The Florists' Review 



FiBSDARr 25, 1915. 



SEED BUSINESSES FOB SALE. 



A mail-order seed business is a 

 mighty fine thing, an almost certain 

 money-maker if carefully conducted, 

 but not the easiest thing to turn into 

 cash after one haa spent years in 

 building it up. But every now and 

 then a large and well established mail- 

 order seed business comes onto the mar- 

 ket. The Review now knows of two 

 that will be sold this spring if the 

 owners find their opportunities. 



One of these is in an eastern city 

 of 35,000 population. It is a corpora- 

 tion owned by three brothers. One is 

 a traveling man and finds office work 

 irksome, another is in ill health and 

 must seek a milder climate, while the 

 third has another business. The seed 

 business has been established several 

 years and has been fairly successful, 

 having a reasonably complete equip- 

 ment for handling all lines, with a 

 mailing list of 350,000, largely in east- 

 ern rural districts and small towns. 



The second mail-order seed business 

 for sale is in a middle western city 

 that had 25,000 people at the last cen- 

 sus. It has been established thirty 

 yeara and there are many on its mail- 

 ing list of 200,000 names who have 

 bought regularly from its catalogue 

 toi from ten to twenty years. Al- 

 though the business was originally 

 started as a retail mail-order concern, 

 of late years the wholesale end has 

 grown rapidly. Now the two branches 

 conflict. The wholesale end, to the 

 owners, seems the better worth in- 

 creasing, so the mail-order business is 

 for sale. 



It is not everyone, of course, who 

 has money enough to buy and swing 

 a business of this character, and those 

 who have the money, if they seek a 

 place to invest it, usually are without 

 knowledge of the trade. To realize 

 the most from a sale, the owners fre- 

 quently find it desirable to incorporate 

 and distribute holdings among em- 

 ployees, taking notes secured by the 

 deposit of stock to permit payment 

 in larger part out of profits. 



@ 



LIABILITY rOE ANOTHER'S DEBT. 



Maine, like all the other states, ex- 

 cept, possibly, one or two, has a statute 

 which provides that no promise to pay 

 the debt of a third person shall be en- 

 forceable unless evidenced by some 

 writing signed by the promisor. But 

 it is usually held under these laws 

 that where some benefit inures to the 

 promisor, he will be deemed to have 

 assumed the obligation as an original 

 indebtedness of his own. This latter 

 principle has just been applied by the 

 Maine Supreme Judicial court in the 

 case of Colbath vs. Everett B. Clark 

 Seed Co., 91 Atlantic Reporter 1007. 

 It appears that plaintiff contracted td 

 sell a quantity of seed potatoes to one 

 Klippel, who, in turn, agreed to sell to 

 defendant. Being in doubt as to Klip- 

 pel's responsibility for the purchase 

 price, plaintiff called defendant's rep- 

 resentative up on a telephone and stat- 

 ed that shipment would not be made 

 unless defendant would assume pay- 

 ment of the price. Defendant's repre- 

 sentative thereupon orally promised 

 that defendant would become so liable, 

 but, in a suit brought by plaintiff to 

 recover, pleaded the statute above men- 

 tioned. The defense was overruled by 

 the Maine Supreme Judicial court on 

 the ground that defendant's promise 



m 



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Worthwhile 



CORNER 



\1I7E will expect to list in 

 this comer fr^m time to 

 time Seasonable Stock, the 

 quality of which will abso- 

 lutely stand the *'Wirtk Wkile" 

 stamp — and at "living" prices. 

 We pay freight both ways if 

 you don't agree with us and 

 no questions asked. 



—You run no risk — 



For the Coining Week 

 We Offer 



CANNAS 



Per 100 Per 1000 

 King Humbert $2.00 $17.50 



57 other good varieties. 

 Write for complete list. 



From Cold Storage: 



Llllum Longlflorum 

 Giganteum 



7 to 9-inch, per 100, $6.00; per orig- 

 inal case of 300, $16.00 



8 to 9-inch per 100, $10.00; per 



original case of 225, $21.00 



LIL. SPEC. RUBRUM 



8 to 9-inch, per 100. $6.00; per orig- 

 inal case of 225, $13.00 



9 to 11-inch, per original case of 

 125, $11.26 



LIL. SPEC. ALBUM 



8 to 9-inch, per 100, $12.00; per 

 original case of 225, $26.00 



9 to 11-inch, per original case of 

 125, $20.00 



If you have a "bare spot" in your 

 greenhouses, you will find the above real 

 "money makers." 



LILY OF THE VALLEY 



New Crop. 



Of unusual quality. 

 Per 250... $5.00 Per 500. . .$9.50 



Per 1000... $18.00 



Have some shipped March Ist for Easter 



forcing. 



A coHplete stock of Florists* flower seeds, 

 Glidiolns, Tuberoses, Calidiums, etc 



Winterson's Seed 

 Store 



M 



166 N«. Wtbiik Ave., CHICAGO 



There is no pleasure like 

 watching things grow. 



IF you haven't received your 

 copy of our 1915 Spring Cat- 

 alogue (with special prices to 

 Florists) drop us a postal and 

 it will be sent you promptly. 



To those who grow for profit 

 it is especially interesting and 

 useful. 



All its 144 pages are brim 

 full of beautiful pictures, clear 

 description and good practical 

 suggestions. 



J. M. THORBURN & CO. 



53 Barclay St.. NEW YORK 



Through to Park Place 



