32 



The Florists^ Review 



April IS. 1922 



us in the evening Walter Stephens, 

 president of the Ohio district, and his 

 remarks were not only interesting, but 

 instructive. The Cincinnati district also 

 took advantage of this occasion to in- 

 form Mr. Stephens that we, Cincinnati, 

 would be a contender for the next 

 Btate meeting, and if we are fortunate 

 enough to secure it we expect to 

 make a two-day affair of it, the first 

 day to be devoted entirely to business, 



and the second day to have a strictly 

 florists' picnic at some private grounds. 



Mr. Volz, at whose place the meeting 

 was held, is due a special vote of 

 thanks for the 200 "frog's legs" 

 which were a part of his lunch menu. 



Don't forget the next meeting, which 

 is to be held at John Bruckner's place, 

 1135 California avenue. Bond Hill, 

 May 3, at 2 p. m. 



Joseph Imholte, Sec'y. 



SHIPPING FLOWERS 



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FLOWERS BY EXPRESS. 



As Expressmen View Them. 



Even the American Kailway Express 

 Co. is taking notice of the extent of the 

 business contributed by florists! The 

 April issue of the Express Messenger 

 bears as its cover illustration a picture 

 of two express trucks loaded with ship- 

 ments of cut flowers. The number con- 

 tains two articles highly interesting to 

 florists. The first, headed "Say It with 

 Flowers," is written by Walter C. Ditt, 

 express clerk in the Chicago & North- 

 western depot, Chicago, after a trip to 

 Wheaton. The article is illustrated by 

 a group picture of Eric Johnson, Casi- 

 mir Gouza and E. C. SchefBer and a 

 panorama of Mr. Schefller's green- 

 houses. The article reads: 



"There is a flower grower named K. 

 C. Schefiler at Wheaton, 111., about 

 twenty-five miles west of Chicago, who 

 has many good words for express serv- 

 ice. This man has nine greenhouses, 

 ranging from 150 to 250 feet in length, 

 and adapted especially to the growing 

 of sweet peas and chrysanthemums, or 

 'mums' as we call them. 



"Mr. Schefiler ships all of his mums 

 by express. The season for these starts 

 about the middle of October and ends 

 about the end of December. His ship- 

 ments run from ten to forty-two boxes 

 each morning, coming into the C. & N. 

 W. depot on train No. 32, which leaves 

 Wheaton at 6:09 a. m. and arrives at 

 Chicago at 7:18 a. m. Mr. Schefiler al- 

 ways follows his flowers to market, rid- 

 ing on the same train. 



"Our wagon always has these flow- 

 ers, and those of other shippers, on the 

 flower market, which is about eight 

 blocks due east from our depot, by 8:00 

 a. m. Mr. Schefiler has often expressed 

 his appreciation of this prompt service. 



"If the market prices are favorable 

 for the day, Mr. Schefiler phones back 

 to his employees at Wheaton, instruct- 

 ing them to cut and pack so many more 

 for shipment, which come in on C. & 

 N. W. train No. 702, arriving at 12:45 

 p. m. These, too, are taken to the mar- 

 ket promptly. In fact, one thing that 

 all depots do, I suppose, is to expedite 

 the delivery of cut flowers, since, as is 

 also true in the case of movie films, we 

 got the business both ways. Of course, 

 all of the flowers we handle are not for 

 local trade. Many loads depart for dif- 

 ferent points on the evening trains. 



"Mr. Schefiler says it pays him to 

 come in each day with his shipments, if 

 for one reason only; namely, to see that 

 his empty containers of P. boxes are 

 properly taken care of and labeled for 

 the return trip. 



"These containers are of corrugated 

 cardboard and bear the manufacturers' 

 test strength. He seldom packs more 

 than thirty-five pounds to a box. Con- 

 sequently, while these mum blooms are 

 very delicate, I have yet to see a ship- 

 ment of them come, on which it is 

 necessary to make out a bad order re- 

 port on form No. 679. 



One Grower's Miuns. 



"During the last two weeks of last 

 October, we handled 433 boxes of mums 

 for Mr. Scheflfler, weighing 8,745 pounds 

 and involving charges of $78.15. In No- 

 vember we handled 651 boxes, weighing 

 11,145 pounds and with charges of 

 $102.01, and in December, 491 boxes, 

 weighing 8,300 pounds, with charges 

 amounting to $76.55. For the whole 

 season, these figures total 1,575 boxes, 

 weighing 28,190 pounds and involving 

 $256.71 in charges. While the revenue 

 on heavier shipments between points 

 farther apart than Wheaton and Chi- 

 cago might seem greater, the flower 

 trafiic is nevertheless profitable, since 

 the light weight of the commodity en- 

 ables it to be handled easily. 



"To my knowledge, it has not been 

 necessary for Mr. Scheffler to file one 

 claim during the last three years, and 

 this is due to the interest which his em- 

 ployees take in packing his flowers 

 right, as well as to our careful han- 

 dling. And this interest on the em- 

 ployees' part is attributable in a large 

 measure to the way in which Mr. Schef- 

 fler treats them. He not only maintains 

 a good home for them, a good house- 

 keeper and cook, but he also keeps a 

 Ford for them to use outside of work- 

 ing hours. 



At Wheaton. 



"His employees number about a 

 dozen, and since the greenhouses are 

 about a mile from Wheaton proper, they 

 have to get there rather early to cut, 

 pack and mark the flowers for shipment. 

 One of them, whom they call John, is 

 particularly interested in the matter of 

 packing, marking and tying. When Mr. 

 Schefiler goes away to conventions and 

 so forth, John takes charge. 



"Mr. Schefiler has twelve acres of 

 land which he devotes to the growing 

 of peonies and five to gladioli. During 

 the summer months his shipments con- 

 sist mostly of peonies, packed heavier 

 in boxes than the mums, since they do 

 not break so easily. These peonies are 

 cut and shipped while still in the bud, 

 for the most part, though some intended 

 for local trade are packed when in 

 bloom. 



"The gladioli are cut and shipped in 

 V-shaped crates, because they are long 



and the tops of the stalks consist of 

 many buds and flowers. 



"In the early spring months Mr. 

 Scheffler ships many barrels and boxes 

 of greenhouse radishes and lettuce, con- 

 signed to the various Chicago commis- 

 sion houses on South Water street." 



Dreer's Express Shipment. 



Following the above is an article, 

 shorter in length, but interesting be- 

 cause it gives figures on the tremendous 

 express business which is done by 

 Henry A. Dreer, Inc.', at Eiverton, N. J. 

 It reads: 



"There is located at Eiverton, N. J., 

 H. A. Dreer, Inc., one of the largest 

 shippers in the east of plants, palms, 

 ferns and roses. The firm ships to all 

 parts of the country, using express serv- 

 ice almost exclusively. 



"The business amounts to consider- 

 able, and occasionally we are called 

 upon to handle carload shipments, which 

 require every possible protection from 

 freezing in the winter months and from 

 the wilting heat of the hot sun in the 

 summer months. 



"Only recently we were called upon 

 to move a shipment of 243 crates of 

 roses and palms to Mentor, O. A car 

 was provided and the contents were in 

 a splendid condition when delivery was 

 effected, forty-eight hours later. 



"H. A. Dreer, Inc., was highly pleased 

 and sent the following letter to F. A. 

 Conway, our agent at Eiverton: 



We want to thank your company for the suc- 

 cessful and efficient manner In which our fall 

 and winter trade was handled. Not only pleas- 

 ing to us, but also satisfying to our customers. 

 Under all kinds of weather conditions our per- 

 ishable business was well taken care of. 



We are looking forward to unusually heavy 

 shipping this spring, as advance orders are com 

 Ing in very satisfactorily and we have prepared a 

 large stock of plants, roots, bulbs and seeds for 

 this spring's trade. In roses alone we have over 

 a quarter of a million plants, which must all 

 be handled this spring. As you are familiar 

 with the very perishable nature of this stock, I 

 might suggest for you to prepare extra equip- 

 ment for the spring rush. You know last spring 

 we shipped by express from Riverton as follows: 



Total No. of 



weight pieces 



March 272.244 lbs. 3.683 



April 585,526 lbs. 8.463 



May 276,882 lbs. 3,755 



June 131,611 lbs. 2.677 



We are always ready to cooperate with you 

 and help you to do some hauling, but in the 

 spring months when all our teams and trucks 

 are busy it is impossible for us to give you any 

 assistance and I thought best to mention this 

 in order to give you ample time to procure extra 

 equipment and help, as we intend to turn all 

 the shipping we possibly can over to your com- 

 pany. 



BATCLIFFE'S REMINDER. 



In Eichmond, Va., there is a florist 

 named John L. Batcliffe who gets ideas 

 and these ideas get money for him. For 

 this Easter's business he evolved a new 

 one: 



He sent out a considerable number of 

 4-page folders, about 3x6 inches, enti- 

 tled "Flower Suggestions for Easter." 

 On the second page of the folder ap- 

 pears the following: 



Easter time is essentially flower time, for the 

 spirit of Easter Is the spirit of spring, of buds 

 and blossoms. 



We are making big preparations for our friends 

 this Baster. We will have flowers in profusion 

 — John L. Ratcliffe quality — but order early and 

 get the pick of selections. 



The following prices give suggestions, and you 

 can detach the convenient order card and mall 

 direct to us If you desire, or phone. 



And, sure enough, on the third page 

 of the little folder is a list of prices on 

 Easter corsages, roses and plants in all 

 varieties. Then the fourth page of the 

 folder is in the form of a post card, 

 with space for an order blank, addressed 

 to John L. Batcliffe. The folder is per- 

 forated, so the third and fourth pages, 



