18 



The Florists^ Review 



JONB 4, 1914. 



ness is a merchandising proposition, and 

 some of the staples which rightfully 

 belong to a florist's stock are now of- 

 fered in season by the general as well 

 as the 5 and 10 cent stores of the 

 country, and nothing that a florist or 

 florists' organization can do will pre- 

 vent these large interests from offer- 

 ing certain items of a florist's goods 

 to the public. There is not a grower in 

 the country who is not willing to sell 

 his surplus stock to these stores, and 

 if they refused to sell them they have 

 backing enough to grow their own 

 stock and become entirely independent. 

 Furthermore, I honestly believe that 



learn to live up to what should be 

 expected of us. 



"We must conduct our organization 

 along such lines that the most ad-, 

 vanced in our line can meet on com- 

 mon ground with those who are further 

 down on the ladder, and each, at the 

 same time, can be benefited, if by 

 nothing else, by a broadminded spirit 

 and good will towards all." 



THE BAIiTIMOBE FLOWES MABT. 



In a recent issue of The Eeview your 

 Baltimore correspondent stated in a 

 news item that the undersigned had 



A Corner in the Store of the Kalisch Bros. Floral G>., St. Louis. 



the missionary work these large general 

 stores are doing, by interesting the 

 lower strata of humanity in plants and 

 flowers, is beneficial rather than detri- 

 mental to the florist trade, as the buy- 

 ing of plants and flowers for the home 

 is nothing more than a habit which 

 must find a beginning. As these gen- 

 eral stores offer these goods as specials 

 at low prices, plants, etc., are brought 

 into homes into which it would be im- 

 possible for a florist to sell. But, as 

 the poor man today may possess more 

 wealth tomorrow, the florist is looked 

 to as soon as the pocketbook becomes 

 fat enough to pay for a more reliable 

 source of supply. 



•"An illustration of this can prob- 

 ably be drawn as follows: Marshall 

 Field & Co. are conceded by all to be 

 a very reliable and trustworthy depart- 

 ment store, handling a great variety of 

 goods representing many different lines 

 of business; still if any of us were de- 

 sirous of buying something distinctive 

 and the very best in its line we would 

 not go to Field's, but to a specialist, 

 who made a business of that particular 

 line only. 



"Judging from the foregoing, there 

 is only one course for the florist to 

 pursue and that is to make himself a 

 specialist, one who can put into his 

 business a personality which no com- 

 petitor can equal and thereby give the 

 public a service that can not be of- 

 fered l^v any one else, either in or out 

 of the florist trade. 



"It is for this that we should organ- 

 ize — to put more personality into the 

 florist business, to teach the public the 

 superiority of our profession to the 

 mere merchandising of goods, and to 



won a golden cup for the best display 

 at the Flower Mart. This is an error; 

 the cup was awarded for the most artis- 

 tic booth, not display, and it was a sil- 

 ver cup and must be won a second time 

 in order to pass into the possession of 

 the winner. 



As these flower marts no doubt will 

 be held in different cities in the future, 

 Philadelphia having had one this year, 

 I feel, in justification of myself and 

 for the benefit of my friends in 

 the trade, that I should give a descrip- 

 tion of my booth at the recent event in 

 this city. It is only by an interchange 

 of ideas that we can help the trade at 



large. The ladies of Baltimore con- 

 nected with the Women's Civic League 

 are doing a great work in endeavoring 

 to interest the public in the backyard 

 movement and window box decorations, 

 and the trade should give them every 

 assistance. 



My booth was a rustic pergola, made 

 of birchwood, which I had got from 

 New York state. The beautiful white, 

 silvery bark enhanced its decorative 

 value. The tables on which the plants 

 were displayed were covered with birch- 

 bark. The pergola was covered with 

 green, prepared, natural beech leaves; 

 natural grapevine trunks formed the 

 seeming branches. Pink muslin, full- 

 blown roses were attached to the 

 foliage. They were so perfect that the 

 public mistook them for natural ones. 

 Hanging baskets of green and brown 

 pottery were suspended from the roof, 

 while the entrance was banked with 

 pyramid boxwood and pink hydrangeas, 

 and on the sides a display of window 

 boxes made a pleasing whole. 



Edwin A. Seidewitz. 



ST. LOUIS BETAII. STORE. 



The accompanying illustrations give 

 two views of -one of the leading retail 

 stores in St. Louis, the Kalisch Bros. 

 Floral Co., at 4506 to 4508 Delmar 

 boulevard. One shows the interior of 

 the store, and the other gives an out- 

 side view of the store and the con- 

 servatory adjoining. The big window 

 and the neat display house are two 

 features that this company make much 

 of. A few members of the store force 

 appear in the two pictures. 



NAME or TUMP. 



I am sending you under separate 

 cover a double yellow tulip, of which I 

 would like the correct name. Also, 

 can you tell me what causes my Gesne- 

 riana tulips to have white spots on the 

 flowers and foliage! The bed has not 

 been dug for three or four years, but 

 is kept cultivated, etc. Is it a disease 

 of the bulb? I enclose a flower of the 

 scarlet variety. C. H. K. 



The tulip, owing to the intense heat 

 prevailing when it arrived, was pretty 

 well shriveled up, but seems to be the 

 double yellow Tournesol. 



Regarding Gesneriana, this is one of 

 the finest of the May flowering tulips. 



,^\ .-"^l-^ "•'.>i^*, -S^'^^iiPv' 



Store Front of the Kalisch Bros. Floral G>., St. Louis, Mo. 



