40 



The Rortsts* Review 



January 26. 1922 



Established 1897, 

 by a. L Grant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Puhlishing Co., 



600-560 Oaxton Bulldlnfir, 



608 South Dearborn St., ChlcaKO. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



Retrlstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

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

 cago, 111., under the Act of March 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

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



Advertlslni; rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlsing accepted. 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Review brings results. 



Let's all get ready for a big spring 

 season. 



CuTTiXG.s of Carnation Harvester are in 

 demand because of the proven productivity 

 of the variety. 



There 's always sonietliing to sell in this 

 trade. If roses arc scarce, push carnations 

 or bulbous stock. 



A DOLLAR will cover at least two-fifths, 

 perhaps lialf, more space with greenhouses 

 than it would two years ago. 



All signs point to the suspension of coal 

 mining in union fields March 31. Better 

 stock up for your spring needs. 



TiiKRE seems to be plenty of Xutt, but 

 few Poitevine, with a scarcity of many 

 other poi>ular geraniums this year. 



Fro.m all appearances, tliere will be an- 

 other shortage of good bedding stock tliis 

 spring. Tlierc never seems to be enough 

 ready early. 



Ahout all there is to collecting is asking 

 for the money, and then asking again and 

 again. "Keeping rvcrlastingly at it 

 brings success. ' ' 



Next Sunday, .January 20, will be Mc- 

 Kinley day, wlien all good citizens are 

 sujiposcd to wear a carnation boutouniere. 

 Had you planned to remind them of it? 



T>iKELiii()OD that the present scarcity of 

 flowers will l)e succeeded by a i)lentiful 

 supply early next month gives particularly 

 good ojijioi tunitv In jiiish St. A' .'dentine 's 

 .lay. 



It might interest j-ou to slip your Re- 

 view on tlie letter scales. Each copy now- 

 adays weighs almost a pound. In fact, 

 about 14,0(10 jiounds of paper is used in 

 printing each edition. 



PETt:NiAS make fine wiuddw boxes. 

 Once tlie public sees well filled boxes of 

 them they are welconu'd as a change from 

 ger.Mniiims. Rosy Morn is one of the 1)est 

 varieties for the purjiose. 



Fiflruixf; the income tax now is in order. 

 The aveijij^e florist will find it less »T a 

 task than a year ago, but even the least of 

 us m:iy r(jngratul;it<' ourselves that florists 

 are not like the big fellows. Armour, Sears- 

 Roeliui'k, et al., whose recent reports show- 

 losses of millions on inventories. Ours is 

 a safe business for thost who confine their 

 efforts to it. 



Have you sent a reniinder to those cus- 

 tomers who have not paid their December 

 bills? 



M.VRKED reduction in the number of 

 unemployed adds strength to the belief 

 that the upward swing of the business 

 pendulum has begun. 



Most of the recent rapid growth of 

 The Review has been the result of a reader 

 or advertiser recommending the paper to 

 someone not already in touch. Such serv- 

 ice is greatly appreciated. 



We know of one concern that "sat 

 tight" after Christinas and whose in- 

 quiries from prospective buyers have been 

 only one-third what they were in the first 

 part of January last year. Another con- 

 cern doubled its advertising and its in- 

 quiries for quotations also have doubled. 



Few florists have the moral courage to 

 refuse orders and return money even 

 though they know their stock is not good 

 enough to send out. They are likely to 

 ship it anyway and then excuse themselves 

 by saying, * ' It must have been good stock 

 because it was the best I had. ' ' 



The rose pilgrimage to Portland, Ore., 

 which was to have taken place this coming 

 June, has been postponed until 1923, in 

 order, it is said, to avoid conflict with the 

 big convention to be- held on the Pacific 

 coast next sunmier. A large and success- 

 ful pilgrimage is expected at the later 

 time. 



The .Joseph H. Hill Co., Richmond, Ind., 

 has notified those who had placed orders 

 that it has been decided to withdraw Red 

 Columbia from the market. The notices 

 state this decision has been arrived at 

 ' ' because we are not all satisfied with the 

 w ay it is doing on our place. As we have 

 several good seedlings coming on, we be- 

 lieve it is only justice to ourselves and to 

 our customers to withdraw Red Columbia. 

 AVe thank you for your order and trust we 

 will have a good ri'il rose to offer you be- 

 fore long. ' ' 



GROWERS TO GO IT ALONE. 



Not far distant are the days when 

 advertising flowers was deemed a part 

 of the retailer's job. When the national 

 advertising campaign was proposed, 

 five years ago, growers were asked to 

 contributi', with the explanation that in 

 otlier in<lustries manufacturers did most, 

 if not all, of the country-wide adver- 

 tising, leaving the local iiiid intensive 

 campaigns to the retailers. Those who 

 have been in touch with tlie national 

 publicity campaign know how difficult 

 was the work of getting this view of 

 the matter accepted by the rank and file 

 of the growers. Converts were gradually 

 made to tlie iilea that the producer 

 sliould assist in making his own market 

 by conducting a broad and general ad- 

 vertising campaign, but progress was 

 not rapiil in tliis respect. Yet, like the 

 snowh.'ill going downhill, the idea has 

 gathered momentum so that now one 

 growers' organization, in the principal 

 flower market of the country, plans to 

 assume entire responsibility of the local 

 cooperative advertising campaign, the 

 success of which, supported liv both 

 growers and retailers, has been a matter 

 of interest to the trade the country 

 over. Discussion of the subject has 

 gone on among the growers in Chicago 

 for some time, and at the meeting of the 

 Commercial Flower Growers of Chicago, 

 Januarv 19. it was unanimouslv voted 



by those present, with the understand- 

 ing that they had the approval of their 

 absent fellow members, to take over the 

 local campaign. To insure its continu- 

 ance as strongly as heretofore, the grow- 

 ers voted to raise their assessment from 

 one-half of one per cent to a full one 

 per cent on sales. Since it is reported 

 that the greater part of the money spent 

 for advertising by the Allied Florists' 

 Association of Illinois has been con- 

 tributed by the growers, it is altogether 

 likely that the doubling of the growers' 

 assessment will result in an even greater 

 fund available for publicity in Chicago. 

 The march of progress in this industry 

 since the inception of the national pub- 

 licity campaign has been marked, and 

 by the milestones that are passing we 

 can see that the trade's advancement 

 is to continue. 



LEVELING PRICES. 



The importance of either giving more 

 for the prices formerly asked or reduc- 

 ing those prices, in order that business 

 readjustment may be effected, is being 

 impressed upon the florists' trade more 

 and more. The necessity for thus bal- 

 ancing the purchasing power in various 

 industries and walks of life is illustrated 

 by the remarks of George M. Reynolds, 

 ]>residcnt of the largest banking institu- 

 tion west of New York city, in regard 

 to the farmer's plight. He puts it thus: 



"The only real solution of the prob- 

 lem most directly responsible for Iceep- 

 ing men out of employment and holding 

 down the volume of trade is to make it 

 possible for those engaged in agricul- 

 ture to buy with their accustomed free- 

 dom. They cannot do it now, and as 

 they represent, in normal times, one- 

 half the buying power in this country, 

 it is plain that continued enforced econ- 

 omy uj)on their ])art means that far less 

 goods will be manufactured and con- 

 sumed. If the farmers cannot buy, the 

 factories, jobbing houses and retailers 

 cannot expect orders. That forces un- 

 employment at the factories and in the 

 wholesale and retail establishments. 



"What will correct the matter? One 

 of two things. Either bring down all 

 other prices to correspond to the reduc- 

 tions already made in agricultural prod- 

 ucts, or make moderate reductions in all 

 other prices and moderate increases in 

 those paid to tlie farmer. Whichever 

 method may he followed, the two sets 

 of quotations must meet on something 

 like fair ground.'' 



CAUSE AND EFFECT. 



Economists assert that nothing in this 

 world happens by chance — there is a 

 cause for every effect. Like this: 



I Iiavo fur twenty years heen with William 

 Henry Maule. In<- , I*liiln<lel|ilii» seedsmen, and 

 the weekly issnc of your paper addressed to 

 tliem conies to my desk. I consider the Florists' 

 Review indispeusalile. finding mnrh of interest in 

 it every week. Joseph F. Simpson, I'liiladelphia, 

 I'n., .Tainiary IS, 1922. 



When a jiublication is so highly val- 

 ued by its readers, the effect for the ad- 

 vertiser is certain: 



For yonr inforrnatiim we wonM say that diir- 

 inir tlie three years wo have advertised our 

 gladioli in the States, we have come to the con- 

 clusion that The Iteviwv stands alK>ve all of them 

 when it comes to hrinsint' in the orders. That's 

 wliy we cive yon the lion's share of our yearly 

 appropriaticm for advertisinR. — 1>. Vos & Son, 

 Grand Rapids. .Mich., J.iniiary (i, 1922. 



If j'ou 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. 



