74 



The Florists' Review 



Februaby 11, 1915. 



The Harry S. Betz Nursery Co., of 

 Philadelphia, has been incorporated with 

 a capital stock of $25,000. 



Connecticut nurserymen will hold 

 their annual meeting at the Hotel Garde, 

 Hartford, Conn,, February 25, at 10 

 a. m. The secretary of the association 

 is Frank F. Thomas, of Manchester, 

 Conn. 



Sales are running from $1,000 to 

 $1,800 a week ahead of corresponding 

 weeks last year at the office of the 

 Gardner Nursery Co., Osage, la., accord- 

 ing to the statement of the vice-presi- 

 dent and treasurer, Clark E. Gardner, 

 and everything points to a big spring 

 business. The company thinks its 

 pocket-size catalogue, 4x9 inches, print- 

 ed in its own print shop, is just as good 

 a business-bringer as the larger and 

 more expensive books. 



BABCOCK'S BALM FOB BLUES. 



For the man whose stock topic of 

 conversation is "hard times," D. W. 

 Babcock, manager of the Atlantic Nur- 

 sery Co., Berlin, Md., has a prescrip- 

 tion. He writes: 



"Everything seems to be jogging 

 along here at a fairly good clip. Or- 

 ders are coming our way; no cause to 

 be discouraged. The man with a 

 grouch should go bury it deeply, roll 

 up his pants, and wade in; get right 

 down to brass tacks. To me the times 

 seem to spell opportunity in great, big 

 capital letters, extending all over this 

 fair, free land of ours. What we must 

 do is to produce the goods Americans 

 want, of better quality than that com- 

 ing from abroad — ^we can do it — and 

 give up our shiftless, slipshod happy- 

 go-lucky methods. What we want is 

 more intensive and less extensive culti- 

 vation, more quality and (probably) 

 less quantity, fewer 1,000-acre farms 

 and more 10-acre gardens." 



DOLLAB DIALOGUES. 



Spending Time and Spending Money. 



Scene: The office of J. K. Brown & 

 Co., nurserymen. 



Dramatis persona?: J. K. Brown, and 

 A. B. Smith, an advertising man. 



Brown: The question of advertising 

 has been brought up before, many 

 times, but I haven't been convinced. 

 Our line is different from others, and 

 what's one man's meat may give an- 

 other indigestion. For our own work 

 we find catalogues and agents do best. 



Smith: But did you ever consider 

 that your catalogues are of little or no 

 use to anyone who is not accustomed 

 to themf The only person who can 

 select from them intelligently is one 

 who knows all about the kinds of stock 

 and varieties the catalogues oflfer. 

 They're all right for old customers, but 

 what about getting new onesf And 

 your agents can't possibly see all the 

 folks who might be interested in buying 

 trees and shrubs. There's where the 



Enclosed you -wiU. find some adver- 

 tising: matter. We bave a surplus, 

 and we beUeve IF ANYONE CAN 

 HELP US MOVE IT, YOU CAN.— Atlan- 

 tic Nursery Co., Berlin, Md., D. W. 

 Babcoek, Mbt., January 80, 1915. 



magazine or newspaper ad comes in, to 

 open up new business. 



Brown: That sounds well, but as a 

 matter of dollars and cents, general ad- 

 vertising wouldn't be a good invest- 

 ment in this line, whatever it may be 

 in others. 



Smith: Have your experiftients in 

 this line turned out badly? 



Brown: We haven't made any. Why 

 buy a pig in a poke when the one 

 you've got is giving good returns? 

 That's the way I look at it. 



Smith: Didn't it ever occur to you 

 that the pig in the poke might be bet- 

 ter than the one you've got? 



Brown: That's not the point. I al- 

 ways think of these things as matters 

 of dollars and cents. Is a thing a good 

 investment or a bad investment? For 

 instance, the time you're spending here 

 is a bad investment; it won't bring you 

 any money and it's wasting mine. 

 Sorry, but I've got to get away to 

 speak before the annual meeting of the 

 horticultural society at Appletown. 



Smith: How long will you be gone? 



Brown: The better part of two days? 



Smith: That must mean a consider- 

 able investment on your part, in time, 

 traveling expenses, etc. 



Brown: It's worth it, even if only 

 considered from a business point of 

 view. It brings my firm to the atten- 

 tion of the folks there; I meet new 

 people and may add a few of them to 



our list of customers; I offer sugges- 

 tions as to their needs which mean more 

 to them than anything they can get 

 from the catalogue. 



Smith: Your work in that way is 

 supplementary to the work of your 

 agents and catalogues. 



Brown: Just so. 



Smith: Now, Mr. Brown, don't you 

 see that this is just the kind of work 

 that you can do on a more general 

 scale by advertising? An ad of yours 

 will bring your firm to the attention of 

 a large number of people, a great many 

 of them new people to you. You can 

 oflfer suggestions, give advice, etc, 

 through your ads just as you do in 

 person at the horticultural society. 

 And, I may add, you will in all prob- 

 ability add a few customers to your list. 



Brown: There's a difference. 



Smith: Just this: You speak in 

 person at the horticultural society and 

 write your ads here in the o&ee, or at 

 any rate furnish the suggestions from 

 which an advertising man can write 

 your ads. And in the first case you 

 spend time and in the other, money. 



Brown: But the cost Is much greater 

 for advertising. 



Smith: And the returns are much 

 greater. Here, I'll make a proposition: 

 Keep track of your expenses in speak- 

 ing before the horticultural society — 

 don't forget to allow a proper amount 

 for your time, then spend an equal 

 amount on advertising, and make a 

 comparison of direct returns. This is 

 not giving an equal chance to the ads, 

 because advertising acts in a cumula- 

 tive way; the returns are proportion- 

 ately greater as time goes on, if you 

 advertise regularly. Just as you get 

 more results from your visit to the hor- 

 ticultural society meeting this year 

 than you did the first time you repre- 

 sented the firm there, when you knew 



NURSERY STOCK FOR FLORISTS' TRADE 



FRUIT TREES ORNAMENTAL TREES SHRUBS 



CLEBLATIS SMALL FRUITS 



^^'S^ ROSES EVER6REENS "Frier.. 



W. * T. SMITH COMPANY, Geneva, N. Y. 



Mention Tb^ R»t1«'w when yon write- 



MANETTI on HAND "'='1x521^^= 



Grafting size, 3-5 mm.; not " as they mn," but regrraded here, culls thrown 

 out, shrinkage eliminated ; all good, at $9.50 the thousand while they last. 



JACKSON & PERKINS COMPANY, 



Newark, New York 



Mention The BeTlgw when yon write. 



AVfk fir^ In n Pf%cifl#%n to quote prices an speoimen Bv«rgrMM 

 YYC arc 111 a fOSlUOn th»t wUl be deoidedlj attraotiTe to any- 

 one who if BUYINa TO SELL AGAIN. If yon are in the market for anythini 

 from Norway Spmoe to the liner rarietiei of STergreeni, send in yonr liita and we 

 will KiTe yon a flcnre that will make yon money. 



IWERMTlONALrnntSERlES. hc"« " g'.'^'" »-|«*' *•« «•»» 



Mentloii The Bcrlww when yoa write. 



