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The Florists' Review 



NOVBMBKR 3, 1921 



M 



Eetabllslied 1897, 

 by a. L Grant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists* Puhlishino Co., 



500-560 Caxton Bulldlns, 



608 South Dearborn St., CblcaKO. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



KeplHtered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897. attlie post-offlce at Chi- 

 cago, 111., under the Act of March 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, 12.00 a year. 

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



Advertlslni; rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlslngr accepted. 



im 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



It will not Ix? diflieult to sell your cus- 

 tomers evergreens to refill the window 

 boxes in which the soft stock has suc- 

 cumbed to frost. 



As might h.Tvo been expected, the locali- 

 ties in which business boomed the strong- 

 est while it lioomed, now are the ones in 

 which the tlorists' trade is hit the hard- 

 est by deflation. 



Not only get a i>rinted letterhead, but 

 use it. Answer letters; particularly, an- 

 swer iiujuirics and complaints. To neglect 

 such things is lo invite excommunication, 

 now trade conditions have changed. 



The presence of Marshal Foch in this 

 country and the burial of the unknown 

 soldier at Arlington cemetery will give a 

 decided impetus to Armistice day observ- 

 ance. Florists can lielji it along — and 

 be helped — by some juilicious advertis- 

 ing for the occasion. 



Arrange your window displays so as to 

 produce a ItuH's-eye, a jioint on wliich tlie 

 spectator's glance is focused. It may 

 be a vivid color produced by a vase of 

 flowers; it may be something moving; it 

 may be a i)liotograph with news value. 

 Give passers a message, not a vague im- 

 I)ression. 



It is jierfoctly true tliat many florists 

 and nurserymen work all day at manual 

 labor .Mild, when niglit comes, are too tired 

 to keep oflice work always "up to the 

 handle." This no doubt accounts for 

 much remissness. But it does not excus(! 

 it. Tlie clerical end must be develojx'd 

 along witli the productive end, or the 

 busiii(\ss machine never will run 

 smoothly. 



It is a well known fact that The Review 

 circulates, not only everywhere the Eng- 

 lisli language is spoken, but wherever 

 commercial floriculture has penetrated. 

 It is not unusual for advertisers to re- 

 port responses coming from the ends of 

 the earth, but it is not often that an ad- 

 vertiser addresses himself directly to those 

 subscribers outside the United States. 

 How(>vcr, we read in the Classified section 

 of last week's issue an offer "For All 

 Countries Except the U. S. A." Now 

 we feel grown up, especially as with this 

 issue The T?eview starts its twenty-fifth 

 year. 



Even the best of growers falls down 

 occasionally. When a capable man's foot 

 slips it usually is due to ovcrcontidenco. 



Get your local American Legion post 

 to send a wreath or basket to the cere- 

 monies at Arlington cemetery, Washing- 

 ton, D. C, JsTovember 11, for the burial 

 of the unknown soldier. 



Florists' boxes are advancing in price 

 after a considerable recession from the 

 high point. The advance is due to a re- 

 covery in the boxboard market, which is 

 coincident with an advance in wrapping 

 and other pa})ers. 



The war era created such extensive pro- 

 duction, stated a prominent business man 

 the other day, that the next few years 

 will put the heaviest demand ujion sales 

 ability, since strong competition will lead 

 the public to pick and choose with care. 

 Fortunately, this trade has not excessive 

 productive capacity to contend with, but 

 it will need its utmost selling ability to 

 meet the competition of other lines and 

 the resulting discrimination of the public. 



Those who have not had an adetjuate 

 bookkeeping system have reason to regret 

 it when Uncle Sam's income tax auditor 

 comes around. The theory that a florist 

 not up-to-date enough to keep books j)rop- 

 erly is not sufficiently progressive in other 

 respects to make as mucli money as his 

 fellow tradesmen is not acceded to by the 

 tax collector, who wants to learn why, in 

 black and white, if you have not made as 

 much as the average annual profit for 

 florists, computed at Washington to have 

 been 12.3 per cent in recent years. 



The Editor's desk frequently is deco- 

 rated with flowers sent in by readers who 

 wish to show how fine the stock is they 

 grow. "But this is something else again, 

 Mauruss, " as Cohen used to say. Hock's 

 Flower Gardens expressed to The l^eview 

 a beautifully put up bale of shrubs to 

 .sliow the splendid progress which is be- 

 ing made in developing their mirsciv at 

 Tnde|tendence, ^lo. The items included 

 Deutzia I'ride of Kochester, Weigela 

 rosea, Forsythia Foitunei. IMiiladcliihus 

 grandiflonis and ("alifornia privet one 

 year from hard-wood cuttings; an Amoor 

 river ])rivet, 2 years old, cut back twice 

 this season for soft-wood cuttings; an 

 Ihota j)rivet and a Thuya orientalis from 

 seed jilanted sjiring of 1921, with a cut- 

 ting of Amoor river privet, north, made 

 in June and transplanted to frame. It 

 was as nice stock for its .age as ;iny 

 nurseryman could ask to grow and fully 

 justified Mr. Rock's pride in the develo]i- 

 meiit at Independence. Not being suit- 

 able for decorating a desk, the Editor sent 

 the samples out for i>lanting on his home 

 grounds! 



CAN -Wi: GET RATES REDUCED? 



Ever since the ])resent express rates 

 were put into effect florists have recog- 

 nized that a considerable new burden 

 was imposed on this business. As long 

 as trade was booming and plants were 

 scarce there was little complaint, but 

 now that business conditions in this 

 field are approaching pre-war standards 

 the burden of increased transportation 

 chiirges begins to be a matter of in- 

 creased importance. A middle western 

 florist bought some hydrangeas in tlie 

 east. The express charges were slightly 

 more than 15 cents per plant, or about 

 one-tliird the average cost of the plants. 

 Plantsmen, especially, find tliat the in- 

 creased trans[iortation charges are re- 



ducing their shipping radius; buyers 

 wish to procure their stock as near home 

 as possible, to keep the transjjortation 

 charges from eating up the profit. The 

 burden also is beginning to be felt by 

 the cut flower shipping trade. 



Relief may come through' impressing 

 the express company officials with the 

 fact that their rates are more than the 

 traffic will bear, or it may come through 

 a petition of the Society of American 

 Florists filed with the Interstate Com- 

 merce Commission. Individual florists 

 can influence the express company 

 through written statements showing 

 traffic to be reduced by the high rates. 

 President Roland has the oi>portuuity 

 for acting for the S. A. F. 



HERE'S YOUR YARDSTICK. 



The subject of the profits to be made 

 in the florists' business has received un- 

 usual attention in recent months, per- 

 haps for the reason that the permanence 

 of profits is regarded as less certiiin 

 than in the past. Indeed, a well-known 

 florist recently wrote an essav entitled 

 "Where Have My Profits Gone?" In 

 this connection it is interesting to learn 

 that the income tax department of the 

 United States government has compiled 

 figures to show the average profits of 

 florists for the year 19] 7. It is reported 

 that the government tabulated the per- 

 centage of profit shown on the income 

 tax returns of all florists as audited for 

 the year 1917. These pi>rcentages of 

 profit were averaged and the average is 

 reported to have shown a net profit of 

 twelve and three-tenths per cent of the 

 gross sales. 



With the average as a yardstick, each 

 reader can figure out for himself 

 whether he did better or worse. 



Did the trade make a higher percent- 

 age of ].rofit in subsequent ve.ars than 

 in 1917.' There probably can be no 

 <|uestion that the volume of business in- 

 (;»eased, but did ttie i)ercentage of 

 ju-ofits increase? 



MAY WE HELP? 



There are two uses for the ailvertising 

 deipartment of the trade ])aper. The 

 most important use is tliat made by the 

 readers. If the readers use the advertis- 

 ing columns of the trade paper, it settles 

 the whole ipicstion — the advertisers' re- 

 sults are assured. 



Advertising in The Rcvirw can be 

 used for two purjioses. It mav be used 

 to build up a permanent l>usiness, like 

 this: 



Tiiroii;:!, till' ClMssUii.d iiOs in y ■ pMiicr I :iin 



liMiclin^. i,|, a wnndiTful Imisimi'ss. Tm shnw the 



wi.ltli of n.y (IJMiil.iilinn, wiihin tl.,. last two 



"(•(■lis I l,„v,. sliipp.-cl |„ S:int;i llii-h:iiM Cnl ■ 



o I„-iwrr.„-.. Mass.; t.. .lac-ksunv- 1!,., Kl,... :im(I 



Mt ," -V"-''''';-, ■'■'■• I KiV.' t XllTT,,,. |,.,iMls 



)i St t„ sl„„v t I,. ..Morn „f your scrvi.T. I Imve 



I. t t ,.. iruti, „f tl„. ,„,,,„r i, ,,,.,1 I li „r.. 



loti „fr |„„ ,:„. ..„i,„-;.-,.,.,..nt .,f mv n.,iliti..s.-^ 

 <■. It. .N.ililo, I'iiilii.iili, Ky.. October L';i. ]!)21. 



Tliat is the story of a man who is ad- 

 vertising to develop a permanent busi- 

 ness. Here is the story where the ad- 

 vertising is to get quick movement for 

 surplus stock: 



,„,^^'"'" '' """<■>' t" Kcttinc rpsnlts on sii.li st..rk. 

 -> V,-. ■V'"' '" '••'■••i'inl.v thp proper iiiclinm.-- 

 /etiitz Hiiral rroducts Co., Uajtoii, O., OcIoImt 

 —I, litl'l. 



■\Vi. c..t rosnlls, tlinnk yon. IMi^tly (.-'""l f<n- 

 til., lirst liin.. .mt.--l!iyi..rM (lar.U.Ms, (),-..an 

 Sprinj.'s, XIiss., OcIoImt i;(i, liii'l. 



If you hear a m:iii com])lain of the 

 cost of advert isiiijj. you can be jirettv 

 certain he siien.is a, good bit of monev 

 elsewhere than in The Review. 



