42 



The Florists^ Review 



April 28, 1921 



7£Hr 



E8UbIl8hed 1897, 

 by a. L. Grant. 



Fublished every Thursday by 

 The Florists' Publishing Co., 



S00-S60 Oaxton BuUdinK, 



608 South Dearborn St., Obicagro. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



lUtR-lstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3. 1897, at the post-omce at Chi- 

 cago, 111., under the Act of March 

 3, 1879. 



Subscription price, $2.00 a year. 

 To Canada, $3.00; to Europe. $4.00. 



Advertising rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad- 

 Tertlslntr accepted. 



Advertising 

 make it even 



Results bring advertising. 

 The Reviiew brings results. 



Send The Review a clipping of your 

 Mothers' day advertisement and a copy 

 of any other advertising matter you 

 use. 



Mothers' day stands as this trade's 

 monument to publicity, 

 made it what it is and will 

 more. 



There is the prospect for a record 

 crop of cape jasmine buds this year. 

 They seem timed just right for Memorial 

 day trade. 



Among retail shops the florists' have 

 assumed first place for window decora- 

 tions. They have been found a real 

 means of bringing in buyers. 



Some florists wonder if the bride's 

 month has been changed from June to 

 April. Certainly florists have never be- 

 fore had as much wedding work in this 

 month. 



It is a mistake to use your salesroom 

 for a workshop. People do not buy fine 

 furniture in a carpenter shop, nor will 

 they pay good prices for flowers in unim- 

 pressive surroundings. 



There is room for increased produc- 

 tion in this trade, it is true, but the great- 

 er need is for better quality and a more 

 frequent application of the golden rule 

 in accepting and filling orders. 



There are other factors working as 

 well, yet Mothers' day makes this the 

 largest issue of The Review ever pub- 

 lished, next to the special Easter num- 

 bers in l!»2(l and 1921. Trulv this holi- 

 day, llorists' foster child, grows 

 amazingly. 



Tourist travel to Europe seems to be 

 as heavy as in pre-war days. Though 

 1 parts of Europe are necessarily cut from 

 sightseers' itineraries, the battlefields of 

 France and Belgium are magnet enough. 

 Seaport florists are having many orders 

 for bon-voyage flowers these days. 



Thoug'h glass production has doubled 

 in the last five years, according to gov- 

 frnment statistics, the increase has been 

 in value rather than in actual output. 

 Olass manufacturing plants increased in 

 number from 348, with an output valued 

 at $123,085,000, in 1914 to 367, having a 

 production valued at $254,709,000, in 

 1919, according to figures made public 

 last week V)y the Bureau of Census, De- 

 partment of Commerce. 



No other season has seen so many of 

 the little lines in the Classified depart- 

 ment of The Review as are appearing 

 now. Not only is this trade doing busi- 

 ness as usual, but growers are busier than 

 usual. 



If an early start means anything, vis- 

 itors will have an exceptionally interest- 

 ing and enjoyable time at Toronto next 

 October, when the Canadians are going 

 to spread themselves in entertaining tlie 

 F. T. D. 



Opinion that a prolonged period of 

 prosperity will follow the present read- 

 justment is general among business prog- 

 nosticators. Florists who are adding to 

 their glass area will then prove the wis- 

 dom of their present building. 



Its annual report for 1920 shows the 

 Massachusetts Horticultural Society, in 

 which a number of leading New England 

 florists are active, to be strongly sit- 

 uated, with 199 annual members, 772 life 

 members and assets of $850,150.47. 



Many retailers have the imagination 

 that is necessary to develop new things 

 in floral decoration, but few have the 

 needed confidence to put them over. We 

 haven't yet reached the power of the 

 haberdashers, who can make men wear 

 flappy bows on the back of their hats 

 and like it. 



For three years or so the florists' 

 trade has ridden the high tide of general 

 business prosperity. We still are doing 

 much better than are those in most other 

 lines. But we have lost headway. It is 

 time to get up steam. If you cannot do 

 it yourself, hire someone who knows how 

 to fetch buyers in. 



Perhaps the most exasperating thing 

 as well as one of the most frequent oc- 

 currences in this trade is the neglect 

 to acknowledge the receipt of orders. 

 When an order cannot be shipped within 

 twenty-four hours of its receipt a postal 

 card acknowledgment should invariably 

 be sent. The card should state when 

 shipment will be made. 



BOBONIA SEEDS. 



In answer to G. W. R., in the issue 

 of April 7, seed of Boronia mcgastignia 

 may be procured from F. II. Brunning, 

 64 Elizabeth street, Melbourne, Aus- 

 tralia. Wing Seed Co. 



PROGBESS NOTED. 



Somewhat better conditions have 

 been sensed, rather than experienced, 

 by florists keenly alert to the business 

 situation. Other trades, having felt 

 the depression more markedly, note tlii' 

 reaction with liver appreciation, thougli 

 not with more welcome. The progress 

 toward better business conditions was 

 outlined by Dun's report last week in 

 these terms: 



"After long continued liquidation, 

 more stability has developed in some 

 markets, with a definite gain in busi- 

 ness. Completion of the readjustment 

 is yet to be attained in many instances 

 and improvement is not general, but 

 basic conditions are gradually strength- 

 ening. A tendency toward easing of 

 the monetary stringency, partly re- 

 flected in some lowering of discount 

 rates, is a favorable augury and freer 

 marketings of grain are making for a 

 lessening of the financial tension in 

 country districts. Recent sudden 

 changes in temperature have been 

 detrimental alike to crop advancement 



and seasonal increase in retail distri- 

 bution, yet weather influences are 

 secondary to some other factors in the 

 present situation, questions of prices 

 and wages being uppermost. 



"The process of price deflation, con- 

 tinuing steadily for a year, is provid- 

 ing a basis for revival of buying, but 

 resistance to wage revisions is being 

 encountered in various quarters, and 

 labor troubles in some sections serve 

 to impede the industrial recovery. 



' ' Broadly viewed, however, some 

 progress is recorded each week, and the 

 distinct betterment in the hide and 

 leather trades and in some textile divi- 

 sions is encouraging. In these lines 

 and in certain others there is now more 

 steadiness in prices, with some ad- 

 vances as demand enlarges, and Dun's 

 list of wholesale quotations this week 

 discloses a smaller excess of recessions. 

 The element of price, on the other hand, 

 still enters sharply into buyers' calcu- 

 lations and no departure from the 

 policy of operating strictly within 

 well defined requirements is witnessed. 

 The gain in transactions, where it ap- 

 pears, is mainly the result of moderate- 

 sized commitments to cover immediate 

 or nearby needs, but such engagements 

 are becoming more frequent. In the 

 existing circumstances the absence of 

 speculative tendencies in business is a 

 wholesome factor. ' ' 



SOME EXTRA BUSINESS. 



Any florists who have a large supply 

 of flowers after Mothers' day probably 

 will welcome National Hospital day, 

 plans for which were described in The 

 Review of March 21. As the day ap- 

 pointed is for May 12, it will take an 

 extra large supply of flowers to accom- 

 modate much of a demand on this day, 

 since it comes so soon after Mothers' 

 day. However, for those who will be 

 able to handle added business four days 

 after Mothers' day, here is the chance 

 to get it. A few signs around the store 

 or in the windows will call attention 

 to the fact that May 12 is Hospital day 

 and will bring those interested into the 

 store. It is indeed unfortunate that 

 this day comes so close to Mothers' 

 day. If it were set at another time 

 there would be a much better chance 

 for florists to aid in the observance of 

 the day. 



BUSINESS EMBARRASSMENTS. 



Cleveland, O.— The Smith & Fetters 

 Co., one of the oldest florists' establish- 

 ments in this city, has gone into the 

 hands of receivers. 



Pittsburgh, Pa. — The Shady Avenue 

 Florists, in the east end, have been 

 forced to close their doors on account 

 of financial difiiculties. 



ALWAYS SOMEONE TO BUY. 



Among the 12,600 florists, nursery- 

 men and seedsmen who read The Re- 

 view there always is someone in need 

 of stock. This is the result: 



We hnvp had vpry good rpsults from the .id- 

 vertlsiiiK that we liave done in The Review this 

 winter and spring, and the nice part of It was 

 that we so far liave never had a complaint. 

 iJiiess that if a man will supply top-notch stuff 

 at a fair prire he will always find someone to 

 buy it— H. E. & C. W. Krebs, Cedar Rapids, 

 la.. April 22, 1921. 



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. 



