22 



The Florists^ Review 



August 11, 1921 



chrysanthemums on the same basis on 

 wliieh you have sold t-arnatioiis, and, in 

 fact, all classi's of liowcrs that you 

 iiave boon abU; to produoo, you liavo 

 charged a questionable eroii into one 

 of solid merit." 



The Business Meeting. 



]""'riday morning started -with a busi- 

 ness meeting, at which the officers were 

 elected, the meeting place for next year 

 chosen and the various conimittoe re- 

 l)orts read. Ijoyd C Buucli presented 

 the rej)ort of the secretary and treas- 

 urer. Mr. Bunch was ])resent all 

 through the meetings, staying until the 

 end, although his range was suffering 

 severe losses from hail at the very time 

 of the meeting. 



There was a discussion over making 

 Armistice day a flower day. The vot- 

 ing on this subject stooil i'A-i for mak- 

 ing it a flower day and four against tho 

 idea. 



Telegrams and letters from the ab- 

 sent members were read. There were 

 also telegrams and letters from the flo- 

 rists of Oklahoma, congratulating the 

 year-old club of Kansas. An interest- 

 ing letter from J. V. Amiuann was read. 



Between the morning l)usiness meet- 

 ing and the papers and talks scheduleil 

 for the afternoon, there was a i>leasant 

 luncheon, at whicli the members were 

 grouped at the various tables and car- 

 ried on a round tabli> discussion. 



Papers and Talks. 



The talks of th(> nflernoon proved 

 most interesting and instinctive, llarrie 

 S. Mueller, of Wichita, ])resentod a 

 "Message from the National Society." 

 Several ideas that the members can use 

 and adopt in their daily business meth- 

 ods were brought out bj' Aaron Smith, 

 of Fort Worth, Tex., in his talk on 

 "Creating Business." The same was 

 true of tlie talk of James Haves, of 

 Topeka, who told of "Retail" Meth- 

 ods." Chiirles P. Mueller, of Wichita, 

 scattered helpful hints in his valuable 

 paper on "Flower Arrangements." L. 

 E. Flindt, of Arkansas City, spoke 

 cheerfully and promisingly ;il)ont the 

 sul)ject, "Can We Supjdv the Demand 

 for Mothers' Day?" \V. II. Culp, of 

 Wichita, in his subject "Advertising," 

 had ;i to))ic which is of intense interest 

 to all florists .at the present time. Ralph 

 ^I. Ward, of Lawrence, told of several 

 flowers that can be used and of several 

 Avays to increase the s.ales of "Flowers 

 for the Summer ^fonths. " 



At 5 o'clock tlu^ members ])resent 



made a trip to Gage park, where a pic- 

 nic and a general jollification was 

 Ihoronghly enjoyed by everyone there. 

 Thus the second successful annual con- 

 vention of the Kansas State Florists' 

 Association ended. 



The Trade Exhibits. 



Then^ w.as an unusually large number 

 of tr;ide exhibits shown in the parlors 

 of the Flks' club. From all reports, it 

 was profitable to those exhibiting, too. 

 Those with space were as follows: 



Ovo (Inatt Co.. Ijiiporte. Ind. 

 ('. ('. I'ollworlli ("o., Milwaukee. 

 A. li. linndaU Co., Cliicago. 

 'I'oiicka I'aper Co., Topeka, Kan. 

 'lopcka Stciim Uoilcr Works. Topeka, Kan. 

 W. W. liarniiril Co., ('liicaijo. 

 I'ittsbnrK Cla.v I'rodiuts Co., I'ittsbiirB, Kan. 

 I'oeliliiianii Uros. ('<^., CliicHgo. 

 l{a«'(n<'iii ISaskct Co., Chipago, 

 Kansas City Wliolesale ('nt Flower Co., Kan- 

 sas City, Mo. 



T. J. Noll Floral Co., Kansas City, Mo. 

 .\. Henderson &. Co.. ('lii<'aKO. 

 rinelinrst Floral Co.. Pleasant Hill, Mo. 

 Ijo.vd C. Kuni'li, Fredonia, Kan. 

 William Knnzie, Newton, Kan. 

 ('. Hunifeld, Clay Center. Kan. 

 .]. Italpli Souder, Huteliinson, Knn. 

 Stnppy Floral Co., St. Joseph, Mo. 



CHRISTMAS PLANTS. 



[Concluded from page IS.] 

 its sports are pretty, but it pays to sell 

 them in the fall. Owing to its com- 

 pact and dense habit, it easily damps 

 in the center, especially if you try for 

 a good-sized plant for the holiday. 



Begonia incarnata is a beautiful 

 thing, Init, as it needs cool growing, it 

 will hardly be fit for Christmas. 



But we have Gloire de Lorraine and 

 its many relations. The original is 

 rather a weak grower atid is not desir- 

 able as a holiday plant, but Glory of 

 Cincinnati and Melior are both good 

 growers and hold their flowers. The 

 variety Mrs. J. A. Peterson is simply 

 grand when well done; its bronze 

 foliage and highly colored flowers are 

 extremely attractive. While this tj'pe 

 requires heat during the summer — and 

 they got it this summer — they must 

 never see more than 50 degrees during 

 the month of December. If these va- 

 rieties are kept cool for at least a 

 month before Christmas, they will not 

 drop tlieir flowers readily. 



Poinsettia Has the Color. 



The ]ioinsettia gives us the real 

 Christinas red so much sought after. 

 The pink variety lasts better in the 

 home than the red, but buyers pass it 

 by, thinking that it looks sickly. It 

 will sell more readily if displayed in 

 the store away from colored plants. We 



arc cutting down on the quantity of red 

 poinsettias in large sizes, as we find 

 that they take a good deal of room if 

 they are to be grown to perfection, but 

 small plants in ^^/^-inch and 3-inch pots 

 are invaluable for making up. The 

 growing of these plants is not such an 

 easy matter as the store man tells tho 

 grower when the former is buying his 

 Christmas supply. The store man says 

 they grow like weeds, and so they do 

 during the warm weather, but when the 

 weather gets coqlp then trouble begins. 

 Happy is the grower who can maintain 

 an even temperature, who uses water 

 sparingly and who can deliver the 

 plants with a full set of leaves. The 

 poinsettia is difficult to produce and 

 does not satisfy the customer well. I 

 think that we ought to grow it and use 

 it more as a cut flower. 



Some Others. 



Primula sinensis is not grown as 

 much as formerly, but it is valuable to 

 those who sell direct from the green- 

 house. It is too brittle to be satisfac- 

 tory as a store plant. ^ 



Primula obconica is a profitable plant 

 to grow, but I do not like to sell it to 

 customers on account of its poisonous 

 nature. 



My choice of ferns for Cliristmas 

 would be dwarf Boston, Scott ii, and 

 Cyrtomium Rochfordianum. 



The Jerusalem cherry has been great- 

 ly improved of late years and the va- 

 riety Cleveland is probably the best. 

 The yellow sort. Golden Queen, is also 

 nice. It is especially useful to make 

 up. I have frequently noticed that 

 quality is sacrificed for quantity, but 

 quality will always sell. 



With the addition of a few, and 

 sometimes a very few, draca-nas, cro- 

 tons, etc., not forgetting Erica melan- 

 thera, a florist will have, in the al)0ve- 

 nainod plants, a good stock of pot 

 plants. 



Hampers and liaskets of growing 

 l)lants have become a great attraction 

 to buyers. As numbers of small and 

 imperfect i)lants can be used in filling 

 these receptacles, they are profitable. 

 See that every basket has a liner of 

 some sort. One can sell almost all the 

 smaller sizes that can be made n]i, but 

 go easy on the largo ones this year. 



I have not mentioned pot-grown 

 French or Dutch bulbs, as I never could 

 niiike anything out of them for Christ- 

 mas. 



Some of the Exhibits at the Meeting of the Kansas State Florists' Association. 



X 



