44 



The Florists* Review 



August 18, 1921 



If 



Establlsliort 1K97, 

 by a. L Oraut 



Publlglied every Thursday by 



ThK Fi,01U.STS' Pll|!l,I.SHlN(i Co., 



500 560 Caxtc.a Rulldlnff, 



508 South Dearborn St., Clilcaifo. 



Tel, Wabash 81!t5. 



Reeisterod cal)le address, 



Ftorvlew, Chicatfo. 



Kntercd as second class matter 

 Di'C. a, IHitT, at the post-ollice at VAii- 

 ciieo, III., under the Act of March 

 3. 1H79. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

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



Advortislni; rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlslne accepted. 



Results bring advertising. 

 Tlie Eeview brings results. 



Some florists expect to receive too much, 

 wliile others give too little. Neither 

 class makes friends. 



r'AijFORNiA is making rapid ])rogress 

 in the production of the bulbs and plants 

 lioretofore imported. 



Since the excess j)rofits seem to be lack- 

 ing in most indu.stries this year, CongresK 

 may as well do away with the tax on them. 



Financial management has been easy 

 for the last three years, but men who 

 can make business pay will be scarcer in 

 the immediate future. 



It is believed that the pendulmn which 

 begau its swing downwards more than a 

 year ago is now reversing its course. 

 Kvidcnces of better business acciiniulatc 

 ilay by day. 



There is no permanent advantage in 

 buying at a price so low it throws a loss 

 on the seller, unless, indeed the buyer 

 is willing that the seller be driven out of 

 business. 



Passing the buck is an obsolete in- 

 door sport that passed with war condi- 

 tions. Serious and conscientious adher- 

 ence to sound principles and proper busi- 

 ness practices is now required. 



Frank Oechsmn, of Chicago, ha.«f a 

 national reputation as a plantsman. lint 

 don't deceive yourself into thinking lie 

 never has failures. When Mr. Oechslin 

 finds a plant is not coming up to the 

 standard he sets for his product, he takes 

 it out and dumps it; that is all, so visitors 

 never see anything but well-nigh perfect 

 .stock and buyers never are disappointed. 

 Any man could do the same if he had the 

 courage. 



There are various kinds of advertising. 

 8ome kinds show plainly that they arc 

 the response to the publisher's cajolery 

 and they have only one value, that of 

 keeping money in circulation. Other ad- 

 vertising shows as clearly that it means 

 business. Such advertising has a news 

 value and is interesting to the reader; 

 consequently it brings a direct sales re- 

 turn to the advertiser. Did you ever 

 pause to think what it means that s-omc 

 publications get "news value" advertis- 

 ing apparently without effort, while oth- 

 er? seem not to be able to get it at all? 



The trade needs more stock, it is true, 

 hut a greater need is for liettcr (|uality 

 and iiioie exact b\isiiu'ss nu'thods. Tlie 

 seller should consider the point of view 

 of the buyer. 



Tiii'.iiK is a good demanil for well grown 

 stock, no matter liow hot may he the 

 summer. Too much mcdiocie or poor 

 stock is seen, Imt not eiiougli flowers of 

 excellent (niality are to be had. 



A GOOD many florists still think office 

 work is something to be attended to 

 when tliere is notliing else to do, but as 

 a matter of fact an oflice assistant, who 

 can keep a simple set of books, make 

 collections and answer letters, usually is 

 an economy instead of an expense. 



The Eeview never received so many 

 new subscriptions in July as was the 

 case this year, nor did the jiaper ever 

 carry so much advertising in the sum- 

 Tuer. As this paper is held to reflect 

 trade conditions, it seems to prove the 

 florists' and nursery business are growing 

 more rapidly than ever before. 



Don 't look on neatly ])rinted letter- 

 heads, billheads, etc., as an expense. They 

 are an economy. In no line could any 

 man or woman get recognition as a busi- 

 ness person if communications were writ- 

 ten on unprinted and none too neat paper. 

 Too many florists still do it. Let your 

 stationery show who and what you are. 



For one thing, the Federal Horticul- 

 tural Board is teaching the European 

 shippers not to substitute. When the 

 board grants permits for the importation 

 of specified varieties and quantities of 

 stock, the permits mean .i«st what they 

 say. When the shipper substitutes 

 "something just as good" tlie board 

 liolds up the shipment at tlie port of entry 

 and in certain eases it has refused to 

 grant further permits for importations 

 from the concerns making the substitu- 

 tions. 



A POWER AND A PLEDGE. 



Flowers would be just as .sweet if 

 ]>acked in a shoe box, wrajiped in last 

 night's newspaper and tied with a piece 

 of jute twine. But they would not sell 

 so 'well. The package is part of the 

 merchandise, and, though you sell it 

 with its contents, you still retain a 

 proprietary interest in its advertising 

 value. But no amount of good adver- 

 tising or of asthetic jmcking can make 

 an inferior piece of merchandise good. 

 Your name or trademark on the lid of 

 your box or on the sign over your store 

 door or on your printed advertisement 

 is your covenant to give quid pro quo 

 as truly as your name written long-hand 

 at the bottom of your promissory note. 

 Advertising is the life insurance of a 

 good name, and, marvelous as is its 

 power for influencing the minds of the 

 consuming public to a faith in the in- 

 tegrity of the advertiser, the secret of 

 its potency lies in the fact that it pub- 

 licly commits the advertiser to keep the 

 troth -with his customers. 



PROM THE OTHER END. 



Change in the trade's methods is no- 

 where so conspicuous as in advertising. 

 In years gone by the usual advertise- 

 ment in a local newspaper read: 



JOHN JONES, 



100 Hain Street. Telephone 800-J. 



Flowers for All Occasiong. 



Tlie arrangement was in stereotyped 

 .symmetrical form, from which the print- 

 ers seemed never to depart. The name 



of the florist was the most prominen 

 thing in the space, overshadowing tli' 

 ty])e which told what he had to sell 

 And the wording was the same as tha 

 of the ])lumber's above and the insm 

 ance agent's l)elow. Only a word nr 

 a line indicated the difference in tin 

 service or commodity sold. 



Today, however, a florist's advertise 

 ment starts from the other end. 1; 

 displays in biggest type what is to In 

 sold and instead of a laconic liiu , 

 "Flowers for All Occasions," it call- 

 attention to a particular and immediate 

 occasion when flowers would be inosi 

 appropriate. The name of the seller 

 appears below, for the reader's atten 

 tion when what goes before has driven 

 home its message. 



The difference signifies the chaii;;v 

 from the days when the florist waitdl 

 for customers to come to him to the 

 d.iys of now, when the florist goes out 

 after the customers. It signifies tin' 

 difference between an existence eked 

 out by funeral work and holiday sales, 

 and the aggressive fight for business 

 success a florist wages today. Both a 

 symbol and an agent, florists' advertis 

 ing marks rapid progress in the last sev- 

 eral vears. 



WATCH YOUR STEP. 



Somebody using a receipt book printeJ 

 with the name of the Missouri Magazine 

 Agency, 506 North Vandeventer avenue, 

 St. Louis, Mo., has been canvassing 

 among florists in the east. There seems 

 to be no such agency. Registered letters 

 sent to the address on the receipts have 

 been returned by the postoflBce marked, 

 "Removed; left no address," and 

 money paid to the canvasser is lost. 

 Never pay money to strangers. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



F. G., la. — Euphorbia variegata. 



H. L. S. Co., Pa.— Watch the Classi- 

 fied ads. After we publish this notice 

 you are in the market for resurrection 

 plants there surely will be some ads of 

 them in a week or two. 



"AIN'T WE GOT FUN?" 



Among readers of The Review busi 

 uess seems to be better than the supply 

 of stock. It is an every-day occurrence 

 to hear from advertisers that they have 

 sold everything they offered in the 

 Classified section of this paper, and 

 many times the advertisers have some 

 word of special comment of the brisk 

 ness of the demand among the readers 

 of this paper, like this: 



Kiiullv discontinue our ad, ns we are Bolil ont. 

 — I.ittleifleld-Wvman Nurseries, North Abinctoii, 

 Mass., August" 10, 1921. 



Please stop our ad for heponlas; all sold. — .T. I' 

 Knapp, Sayre, Pa., August 10. 1921. 



Kindlv discontinue our ad for azaleas; resiilts 

 were splendid.— Ivy CottaRe Gardens, per (.eo. 

 Willis, ThomnsviUe, Ga., AuRust 8, 1921. 



We have sold up quickly; we know that Re 

 view ads do the biisiness.— liristol Floral Co.. t>v 

 H G. Ilraram, president, Bristol, Tenn., August 

 0, 1921. 



Please discontinue immediately all our ads ni- 

 Iiearint; in The Review. We can't sell acnm 

 that for which we have already had orderi; 

 Thanks.— The Opelika Floral Co., by H. B. HUi. 

 Opelika. Ala., August 11, 1921. 



Please cancel the advertisement of Gndfrcv 

 callas which has had one insertion in The Ueview. 

 Our stock is completely sold out. Thank yon.- 

 ir A. Hyde Co., Watsonville, Cal., August •• 

 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. 



