July 23, 1914. 



The Florists^ Review 



INLAND FLORISTS REAP PROFITS 

 FROM OCEAN TRAVEL 



low Retailers all over the country share in the enormous busi- 

 ess in flowers for departing ocean voyagers at this time of year 



ATCHING load after loa.l 

 of flowers draw up :i,t tlic 

 (lock of a great ocean liner 

 on the day of departure, an 

 uninitiated person is led to 

 wonder where tliey all come 

 from. Tf, liowe\er, lie 

 ■ iijicd to consider the t^i/.o of tlie first 

 ~s passeufjer list of the hoat, the 

 iilxM' of ordei's i-arried hy those few 

 ;, niiiohiie trucks would seem insi^nifi 

 I in comi)aris()M. For a siuirlc prison 

 1 , loads of th)wers would lie an ain;i/. 

 1. _; (|uantity, Init for several huudicd 

 I ■ >|ile tjiey are less thaTi a <lr()p in ;i 

 \' •l^(■t. To the \ew York tloiist tli ■ 

 -' ■iiiiier trade lepresents a (•onsii|era''lc 

 I iiint ot' liusiness. To the tliousai;d^ 

 '•' Inland florists who are in positioii to 

 I .•>« and forward these orders the Kii'-i 

 ;m-- is as yet a small fraction nt' \viia; 

 ;t M.i^lit he. 



How Many Sail. 



\t this time of year scarcely a day 

 l':i-^cs when 7nore than 1,00(1 first-(dass 

 |'a^-^cn<,'ers do not lea\'e New York; 

 -'inic days the total passenj^er lists 

 iiJ' th(^ six to a do/en liners which sail 

 I'm f I reign shores' reach over tiirec 

 tiiiics'tliat number. The ports of Bos- 

 ti'ii and l*liila<ielphia between them reg- 

 I'^trr nearly an ecjual nundici- of dt>- 

 I'ai tures. and t li 

 ^ III a 1 I e !• J) o r t s 

 'liioiighout this eoun 

 "' and Oanada can 

 '<'iiiit fully as many 

 '•:i' ii day. These fig- 

 II I '"~ represent oidy 

 lu^i idass passengers; 

 ^o they may all fairly 

 '"■ 'onsidered as pos- 

 mIiIi' sources of busi- 

 'I'-N by florists. Mul- 

 'M'ly these by the 

 'iiimlier of intimate; 

 ''I' nds eadi one has 

 ■'"'■i the number of 

 I'l'^-il'le ])atroiis of 

 'i'' florist for this 

 ' ■' <d' trade takes 

 "I "normous propor- 

 ' ■' -. 



' 'ii>, It. may fairly 



"aid, is an opti- 

 " '!'■ estimate; hut 

 ' : . it is always the 

 "' ■ iiiist who is the 

 ! -^essive, f(»r the 

 !■ 'ndstie estimate 

 ' ' '"• no room for 

 I' -less. The pro- 

 - ^ive florist, there- 

 ■ '• has ii e r e a 

 1 lid opportunity 



"'velop a line of 



'"'J^s that is heav- 

 '' ' <iuring what is 

 ' ' "arily the dull 

 "■' "" of the year. 



til. 

 tin 



.\fter the .lunc; brides hasc been mai 

 ried off and graduation girls lia\c all 

 been gi\'en their dijilomas, trips across 

 the "[)ond'' ai'e in oi'diM'. Now is the 

 time when the touiist season is on in 

 eai'iiest. 



Seaport Florists Do Their Be.st. 



As it is otherwise a dull tinii' of 

 \('ar with them, the florists in the ocean 

 <-ities devote tliei?- best idl'orts to the 

 steamer trade. {''lowers ai'e ]>lentiful 

 and (dieaji, so that they have an abun 

 ilance of niati'iial to work with. The 

 liouis which at^another time are filli'd 

 with other \v?>fL_;»re now yi\en o\ei- to 

 de\ ising new ideas and styles that will 

 make a hit with the ocean xoyayer--. 

 How busily some of the I'etailers who 

 do this woik hunt for m)\«dties ami 

 uiii(pie ideas has been shown b\' the 

 illustrations from time to time in the 

 columns of The He\iew. One (d' the 

 latest, by .Max Schling, of New ^■ork, 

 is shown on this jiage. 



There are man.N' ways in which the 

 retailer who s(Mids an ordei- to a sea 

 port llorist to be fillcil can do his part 

 to piomote the exccdlence (if the work. 

 One of the most important of these is 

 to gi\e plenty of time for making up 

 the work. it should be constantly 

 borne in mind that the oc'can steam 



Seaport Florists Put Forth their Best Efforts in Fillirg Steamer Orders 



ships usually sail at an early hour in 

 the morning, the [)assengers frequently 

 <'mb;iiking the ]ire\ious excning. It is, 

 ther.ddre, next to impossible for a New 

 \(ivk florist to fill an order that is 

 taken in a town any distance from the 

 port ami t(degraplie(l to him th(> day 

 'he boat sails. ( (ccasionally it is done; 

 at other times the motor truck reaches 

 the (lo(k Just as^Tlte boat is leaving 

 the harbor, in this, as in other work, 



inoic time allowed for prep.arat ion 



better the execution. 



Pushing the Business. 



While the New York retaileis, as 



wi'll as tiiose of the other sejiports, do 



their jiart in the jiromotion id' the 



-te.imer trade by giving extra tliought 



and car(> to tin; orders sent to them by 



their biotlier tradesmen all o\cr the 



ccMintiy, the increase in this line must 



come as the result of work on the 



part of those who take the oiib^rs. It 



is, then, up to th(; inlami florists t(/ 



boost the business, to tlieir outi profit. 



This should prove a welcome ojiportu- 



nity to them, for they get the usuai 



twenty ]ier cent profit on the orders 



they f'oiwai'l, with oidy the trouble of 



sending the t(degrams. 'i':iis ''e.asv 



iiioney ■ ■ in the ilull season sliouM w(dl 



lie Worth working' for. It is tlie man 



who de\(do[is vvery 



di'partmeiit o f his 



l.iisint'ss that finds 



himself with a large 



fot.al on the profit 



siile ol' liis liooks. 



The means of push- 

 iiij,^ this line of his 

 business ;ti<' m.any, if 

 the retailer wisiies to 

 t.akc adx.inta;,^' of 

 them all. 'i'lie e.X- 

 penditiire on any of 

 them is not large, 

 ami when the mine 

 is in process of pro- 

 duction th(^ returns 

 will co\er the cost 

 over and over .again, 

 because once a pa- 

 tron has gi\fn an 

 order for flowers to 

 be d(diver"d on board 

 a steamship, he or 

 •^Iie iins started :» 

 habit th.at will m.ake 

 the orders come more 

 readily in the future. 

 If a florist is in 

 the habit of sending 

 circidars to his regu- 

 lar patrons and to a 

 list of what he re- 

 gards as possibbi cus • 

 tomers, he will find 

 that a letter or :i 

 ne.at booklet of a few- 

 pages of siiiT^(>*<tions 



