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Decbmbeb 17, 1014. 



The Florists^ Review 



19 



increase noted in the sending of flow- 

 jra by telegraph in this country dur- 

 ing the coming holiday period. 



Much advertising has been carried 

 forward by individual members of the 

 Florists' Telegraph Delivery; special 

 window displays have been in order 

 from New York to San Francisco, 

 showing the advantages of sending 

 flowers by mail or telegraph at a dis- 

 tance with no added expense. Thou- 

 sands of people are being appealed to 

 in person by the better class of shop- 

 keepers, who have in a measure in- 

 stilled confidence with the flower buy- 

 ing public, so that friends may be re- 

 membered at a distance with nature's 

 wares safely and promptly. Surely 

 these earnest efforts have not been 

 wasted, and thousands of dollars are 

 reaching florists' channels; indirectly, 

 the wholesaler, grower, tradesman, and 

 directly the shopkeeper. 



The opportunity of testing out this 

 comparatively new but important phase 

 of our welfare is at hand. Advertise 

 flowers by telegraph during the com- 

 ing holidays — in the newspapers, in 

 trade papers, on sign boards or auto- 

 nvobiles, special pamphlets, on bill- 

 heads or telegrams if you like, but 

 do try to persuade some of the pros- 

 pective thousands into using this con- 

 venient phase of the flower business 

 and reimburse yourself as well as your 

 brother florist. 



The oflSoers and directors of the 

 Florists' Telegraph Delivery wish to 

 thank those whose constant efforts in 

 this direction are bringing in such 

 handsome returns, and extend to them 

 a Merry Christmas and a Happy New 

 Year. Irwin Bertermann, Pres. 



A TOPICAL REVIEW. 



Under Southwestern Conditions. 



A clerical edict against the use of 

 flowers at funerals may not have the 

 effect of a boycott, but it hurts, and 

 Kansas City says it does. Of course 

 there are certain abuses, but one might 

 as well forbid Christmas, wedding, 

 birthday and other gifts. Whether or 

 not it is within the pale of the church 

 to discuss commercial matters from the 

 pulpit in favor or disfavor of various 

 interests is not for me to answer. 



The wealthy look upon credit as a 

 privilege. Retailers catering to this 

 class of trade find it more difficult with 

 every year to collect outstanding ac- 

 counts. Many of them deem it pro- 

 pitious to cash in sixty per cent of the 

 total. Deadbeatism is the order of the 

 day, and owing to strife and competi- 

 tion, the florists' associations accom- 

 plish little toward eradicating this evil. 

 In such matters the ego seems to pre- 

 dominate, though the year winds up 

 with losses or without profit. Thus, a 

 number of retailers trying to do a cash 

 business in a credit zone eke out a 

 miserable existence, for high rents and 

 other fashionable expenses render a net 

 earning impossible. In business just to 

 gain a livelihood and to be one's own 

 boss is a hazardous enterprise and has 

 no commendable feature. 



One should distinguish between art 

 florists and "truck bloomers." The 

 latter are the cheap-Johns of the trade, 

 and with more luck than knowledge, are 

 largely responsible for many of the 

 evils obtaining in the commission, 

 wholesale and retail branches. During 

 the halcyon days of the industry, they 



Store of MiUs the Florist, Jacksonville, Fla., Decorated for an Opening. 



were scarcely noticed and their 

 "truck" went with the general stock 

 at average prices. But the business 

 has become so tense that brains must 

 figure largely in conducting the business 

 at a profit and maintaining its integrity. 

 One-half of the florists pretend ig- 

 norance of how the other hal^ exist. 

 Taking into account the augmented 

 cost through rapid delivery and other 

 service and the lesser consumption and 

 cheapening of funeral and other work, 

 the pretension seems charitable. Some 

 one must be the loser, pay the freight 

 and get little for the goods, and the 

 plaints of the small growers seem not 

 without cause. 



There has been some complaint about 

 flower and plant hucksters or peddlers 

 buying from and selling to every Tom, 

 Dick and Harry at unfixed prices. 

 Marketing cripple and cull stock not 

 only disturbs the standard of the trade, 

 but injures fair competition. 



Everyone may be the architect of his 

 own fortune, but the botch line should 

 be drawn on some landscape architects 

 excelling chiefly through bizarre un- 

 symmetry and tangles and the amount 

 of sod they can dispose of because some 

 patch yielded it without cost. 



Buying reeds, bulbs, nursery stock, 

 etc., by catalogue from a distance with- 

 out guarantee and cash in advance, is 

 one of the idiosyncrasies characterizing 

 the average American farmer and 

 gardener, despite the fact the local or 

 nearby dealer sells just as cheaply and 

 with recourse. Fads and fashions and 

 whims devour as many millions as a 

 small war. 



"Mail orders filled by parcel post; 

 telegraph orders by express," is a new 

 window sign. "Which wins! 



Antiquated houses, or Noah's arks, 

 as a wag puts it, may still grow for the 

 market without accumulating debt 

 with every season, but the grower must 



have become past master in florihu»- 

 bandry. John B. Bindfleisch. 



FLORIDA FIRM'S FALL OFENIKO. 



Probably one of the most ambitious 

 exhibitions that has been attempted by 

 any florist's concern in the south was 

 that got up by Mills the Florist, Inc., 

 at Jacksonville, Fla., for the firm's an- 

 nual fall opening and reception. The 

 store was elaborately decorated with 

 white and yellow chrysanthemums, 

 about 1,200 being used altogether. The 

 rose and palm gardens outside were also 

 decorated for the occasion by Mr. 

 Lynch, the interior decorator and de- 

 signer. 



The event of the evening, however, 

 was the appearance of Miss Farrin, who 

 represented, successively, a bridesmaid, 

 matron of honor, bride in wedding cos- 

 tume and bride in traveling dress, car- 

 rying exquisite bouquets appropriate for 

 each person and costume represented. 

 As the bride entered the arched door- 

 way to the music of the wedding march 

 and passed along the aisle, shown in 

 the view of the store given herewith, 

 to the kneeling stool at the altar in the 

 rear of the room, carrying a large 

 shower bouquet of orchids and valley 

 the spectators were as much impressed 

 as if they had been witnessing a reaJ 

 ceremony in a church. 



The bouquets were later placed on 

 view in the rose garden outside, where 

 a large number of roses were alsa 

 shown. In the receiving line were the 

 ^fficers of the company: President, C. 

 D. Mills; vice-president, F. L. White 

 and secretary and treasurer, C. Leslie 

 Whipp. To close the evening, a spread 

 was given the employees of the store. 



Waterford Works, N. J.— Charles H. 

 Balher is at present rebuilding hi9 

 greenhouses. He intends putting in. 

 some tomatoes about March 1. 



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