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38 



The Florists^ Review 



Mat 18, 1922 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF ORDER 



Marlette, Mich 192. 



GENTLEMEN: We wish to thank you for your order for. 



with enclosure of $. 



which will receive our best attention, and be shipped on about 



192 Kindly let us know on attached card in 



what condition shipment arrives. 



Verj- truly yours, 



THE THUMB NURSERY, 



Shrubs, Plants, Flowers and Fruits. Nursery, Greenhouses, Orchard. 



Centrally located in the "Thumb" of Michigan. 



This Form Is Filled Out and the Card Is Mailed on Receipt of an Order. 



remedy for white fly, but the gas must 

 be used with groat care, this gas be- 

 ing extremely dangerous, and in warm 

 weatlier the possibilities of injury are 

 always greater than when the tempera- 

 ture is moderately low. You will find 

 that syringing will discourage the fly 

 and at the same time help to check the 

 dreaded mite, which annually ruins 

 many thousands of cyclamens. C. W. 



TWO POST CARDS. 



In addition to the number of plant 

 establishments which sell at wholesale 

 only, a great many florists who operate 

 a small area of glass primarily for re- 

 tail purposes add to their profits by 

 disposing of their surplus plants from 

 time to time to other florists in need of 

 stock. Since the Classified department 

 of The Eeview has made it easy for 

 such florists to dispose of such surpluses 

 at trivial cost, those who have under- 

 taken to do business with other florists 

 have become more and more numerous. 

 Not accustomed to transacting this type 

 of business, however, they are not al- 

 ways provided with the best system 

 for handling it. The Review has from 

 time to time given suggestions for tlie 

 betterment of such systems. Among 

 the most important of the provisions 

 which a florist should make, if ho fills 

 many orders for others in the trade, is 

 a post card form or two to expedite 

 correspondence and jirevent misunder- 

 standing. 



It would 1)0 well if every florist who 

 shipped an order would send a post 

 card on the day of shipment stating ex- 

 actly what is sent and how many, the 

 exact date when sent, and whether by 

 express, freight or parcel post. But it 

 should be imperative to every good 

 business man to acknowledge orders 

 which are not filled immediately. In 

 case a florist has sold all the stock he 

 advertised, but has another batch of 

 plants coming along a few days later 

 wliich he would like to use to fill further 

 orders, he should send each buyer notice 

 that remittance has been received and 

 that shipment will be delayed, stating 

 as nearly as possible the exact date 

 when the order will go out. It is easy 

 to have a post card form printed, so 

 that only a few words need be filled 

 in and the address of the customer writ- 

 ten. Florists usually devote little time 

 to oflfice work, but this much ought to be 



done. Then the orders may be placed in 

 a file and filled as soon as the stock is 

 ready, unless word comes in the mean- 

 time from the customer that he cannot 

 wait. 



For the instruction of those readers 

 who have use for, but have not yet pro- 

 vided a post card such as has been sug- 

 gested in these columns, a form of card 

 is reproduced on this page which was 

 found particularly satisfactory to one 

 firm of florists. This firm, the Thumb 

 Nursery, owned by R. J. Rasmussen & 

 Sons, at Marlette, Mich., has had 

 printed return post cards. As soon as 

 an order is received the form headed, 

 "Acknowledgment of Order," is filled 

 in and the post card is immediately 

 mailed. The return card attached, 

 headed, "Receipt of Shipment," has 

 the address of the Thumb Nursery 

 printed on the reverse. Most custom- 

 ers take the trouble to fill out and mail 

 this return card, which provides the 

 Thumb Nursery with a record of the 

 arrival of each shipment and an expres- 

 sion of customers' opinion of the way 

 in which the order was filled, as well as 

 of the stock used to fill it. 



Regarding this system, the Thumb 

 Nursery says, "The return cards we 

 have received more than pay for the 

 cost, and we fool that we have made 



satisfied customers in this way. We are 

 interested in a shipment after it leaves 

 our hands; so we use this system. When 

 used in connection with Classified ads 

 in The Eeview, it makes a great com- 

 bination. ' ' 



IT NEVER WOULD BE MISSED. 



Some day, when the taxpayers are 

 able to indicate for what their money 

 is to be spent, such misinformation as 

 is contained in the following clipping 

 from an Arkansas newspaper will not 

 be sent out from Washington. Those 

 who are seeking the way to economy at 

 the national capital might well curtail 

 the stream of printed matter, in the 

 form of clip sheets, mimeographed cir- 

 culars and pamphlets, that is distributed 

 broadcast to fill newspaper columns with 

 half-facts that lend themselves to such 

 a misleading distortion. The following 

 appeared in the Fort Smith American 

 April 30: 

 TO CHECK SOARING COST OF FLOWERS. 



Washington, April 29.— Uncle Sam Is no longer 

 dependent upon Bermuda and Japan for the great 

 white, bell-mouthed lilies that form the center 

 of home and church decorations at Easter time. 



Horticultural experts of the Department of 

 Agriculture are now producing both bulbs and 

 flowering plants of the Easter lily from seed. 



Surplus seed and bulblets produced in lily 

 propagation work at the government's Arlington 

 experimental farm have been distributed to flo- 

 rists and private horticulturists. From these are 

 expected to grow an entirely new line of lily 

 culture, which ultimately wiU supply the Amer- 

 ican market fully without dependence on im- 

 ported bulbs. 



To date, however, the volume of bulbs and 

 plants produced from seed is not enough of a 

 factor to increase visibly the supply or reduce 

 prices. In another year, however, American 

 propagated lilies should be a controlling factor 

 in stabilizing the prices of lilies at Easter time. 



Just now, with increasing demand at the ap- 

 proach of Easter, prices are beginning to climb. 

 Florists explain this by saying there is a short- 

 age of imported bulbs duo to floods in Japan. 



Government horticulturists here say they have 

 no advices as to floods in Japan affecting the 

 lily bulb supply. 



On the contrary, tliey point to the statistics 

 covering importations and show that the value 

 of flower bulbs of all sorts imported so far this 

 year is about one-third, or more than $1,000,000, 

 more than for the same period a year ago. 



Propagation of Easter lilies from seed is not 

 a difficult Job, Uncle Sam's gardeners say, and 

 can be undertaken by any lover of flowers with 

 good chances of success. 



In fact, there is no good reason wliy the Easter 

 lily, in the greater part of the United Stales, 

 cannot be macie a home flower, available to every- 

 body at Easter time, instead of a high-priced, 

 iirtiftrlally forced hothouse blwini. 



Siloam Springs, Ark. — A. Woerner, 

 who has had experience in the trade, 

 has arranged to start a small greenhouse 

 here and thus go into business for him- 

 self. 



RECEIPT OF SHIPMENT 



192. 



THE THUMB NURSERY. 

 Marlette, Mich. 



GENTLEMEN: The shipment sent u> 192. 



arrived 



Remarks 



.192. 



condition. 



Signature 

 Address . 



This Form, on Return Card, Is Ready for the Ctistomer to RIl. 



J 



