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32 



The Florists^ Review 



May 11, 1922 



mark those who buy from you. Now 

 notice how many who are able to buy 

 do not. Unless you have developed 

 your market unusually well, you will 

 notice a wonderful opportunity. And 

 remember, the 'phone book does not list 

 all the desirable customers, and that 

 there are several possible buyers in 

 many families. 



"How shall we start them to buying 

 flowers? Advertising. Window dis- 

 plays, mailing cards, circulars, news- 

 papers — all are advertising. By all 

 means use your window. You pay for 

 it. Make it work. Sight leads to sales. 

 The other forms will depend on your 

 location and class of trade. We are 

 great believers in cards and circulars, 

 especially if you quote prices. They 

 pay us. Newspapers may be the least or 

 most expensive, depending on whether 

 you have to pay for a large circulation 

 out of your trade territory or whether 

 your trade covers the whole town. If 

 the latter, newspapers should pay. By 

 all means feature the slogan. 



"In your window and all other ad- 

 vertising give the people an idea if you 

 would sell flowers. Suggest uses — 

 flowers as gifts, flowers for the sick, 

 flowers for valentines, Easter, Mothers' 

 day, Memorial day, Christmas. It not 

 only helps make new customers, but 

 makes the old customers buy more. The 

 seasonable flowers, mums for Thanks- 

 giving, violets for valentines, bulbs in 

 the spring, peonies in May, gladioli in 

 summer, will build business, if you keep 

 reminding the people." 



GETTING ACQUAINTED. 



"I never knew so great an invest- 

 ment and so much expense were involved 

 in growing flowers under glass. I shall 

 more cheerfully pay $5 a dozen for 

 roses henceforth," remarked a business 

 man after a florist friend had conducted 

 him through his greenhouses. 



The moral of this remark, that florists 

 would do well to give the public and 

 particularly business men a closer ac- 

 quaintance with their growing methods, 

 has had the attention of a few florists 

 here and there. One of them is Claude 

 M. Hamilton, of Kewanee, 111. Mr. 

 Hamilton entertained the members of 

 the local Rotary Club at his greenhouses 

 at Terniiual Park, April 25. About 125 



business men were present at the lunch- 

 eon, and all came away with a better 

 conception of the florists' industry. The 

 aflfair was described in a local paper to 

 the extent of a column on the front 

 page, approximately half of which was 

 devoted to the business of the meeting 

 and the other half to Mr. Hamilton and 

 his entertainment. The newspaper ac- 

 count said in part: 



' ' Petunias, verbenas, salvias and 

 other flowers adorn many homes in Ke- 

 wanee tonight as the result of the visit 

 of the Rotary Club to the Terminal 

 Park greenhouses this noon at the in- 

 vitation of Claude M. Hamilton, pro- 

 prietor. Every person received as a 

 souvenir of the visit a handsome little 

 basket in bronze and blue weave, filled 

 with a flowering plant. 



"It was a meeting marked by origi- 

 nality, which Mr. Hamilton offered. 

 Upon arrival at the greenhouses in the 

 special car, the visitors were at<i^ce es- 

 corted to the large greenhouses "ftj the 

 northwest corner of the property, wi^ere 

 long tables extended east and west. 

 Here there was rbom for 125 persons.** 

 Banked on the north and on the south of 

 the tables were great lines of flowers. 

 The wealth of all the greenhouses was 

 centered here as decorations for the din- 

 ner. 



' ' The dinner presented many novel 

 ideas. There was no silverware and 

 no china, but all the service was from 

 earthenware pots such as are used every 

 day at the greenhouses. All the table- 

 ware was new and each visitor was in- 

 vited to take home the pots and pans 

 from which he ate. A flower pot of 

 one size, securely corked, was the water 

 glass, and a pot of another size was the 

 coffee cup. Instead of knives and spoons, 

 the visitors ate with flat pieces of 

 woodenware which are used as labels 

 in the greenhouses. The coffee was 

 poured from a large new sprinkling can. 



"Mrs. Hamilton was present at the 

 event and assisted in making the big 

 crowd welcome." 



The illustration on this page shows 

 how the Rotarians adapted themselves 

 to their surroundings. 



trade and in many others. An adver- 

 tiser makes a start with what he con- 

 siders the best paper. It pays. He 

 takes on another, and still another, 

 until he finds he has built up a large 

 expense account without a correspond- 

 ing increase in his returns. Then he 

 cuts off all the advertising at once. He 

 does not pause to figure out that a far 

 better course would be to stop the un- 

 profitable advertising and continue in 

 the mediums of demonstrated pulling 

 power. 



We enclose our check to cover bill received 

 today for our small card in The Review. We 

 believe that we receive greater returns from this 

 investment than from any other advertising me- 

 dium. — Tupelo Floral Co., Member F. T. D., 

 Tupelo, Miss., April 29, 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. 



IT PAYS TO PICK 'EM CAREFULLY. 



There is a tendency strongly marked 

 among advertisers. It is seen in this 



FLOWERS FOB FOOD AND DRINK. 



If you thought flowers were only to 

 be seen and smelled, there are a few 

 new ideas for you in this editorial, 

 clipped by T. P. Langhans from a Pitts- 

 burgh newspaper: 



EDIBLE FLOWERS, AND DRINKABLE. 



Since prohibition went into effect it has been 

 widely heralded that "wine" can be made of the 

 flowers of the dandelion. A newspaper published 

 in an eastern city whose people are, perhaps, 

 / not so abstemious as those of Pittsburgh re- 

 ports that In addition to the usual number of 

 persons who are gathering the tender dandelion 

 greens in the parlis and fields for salad many are 

 piclting the flowers. 



This is one case in which Americans use 

 flowers for another purpose than to please the eye 

 iir gratify the sense of smell. There are not 

 many examples in this country of flowers being 

 used for other than esthetic ends by the general 

 public. In the orient, however, certain flowers 

 are rather extensively used as food, and It seems 

 not at all unlikely that if we knew how to 

 prepare them we could gratify our palates with 

 blossoms just as we please our olfactory sense. 

 We eat leaves, roots, stems, fruit and seeds 

 and find nourishment in them. Why should 

 flowers not be nutritious, also? 



The ancients ate flowers. They made sweet- 

 meats of violets and also used them in the pro- 

 duction of a sherbet described by classic writers 

 ns delicious. In the near east today it is the 

 custom to put violets, roses and limes into cer- 

 tain kinds of confectionery. Nasturtium sand- 

 wiches are eaten In Greece and Turkey. The 

 dahlia is described as an excellent food, though 

 somewhat acrid. Flowers are used almost as 

 much as vegetables In the preparation of rice 

 dishes in China and Japan. 



Flowers as food offer a big field for experi- 

 mentation. They may afford ingenious cooks 

 an opportunity to distinguish themselves by 

 K'vlng piquant new dishes to the world. 



PRIMULA POISONING. 



Having seen several communications 

 with regard to remedies for poisoning by 

 Primula obconica, I wish to add my mite. 

 .Tonathan Bland, the veteran florist of 

 Independence, la., formerly suffered 

 much from this kind of poisoning, but 

 he has discovered a simple cure, which 

 is, for him at least, complete. It con- 

 sists of simply plunging his hands and 

 arms in hot water. He says it gives him 

 a sort of thrill at first and is quite ef- 

 fective, so that he now handles the 

 primulas without fear. 



George S. Woodruff. 



Kewanee Rotarians Dine in C. M. Hamilton's Greenhouses. 



CUTWORMS ON GLADIOLI. 



Cutworms are apt to do considerable 

 damage by cutting off the tops of choice 

 fjladioli. When this occurs, turn over 

 the soil near the plant and you will 

 usually find the cutworm about diift inch 

 from the surface; if you do not destroy 

 it, during the night it will travel to the 

 next plant and do further damage. 



A poisoned bait may be used by mix- 

 ing a little bran, Paris green and mo- 

 lasses with a little water. When tops 

 have been cut off, corms will send up 

 up fresh sprouts. 



