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The Florists^ Review 



33 



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SCHLING SHOWS NEW WAY 



NEW AET IN DECOEATION. 



Tunis Loss into Profit. 



Fldiistiy, ln'iaiise of its variation, 

 iiiaUi'M work a pleasure! ami is iiispiriri<i. 

 Tins is one reason why florists who love 

 ilicir [irot'ession are continually on their 

 iriettle to produce new and better work, 

 iii.iv it lie lor I'lmeral or for wedding, 

 tal»lf decoration or ii,ii\ basket. No 

 irialter how iniuh there is of it, it is 

 rasily accoiniilished when it can he done 

 within our own four walls, but the ino- 

 Mient there is outside work to be done — 

 inr instance, house or church decora- 

 ii„,,s — it becomes strenuous. iShould 

 sill h work ha]t|ien on a day when busi- 

 ness is <,'enerally K"»iii« strong, then any 

 organization is liable to bo in peril of 

 ■ lisniiitioii. One has to rush through 

 work and one doesn't take care of stock 

 a> one shouhl. Flowers are often used 

 iimler tlfese conditions with less dis- 

 . riniiiuitio!! than usual. The imi)res- 

 siiin one has at the nionu'iit makes him 

 overestimate the work on hand and 

 ^toidv is bought in unnecessary (pian- 

 tities and it is not handled right. This 

 is esi)ccially the case where decorations 

 ;ire made in the old style and of th<> (dd 

 type — where extra work, with jiacking 

 III' palms, seiuling them out and carrying 

 them into the church or into the house, 

 possibly a few stories high, takes much 

 time of the emj)loyees. When there is 

 a riisli of imsiness, all that time is taken 

 :i\v.i\- trom other just as imjiortant work. 

 We all have undergone this kind of dis- 

 iiiption. Only the florist who has greiMi- 



By MAX SCHLING. 



houses in connection with liis slnip ;nhl 

 I'liini tlirm can draw several e.xtra men 

 to handle palms and other material, has 

 c()ni])aratively easy work. liut every 

 llorist, with greenhouses or without 

 greenhouses, knows after he has finished 

 such a (leitoration that it is by no nu\ans 

 all profit, and often, through careless 

 and o\eranxioLis estimating, the ex- 

 |ienses so exceed the return that the 

 game is a losing one. 



Small Florist Hardest Hit. 



What effort has ever been made to off- 

 set, the disadvantages of these eases? 

 Jvxtremely little. In an ordinary flower 

 shop these cases are few and far be- 

 tween, and when one such hard day, 

 with much work and little profit, is past, 

 it is often forgotten and not remembered 

 until another liappens. It is always the 

 little florist who is hardest hit. When 

 he learns of the larger florists making 

 big decorations, he wonders how much 

 money there is in it. He does not know 

 that a jialm or any otiier kind of ])lant 

 will stand only ;i certain strain and can 

 be used only a few times for decorative 

 purposes and that the loan of larger 

 plants, in proportion to their price, does 

 not give the right return for their cost. 

 Irrespective of expense, ho tries to ar- 

 range so that he can rent i)ahns in ease 

 of need. I'ersons who give an order for 

 a decoration prefer to place it with a 

 florist who has greenliouses, irrespective 

 of whether they are his customers at 

 other times. The florist who has no 



grernlioiisi's, anxious to show his ability 

 to make the decoration even though he 

 lias to borrow the plants, often secures 

 the order by undensst itnating, not be- 

 cause ho wants to boat the other fellow 

 so much as IxM-ause he overlooks the dif- 

 ficulties which arise. In securing tiie 

 order III' c(junts transportation, extra 

 labor, etc., Itiit in most cases he forgets 

 an imjioitant item, the dismantling after 

 the affair is over, and most florists for- 

 get that the plants are damaged most 

 in this process. 



Ivxperience is the best teacher, and no 

 one knows better and no one has had 

 more experience than the one who has 

 made mistakes. I am one of them. 

 Luckily, I am one of the few who make 

 a mistake only once and imnu'diately try 

 to find a way to ]ire\ent such iTiistakes 

 occurring again. In early years I found 

 that 1 was at a disadxantago as against 

 the fellow who had his own greenhiuises 

 and ]ilaiits. I found that low (diarges 

 hardly jiaid for delivery and calling for 

 [ilants, including the wrapping iiaj)er 

 and labor. If the charges are based on 

 a fair profit, the customer believes him- 

 self to be o\er(diarged, because he does 

 m)t understand that the change of at- 

 mosphere ;ind the packing and repacking 

 damages the palms to such an extent 

 that the priee(-harged is not compensa- 

 tion for the dejireciation of the palms or 

 ot her plants. 



Experience's Les.son. 



This is one reason why I tried to in- 

 troduce a different type of decoration. 

 It was a selfish reason, but I had to ha\e 



Only a Few Ferns and Palms Used, Most of the Decoration Consists of Smilax, Hydrangeas and Other Flowers. 



