal rate. 



"CONTRACT LABOR." 



Strange as it inav seem, if you offer 

 a job to a man on the other side of the 

 Canadian border, you are subjecting 

 yourself to a possible penalty ' of as 

 much as ten years' imprisonment for 

 violation of the T'nited States immigra- 

 tion laws. This remarkable circum- 

 stance has been brought to the atten- 

 tion of Review readers before, "t is 

 stated again for the benefit of the.,' who 

 may wish to engage some apparently 

 quite good growers from north of wh.nt 

 seems to be a harmless geographical 

 boundary. 



In former days steel mill owners and 



mine operators made contracts for the 

 entry into this country of flocks of im- 

 migrants from southern Europe, to pro- 

 vide cheap labor. To stop this practice, 

 the present federal law regarding con- 

 tract labor, as it is called, was put on 

 the statute books. Whether so intended 

 or not, the law prevents the United 

 States florist from hiring a man who is 

 in another country. 



If you would like to hire a Canadian 

 grower who offers his services, you may 

 write to him stating what the position 

 is that you have to offer. Then if he 

 chooses to state that he is coming, all 

 well and good, but if you seek to bring 

 such a man to this country for the pur- 

 pose of employing him, you may subject 

 yourself to a possible penalty of the 

 law. 



HELPING US ALONG. 



Will the florists' slogan ever wear 

 out? We seriously doubt it. Like great 

 books and music, it is immortal. Though 

 it has been spread broadcast for three 

 years, today it is still the subject of 

 enthusiastic comment by those outside 

 the trade. Here is an editorial from 

 the Philadelphia Record of January 5: 



Tho fliirists of Amorica have spent consider- 

 able nioiu-y to imiilartt in tlie niimls of tlie 

 people a pliraso ^\liich combines sentiment with 

 business. Their success in stumpint; on the 

 public consciousness tlie words ".Say It wltli 

 Flowers" has been conspicuous and impressive. 

 And if imitation is the sinccrest form of flat- 

 tery, then the florists are being flattered by 

 tradesmen in other lines of business on every 

 hand. Iluyers are beinK invited by dealers wlio 

 appreciate originality, but do not keep it in 

 st<ick, to "say it" with all sorts of commodities. 

 Onl.v the other day we noticed a sign wliich 

 invited those who have a sentimental message 

 to convey to "Say It with clams." 



Passing over the ethics of tliis common ap- 

 propriation of a good idea by persons whose 

 respect for i)roperty rights runs exactly con- 

 currently witli their respect for the law. we 

 wish to call attention to the thoroughness with 

 which a business slogan can be hammered home 

 by good publicity in good mediums. We suppose 

 there is hardly an English-speaking household In 

 the Ignited States where "Say It with Flowers" 

 Is an unknown phrase, nor a town where the 

 local florist dues not benefit by the suggestion 

 that has thus been conveyed. 



Have you ever thought of planting in the 

 public mind the seed of an impulse the execution 

 of which will redound to jour benefit? Are your 

 wares suggested everjwhere by a byword? Have 

 you nothing to learn from the enterprise of the 

 florists, who have capitalized, through publicity, 

 a liappy thought that pays steady dividends? 



RIBBONS MAY GO HIGHER. 



Manufacturers of ribbons are finding 

 encouragement in the increase in de- 

 mand for their products. Ribbons are 

 perhaps in a better position than they 

 iiavo been for several months. 



Stocks on jobbers' shelves are ex- 

 ceedingly small, and in spite of the 

 prices, which are generally high due to 

 the cost of raw silk, are ordered much 

 more freely. Prices have not been 

 changed lately, but if the raw market 

 goes any higher manufacturers are pre- 

 pared to revise their quotations. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



.7. H., N. J. — Pink variety is Begonia 

 inearnata; red is B. scmperflorens gi- 

 gantea rosea. 



O. M. G., Ind. — Coleus cuttings were 

 all black and frozen solid on arrival, 

 making identification impossible. 



E. F. C, Ore. — Plant arrived shriv- 

 eled and unrecogniz.ible. Send another 

 specimen, packing well. 



M. T. P., Kan.— Achillea Millefolium, 

 the common milfoil, belongs to same or- 

 der as tansy. Frequentlv peddlers 

 gather this weed in fields and sell it in 

 cities as a native fern. 



