28 



The Florists' Review 



Septkmbbu 1">, li>-I 



Established 1897, 

 by Cr. L. Grant 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Puui.ishino Co., 



600-560 Oaxton Building, 



608 South Dearbora St., ChicaKO. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



Resrlstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 D«c. 3. 1897. at the post-office at Cbl- 

 cagn. III., under the Act of March 

 3, 1879. 



Subscription price, 12.00 a year. 

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



AdycrtlslnR rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertising accepted. 



Kesults I)riiiK advertising. 

 Tlio Kc'view brings results. 



CoOLEii weather lias brouglit a turn in 

 most flower markets. 



Do not neglect the matter of lilliiifi 

 your coal bins because the thermometer 

 still maintains a high level. Too little 

 buying now will send up prices faster 

 when the demand does occur. 



KvERY florist retailing pot plants should 

 liave a side line of fertilizers and insec- 

 ticides in the handy little packages. 

 There is many a quarter and half dollar to 

 be ])!cked up that way, just bv speaking 

 of it. 



A FLORET or two from a gladiolus stalk, 

 wired in the center of a summer corsage, 

 serves as an iiiex]ionsive substitute for a 

 cattleya. The coloring of the variety 

 Louise makes it exceptionally suitable 

 for this purpose. 



The public does not buy half the bulbs 

 it might if florists pushed them energeti- 

 rally. A few stores carry an iinjiressive 

 array, which gets attention, ))ut most neg- 

 lect this opportunity to add to the j)rofits 

 without increasing the overhead. 



<'OUNTY and state fairs this year have 

 attracted more attention from the trade 

 than for several years. The interest 

 ilisjilayed l)y the public in the exteiis-ive 

 displays will encourage floiists to em[iloy 

 this means of publicity another season. 



Autumn is as good a time as spring 

 for doing much of the planting on hoiiie 

 grounds, and better for some trees and 

 >'lirubs, since they gain ])ractically a 

 year's growth thereby. Take orders from 

 your patrons for jilaiitings about their 

 residences, get the stock from a nursery- 

 man near you, and so add to his busiues> 

 and yours. 



The fluctuation of business, says an 

 able statistician, is between twenty per 

 cent above normal and twenty per cent 

 below normal. A year and a half ago 

 tlie swing htarted from the height of 

 twenty jier cent above normal and is, 

 in general, now at about the other ex 

 treme. If this view is corr(H't, the itur 

 chant who is doing, in volume, two-thirds 

 as much business as he was at the jieak 

 is in accord with the times. Few, if 

 .iiiy, florists have suffered such a re<luction 

 in their volume of business. Tliis line 

 has consistently held well nbo\(' the .ncr 

 a Lie. 



l..\CK of prudence in handling the in- 

 come rather than lack of such income 

 troubles a few florists and many mer- 

 chants of other kinds just now. 



Hepi.ace the blooming plants in your 

 customers' window boxes with evergreens 

 for over winter. Such orders will fill the 

 autumn lull and insure repeats in the 

 spring. 



!• takes longer to get out of the habit 

 of easy-s])ending than it does to get into 

 it. For this reason business reformations 

 are not made in a day. Eternal vigilance 

 on the outgo, as well as the income, is 

 the j)rice of permanent business success. 



P^NCOURAGING signs give rise in many 

 ((uarters to the belief that the upwaril 

 turn in business conditions has come. A 

 brighter outlook is apparent in agricul- 

 tural-communities and a number of indus- 

 tries are resuming work at a pace strong- 

 er because of the pronounced slackness 

 during past months. 



THE COULD AND WOULD. 



An envelope stuffer used by the Scrib- 

 ner Floral Co., Detroit, is quite appro- 

 jiriate and timely. It reads: 



THE COULD AND THE WOULD OF IT. 



If nil (if the people who could pay would, 



it would hell) "H of tlie people who would it they 

 I'oiihl. 



WE NEED PUBLICITY. 



The growth of the florists' industry 

 has brought it to a conspicuous position 

 in the public eye. Consequently, more 

 space is devoted to it in the daily news- 

 papers. These, in their hurried editions, 

 leave things half-said or do not say 

 them accurately. The result is fre- 

 quently a misconstruction upon per- 

 fectly innocuous matters. For ex- 

 ample, a report was read at the S. A. F. 

 convention at Washington urging the 

 standardization of rose grades in the 

 wholesale markets, something highly 

 desirable and beneficial. The newspaper 

 references to it were meager. A weekly 

 jmblished in Washington warns "price- 

 fixing florists." Its readers perhaps be- 

 lieve a project of fixing prices of flow- 

 ers throughout the country — manifestly 

 an impossible thing — is on foot. 



The remedy for this sort of publicity, 

 the result of our trade's growing im- 

 portance, as well as the recurrent holi- 

 day price complaints, is a campaign 

 of publicity that will explain the pe- 

 culiarities of this trade to the public, 

 one such as that by which the railroads 

 explain their predicament, the labor 

 unions defend their position, the pack- 

 ers demonstrate their small profits and 

 the coal industry gives information as 

 to the market's trend. At this time the 

 refut.'itioii of such reports as that 

 ]irintecl below is in this trade left to 

 such individuals as will voluntarily act 

 ill the matter. That method is n(>ither 

 thorough nor far-reaching enough. 

 I'ublicity can be countered only with 

 e(|ual or more publicity of the right 

 kind, much as it is said that fire should 

 be fought with fire. Perhaps the na- 

 tional ]iublicity committee will in its 

 forthcoming compaign make provision 

 to meet tlie evil effects of sucli pub- 

 lirity as this editorial in the Pnthfiniler. 

 a w(^eklv, publishecl at Washington 

 D. C: 



FIririsl<s from all ovor the cniintrv hiivo 1nsf 

 Iii'lil roiivenlhiii ;it W:ishini.'loii. 'I'lify ncrcoil 

 III a prire-flxiiii: scheme by wliieh nil flowers 

 are to he solil at uniform prices all over the 

 country ?'or instance, roses with an S inch stem 

 "'i-l'' I'c a c rtaiii "rice and those with a 

 fj iccli stem a ^pcciticd liit'licr |iri'e. 'I'lic 



florists are treuUintf on dangerous ground In 

 thus conspiring to fix prices arbitrarily without 

 regard to the cost of production or the state ot 

 the market. Price-fixers want to beware, or 

 Ihev are liable to find themselves up against 

 the nnti-lrust law good and hard. Judge Landls 

 in Chicago the other day made this plain to 

 the labor union leaders who have been con- 

 spiring to hold up wages, curtail production 

 and secure rake-offs on all construction. He 

 told them that these price-flxing scales were 

 illegal and that they were "headed straight for 

 Jail." 



CHICAGO TO TORONTO. 



The Michigan Central and Canadian 

 Pacific railroads have been chosen for 

 the trip of the Chicago Florists' Club 

 and friends to the annual convention 

 of the Florists' Telegraph Delivery As- 

 sociation, at Toronto, Ont., October 11 

 to 13. The party will leave the Illinois 

 Central station. Twelfth street and 

 Michigan avenue, at 5:40 p. m., stand- 

 ard time (6:40 p. m., Chicago time), 

 Monday, October 10, and will arrive in 

 Toronto the following morning at 8:30 

 o 'clock. 



A rate of a fare and one-half for the 

 round trip, on the certificate plan, has 

 been authorized, making the fare $30.22, 

 including war tax. The one-way rate 

 is $20.57, including tax. Tickets will 

 be on sale October 7 to 12, inclusive, 

 returning to retich destination at or be- 

 fore niidniglit October 17. Pullman 

 fares, including surcharge and war tax, 

 are: Lower berth, $6.08; upper berth, 

 $4.86; compartment, $17.01; drawing 

 room, $22.68. 



Another train for those unable to ac- 

 company the party leaves on the same 

 road .-it 12:05 midnight and is due in 

 Toronto at 4:45 p. m. The International 

 Limited, on the (irand Trunk railroad, 

 leaving Dearborn station at 5 p. m., 

 is due in Toronto the following morn- 

 ing !it 9 o'clock, and a train leav- 

 ing at 11:15 p. m. is due in Toronto 

 at 4:10 the next afternoon. 



To secure the reduced rate, everyone 

 going to the convention must purchase 

 ticket to Toronto at full one-way fare 

 and obtain certificate from the selling 

 agent when buying ticket. The fare 

 for tlie return trip will be one-half of 

 the adult one-way fare applying from 

 place of meeting to the original start- 

 ing point by the route used on going 

 trip as shown on the certificate, pro- 

 vided that certificate presented litis 

 been properly validated at the conven- 

 tion by the agent apjiointed for that 

 purpose. 



To join the Chicago party, see that 

 tickets read via the Michigan Central 

 ;ind Canadian I'acific railro.'ids, making 

 all necessary reservations with Edward 

 D. .Tennings, city passenger ag(^nt Ca- 

 nadian P.-icific railro;id. 140 South Plark 

 street, Chicago. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



F. G., la. — Sedum acre, or yellow 

 stoiiecrop. 



.1. S., (ia. — Small bulb i> a HHuni, 

 prtdtably L. Ctirolinianuin. The large 

 bulb is difticult to name: ni.-iy be an 

 .-imaryllis, but more probalily a crinum 

 or pancratium. Semi a leaf and flower 

 for more accurate iflentification. The 

 shoot is from one of th(> cotoneasters. 



II. L. G., Mich.— The preparation of 

 oak and beech leaves is complicated 

 and too costly where only a small quan- 

 tity is handled. Some of the lycopodium 

 plants ])roduce small cone-l'iko fruits 

 .and this is probably what you have. If 

 you will send us specimens we shall 

 iie glad to ideiitifv them. 



