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The Florists^ Review 



May 11, 1922 



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THIS WILL HELP 



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GEDDIS DEFENDS PRICES. 



Mothers' Day Prices Attacked. 



Against an attack oh "flower prof- 

 iteers" in the St. Louis Times of May 

 2, David S. Geddis, general manager of 

 the St. Louis Wholesale Cut Flower 

 Co., came to the defense of the trade 

 With a letter defending flower prices 

 which was printed in the St. Louis 

 Times of May 4. 



The offending item in the Times was 

 a news dispatch from Philadelphia. It 

 stated that the NaMonal American War 

 Mothers were cooperating with ^the 

 Mothers' Day Association, first, to ex- 

 tend the observance of Mothers' day to 

 a full week, from Monday, May 8, to 

 Sunday, May 14, and, second, to stop 

 profiteering in 'white carnations, called 

 "the official emblem of Mothers' day." 



Instead of wearing white carnations, 

 the dispatch stated, the War Mothers 

 advocate the wearing of a small white 

 button on which is printed in green and 

 white a carnation and the words, ' ' Anna 

 Jarvis, Founder — Mothers' Day." The 

 buttons are to sell for 5 cents each and 

 a part of the proceeds of tlie sale, it is 

 stated, will be used for philanthropic 

 purposes. 



Miss Jarvis at Us Again. 



A letter from Miss Jarvis to the presi- 

 dent of the National American War 

 Mothers was quoted in the Times, as 

 follows: 



"The white carnation is the only em- 

 blem of Mothers' day. The War Moth- 

 ers and other Mothers' day friends will 

 wear the official white carnation button 

 badge, the only badge worn for Moth- 

 ers' day celebration. Flowers are 

 barred. ' ' 



Apparently Miss Anna Jarvis, unable 

 to obtain financial aid for her associa- 

 tion from florists, has aijpealed to the 

 button manufacturers. Since she be- 

 lieves that florists have injured the day 

 by charging 25 cents for a carnation, 

 she evidently intends to do a little 

 profiteering on her own hook by selling 

 buttons for 5 cents the piece. 



In serious vein, however, David S. 

 Geddis defended florists' prices in an 

 able letter which appeared in the St. 

 Louis Times, Maj- 4. In the letter he 

 stated: 



"Heading the Times of May 2, I no- 

 ticed a news item headed, 'War Waged 

 on Flower Profiteers,' :iiid in defense 

 of the florists' industry I wisli to state 

 that there are no flower profiteers in 

 the business and never have been. 



Lower Today than Years Ago. 



"I wish to say that flowers of todny 

 are better in quality a-nd cheaper in 

 price than they were twenty-five years 

 ago. Roses years ago, duiiiig the winter 

 months, were jjurchased by the wealthy 

 only, as the only fine rose those days 

 was the American Beauty, which sold 

 from 50 cents to $2 eaeii. Today we 

 have the Premier and Columbia, which 

 can be purchased from $2 to $12 a dozen. 



"Carnations in those days were called 

 pinks, which were small in flower and 

 short-stemmed, and sold for $2 and $;? 

 a dozen. Today we have the fine, large. 



long-stemmed carnations, which sell 

 from $1.50 to $5 a dozen. 



* * Potted plants and baskets of flowers 

 are sold from $3 to $15. Years gone 

 by plants and baskets that do not com- 

 pare with those of today, sold from $10 

 to $50. 



"In those days the purchasers called 

 for and delivered most of their pur- 

 chases. Today the flower buyer expects 

 the florist to carry on hand at all times 

 a large supply of this perishable com- 

 modity, in order to fill any sized order 

 he may wish to place, and expects a 

 prompt delivery. 



"If the grower of flowers and the re- 

 tailer could depend upon the public pur- 

 chasing a supply of flowers daily, as 

 they buy their meats, vegetables, gro- 

 ceries, milk and butter, the florists' in- 

 dustry would not have to depend on the 

 holidays to make up for the heavy 

 losses which enter into the business. If 

 it were not for the florists' industry, 

 what could replace our line to give cheer 

 to the sick, and a token of loving sym- 

 pathy to the dead (forget the war). A 

 flower at any price will cheer the heart 

 and take gloom from all living crea- 

 tures." 



true of the market for gladiolus bulbs. 

 There are so many offersj in the Classi- 

 fied section of The Review that buyers 

 and sellers all are guided by the prices 

 quoted there: 



I certainly had "some week" last week. The 

 Review can't be beat as a buBlneas getter; I am 

 weU satisfied with it. I get in touch with the 

 larger growers and florists and I think I sliall 

 Hell all I care to during the next two weeks. — • 

 Fred W. Buumgras, gladiolus grower, Lansing, 

 Mich. 



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. 



STORING BULBS. 



I am lifting a good many bulbs from 

 beds which I planted last fall, in order 

 to put in annual bedding plants. What 

 is the best way to treat and care for 

 these bulbs so that they will be all right 

 for next fall? J. R. A.— Ga. 



IT MAKES THE MARKET. 



It frequently has been said that The 

 Review makes the market in most lines 

 of florists' stock, but it is especially 



If the bulbs referred to are hyacinths, 

 tulips or narcissi, stand them in flats 

 in a cool, dry shed. After all of the 

 foliage has dried up, pick them over and 

 store them away in a cool, dry shed or 

 cellar until fall. While new bulbs give 

 better results, a good proportion of the 

 kept-over stock will probably flower. 



C. W. 



Davenport, la. — The Bills Floral Co., 

 formerly located at 104 West Second 

 street, has changed its location and is 

 now ready for business in its new quar- 

 ters at 209 Brady street. Miss M. A. 

 Tierney, owner of the store, has re- 

 ceived many congratulations from busi- 

 ness men of Davenport and from cus- 

 tomers in general on the interior beauty 

 of the store. 





F. T. D. DIRECTORS MEET, 



The board of directors of the Flo- 

 rists' Telegraph Delivery Association 

 met at Detroit, May 1 and 2. So loyal 

 and devoted are the members of the 

 board to the association's interests that 

 there are scarcely ever any absentees 

 noted at their meetings. This time only 

 two were missing, both delayed at the 

 last minute by pressing business, and 

 both sent telegrams exj)ressing their re- 

 grets. W. J. Palmer was detained in 

 Buff"alo and Charles Grakelow was kept 

 • it home in Philadelphia. President 

 Philip Breitmeyer, Detroit; Vice-presi- 

 dent Charles F. Feast, Baltimore, 

 Treasurer William L. Rock, Kansas 

 City, and Secretary Albert Pochelon, 

 Detroit, were all present, as were the 

 following directors: W. F. Gude, 

 Washington, D. C; Irwin Bertermann, 

 Indianapolis; W. J. Smyth, Chicago; 

 Karl P. Banm, Knoxville, Tenn.; W. 

 W. Gammagc, London, Ont.; H. P. 

 Knoble, Cleveland; Edward Sceery, 

 Paterson, N. J.; Max Schling, New 

 York, and A. F. Borden, Los Angeles. 

 Ililmer V. Swenson, of Chicago, and 

 Robert Tate Paterson, of Baltimore, 

 were also present. 



Plans were made for the annual meet- 

 ing, to be held next October at Balti- 

 more, when everyone expects a banner 

 attendance and a meeting of much in- 

 terest. This meeting will Ix- the first 

 the F. T. D. has held so far e;ist, :ind 



many of those who have not attended 

 the gatherings in the central west are 

 expected to make the trip to Baltimore. 

 Vice-president Feast is full of enthusi- 

 asm regarding preparations for the 

 meeting and has strong support from 

 the live florists of Baltimore. 



Considerable discussion was held con- 

 cerning the project of a clearing house 

 for F. T. D. members, and plans were 

 proposed whereby the clearing house 

 could function with only a part of the 

 membership availing tliemselves of its 

 services. It is thought that with more 

 careful calculation and planning, the 

 project may be realized before many 

 years have passed. 



A larger nu'mbership is one of the 

 aims of the directors of the association, 

 in the hope that in time the dues may 

 be lowered, rather than raised. Action 

 in this regard, of course, depends upon 

 the extent to wliich the association adds 

 other enterprises to those it is already 

 undertaking in behalf of its members. 



Many other matters of importance to 

 the association's welfare were threshed 

 out, the directors putting in two full 

 days of hard work, and much benefit 

 is expected therefrom. The opinion j)rc- 

 vailed that despite conditions which had 

 not maile things easier for the retailer, 

 the trade is in gopd condition and that 

 shortly the association's membership 

 will begin to grow again at the en- 

 couraging rate it showed not long ago. 



