34 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 11. 1922 



yet the results are sure to be far-reach- 

 ing and will make for future business 

 all over the country. 



Probably a number of you have no- 

 ticed recently in the trade papers 

 the story of the cooperative adver- 

 tising, of the St. Louis florists. They 

 came out just before Easter with a 

 double-page spread in the St. Louis pa- 

 pers and all the St. Louis florists are 

 enthusiastic about the results that this 

 brought them in increased business. 

 They feel it was money well spent, and 

 was more than a paying investment for 

 them. Collective local advertising can- 

 not help but repay every city or town 

 that takes up advertising of the kind. 



A Story with a Kick. 



A recent advertisement came out from 

 one of the large national advertisers of 

 this country, and illustrates clearly this 

 situation of contributing money toward 

 the national publicity fund. 



A LESSON FROM THE STARS. 



In the garden of a country home two men 

 were talking. Near them sat a smaU boy, look- 

 ing at the stars. 



Said one of the men: "I am making a prod- 

 uct that I know is the best in its class — and 

 still I cannot sell it." 



There was a moment of silence. . . . Then 

 the second man called to the boy who sat near 

 them. "Son," he said, "if you had your choice 

 of any of those stars up there, which one would 

 you choose?" 



The boy promptly pointed to the brightest star 

 in sight. "That big one over there!" he said. 



The man who had addressed the boy turned 

 to his companion. "As a matter of fact," he 

 said, "there are other stars in the heavens, 

 which the boy cannot see, that are far brighter 

 and bigger than the one he chose. But he 

 didn't know the other stars were there, so he 

 couldn't choose them. That's why your product 

 isn't selling. People simply do not know It 



e^tists." ...... 



"I know what you mean," said the flrst man, 

 "advertising. But I have tried advertising in 

 the past — two or three times — and It didn't 

 work." 



His companion seemed preoccupied with the 

 stars. . . . "If we stand here and watch the 

 sky for a few minutes," he finally said, "we 

 sliaU see a shooting star. It will spurt across 

 the heavens for a second, and then It will die 

 out. There are thousands of shooting stars every 

 night. People pay little attention to them and 

 they are instantly forgotten. That's the kind 

 of "an advertiser you were." 



"The pole star." continued the speaker, "has 

 stayed on the Job so long and so faithfully 

 that its very name has come to mean 'a guide, 

 a controlling principle.' And that's the way 

 to advertise. There are certain products today 

 whose names are regarded as a guide to satis- 

 faction and a controlling principle of quality. 

 They are the pole stars. In this present economic 

 situation. It Is the pole stars that are doing the 

 business." 



Another Illustration. 



Another illustration of what pub- 

 licity can do and is doing is the F. T. D. 

 That has become one of the strongest 

 affiliated societies of the S. A. F. and, 

 today, is really a tremendous power and 

 is bringing the florist more business, 

 probably, than any other one of the 

 affiliated societies. I think we all want 

 to take our hats off to this organization 

 for the way it has been handling 

 and showing the possibilities of trans- 

 mitting orders from one town to an- 

 other. There certainly is many a dollar 

 saved for the florists through a pos- 

 sibility of their customers being able to 

 supply friends in a distant city, and the 

 F. T. D. business, which is backed by 

 clean, clear-cut methods — methods that 

 make for ever increasing possibilities — 

 is becoming not only national, but inter- 

 national, and will be more so as the years 

 go by. 



Special Teature Days. 



All holidays or special days are days 

 that the florists want to encourage, as 

 this brings in extra business, creating a 

 market that otherwise would not be 

 possible. Such days as Christmas and 

 Easter do not need to be pushed nearly 



as much as some of the other holidays, 

 but we have other days that cah be made 

 better florists ' days than they are at pres- 

 ent. Christmas and Easter, the florist, 

 as a rule, has pretty nearly as much as 

 he can handle and handle satisfactorily. 



Mothers' day is, in certain localities, 

 fast approaching in volume Easter and 

 Christmas. To a great many florists it 

 is a more satisfactory day. In Chicago, 

 for instance, and other cities of the west, 

 they feel that Mothers' day is a better 

 day than Easter, which is really surpris- 

 ing, considering the short time that 

 Mothers' day has been in existence — 

 they claiming that Mothers' day ap- 

 peals more to the masses than to just 

 flower buyers, and that is what we want 

 to strive for — more days to sell flowers 

 to the general public. 



You will probably remember that 1 

 spent about six mouths in Germany last 

 year in child welfare work and there 

 a birthday is the big day of the year of 

 everyone 's life, and means more to them 

 than any other day. Flowers on such 

 occasions are given more than any other 

 one article. At one of the places where 

 I boarded, the lady was the recipient of 

 flowers from a great many of her friends 

 on her birthday, and I think that she ap- 

 preciated the flowers more than any 

 other one thing she received. There is 

 no reason why the florists in this coun- 

 try should not encourage the observance 

 of birthdays more, reminding their cus- 

 tomers to celebrate the birthdays of 

 those they love by sending a few flowers. 

 Then they would have more business ev- 

 ery day in the year and not a spasmodic 

 business, as holiday business is at 

 present. 



Armistice day is another day that can 

 be made a florists' day and, with the 



united efforts of the S. A. F. and of the 

 florists' state organizations, eventually 

 will be as popular and as good a day 

 for the florists as Memorial day is now, 

 which, in many localities, is a splendid 

 florists' day. 



FLORIDA FLOBISTS MEET. 



The flrst annual convention of the 

 Florida State Florists' Association was 

 held May 5, at Lakeland, Fla. 



After the address of welcome by E. R. 

 Giddings, of the Westmoreland Floral 

 Gardens, Lakeland, to which F. W. 

 Fletcher, of Bosalind Gardens, Orlando, 

 responded, the president's address was 

 given by C. Leslie Whipp, of Mills the 

 Florist, Jacksonville, and report of the 

 secretary-treasurer by N. A. Eeasoner, 

 of the Eoyal Palm Nurseries, Oneco. 

 After the appointment of committees 

 and other preliminary business the fol- 

 owing addresses and discussions were 

 heard: 



"Basic Principles Governing the Successful 

 riorist," by S. S. Pennock, president of the 

 8. A. F., Philadelphia. 



"Commercial Rose Orowing in Florida for Cut 

 Flower Purposes," by Wheatley & Losey, of the 

 Evergreen Gardens, of Miami; discussion led by 

 James Donn, Bxotic Gardens, Miami; H. H. 

 Hume, Olen St. Mary Nurseries; W. D. Grifflng, 

 Interstate Nurseries, Jacksonville, Fla. 



"Florists' Planting Calendar for Cut Flowers," 

 by P. A. KnuU, Knull Floral Co., Tampa; discus- 

 sion led by E. B. Giddings, Westmoreland Floral 

 Gardens, lakeland; J. M. Caruthers, Violet Dell 

 Florist, Orlando; W. B. Curry, Deland. 



"Novelties 1922 Model," by J. M. Caruthers, 

 Violet Dell Florist, Orlando, Fla.; discussion led 

 by N. A. Reasoner, Royal Palm Nurseries, Oneco; 

 W. B. Knull, KnuU Floral Co., Tampa; L. F. 

 Darnell, Daytona Cut Flower Shop, Daytona. 



"The Asparagus Growers' Problem," by W. H. 

 Schulz, Jr., Auburndale; discussion led by F. W. 

 Fletcher, Orlando; W. P. Newell, Apopka; R. J. 



"Bulb Opportunities," by C. S. Talt, Tait 

 Bros. Co., Brunswick, Ga.; discussion led by 

 G. Gerbing, Fernandina; T. I>. Mead, Ovledo; 

 T. K. Godbey, Waldo; George J. Backus. Stuart. 



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GROWING PLUMOSUS IN FLORIDA. 



On the Increase. 



The growing of Asparagus plumosus 

 in Florida has grown to be an impor- 

 tant industry within the last few years. 

 The acreage is now considerably over 

 .300, and much of this is not yet produc- 

 ing to capacity. The heavy shipments 

 from Florida have rapidly decreased the 

 quantity of plumosus grown under 

 glass in the northern states, as the lat- 

 ter has failed to hold its own in com- 

 petition. 



I have visited many of the ferneries 

 within the state and have found few on 

 the same type of soil. This necessitates 

 almost every grower's having to work 

 out his own production problems, as no 

 general rule would meet with success 

 on all these types of soil. The effects 

 of various applications of fertilizer can 

 be tested out by using test and check 

 plots instead of using the whole fernery 

 for experiment in each case. 



All of us, however, have the common 

 red spider and several other annoying 

 pests to contend with. The spider can 

 be held in check by the sufficient use of 

 irrigation and spraying with a lime-sul- 



The paper of W. H. Schulz, Jr.. Auburndale. 

 Fla., on "The Problems of the Asparagus Plumo- 

 sus Grower in Florida," presented at the meet- 

 ing of the Florida Florists' Association at Lake- 

 land, May 4. 



phur solution. The army worm, which 

 is apt to catch us unawares during the 

 fall months, can prove exceedingly de- 

 structive. It can be handled better 

 in theory than in actual practice. It 

 will thrive on poisoned bait ordinarily 

 used for cutwoi'ms. A heavy spraying 

 of arsenate of lead seems to be the most 

 effective remedy. Grasshoppers may be 

 controlled in the same way. 



Problem of Marketing. 



The marketing of the constantly in- 

 creasing supply of plumosus is the big 

 problem that all growers must prepare 

 to meet. That the market for plumosus 

 has quite definite limitations does not 

 seem to be fully realized by some of 

 the newer growers, who have not fully 

 investigated the marketing end of the 

 business. 



The price of plumosus, like that of 

 any other commodity, is governed by 

 the law of supply and demand, and the 

 grower is going to be the loser unless 

 he sees that the balance is properly 

 maintained. The most important prin- 

 ciple to follow is to put out a supply 

 for which there will be a demand and 

 this means "quality." Don't dump 

 culls on the market and expect to main- 

 tain that market. It is better all around 

 to ship half as much and get a fair re- 

 turn than load the market with inferior 

 goods. 



I make a practice of soliciting all of 



