16 



The Florists' Review 



FBBBUABZ 25, 1913. 



ing on the tender young petals. Make 

 a mash of corn meal and Paris green 

 moistened with water, and drop a spoon- 

 ful of it here and there, where you have 

 noticed them working. We have found 



a different variety working on the 

 geraniums. It is light green and diffi- 

 cult to detect. A spraying of arsenate 

 of lead has quickly cleaned them out 

 for us. A. F. J, B, 



ODCN wrm^y^ DeADEDB" 



WHO PAYS THE FREIGHT? 



It would seem that President Wilson 's 

 shipping bill, if it passes, will be a 

 benefit to florists in America. It is a 

 notorious fact that foreign lines give 

 rebates to shippers, thus giving the for- 

 eign shipper an extra profit at the ex- 

 pense of the consignee who pays the 

 freight. Florists are careless about 

 paying freight. If they would add the 

 freight and advance charges to the in- 

 voice price of their bulbs it would sur 

 prise some of them to know how much 

 they actually are paying. The foreign 

 steamship lines usually work "under 

 agreement," thereby limiting competi- 

 tion. For instance, the Holland line 

 will take no plants, and the Red Star 

 line will take no bulbs, in normal years, 

 and each line ch^rge^ what it pleases. 

 Because these lines fly foreign flags 

 they are beyond the jurisdiction of our 

 laws, which, relative to shipping, are 

 an international joke. When the Pan- 

 ama canal opened, we thought we would 

 get cheaper freight from Japan to New 

 York. January 25 the steamer lines 

 via the canal raised their rates twenty- 

 five per cent and ten per cent. So it 

 is still cheaper to ship the old way, 

 across the continent by rail, than by 

 the canal we so generously built for the 

 benefit of steamship lines. Florists can- 

 not do much, as they seem to be a class 

 of tradesmen who will not organize col- 

 lectively for their mutual benefit; but 

 they can watch carefully what freight 

 they pay, and buy their goods f. o. b. 

 American cities, thus compelling the 

 foreigners to pay their own freight to 

 their own corrupt lines. 



Ralph M. Ward. 



HOLIDAY PROBLEMS. 



A few years ago, when I told in The 

 Review about Ane of my dismal fail- 

 ures on a holiday, after having gone 

 the limit in advertising, one of your 

 readers replied that I ' ' didn 't ' strike 

 the trade from the right angle." Be- 

 ing new and green in the business, I 

 was greatly impressed by that remark 

 and I have been trying to hit the right 

 angle ever since, and this is my expe- 

 rience in connection with St. Valen- 

 tine's day: I advertised in the movies 

 for one week with a handsome special 

 slide; I advertised in the local paper 

 and sent special cards to customers and 

 prospective customers; our window 

 looked well enough to get a free compli- 

 ment from the newspaper — and I sold 

 just ten bunches of violets, a few car- 

 nations and no roses. 



Now, if that kind reader knows of 

 any other angle I could have tried, I 

 shall be thankful to hear from him. 



The florist who was polite to the 

 small customer, as narrated recently in 

 The Review, has nothing on me. A 

 short time ago I arranged a "casket 



spray" for 25 cents. However, I took 

 long enough to do it to get in my talk, 

 so she ordered a 5-dollar pillow the 

 next day. The patron had lots of 

 money and I knew it; I also knew that 

 these were the first flowers she had ever 

 bought. 



The high prices at Christmas, 1913, 

 almost ruined what little business we 

 had, and I decided then and there to 

 sell just as few carnations the follow- 

 ing Christmas as I could. I sold potted 

 plants, and it worked in great shape. 

 I entered my store just as a clerk had 

 packed twelve carnations, at $1.25, in a 

 box for a customer. I knew the cus- 

 tomer and asked him why he. did not 



take a basket of plapts at $3.50; he 

 said, "Yes, I'd rather" have it." Cus- 

 tomers will also pay for nice wide rib- 

 bons, used generously. 



We work for the growers, sellikg 

 their stock, the year around, and my 

 business is so small that it makes no dif- 

 ference — I am studying every day how 

 not to sell carnations next Memorial 

 day. A Country Florist. 



Maine. 



NO RULE OF THUMB. 



It should not be considered that the 

 articles in The Review point out a way 

 to easy money — that, fpUowed blindly, 

 they lead invariably to success. 



The purpose of the special articles 

 that are a feature of The Review is 

 to get its readers to think for them- 

 selves — to devise ways and means of 

 increasing their own business and prof- 

 its by reading how others have turned 

 the trick. 



Sometimes the suggestions contained 

 in The Review can be adopted literally, 

 but usually they are to be adapted 

 rather than adopted. 



Also, it must be plain that publicity 

 is one of the features of most of the 

 successes here recorded. Don't leave 

 out any of the ingredients or your cake 

 may not be so good as the recipe 

 sounds. 



Mainly About IPbo 



Cherryvale, Kan. — F. W. Meyer has 

 moved here from Lincoln, Neb., to take 

 possession of the Cherryvale Green- 

 houses, which he bought from Mrs. 

 Clara B. Grew. 



Davenport, la. — F. G. Bahr has been 

 on the sick-list for eight weeks, but is 

 now well on the road to recovery. An 

 attack of the grip caused the bursting 

 of a blood vessel in his head and almost 

 cost him his life. 



Clinton, HL — Andrew Peterson, of 

 Gibson City, 111., has purchased the 

 greenhouses of C. W. Moore, of which 

 he takes possession March 1. Mr. Pe- 

 terson has leased a storeroom on the 

 west side of the square, which he will 

 use as a display room. 



Atlanta, Ga. — Robert Barrett, a mem- 

 ber of the local trade, has filed suit 

 in the Superior court against the city 

 of Atlanta, to collect the $1,000 reward 

 offered for the arrest of the murderer 

 of Mary Phagan. He claims he dis- 

 covered the strand of hair and blood 

 spots on the floor of the pencil fac- 

 tory which led to the arrest and con- 

 viction of Leo M. Frank. He charges 

 that city officials disapprove his claim 

 for the reward. 



Geneva, N. Y. — The civil service ex- 

 amination, held January 23, for the va- 

 cancy as florist at the Geneva Experi- 

 ment station, salary $1,000 per year, 

 brought out twenty-two candidates and 

 it has just been announced that all of 

 them passed, all scoring 75 or better. 

 Those who attained marks of 90 or 

 above were: Robert Jones, 96; James 

 Macfarlane, 95; Robert E. Ballantyne, 

 94; James Cassidy, 93; Carl Armbruster, 

 92; George W. Beattie, 91; William H. 

 Blackwell, 90. 



Middlebush, N. J.— E. C. Matthes, 

 who does a wholesale and retail busi- 

 ness, uses the trade name of Middle- 

 bush Rosery. 



Canton, O. — Charles Lindacher has 

 learned from an aunt near Friedrichs- 

 hafen, Germany, that he has seven 

 cousins at the front. 



Findlay, O. — William Gavins, until 

 recently in the employ of Geo. M. 

 Palmer, is now decorator and designer 

 at the City Greenhouse. 



Winnipeg, Manitoba. — C. C. Philips, 

 formerly of Washington, Pa., and later 

 manager of the Rosery here, has sold 

 his interest in the firm of Harding & 

 Philips, of which he had been a membei 

 since August, 1913. 



Sedalla, Mo. — F. J. Norton plans to 

 make extensive improvements in his 

 greenhouses this coming spring. He 

 will combine two of the sections and on 

 the street line will have a plate-glass 

 front, giving a clear view of the in- 

 terior. 



Astoria, N. Y. — Assisted by their 

 five children, twenty-six grandchildren, 

 two great-grandchildren and a large 

 number of friends, Mr. and Mrs. Henry 

 Pritchard celebrated their golden wed- 

 ding anniyei^wy at Morissee's hall, 

 Sunday — ^ening, J'ebruary 14. Mr. 

 Pritchard is 71 years old. 



Baltimore, Md. — Michel Hilpert, on 

 Belair road, denies that he has any 

 immediate intention of lengthening 

 four of his greenhouses, as reported. 

 As he puts it: "Business in cut flow- 

 ers was not prosperous enough this 

 year, but if my half million cuttings 

 sell good perhaps I then will think 

 about this proposition." 



/ 



