The Florists^ Review 



Jl'i.V 10, 1!)13. 



but it counts large in the dull summer 

 months. If well advertised, the busi- 

 ness should take care of a good amount 

 of stock and make the shop present a 

 fairly busy appearance, which, in itself, 

 is always profitable. 



Formerly one of the drawbacks to 

 the trade in dollar boxes was the ex- 

 pense of delivery. The small margin on 

 these orders was often much more than 

 eaten up by the cost of a single de- 

 livery to a distant part of the city. 

 Eecently Uncle Sam has removed that 

 handicap. The parcel post will handle 

 these -scattered deliveries as well as a 

 messenger boy or automobile. The nom- 

 inal local rate of postage and a special 

 delivery stamp carry the package in 

 quick time and as well as the more ex- 

 pensive modes of delivery. The parcel 

 post has in this way made dollar boxes 

 more profitable than before as a busi- 

 ness line. 



Advertising Possibilities. 



More valuable than the profit they 

 bring are the advertising possibilities of 

 the dollar boxes. By heavily advertis- 

 ing his dollar boxes for a certain sea- 

 son or for certain days the florist at- 

 tracts the notice of people who have 

 not before known of him, and he gains 

 customers who have not before bought 

 in his store. These j)eople receive good 

 value in the dollar boxes, and appre- 

 ciate it. Another time thgy will come 

 for larger and 'more profitable work and 

 in time come to be regular customers of 

 the florist who caught their eyes with a 

 summer bargain attraction. 



Another and quite as profitable re- 

 sult of dollar boxes is the creation of 

 new flower buyers. Cut flowers are 

 liked and desired by many people who 



forego them because they consider them 

 an extravagant luxury. They treat 

 themselves to many other extrava- 

 gances, but are not in the habit of 

 buying flowers. To them, however, a 

 bargain is a bargain, and the sight of 

 a box of flowers to be had for a dollar 

 makes many of them purchasers. A 

 few, perhaps, will always look for dol- 

 lar boxes, but the larger number will 

 come in time to buy flowers for many 

 special occasions and will add them- 

 selves to the list of regular customers. 

 Thus the dollar box is an educational 

 as well as an advertising and a business 

 feature. 



ORCHIDS AND VALLEY. 



The accompanying wreath of orchids 

 and valley was the work of the Fleisch- 

 man Floral Co., Chicago. It was made 

 on a base of Mexican ivy and, with 

 some small cycas leaves and suitable 

 ribbon, made a rich and beautiful ar- 

 rangement. 



NEW PAECEL POST RULE. 



Every few days the postoffice depart- 

 ment makes some modification of the 

 parcel post regulations, so that the sys- 

 tem rapidly is getting into such shape 

 that florists can use it to advantage. 

 Plants and seeds pay the same old rates, 

 but get all the other advantages. Cut 

 flowers, supplies, etc., taka the zone 

 rates. With special delivery and the 

 use of ordinary stamps the sysj^em is 

 much better than at the start. Now, 

 also, a new rule with regard to insur- 

 ance is in force, as follows: 



"A mailable parcel on which the 

 postage is fully prepaid may be insured 

 agai]}st loss in an amount equivalent to 



Wreath of Orchids and Valley. 



its actual value, but not to exceed $25, 

 on payment of a fee of 5 cents, and in 

 an amount equivalent to its actual value 

 in excess of $25, but not to exceed $50, 

 on payment of a fee of 10 cents in 

 stamps, such stamps to be affixed. The 

 amount of the insurance fee shall be 

 placed on the receipt given the sender 

 and on the coupon retained at the mail- 

 ing office." 



A KANSAS CITY DECORATION. 



The illustration on page 7 repre- 

 sents what was probably the largest 

 wedding decoration ever arranged in 

 Kansas City. The occa,sion was the 

 Rieger-Zimmerman wedding, which oc- 

 curred at the Independence Boulevard 

 Christian church June 14. The photo- 

 graph was somewhat of a disappoint- 

 ment to Mr. Carter, of the William L. 

 Rock Flower Co., who executed the deco- 

 ration. On account of improper staging 

 the photographer failed to bring out the 

 size of the chancel, which held the 

 arrangement. Three hundred plants, 

 l,00t) lilies, 3,000 Dorothy Perkins roses 

 and 1,000 peonies were some of the 

 flowers which were used. 



The decorations at the house were on 

 the same scale, including many orchids, 

 pots of bougaihvillea, caladiums, hy- 

 drangeas, American Beauties, hundreds 

 of Ward roses and delphiniums. Twenty- 

 four people were in the wedding party 

 and the bouquets were probably as 

 handsome a lot as ever was arranged 

 for a Kansas City wedding. 



RUTS. 



Up in North Dakota, we have heard 

 tell, the roads are most excellent, but 

 for one thing — ruts. 



There is no dust, because the Dakota 

 winds look after that by-product of 

 travel. Mud, too, is a quantity to be 

 left out of the reckoning. The bane of 

 the North Dakota road is the rut, the 

 common, garden variety of rut. 



Complaint, not loud but deep, like the 

 ruts, takes possession of the Dakotan's 

 soul as his automobile wheels seek the 

 ruts and the vital anatomy of his ma- 

 chine is swept away by the mound be- 

 tween. Or he may be marooned on this 

 same hump as his engine races merrily 

 on, availing nothing. 



Ruts are a nuisance, anywhere. We 

 all are bound to get into them, and we 

 wonder why they, and mosquitoes, were 

 invented. 



The successful driver of an automo- 

 bile or a business is he who avoids the 

 ruts and drives full speed ahead on the 

 smooth pathway on either side. 



For just as driving outside the 

 Dakota ruts is most excellent, so we 

 may drive outside the ruts which beset 

 us in our business. 



And we know what ruts are, our- 

 selves. 



A FLORIST'S INVENTION. 



Florists who ship funeral work and 

 know, therefore, the difficulty of fast- 

 ening designs securely and quickly to 

 the bottoms of the boxes in which they 

 are shipped, will be glad to learn of »" 

 invention by W. C. Scovell, a florist of 

 Malta, O. The usual way of making 

 holes in the bottom of the box, passing 

 the enda of a cord or wire through the 

 holes, over a wire in the bottom of the 

 design, and fastening on the outside, ^ 

 hIow and laborious. 



To do this work speedily and without 

 damage to the design, W. C. Scovell ha* 



