36 



The Florists^ Review 



Apeil 27. 1922 



fl 



Establtsbed 1897. 

 by a. L Grant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishino Co., 



600-560 Oaxton Building, 



SOe South Dearborn St., Ohlcago. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



Registered cable address, 



Florriew, Chicago, 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897, at the post-office at Ohi- 

 cago, IlL, under the Act of llarch 

 3. 1879. 



Subscription price, 12.00 a jear. 

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



Advertising rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 vertlsing accepted. 



n 



RESULTS. 



We give them. You get them. 



We both have them. 



Have you done anj'thing to collect the 

 March bills tliat still stand unpaid? 



The man with the best stock has many 

 advantages, not the least of which is the 

 opportunity to choose his customers. 



Most florists clean and plant their own 

 grounds only after they liave finished 

 work for their customers. Why not be 

 the first? June up now. 



The reports of Easter business on page 

 68 and following pages bear out the state- 

 ments printed last week as to the holi- 

 day 's being a banner one for this trade. 



One of the most unusual slogans used 

 by florists is that of H. E. Hoefner, of 

 Parsons, W. Va., wlio calls himself, on his 

 letterhead, "The Florist with a Con- 

 science. ' ' 



Few fortunes are likely to be made in 

 the florists' business during the next few 

 years, but the careful manager will not 

 fail to realize a modest man's idea of 

 prosperity. 



Competent labor is always desirable, 

 even if it costs more. But it is not 

 sound economy to pay highly trained 

 men to do what a boy or a girl could do 

 at half the wages. 



Advertising by retail florists made 

 Mothers' day and advertising will keep 

 it growing. ' But without advertising, 

 Mothers ' day will fade away ; it is not 

 long enough establislied to maintain it- 

 self alone. 



This has worked well for others; prob- 

 alily it will work well for you: Get a 

 rubber stamp reading, "Account for your 

 accommodation; monthly payment re- 

 quested." About the twentieth of the 

 month send a statement to each customer 

 whose account stands unpaid. Put the 

 stamp on each statement. Gradually put 

 on a cash basis the customers who don't 

 respond. 



A HUB is merely the central junction 

 of the spokes of a wheel. The importance 

 of the wheel actually depends upon the 

 number and size of the spokes. The read- 

 ers of The Review form 13,000 spokes, 

 whicli radiate to the Atlantic and to the 

 Pacific oceans, and some beyond. They 

 compose a strong wheel to carry the 

 wagon of horticulture. None other has 

 so manv or covers so large a radius. 



Patrick Welch, ex-president of the 

 S. A. F., is critically ill at his home in 

 Boston, suffering from yellow jaundice 

 in addition to other complications, and, 

 it is regrettable to learn, the physicians 

 give little hope of recovery. 



Records of some of the leading whole- 

 salers in the Chicago market show that in 

 1921 their Mothers' day sales exceeded 

 those of Easter by ten per cent. Won- 

 derful, with Easter as old as history and 

 Mothers' day unknown a dozen years 

 ago! 



"The trade has done well this sea- 

 son," said a grower visiting The Review 

 office the other day. * ' There are lamenta- 

 tions, " said we. "Yes," said the grow- 

 er, "business was so abnormal for a 

 couple of years that a lot of people now 

 complain over what would have seemed 

 pretty fine before the boom." 



During the boom time beginning with 

 the autumn of 1918 the business of estab- 

 lished florists grew rapidly, but the num- 

 ber of florists decreased through the small 

 florists going into other occupations. In 

 the last year or year and a half the intake 

 of the older concerns may have shrunk to 

 some extent, but the number of those re- 

 turning to the field, or just starting in it, 

 has materially increased. The trade has 

 not stopped growing. 



NATIONAL HOSPITAL DAY. 



In the general rush of business toward 

 Mothers' day it would be well to hesi- 

 tate a moment and reflect that May 12 is 

 National Hospital day. While this oc- 

 casion is overshadowed by Mothers' 

 day, it might be well to insert a sugges- 

 tion for hospital flowers in the adver- 

 tisements here and there. And the florist 

 doing liis mit^. toward supplying the hos- 

 pitals may be rewarded with some good 

 free advertising. 



HELPING US BOOST. 



Florists have made Mothers' day what 

 it is by advertising the event as it ap- 

 ]iroached each year. To keep it a live 

 and flourishing day of observance, now 

 many people are helping us. On another 

 page is described the cooperation that 

 comes from the American Legion. This 

 is powerful support. Florists every- 

 where should make use of it in the proper 

 wav. 



But still more actively to our assist- 

 nuvc comes Arthur Brisbane, the $100,- 

 OOO-a-year editorial writer of Mr. 

 Hearst's papers. In the Chicago Amer- 

 ican of April 17 appeared the following 

 in the editorial column: 



Mothers' day will soon come nroiin<I .ngain. 

 This time you nre advised by the Mofliers' day 

 experts not to wear flowers in your Imttonliole, 

 because tlie florists are profiteering on that day; 

 the flowers cost too much. Poor motlier spends 

 lier entire life givinK up somethinK or other be- 

 cause It costs too much. And now she must 

 plvo up the flower on her Mothers' day. As 

 dnuRhter usually wears the flower, while mother 

 usually waslies up the dishes, i>erhap8 It won't 

 make so much difference to mother. 



This same editorial appeared in the 



other Hearst papers, in various cities, 



and is sure to help the sale of flowers. 



Other.s are helping us boost Mothers' 



day. Let's push, too! We can make it 



a second Easter. 



SPECIAL SALES 



In the two or three weeks after Easter 

 occurs excellent opportunity for flo- 

 rists to draw buyers to their stores by 

 means of special sales. At this time 

 stock is abundant and flowers of high 

 quality can be purchased at exceed- 



ingly reasonable prices. The public has 

 had a taste of flowers at Easter, when 

 a good many people have bought them 

 who do not as a rule. If these persons 

 are offered, at reasonable prices, flowers 

 to take the place of those purchased 

 at Easter, when the latter are gone, 

 they may easily be sold some more. 

 Who knows but what they may "get 

 the habit"? At a time when you want 

 more customers and have not overmuch 

 business, now is a time to put on special 

 sales. 



GBOWINa GERANIUMS. 



At this time of year many, many in- 

 quiries come to The Review office re- 

 garding "diseased" geraniums. There 

 are spots on the foliage; it is yellow and 

 unsightly. What is the remedy for the 

 infection which causes this appearance? 

 The unsightly specimens are frequent 

 and this question is constantly recur- 

 ring. 



It is hoped to make the answer here 

 emphatic; This is no disease in the sense 

 that it is caused by any infection or 

 pest. It is simply the result of mistreat- 

 ment, perhaps due to carelessness, per- 

 haps to lack of knowledge. Geraniums 

 should be grown cool and a little on the 

 dry side. They should not be watered 

 overhead. Keep the night temperature 

 at 50 degrees, not more than 52, with 

 a rise of a few degrees in the daytime, 

 but not above 60 degrees. And be spar- 

 ing of the water. 



LET'S HOPE JUST A MISTAKE 



A florist of Detroit, not more finicky 

 than florists should be, sends The Re- 

 view a clipping of a retailer's advertise- 

 ment, with the comment, "Just saw 

 this ad and it struck me as real bad. 

 Is this kind of thing usual or just a mis- 

 take?^' In the list of plants and cut 

 flowers in the advertisement appeared 

 the following: 



Easter LllUes. 



Hydarges. 



Margretts. 



Thousand Chain Rose Bushes. 



Hycants. 



I.llly Valley. 



DaftadelB. 



Snap Dragen. 



IT'S JUST FUN. 



Publishers in other lines often com- 

 ment on the large volume of advertising 

 that appears in The Review and ask as 

 to the methods by which the business is 

 obtained. Selling advertising space in 

 The Review isn't work; it's just fun. 

 "Results bring advertising; The Review 

 brings results. " It's like this: 



Enclosed is our check for $1.62 to pay for the 

 advertisement in last week's Review. We re- 

 ceived sij; orders in one day, five of them en- 

 closing checks for $35 each. We think that 

 is a pretty good record, even for The Review. — 

 T. W. Ingersoll, Wah-wah-taysee Nursery, Buf- 

 falo, Minn., April 20, 1922. 



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. 



BRIEF ANSWERS. 



G. H., 0. — Magnolia conspicua; ob- 

 tainable from many nurserymen. 



C. A., Ont. — Geranium leaves were too 

 withered to afford much evidence; plants 

 probably were grown too warm and sub- 

 jected to overhead waterings. 



C. P, G., N. Y. — ^Looks like Geranium 

 Helen Michell, and not a new seedling. 



A. D. F., Neb. — Geranium Richmond 

 Beauty. 



W. G., S. D. — Begonia vitifolia. 



