The Florists^ Review 



Mat 18, 1922 



The florists whose cards appear on the pages carrying this head, are prepared to fill orders 

 """ from other florists for local delivery on the usual basis. —.-«—— 



TOLEDO 



Stock, Workmanship and Service Fir^-class 



SEND US SOME ORDERS 



For MEMORIAL DAY 



OR ANY OTHER TIME AND WE WILL RECIPROCATE SOON 



We have been sending out more orders than we have received 



HELEN F. PATTEN, 



Member Florists* Telegraph Delivery Association 



907 MADISON AVE. TOLEDO, OHIO 



VTJ-JT-T-Tl,TlTlTlTlTjr-TjrUTXTiTX^^^ 





FLOBISTS HEBE AND ABBOAD. 



British Visitor Makes Comparisons. 



In a recent issue of the bulletin of 

 the British Florists' Federation, Carl 

 Engelmann, of Saffron Walden, Eng- 

 land remembered as a most interesting 

 and interested visitor in this country 

 not long since, compares British florists 

 and their methods with those of the 

 United States and some of the South 

 American countries. 



"British growers," he says, "may be 

 divided into two classes: (1) Those who 

 -atcr for Covent Garden and other large 

 markets, and (2) those who grow to 

 supply their own retail business. Ihe 

 former are more or less specialists, only 

 dealing with a limited variety of flow- 

 ers while the latter generally are tempt- 

 ed to grow a great variety of plants and 

 ilowers in the endeavor to supply their 

 retail customers. I believe I am right 

 in stating that the specialists are grad- 

 ually gaining ground, owing, no doubt, 

 to their ability to grow produce of tlie 

 highest quality at a lowest cost. 



"The United States is, of course, the 

 Eldorado of the specialist, the land of 

 standardization and mass production. 

 The growers have followed the national 

 inclination, and many of the most suc- 

 cessful men in the trade have adopted a 

 kind of 'Ford' system in flower cultiva- 

 tion. I may mention here that the veg- 

 etable and' flower growers are in two 

 quite distinct trades, and one r.'irely 

 finds the latter growing a house of to- 



matoes or cucumbers as a catch crop, 

 which, of course, with us is the usual 

 thing. 



Specialists. 



"Mass production is brought to a 

 high state of perfection in rose growing. 

 Even the largest establishments, with 

 several acres of glass, would not grow 

 more than four or six varieties in quan- 

 tity. The nicety with which the crops 

 are timed is most astonishing, and the 

 average quality of tiie blooms reaches a 

 high standard indeed. 



"In other establishments energy is 

 concentrated on the growing of carna- 

 tions, orchids, lilies, |)alms, ]iot jilants, 

 etc., and in all these lines a pretty high 

 average quality is reached, and this in 

 spite of the fact that skilled growers 

 are few and far between, and factorj' 

 methods have to be adopted in nearly 

 every establishment — methods not al- 

 ways ideal for plant cultivation. 



"Besides these sjiecialists, there are 

 also many, mostly with smaller estab- 

 lishments, where, as in England, a mis- 

 cellaneous lot of ]ilants and flowers are 

 grown for a retail trade, but it ajipcars 

 to mc that there, more than here, the 

 specialist is gradually s(iueezing these 

 growers out of existence. But in the 

 South American countries which I visit- 

 ed last year I did not see a large flo- 

 rist's cstal)lisliinent specializing in one 

 article. Around several of the i)rinci- 

 pal cities in Brazil, Argentina and Chile, 

 there are, certainly, a few native grow- 

 ers who grow nothing but carnations, 

 and ajijiarently do well jit it, hut nil the 



larger establishments have their own 

 shops in the city and grow, or try to 

 grow, a vast number of subjects to sup- 

 ply their private customers. This 

 method naturally means considerable 

 waste ;nid, consequently, high prices. 



The Wholesaler. 



"Now as to the wholesale salesman. 

 This much-abused individual appears to 

 be loved by no man. We are told he 

 squeezes the uttermost farthing out of 

 the retailer and pays the grower just 

 enough for his stuff to keep him out of 

 the bankruptcy court. Even by his 

 friends he seems to be looked upon only 

 as a necessary evil. Well, the trade 

 would certainly be in a queer way with- 

 out these 'terrible' salesmen. In Great 

 Britain we have our Covent Garden 

 market in London and markets in va- 

 rious towns, where the salesmen ex- 

 change choice flowers for hard cash, 

 and, occasionally, choice language with 

 certain customers. Several salesmen 

 have warehouses and offices close to 

 these open markets, where business is 

 carried on after the market is closed 

 and provincial orders are attended to. 

 The market proper, however, is the cen- 

 ter of the business. 



"This is not the case in most of the 

 cities of the United States — except as 

 regards the salesmen, the language and 

 the fk)wers — because each wholesale flo- 

 rist has his own premises. These are 

 mostly situated quite close together in 

 one district, and many of them .-tre 

 large and well appointed establishments, 

 like miniature markets. The flowers are 

 sent by the growers and sold on com- 

 mission, as here; but whereas here most 

 things are sold by the box and little re- 

 packing is done, over there the grower 

 sends his flowers in larger cases and 

 jiractically every order is repacked. 

 Many buyers, of course, fetch their 

 own flowers and take them away as 



