28 



The Florists^ Review 



JcNB 1. 1922 



II 



Established 1897, 

 by a. li. Grant. 



Published every Thursday by 

 The Fix)rist3* Pubhshino Co., 



S00-S60 Oaxton BuUdlnrr, 



808 South Dcuirborn St., Ohica«o. 



Tel., Wabash 8195. 



Befflstered cable address, 



Florvlew, Chicago. 



Entered as second class matter 

 Dec. 3, 1897, at the poet-oflace at Ohi- 

 cago. 111., under the Act of March 

 8. 1879. 



Subscription price, (2.00 a year. 

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



Advertlslngr rates quoted on 

 request. Only strictly trade ad> 

 vertlains accepted. 



i 



Eesults bring advertising. 

 The Eeview brings results. 



No longer docs the florists' season end 

 with Memorial day. Those who make a 

 special effort to do so keep right on 

 selling flowers through the summer. 



Most members of the trade today pay 



their bills promptly. Some fail to meet 



due dates because they cannot, but the 



, largest, number do so merely through 



neglect. 



Many more persons would buy plants 

 for window boxes if they were properly 

 urged. This is a department of our busi- 

 ness that has not been developed as it 

 should be. 



Many renders have responded to the 

 Editor's request for clippings of their 

 Mothers' day advertisements. Thank you. 

 Send the Memorial day advertisements 

 along, please. 



Now that freight rates are ordered 

 down, is it too much to expect that ex- 

 press rates also will be reduced? This 

 seems to be a place where the Society of 

 American Florists might well take the 

 initiative. 



High prices are not so ruinous in this 

 line of business as poor quality. Fresh 

 flowers that last a fair length of time 

 usually convince a customer that they are 

 worth a good figure, but flowers that droop 

 ere they are in the vase at home produce 

 dissatisfaction at the cheapest price. 



Advances in coal prices lately are laid 

 at the door of speculators, who would take 

 advantage of the consumers' anxiety over 

 the present strike to reap exorbitant 

 profits. But so recently was the public 

 badly bitten by these gentlemen that coal 

 dealers and consumers alike are taking 

 steps to prevent their activities. 



After a lapse of five years, during 

 which experiment was made of a society 

 journal, the proceedings of the convention 

 of the Society of American Florists again 

 appear in volume form. The book con- 

 taining the doings at Washington last 

 August is slimmer than its predecessors, 

 containing only 176 pages. Its compact- 

 ness is due to inclusion only of the actual 

 proceedings of this convention, in addi- 

 tion to a membership list, and to typo- 

 graphical style. A neat volume has been 

 provided members by Secretary John 

 Young. Many will be glad to liave the 

 list of members for reference once more. 



Don't be satisfied to regard flowers as 

 so much merchandise to be sold. Know 

 enough about them to arouse your custom- 

 ers ' enthusiasm. 



Reports indicate that employment is 

 on the rise and the resumption of divi- 

 dends is beginning — two good straws in 

 the business wind, for florists. 



May surely was a record month for the 

 trade, but unless all signs fail the summer 

 now close at hand will put to a test the 

 endurance powers of many in the business. 

 It will be in line to collect outstanding 

 accounts and to clean up outstanding 

 liabilities. The florist who owes nothing 

 is safe under any conditions. 



June 1 finds more than the usual quan- 

 tity of bedding stock still unplanted. It is 

 due, principally, to weather conditions. 

 Much of the stock was not ready earlier, 

 wet and cold retarded bedding out and 

 experienced labor has been short of the 

 needs of the last ten days. Probably the 

 bedding season, scarcely begun in many 

 places, will last later than usual this year. 



FREIGHT REDUCTION. 



Eeductions of about ten per cent in 

 freight rates, effective July 1, were 

 called for in a decision of the interstate 

 commerce commission last week. With 

 the exception of farm products, prac- 

 tically all classes of traffic are affected 

 by the ruling. 



A total reduction of $225,000,000 in 

 the operating revenues of the railroads 

 will be caused by the ruling, according 

 to railroad executives. Supplementing 

 the reductions which have been put into 

 effect since August, 1920, it is figured 

 that an aggregate reduction of $400,- 

 000,000 in the operating receipts of the 

 railroads will have been caused. 



Florists will be able to save a few 

 dollars on coal by this ruling. Other 

 ^ctual benefits are slight, though much 

 is expected in the way of encourage- 

 ment to manufacturer^, and producers, 

 resulting in general business stimula- 

 tion, which the trade hopes to share in. 



THE COAL MARKET. 



The coal market in the last week has 

 been markedly affected by two things, 

 the reduction in freight rates and the 

 increased output of the mines, though 

 the strike still keeps production at 

 about half of normal. 



A leading coal trade journal stated 

 May 27: "General market conditions 

 in the coal industry received a decided 

 setback May 24, when it was announced 

 at Washington that the commerce com- 

 mission had ordered a reduction in 

 freight rates. Up until that announce- 

 ment was made the demand for coal in 

 practically all sections had continued on 

 about the same level as the last few 

 weeks. That is, buyers from practically 

 all of the railroads, steel mills, utilities 

 and larger industrial concerns were to 

 be found in practically all fields where 

 production was still in force. These ap- 

 parently were anxious to obtain coal, 

 regardless of prices, and this attitude 

 on their part, as in weeks past, forced 

 prices still higher than they had been 

 at any time since the strike was called 

 on April 1. When the rate reduction 

 was announced, however, an immediate 

 reaction set in and the demand became 

 almost entirely absent. This had the 

 effect of softening prices to a consider- 

 able extent. Owing to the great demand 

 that prevailed up until May 24, every 

 fffort was made by producing mines +o 



increase their output, with the result 

 that greater outputs were noted in al- 

 most every field still working." 



Last week, the eighth of the coal 

 strike, opened with a decided increase 

 in production, according to the weekly 

 report of the geological survey. The re- 

 turns so far received indicate an out- 

 put of soft coal close to 5,000,000 tons. 



Final reports for the seventh week 

 of the strike. May 15 to 20, showed an 

 output of 4,472,000 tons of bituminous 

 coal. Anthracite production remains 

 close to zero. 



RECOVERY PERMANENT. 



After watching the signs that make 

 up the business barometer seesaw for 

 many months, the commercial reporting 

 agencies find the change for the better 

 now taking on a certain and enduring 

 aspect. Last week Dun's review of the 

 general business situation said: 



"With stronger underlying condi- 

 tions the current business recovery re- 

 flects more positive characteristics of 

 permanency. Progress is still impeded 

 by labor troubles in certain important 

 industries, but response to constructive 

 factors is more clearly evident in the 

 improved sentiment and revival of buy- 

 ing and the reversal of the price move- 

 ment has become more decisive. De- 

 clines in various markets, continuing 

 for many months, have been succeeded 

 by an advancing tendency and demand 

 in different instances is being stimu- 

 lated by the prospect of higher quota- 

 tions to follow. 



"Except in retail channels, where 

 price concessions have not infrequently 

 been necessary to maintain distribution, 

 most sellers are now more favorably sit- 

 uated, with orders more numerous and 

 in some cases extending farther into 

 the future. While purchasing to cover 

 closely defined requirements remains 

 the prevailing policy, commitments in 

 anticipation of forward needs are un- 

 mistakably increasing, and some lead- 

 ing producers, in contrast to their re- 

 cent position, are now well engaged 

 ahead. Such phases as these not un- 

 naturally find reflections in statistical 

 barometers which measure the rise and 

 fall of business. 



"With commodity prices at about the 

 same general level, bank clearings this 

 week are considerably in excess of last 

 year's; commercial failures, although 

 still above the average, have lately di- 

 minished in number, and car loadings 

 disclose gains in railroad traffic, which 

 may become more marked under the 

 stimulus of the freight rate reductions 

 just announced." i 



PLENTY OF DEMAND. 



Once in a while someone reports lack 

 of demand for his stock this season, 

 but the preponderance of evidence is 

 that the demand this year has been 

 as strong, in proportion to the supply, 

 as it ever was in any other season. Most 

 of the reports are like this: 



We are sold out for tlie prespnt. thanks to The 

 Review. — Schlund Flor.il Co., CiiinberlaiK], Md., 

 Mny 20, 1921. 



We thouRht we h.irt yon stuck this se.Tson, but 

 you nre too much for us nK'aiii tliis your. You 

 have brought us all the dracipna onlcrs we can 

 fill.— Frost & Spence, Greenville, 0., May 19, 

 1922. 



I have had the lii'^t of results from ada in 

 The Review ami I tliank you for it. — Fred W. 

 Baumgras. Lansing, Mich.. May 20, 1922. 



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. 



